The Nostalgia November archive can be found here.

Solar, Man of the Atom #25 by Kevin VanHook and Peter Grau is really an expansion of the Dr. Eclipse/Solar fight that we saw in Secret Weapons #1. Expanding on the fight in Solar's title makes a lot of sense since we basically see Solar get killed by Eclipse and to have that happen exclusively outside of his book is a bit of a slap in the face to regular readers. That said, this issue doesn't really work, mostly because Eclipse's attack comes out of nowhere and the expanded fight doesn't really add to things. Granted, part of the point is that Eclipse is a surprise, but the issue doesn't flow properly. We get a scene of Phil at the lab discussing physics and then there's a fight, which isn't particularly entertaining. Since the powers of both Solar and Eclipse are so ill-defined and broad, their fight doesn't engage the reader. It's two guys flying around, shooting energy beams at one another kind of... it's boring. Not only that, but it seems like both are evenly matched thanks to their complete control over their own molecular structures... so how can Eclipse win? It's like this issue of Solar reverses the dynamic of Secret Weapons #1 where we saw the context for Eclipse's origin and his fight with Solar was brief and shocking -- here, the arrival/appearance of Eclipse is brief and the fight is too long.

Aside from that, there's a scene where Gayle calls the Eternal Warrior as that little group of characters prepare to fight Eclipse and Darque, but that adds little. This is an issue-long fight scene that is very, very boring. More than that, the dialogue between Solar and Eclipse isn't exactly witty or insightful. It's a little of pseudo-insane babbling on Eclipse's part and a lot of heroic declarations or wimpy pandering on Solar's part... I just wanted both characters to die somehow by the end.

Peter Grau's art is softer than Joe St. Pierre's, but not as competent. His work on the non-superhero scenes is great, but the fight is just awful. They go to Unreality, which is a Ditkoesque landscape that falls flat and looks lame. That Eclipse and Solar can alter their physical selves gives Grau license apparently to ignore any sense of anatomy or consistency for no reason.

I'm disappointed with this issue since it fails so utterly compared to Secret Weapons #1, which was far more interesting in its telling of the Eclipse/Solar fight.

Tomorrow, the story concludes in Secret Weapons #2.

Here's the next four covers! And click here for the master list of all the covers posted so far!

8 Comments

• At November 21, 2009, Adam Kirby wrote:

  I either give the occasional good suggestion or this is oddly coincidental timing. Either way, that Swamp Thing cover... Man. ...

• At November 21, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I either give the occasional good suggestion or this is oddly coincidental timing.

  Not that your suggestion was not good, ...

• At November 21, 2009, Phil Sandifer wrote:

  Well, I shall have no impact saying it then, but as the Green Lantern cover I tagged got picked, I'll ...

• At November 21, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  It's a rare day that I actually say this, 3 out of 4 isn't too bad.

  All covers but the Jimmy ...

• At November 21, 2009, doctor bob wrote:

  Shock horror - it's the Adams one for me again!!!

• At November 21, 2009, Namor wrote:

  I like 3. I love 4.

  But number 2 is just...superb.

• At November 21, 2009, Alonso wrote:

  Number one might be the only one on here that doesn't jump out at me. Any reason why this particular ...

• At November 21, 2009, daniel wrote:

  at this point i fear that robin 1 (first mini series, brian bolland cover) won't make it. which is a ...

The creative team behind Hitman, Garth Ennis and John McCrea, returned to the character for a JLA/Hitman mini-series - this is how it ended (NOTE: Major spoilers for the Hitman series lie beneath the fold!)...

As noted in a previous Cool Comic Book Moment, Superman and Tommy Monaghan (Hitman) had had a chance meeting awhile back on a rooftop in Gotham City, where the two really bonded.

Well, in this two-issue special, Tommy is called in to help the Justice League when they discover more of the evil aliens from the Bloodlines crossover of 1993 (where Tommy gained his powers by being attacked by one of the aliens).

The aliens find a way to neutalize the powers of the JLA, so in this scenario, Tommy is one of the most capable people there, especially as the other members find themselves succumbing to the alien parasites (that takes out Batman and Wonder Woman and basically Superman, who manages to free himself with help from Tommy, but the escape leaves him mentally and physically drained - and also a bit disappointed, as he now learns that the man he thought was a good guy is, well, a hitman).

So it is basically down to Tommy and a non-powered Flash and Green Lantern, and a bunch of nuclear warheads are being shot at the JLA's base (as the White House believes that the JLA has been compromised).

So Tommy saves the day the only way that he knows how (note that the story is told by Clark Kent to a writer who is researching the life of Tommy Monaghan)...

That last page is quite excellent (the whole sequence is great, but that last page especially)...

9 Comments

• At November 21, 2009, Bryan wrote:

  Hitman was too good for this world.

• At November 21, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  That he was. Such a moving and poignant ending.

  Besutiful stuff.

• At November 21, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  Er...I meant, beautiful.

  Those were TEARS on that keyboard, I tell you.

• At November 21, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  Probably my favourite series ever and this two part coda is just the icing on top of the cake.

  I've said ...

• At November 21, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  You should review Hitman # 34 as a follow-up to today's review.

  There were some really poignant moments worth mentioning in ...

• At November 21, 2009, Patrick Joseph wrote:

  When people erroneously claim that the 1990's were a barren wasteland for interesting comics, this series belongs at the top ...

• At November 21, 2009, Jeremy wrote:

  Looks like I have a new series to start reading.

• At November 21, 2009, Paul1963 wrote:

  This is the kind of thing you need to show to people who think Garth Ennis' work is all about ...

• At November 21, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  You should review Hitman # 34 as a follow-up to today's review.

  I did a bit on Hitman #34 already.

  Day ...

Since embarking on the just-concluded month-long series of columns about comfort food, the hodge and the podge have been rather piling up, so let's get to it, shall we?

For one thing, every week when I do a column, there is inevitably some sort of follow-up -- something I forgot to mention, or some new development I was unaware of, something like that. Here are a few of those.

*

I was completely unaware, for example, that when I suggested Fred Saberhagen's Dracula novels were a sort of prose equivalent to Hammer horror movies, that there were in fact licensed prose Hammer novels out there.

These were done by John Burke, who was also the author of many of his own original horror books, notably the Dr. Caspian series.

Burke was a real go-to guy for the British paperback house Pan Publishing back then. He did several dozen movie novelizations for them, under both his own name and a variety of pseudonyms, of movies in all kinds of genres ranging from A Hard Day's Night to Moon Zero Two. He also created and edited the anthology series Tales of Unease.

And now you know as much as I do.... somehow, despite a lifetime's interest in this sort of thing, I haven't got anything of Mr. Burke's here. Looking around the net I can find a couple of the Hammer collections available from dealers for about ten or twelve dollars. Not prohibitive, certainly, but a bit much to risk on idle curiosity... and honestly, after doing a bit of research on his stuff I'm much more interested in his Dr. Caspian books, anyway. I did end up ordering one of those and I daresay we'll be revisiting Dr. Caspian down the road, but in the meantime, I thought all this was worth a mention here.

John Burke also has a web page, which is where I cribbed most of this information after spending an entertaining half-hour or so nosing around there. Mr. Burke has had such a long and varied career I daresay something of his will pique your curiosity.

Incidentally, he's still working; his latest horror book, The Merciless Dead, came out just a year ago.

*

Also, while we're talking about Hammer, I forgot to mention that I have this nice little ten-episode documentary series about Hammer Films, The World of Hammer, that a friend presented me with a while back. Here's the problem -- it's only on VHS. I have no way to play it. So I'm giving it away.

I can't tell you much about it, because I've only seen one episode. Dracula and the Undead was included as a DVD extra on Dracula Prince of Darkness. It was a pleasant enough little retrospective. Clip show, basically. I think I'd have been annoyed if I paid for it, but as a DVD extra it was kind of cool.

There are ten episodes in the set: Dracula and the Undead, Frankenstein, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Vamp, Sci-Fi, Wicked Women, Lands Before Time, Thriller, and Mummies, Werewolves, and the Living Dead. Each one's a half-hour long; I assume they're all similar clip shows to the one I saw, and each is narrated by Oliver Reed. The cassettes are all brand-new -- several of these are still in their shrinkwrap.

I'd thought of taking it to the local Goodwill but I hate doing that. It was given to me because the previous owner knew I was a Hammer guy and saved it out for me when he was packing for a move. I'd feel guilty if it didn't go to SOME Hammer Films fan somewhere. And then it occurred to me that someone out there reading this might still own a VCR and be interested.

So here's what we'll do. Send an e-mail to ghatcher79 (at) gmail.com. saying, "Give me the Hammer!" and it's yours. Earliest timestamp takes it if there's more than one of you. If you're a U.S. resident I'll even cover the shipping. Anywhere else, well, you could Paypal me a couple of rubles or pounds or lira or whatever to cover the postage and I'd still get it to you. Fair enough?

I just like to see these things go to good homes.

*

I was also not aware, when I wrote the second comfort food installment, that Global Frequency, my favorite action comic of all time as well as my favorite unsold TV pilot of all time, apparently is under consideration as a TV series again.

All we have is the bare fact, sadly, and the name of the screenwriter currently working on it -- Scott Nimefro. ComicMix has the full writeup here. And John Rogers, who scripted the original TV pilot and is currently masterminding the excellent show Leverage, comments here.

I'd just like to add my pleas to the rest of the internet's -- just do it right, and if you could get Michelle Forbes again, too, that would be awesome.

*

I wrote this gigantic overview of DC's Bat-relaunch a few months ago, and it seemed like an update was in order. Since they keep adding stuff to it.

Still liking Batman and Robin, Detective, and Batman: Streets of Gotham, those are the clear front-runners. Hanging in there with Batman though I'm not digging Tony Daniel's take as much as Judd Winick's (...yeah, I know. Shocked me too.) Dropped Red Robin and Gotham City Sirens. Not bothering with Batman: Confidential or these other ancillary mini-series that keep popping up, though I daresay Unseen will probably find its way into this house as a trade collection at some point. Praying to God that none of this Blackest Night crap slops over on to these or any other DC books I'm actually enjoying.

And I think I've added Batgirl.

I wasn't going to pick it up, but I was downtown between buses, the comics shop was there, I wanted something to read, and they helpfully had issues one, two, and three right in a row. They had that "Batman: Reborn" banner same as the rest of the relaunch, and I thought well, I gave the rest of the line a fair shot, so I picked them up. Call it an OCD impulse.

That "Reborn" trade dress was a good call, because I wouldn't have bothered otherwise and you know what? I just plain enjoyed the hell out of these books. If I can't have Birds of Prey, well, this will do fine. I really like the idea of Stephanie Brown taking on the identity of Batgirl, it flowed organically out of the story itself -- unlike the strained rationale that gave us Tim Drake as Red Robin or Catwoman deciding to hang with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn over in Sirens.

Moreover, it gives Barbara Gordon a regular monthly home again, and that pleases me... especially since that also flowed organically out of the story. It makes sense for the characters to be doing these things. (I wish I could say that about more superhero comics. It ought to be a plot requirement, not a rarity. But whatever.) In fact there's a great vibe about the mentor/student thing the book is building here that felt delightfully familiar.

It took me a little while to figure it out, though I'm sure many of you got there way ahead of me. Sometimes I'm old and slow.

But when Barbara moved into the old Batcave under Wayne Manor, the light finally dawned. The book is essentially doing Batman Beyond, but with the girls instead of the boys. And it really works, it evokes both Batman Beyond and also the early Birds of Prey, both of which I liked a lot. Plus, despite the banner at the top of the first three covers, it's completely self-contained. You don't need to know anything else in any of the other Bat books to enjoy this one, and it's really enjoyable.

I've never heard of Bryan Miller that writes it, or Lee Garbett who's drawing it, but they're both doing great work here and building a nice little straight-ahead superhero action book with a premise that should last. Now let's hope that they keep doing it because it's just a lot of fun. Fun is something I approve of in my Bat books and I'm glad to see so much of it lately.

And I love that this is a book I can hand to any of my cartooning students with a clear conscience and know they'll enjoy it as much as I do, for reasons that have nothing to do with my own forty years of Bat-nerdity. This book is pure adventure and it is huge with my 7th grade girls.

It's not wildly innovative or anything. It's just good. And good is worth cheering on when we see it. Applause all around to everyone involved with this one, DC. (Once again I find myself asking, why isn't this the baseline instead of the exception?)

*

I think I'm going to wrap it up there for this week... I have lots to do today, and I don't want to be late getting home. Julie and I have an evening at the theater planned, and it looks to be all sorts of fun.

See you next week.

16 Comments

• At November 20, 2009, Steve Flack wrote:

  I'd be all about the new Batgirl, if they hadn't saddled her with such an awful costume.

• At November 20, 2009, Michael wrote:

  I guess you haven't seen the more recent Batman and Robin solicits, Greg...

• At November 20, 2009, Daryll B wrote:

  Greg, I never thought of it like that before but looking back at it now, the hints are all there. ...

• At November 20, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  We have a winner for the Hammer giveaway! Congratulations to Jeff Stadt. That didn't take long at all.

  And no, I ...

• At November 20, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  Dunno what the sales figures are for Batgirl — I think it's doing fine. Michael is referring, Greg, to the fact ...

• At November 20, 2009, Mike Blake wrote:

  Greg,

  If you'd like to see the Peter Cushing episode of THE WORLD OF HAMMER, someone has sliced it into YouTube-sized ...

• At November 20, 2009, Tom wrote:

  Sad to hear Tony Daniel's run on Batman might not be so good. But I'll buy the back issues anyway ...

• At November 20, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  Wasn't "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" the movie where some men on a train are told by a stranger how ...

• At November 20, 2009, Jeff wrote:

  Greg, thanks for the VHS tapes!

  Sijo, I think you might be thinking of Vault of Horror, but there is no ...

• At November 20, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  Wasn't "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" the movie where some men on a train are told by a stranger how ...

• At November 20, 2009, Bright-Raven wrote:

  Re: Bryan Miller --

  Smallville, Greg. He's one of the writers / story editors over last season / current season.

• At November 20, 2009, Perry Holley wrote:

  I would be remiss if I didn't give thanks to Greg for his recent 'comfort food' series - because of ...

• At November 21, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  Thanks for clearing that up, Greg. Though I'm still confused why the movie is called "House of Horrors" when it ...

• At November 21, 2009, Edo Bosnar wrote:

  On the subject of the just-concluded 'comfort food' columns, I'd like to second Perry's sentiments: thanks again, those were fun. ...

• At November 21, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  I have just recently picked up seven more Helm books, although it may take me a while to get to ...

• At November 21, 2009, Sam L. wrote:

  Glad I could help with titling, Greg!

  Since I figure being called out by name in a hodge-podge column is the ...

The Nostalgia November archive can be found here.

Secret Weapons #1 by Joe St. Pierre kicks off a three-part story that I'll be rereading and discussing over the next three days. In my box is a small collection of Valiant comics and this story seemed like a good way to dive into the Valiant universe here since it is a crossover where characters from almost all of their books come together against a common threat. I wasn't that big into Valiant's output as a kid, but I did catch the occasional issue. My dad bought a few of the titles, so I flipped through them -- at one point, I read the trades for Unity and that Barry Windsor-Smith Solar story, but I barely remember them now. Along with Image, Valiant was an early '90s company, except while Image was artist-driven, Valiant was writer-driven by the likes of Jim Shooter, Bob Layton, and David Michelinie. As such, the comics weren't as flashy, sometimes having an almost retro look, one that didn't quite fit into the time period. But, there was some good stuff in there.

Secret Weapons #1 isn't that great of a comic, only because it almost exclusively all set up with one rather cool scene in the middle. It begins with Fred Bender, a former villain of Solar's who was left to die in Death Valley. He survives and goes to Master Darque, a Shadowman/Solar villain and occultist, to obtain powers again to kill Solar. Darque goes along with it since he wants Solar eliminated and Bender becomes Dr. Eclipse. He poses as Phil (Solar's alter-ego) to try and sleep with his girlfriend, but she realises that it isn't Phil quickly and calls for help, bringing Solar to the scene. The ensuing fight has Eclipse overpower Solar with ease, destroying him completely... except for his hand, which he then swallows whole while giving the oh-so-witty line of "Finger-lickin' good." The fight is done well and is a bit shocking since Solar is meant to have the power of god basically, so to have Eclipse dispatch him so easily sets the villain up as a major threat.

Meanwhile, Geoff is the Geomancer and he feels a disturbance/receives of a vision of the problem/I dunno, and begins to gather heroes to fight against Eclipse and Darque. So his scenes are mostly him going around and talking to various Valiant heroes -- the ones that appear on the cover, basically. The only scene here that's more than 'serviceable' is the one involving Aric, X-O Manowar... he wants to go hunting dinosaurs with Turok and doesn't care if Solar can't handle his business -- until Geoff says that Gilad (Eternal Warrior) doesn't think he could really be of any help, which, of course, gets Aric all fired up to help the cause. It's so transparent, but that it works shows off Aric's personality well.

All in all, it's a good beginning to the story, particularly in setting up Eclipse as a major threat. Joe St. Pierre has always reminded me of Dan Jurgens for whatever reason. I don't know why, honestly, since their art styles are as similar as they are dissimilar... maybe it's the whole writer/artist thing on a company title like this. As a kid, I didn't encounter too many people who both wrote and drew their own stories (where they didn't own the character -- although the Image guys mostly hired writers, so my exposure was less than you'd think), and Dan Jurgens was the main one over at DC on Superman and Justice League of America, so maybe seeing a single person write and draw a title like this made me think of him. I like St. Pierre's art. It's a very clean, classic style. As with most Valiant books, it's not eye-catching the way Image's stuff was, but, aside from his rendering of the two Harbingers, he doesn't really make any mistakes. It's solid and gets the job done.

Tomorrow, Solar #25, which expands on the Solar/Eclipse confrontation.

3 Comments

• At November 20, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Sadly, Joe St. Pierre adopted one of those horrific Liefeld/McFarlane imitation styles a few years later at Marvel.

  It's ...

• At November 20, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Agreed.

• At November 21, 2009, Ultimate Matt wrote:

  Ah, Dr. Eclipse. At some point, I managed to work up a whole theory about how that character was the ...

Welcome to the two-hundred and thirty-third in a series of examinations of comic book legends and whether they are true or false. Click here for an archive of the previous two hundred and thirty-two.

Comic Book Legends Revealed is now part of the larger Legends Revealed series, where I look into legends about the worlds of entertainment and sports, which you can check out here, at legendsrevealed.com. I'd especially recommend you check out this installment of Peotry Legends Revealed to learn what poet was asked to come up with a name for a line of Ford cars (her suggestions alone are worth the read!).

Let's begin!

COMIC LEGEND: By reprinting an issue of X-Men in their Essentials format, Marvel inadvertently showed nudity where none was intended.

STATUS: True

An interesting thing can happen when something meant to be produced in one particular format gets changed to another one. This was made perfectly evident when an old issue of X-Men was re-done in the Essentials format by Marvel.

X-Men #123 came out in 1979. It was penciled by John Byrne and inked by Terry Austin. It was colored by Glynis Wein.

At one point in the issue, the following scene occurs...

Now, if you happened to be reading the issue, it's likely you wouldn't have even given a second thought to the page.

Check Storm coming out of the shower...

Again, nothing really to see there, which is just how the issue was intended to be read.

However, years later, this issue of X-Men was reprinted in Essential X-Men Vol. 2...

There, however, that same Storm panel shows up in an entirely different light...

It seems pretty clear that, as a guide to himself in drawing Storm's body in the towel coming out of the shower, either penciler Byrne or inker Terry Austin slightly drew in Storm's naked breast, with the idea (which clearly was correct) that the colorist would then cover it up when the panel was colored (note that Austin, if he did not draw it himself, inked the piece so that it is barely visible anyways).

And that DID happen.

However, two decades later, Marvel reprinted the scene...sans the color!!

So you get a funny example of a reprint causing nudity that was never intended to be seen!

Thanks to reader Andy S. for the head's up (and the scan)!

COMIC LEGEND: Judge Anderson of the Psi Division was modeled after Debby Harry.

STATUS: True Enough for a True

Judge Cassandra Anderson was one of the few notable female Judge characters in the popular 2000 A.D. Judge Dredd series. She was introduced pretty early on, in 2000 A.D. #150, by writer John Wagner and artist Brian Bolland.

She soon became popular enough to maintain her own series in 2000 A.D. (here is the trade paperback collecting many of her solo adventures), written by Alan Grant mostly (if not solely), highlighting her psychic powers.

For years, folks had wondered if Anderson had been modeled after singer Debbie Harry of the band Blondie.

David Bishop got to the heart of the matter in his extensive history of 2000 A.D., Thrill-Power Overload...

when he interviewed Brian Bolland...

Bishop: According to legend Debbie Harry was the model for Anderson – true?

Bolland: She pretty much was… The thing I always found about drawing for 2000 AD was we never got to draw women. There just weren’t any. I don’t know why. I think it came out of the tradition that boys comics and girls’ comics were separate. There were artists in America whose work I admired who did gorgeous women and I wanted to have a go at it. I thought this was a great opportunity to draw a sexy looking girl. See if I could draw that.

She was based on Debbie Harry. I think I did a Forbidden Planet advert and I draw a lot of famous people into that, such as Debbie Harry and David Bowie. I think I must have just drawn her. I’m not sure she’s particularly Debbie Harry…

Here is that Forbidden Planet ad...

And here is a cover of Judge Dredd by Bolland featuring Anderson...

Thanks again to Mark S. (who wrote in for last week's installment on Rocky Balboa, as well) for the head's up (and the scan of the Forbidden Planet ad)! Thanks to David Bishop for the interview and thanks, of course, to Brian Bolland for the information!

COMIC LEGEND: Zodac in the Masters of the Universe was meant to be connected to Metron of the Fourth World.

STATUS: Basically False, With Some Truthiness to it

Reader Squashua has been wondering for a long time about a possible link between Zodac of the Masters of the Universe and Metron of the New Gods.

Here is Zodac on the cover of DC's Masters of the Universe mini-series (written by Paul Kupperberg and drawn by the late, great George Tuska). He is the fellow behind Skeletor's sword...

And here, of course, is Metron (from his first appearance in New Gods #1)...

Squashua asked awhile back...

Did the DC Comics writers intend there to be a connection between New God character "Metron" and Master of the Universe character "Zodac, the Cosmic Enforcer"?

The classic Zodac toy was a dude with red space armor and a laser pistol. Originally billed as an Evil warrior, the accompanying EARLY literature had him as more of a neutral keeper of balance, which was what followed ever since.

When he was presented in both the toy-included comic books (apparently all written by DC before Mattel took over) and the short-lived DC Comic series/insert (prior to Marvel's Epic-line MotU series), if I recall correctly, Zodac flew around in a chair (much like Metron) and did cosmic "stuff". The Zodac toy did not come with this chair, but if you look at the chair in the manner in which it was drawn, it is identical to the throne that comes with the original Castle Greyskull playset. There was no reason for him to use the chair, but when you go think about it, Zodac of the DC Comics issue(s) is pretty much intended to be Metron.

Here they are in their respective chairs (thanks to Squashua for the pic)...

Well, just the other week, Sean T. Collins at CBR's own Robot 6 blog was discussing Masters of the Universe, and Squashua showed up in the comments and so did Paul Kupperberg!

Squashua presented the question and Paul answered it as follows:

DC signed the rights to MOTU before the toys were released. They had virtually no back story set up besides a very basic good guys vs. bad guys idea. A rep from Mattel came to DC and editor Dave Manak and I spent an afternoon on the floor of DC's conference room playing with the prototypes of the figures and accessories and making shit up as we went along. I took a few notes, talked out a few very basic ideas with Dave and the rep and then went home and started writing. Zodac and the flying chair were part of the presentation, so I went with that--don't recall for certain if the Metron parallel was brought up at the time, but with fan-boy-me in the room, I'd find it tough to believe I wouldn't have at least mentioned it. They might have gotten rid of the flying chair (or switched it to a spot in the Castle) because of the similarity by the time the toys came out but after I'd written the comic.

A big fan of the Fourth World material, but I don't think I ever wrote any of it, certainly not around that time...unless I've got a major brain fart going. My first connection with any of the Kirbyverse was when I tied TAKION into The Force, but that wasn't until 1996.

I'm told -- and I don't know because I never watched the cartoon (being, y'know, in my 20s when it came out) -- that a lot of the back story was based on the DC comic, so I guess I'm to blame, but I doubt I would've had Zodac in a flying chair if it hadn't been part of that original presentation.

So it sounds like basically a no on the connection.

Thanks to Paul Kupperberg for the information, thanks to Sean for the blog entry that got this one resolved and thanks to Squashua for the stick-to-it-ness to finally get a reply to the query!! Good job!

Okay, that's it for this week!

Thanks to the Grand Comic Book Database for this week's covers! And thanks to Brandon Hanvey for the Comic Book Legends Revealed logo!

Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future installments! My e-mail address is cronb01@aol.com.

As you likely know by now, at the end of April, my book finally came out!

Here is the cover by artist Mickey Duzyj. I think he did a very nice job (click to enlarge)...

If you'd like to order it, you can use the following code if you'd like to send me a bit of a referral fee...

Was Superman a Spy?: And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed

See you next week!

41 Comments

• At November 20, 2009, Charlie wrote:

  On that He-Man cover, that actually looks more like Mer-Man on an Attack Sled or whatever they were called. ...

• At November 20, 2009, Splint Chesthair wrote:

  Minor correction to the MOTU bit: Zodac is standing behind Skeletor on that cover. The guy in the flying thing ...

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Noted! Thanks, fellas. I'll admit that I stopped looking as soon as I saw the red helmet! :)

• At November 20, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Ha! I've read through that Essential X-Men volume a few times now and never noticed the clandestine nipple there. I ...

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Do note that Marvel may have corrected it in later printing of the Essential trade (they've gone through a few ...

• At November 20, 2009, Splint Chesthair wrote:

  My favorite part of that X-Men scene is Spidey in a phone booth trying to warn the X-Men about Arcade, ...

• At November 20, 2009, Squashua wrote:

  Thanks, Brian. From the link provided, here's a link to a better pic that shows both Metron and Zodac ...

• At November 20, 2009, Jace Mace wrote:

  Am I completely blind? I can't see the nudity in that Storm pic. Is there a nip?

• At November 20, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  "Devils take the man..."

  "Sleepy-Bye, Honey-Chile."

• At November 20, 2009, The Amazing Spider-Ads wrote:

  Yep, I don't see the nipple there much at all either. I think blown up so big the grain obscures ...

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Fair enough, I shrunk the image for ya.

• At November 20, 2009, Jace Mace wrote:

  Thanks for the shrink. I totally see it now. John Byrne, you ol' rogue!

• At November 20, 2009, Philip Ayres wrote:

  The thing Mer Man is in is a Wind Raider

• At November 20, 2009, azjohnson5 wrote:

  Funny that the Storm story was brought up, literally at the same time I was debating which Claremont/Byrne storylines should ...

• At November 20, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  Storm used to be naked a lot in the old days (although aside from this time, there was always ...

• At November 20, 2009, Hisham wrote:

  I don't know if you've covered it before, but your discussion of MOTU and New Gods reminds about something I ...

• At November 20, 2009, Mxy wrote:

  Here's one: I know Kevin Maguire is a big Bond fan. I was wondering if he came up with the ...

• At November 20, 2009, Kamino Neko wrote:

  Hisham - yep, he covered it.

• At November 20, 2009, Teebore wrote:

  Invest in an X-Signal, guys!

  Yeah, you'd think Cerebro could at least take messages or something. :)

• At November 20, 2009, Bill wrote:

  Huh! I never would have guessed when I got up this morning that I would see Storms nipple today. Funny ...

• At November 20, 2009, Henry wrote:

  Speaking of Byrne and nipples, didn't he also do that for She-Hulk as well after her clothes were torn up, ...

• At November 20, 2009, Squashua wrote:

  @Hisham, in my original request for research from Brian, I mentioned that my MotU/New Gods request is a different one ...

• At November 20, 2009, Squashua wrote:

  Also, if you look CLOSE ENOUGH at the colored version, you can also see Storm's nipple, albeit 98% blacked out.

• At November 20, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  Uh, forget the X-signal, how about beefing up their security? lol

  Ah, those early He-man comics...interesting how unplanned things were. Teela ...

• At November 20, 2009, hifidigitalboy wrote:

  I've always loved what came after the Spider-Man/Arcade phone conversation. Namely, Spidey destroying the phone booth because he was so ...

• At November 20, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  A little nipple never hurt anyone. ;-)

• At November 20, 2009, Squashua wrote:

  [url=http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/showpost.php?p=2208948&postcount=40]Post on He-Man.org[/url] with some pics of a custom Zodac chair, plus a pic of Metron and a pic of ...

• At November 20, 2009, Squashua wrote:

  (Brian, you can kill the prior post and this sentence; I always forget there is no UBB code here).

  Link: http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/showpost.php?p=2208948&postcount=40

  Goes ...

• At November 20, 2009, Squashua wrote:

  Also, here is a pic of the interior of Castle Greyskull, which shows the throne I mention:

  http://www.toyarchive.com/STAForSale/NEW2001+/MOTU/Toys/Loose/PlaysetGreyskull3a.jpg

• At November 20, 2009, John Trumbull wrote:

  Actually, I'll bet that Terry Austin was the one who added that nipple to Storm in that panel. I ...

• At November 20, 2009, Tony wrote:

  Speaking of comic book characters based on Debbie Harry's look, Walt Simonson has stated in a number of interviews that ...

• At November 20, 2009, opeu38 wrote:

  I think John Byrne said that the 87 He-Man movie was merely a ripoff of New Gods. I thought I ...

• At November 20, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  "Truthiness"? Heh. :P

  Storm's nipple doesn't bother me, I'd heard that some artists often draw their figures nude before "dressing" them ...

• At November 20, 2009, Ipm wrote:

  "Do note that Marvel may have corrected it in later printing of the Essential trade (they've gone through a few ...

• At November 20, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  You really can't introduce a character more thoroughly than Kirby did Metron in that one page from New Gods #1.

  "You ...

• At November 20, 2009, Reno wrote:

  Was He-man a part of the Epic line from Marvel? It was the Star line for kids, right?

• At November 20, 2009, Squashua wrote:

  @opeu38

  As mentioned earlier, the first MotU movie being associated with New Gods via a comment by John Byrne was ...

• At November 21, 2009, Locusmortiis wrote:

  I've wondered for a while if the look of Metron and his throne by Kirby was influenced by Phillipe Druillets ...

• At November 21, 2009, Chris Stansfield wrote:

  Yep, it was Star Comics, and, generally, it was really terrible. Like stealing forty cakes terrible. However, the last two ...

• At November 21, 2009, Daniel wrote:

  Kupperberg is talking about the DC comics series, which as he says was conceived very early and on the fly ...

• At November 21, 2009, sgt rawk wrote:

  Man, John Byrne could draw hot women.

Here's the next four covers! And click here for the master list of all the covers posted so far!

34 Comments

• At November 20, 2009, Groomete wrote:

  I think the mistery (in space) is to know who this "Dale" is... :)

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Ha!

  Sadly enough, I actually looked around and that was the best copy of that cover that I could find!

  If someone ...

• At November 20, 2009, m!ke wrote:

  definitely the gl cover.

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Aha!

  Good ol' Scott Shaw! had a clean copy on his Oddball Comics site!

  Check out Scott's take on the issue here. ...

• At November 20, 2009, Earth2Lives wrote:

  I've been really liking your series so far, but with just four days left and some of the more recent ...

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  It's a fine cover, Earth2Lives.

  I wouldn't normally put it in my Top 90, but it was a cover I considered!

  Tell ...

• At November 20, 2009, Fabricio Neves wrote:

  Well, now I wanna see the "Dale" version !

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  It looks the same, Fabricio, except someone lightly wrote their name (Dale) across the bottom of the planet.

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Okay, now I've come up with an even BETTER idea!

  You'll see what it is on Monday!

• At November 20, 2009, Dan Fleming wrote:

  Green Lantern.

• At November 20, 2009, Jim McClain wrote:

  Show both sides of the Adams Batman treasury cover. It's a wraparound image!

• At November 20, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  "Okay, now I've come up with an even BETTER idea!

  You'll see what it is on Monday!"

  Uh oh! Better skip ...

• At November 20, 2009, Ninjazilla wrote:

  All about the GL one this time.

• At November 20, 2009, azjohnson5 wrote:

  YES! NEAL ADAMS BEST COVER! YES!

• At November 20, 2009, chad wrote:

  got to go with the green lantern cover for it showed the begining of the end of the silver age ...

• At November 20, 2009, Josh wrote:

  1: Yes. 3: Yes. 2: I can believe it. 4: ????

• At November 20, 2009, Sean Coffee wrote:

  To a comic book reader of a certain age, those Collectors Edition covers (especially the Adams above) are all incredibly ...

• At November 20, 2009, T. wrote:

  Is that All-Star Squadron #1 the first time a superteam was depicted as being formed by 3 members going through ...

• At November 20, 2009, Bryan wrote:

  The GL one is one of the first comics I purchased, so I have to show it some love. Also ...

• At November 20, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  I've seen the GL cover a few times of course, but I've never noticed how goofy Hal looks. He's clearly ...

• At November 20, 2009, azjohnson5 wrote:

  Sean Coffee: Great site, thanks.

• At November 20, 2009, MrMGU wrote:

  Neal Adams' Batman cover, which is also featured on the new (timed to the release of "Batman Begins", I think) ...

• At November 20, 2009, MrMGU wrote:

  Neal Adams' Batman cover, which is also featured on the new (timed to the release of "Batman Begins", I think) ...

• At November 20, 2009, JKC wrote:

  I personally have been waiting for All-Star Superman #1 so I could vote it into my top 10.

• At November 20, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  If nothing else, these are exposing the blind spots I have to some eras/runs when it comes to DC. I ...

• At November 20, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  I'd say the GL is the most iconic to me, but then again, it's the only one on that list ...

• At November 20, 2009, doctor bob wrote:

  The Adams Batman cover that has stayed with with since I was a child - definitely!

• At November 20, 2009, azjohnson5 wrote:

  Have to say I friggin hated the cover for All-Star Superman #1, not disagreeing that it should be on the ...

• At November 20, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  For me, it's a toss up between the GL and Batman covers.

  But....the Jimmy Olsen cover? Seriously?

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Seriously?

  Yes.

• At November 20, 2009, Jacob T. Levy wrote:

  The GL cover is an absurd image for an absurd story. Memorable, but not in a good way...

• At November 20, 2009, Adam Kirby wrote:

  Is this the end of the list, is the master list wrong, or are you planning on posting just one ...

• At November 20, 2009, Adam Kirby wrote:

  Wait, I'm an idiot and forgot that you were going up to 90 nominations first.

  I'm still pulling for Swamp Thing ...

• At November 21, 2009, XBen wrote:

  Another vote Yes for All-Star Squadron #1

Today, believe it or not, we're going to look at ANOTHER epilogue to X-Cutioner's Song! This time, courtesy of Peter David and Joe Quesasa, as David explains to us just why Quicksilver is so ornery...

That's some strong character work right there.

Good stuff (the conceit of the issue, by the way, was that all members of X-Factor had to get counseling after the events of the X-Cutioner's Song crossover).

32 Comments

• At November 20, 2009, Philip wrote:

  Yeah that might be my favorite scene in all of comics. Perfect way to keep Quicksilver an ass, while also ...

• At November 20, 2009, The Crazed Spruce wrote:

  Say what you will about Peter David, but it only took him three pages to completely change the way everyone ...

• At November 20, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Good moment, but when I saw "Quicksilver" and "Peter David," I assumed that this would be the Lockjaw story.

• At November 20, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  Just a real comic / science geek question comment here... Isn't the length of time of putting together a puzzle ...

• At November 20, 2009, Craig wrote:

  Truly a classic. So much so, in fact, that the current X-Factor series had a full-issue homage (#13, from early ...

• At November 20, 2009, Matt Ampersand wrote:

  Ethan: At the speed they move, they can just try all the pieces in all positions before you know it.

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yeah, think about it - one of the biggest tasks behind jigsaw puzzles is the sorting of the pieces (finding ...

• At November 20, 2009, E. Wilson wrote:

  Meh, Quicksilver's still a jerk. If you've been living this way your entire life, it's not unreasonable to ask that ...

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Mac wrote:

  Strangely, I quit reading comics just after the X-Cutioner's Song...because of the lousy writing. I was on the verge ...

• At November 20, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  SOOOOOOO, that's what PMS stands for!

  I've been wondering that for decades! ;-)

• At November 20, 2009, James wrote:

  Off all the runs and creative teams of X-Factor, that was the single best one issue. Also, one of my ...

• At November 20, 2009, Michael wrote:

  I like the idea that these big event crossovers are just as traumatic for the characters as they are for ...

• At November 20, 2009, chad wrote:

  loved that issue . for found it interesting to see a shrink try to get into the head of the ...

• At November 20, 2009, Mea wrote:

  At the time I wasn't reading any of the X-Books and picked this one up off the rack for some ...

• At November 20, 2009, Michael wrote:

  E. Wilson, keep in mind that PAD himself was well aware that this doesn't explain some of the crap Pietro ...

• At November 20, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  That outfit with the baggy suit and the basketball shoes tied like a teenagers' doesn't really seem right on Quicksilver.

• At November 20, 2009, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  Another great Peter David Quicksilver line:

  Upon hearing a news report that Jamie Madrox had been murdered: "Hmm. Slow news day."

• At November 20, 2009, Gary wrote:

  Peter David and Joe Quesada knocked it out of the park on this one. Quicksilver's session was the best of ...

• At November 20, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  Isn't it usually explained with any of the speedsters that their brains move proportionally faster than a regular person as ...

• At November 20, 2009, cmh wrote:

  Apodaca: Sorry, I've gotta ask. Were you referring to the suit or the shoes?

  The cash machine bit does bring ...

• At November 20, 2009, Kelly Thompson wrote:

  This issue kind of blew my mind as a kid and I never forgot it. It was great to ...

• At November 20, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  Which issue was this? I don't know precisely when the X-cutioner's Song happened, but I know it was probably ...

• At November 20, 2009, Teebore wrote:

  Mary, this was issue #87.

  I've always loved this entire issue, but this moment is ALWAYS the one that comes ...

• At November 20, 2009, James wrote:

  you'd think a speedster would know to tie his shoes.

• At November 20, 2009, Josh wrote:

  One of my favorite piece of PAD's work. (Nice art by JoeyQ, too) It's a terrific character piece ...

• At November 20, 2009, Mario wrote:

  To Ethan:

  i've thought of that myself. The best i can come up with is that part of Quicksilver's mutation is ...

• At November 20, 2009, Gary wrote:

  RE: Super speedsters thinking fast

  They certainly do. When Jay Garrick had his leg broken by Professor Zoom in "The Return ...

• At November 20, 2009, noodles wrote:

  @Gary - FYI, Johns established in HIS Titans run that Bart (uniquely) can retain stuff he reads super fast.

• At November 20, 2009, Jacob T. Levy wrote:

  Like everyone said-- a classic issue all around. I love how *wrong* Val is about everything.

  At the end of ...

• At November 20, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  This is good character work.

  Boy, do I find Quesada's art incredibly ugly!

• At November 20, 2009, Rob Ocelot wrote:

  Quesada's art from this era both intrigues and repulses me.

  Of course, this was a time when every 'hot' ...

• At November 21, 2009, JKC wrote:

  Imagine the concentration it would take for Quicksilver to talk at a speed that Doc Samson can understand him, and ...

Batman: Unseen #4 (of 5) ("Blur") by Doug Moench (writer), Kelley Jones (artist), Michelle Madsen (colorist), and Pat Brosseau (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC.

I always love when Batman actually does some detecting, and although he doesn't do a ton of it in this book, it's still fun to see. Bats finally figures out how to make an invisible man visible (in a totally lo-tech way), and of course, Nigel Glass's "translux" serum doesn't last forever, so by the end of the book he's semi-visible again, but he still escapes, setting up the big finale. Unlike the previous issues, Moench reins in the purple prose a bit and lets Jones cut loose, and it's glorious to see. On the first page, we get a panel of Batman, sans cape and cowl, in the Batcave, working a gargatuan machine like Dr. Frankenstein, with said machine peppered with different colored bulbs and parts of it hanging from chains (and why the hell not?). This entire machine is ... to make new lenses for his cowl. Now that's efficient! And then there's the stained-glass window in the city morgue (which itself has kind of an Egyptian city of the dead motif going on, exterior-wise), the corpse in the river casually chained to a big rock (which, needless to say, has nothing to do with the story and just shows the danger level, generally, in Gotham), and Batman's bat-shaped and portable heart-monitor. And, of course, Batman's glorious cape, which seems alive when Jones draws it. I know that certain crazy people hate Jones's Batman, but we should pity those people, not scorn them. Moench and Jones doing a Batman comic is such a weird, wild experience, and despite the darkness of the script and the art, it's usually a tremendously fun read. This series especially.

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "It's supposed to look like a fit or a convulsion."*

* That sums up Jones's style, doesn't it? It's up to you if you like it or not.

One panel of awesome:

That contraption = awesome

The Black Coat: ... Or Give Me Death #3 (of 4) by Ben Lichius (story/writer/colorist), Adam Cogan (story), Dean Kotz (artist), and Chris Studabaker (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Ape Entertainment.

One week after the double-sized issue combining issues 1 and 2, we get the third issue, which is groovy with me. Lichius speeds things up in this issue, which is a tiny bit annoying, as our hero goes from freaking out at the end of issue #2 to Bellevue at the beginning of this issue, and then suddenly, he's all better! (Well, not suddenly, but he does recover rather quickly.) Also, Ursula gets the formula for the immortality serum rather quickly and easily, even though we have no idea how she does it. But that's okay. Lichius and Cogan continue to hurl all sorts of awesome stuff at us, from Ben Franklin guest-starring to the Gypsy assassin, and the Black Coat finally tumbles on the League's grand scheme, which is devious and dastardly, to say the least. And Kotz continues to be a decent replacement for Francavilla.

Even though the immortality serum makes this slightly more of a superhero book than the previous series (the Black Coat gets severely stabbed and shot, but nothing happens to him), it's still enough of a cool historical spy/supernatural story to balance that. The race is on next issue to start the Revolution yet thwart the League. I wonder if our heroes will succeed?

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "I'm sick wit dis, straight gangsta mack."*

* The Black Coat is indeed "straight gangsta mack."

One panel of awesome:

Note to self: Never let a crazed, knife-wielding Gypsy woman near me!

Hellblazer #261 ("India Part One: White Man's Burden") by Peter Milligan (writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (layouter), Stefano Landini (finisher), Trish Mulvihill (colorist), and Sal Cipriano (letterer). $2.99, 22 pgs, FC, DC/Vertigo.

I've been a bit critical of Camuncoli's and Landini's art on Hellblazer, mainly because I don't think Camuncoli's superheroic style fits John Constantine's universe, not because I don't like Camuncoli (which I do). Interestingly enough, all Milligan had to do was move John to India, and Camuncoli's/Landini's art looks a lot better - it looks less muddled, John looks seedier set against the wider vistas of Mumbai (having never been to India, I doubt if Mumbai is less packed together than London, but Camuncoli makes it look that way), and his monster (that dude on the cover) looks keen. Of course, the coloring helps. I've been critical of Mulvihill's murky coloring, which seems to be the Vertigo "house style," but here she cranks up the reds and yellows and blues and gives the book a clearer and cleaner look, making the dark parts even creepier. As two characters discuss a Bollywood movie at one point, I have to think some of the more technicolory parts are deliberate. It works.

Milligan takes John to India because John believes that's where he'll find the means to resurrect Phoebe. He meets up with an old friend who is now bilking tourists as a guru but who's also involved in some other, even less savory business. And that dude on the cover is murdering young women - of course he is! The one murder we see is actually quite well done - Milligan and Camuncoli do a nice job with the fact that only she can see her attacker. Milligan continues to do a nice job showing how very immature John is - Charles basically says it, and in that moment, we're on his side ... until we learn what he's up to. It's a nifty trick to get us turned against John and on the side of a different character, and then Milligan deftly switches it back.

I'm reserving judgment on the colonialism aspect to the story, because I want to see where Milligan is going with it. But it's a solid beginning to the arc, and I'm glad Camuncoli's art fits better here (he did a nice job on that Bangkok Nights story a few years ago; maybe he likes Asia?). It's good to see!

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "I'm the one who said 'Just grab 'em in the biscuits'."*

* Okay, so John doesn't do this, but he would, wouldn't he?

One panel of awesome:

Man, you don't ever want to see that darkening your door!

Phonogram: The Singles Club #5 (of 7) ("Lust, Etc." and "Ska Attack Squad") by Kieron Gillen (writer), Jamie McKelvie (artist/letterer, "Lust, Etc."), Dan Boultwood (artist, "Ska Attack Squad"), and Matthew Wilson (colorist). $3.50, 27 pgs, FC, Image.

After a long delay which had more to do with Image than Gillen and McKelvie being slackers, apparently (although I'm sure they've been busy eating Ring Dings, playing Donkey Kong, and violating the civil rights of several woodland creatures instead of, you know, working), Phonogram #5 comes out, a week after it showed up at some shops, therefore allowing those people who shop at those shops an extra week to soak in the Phonogram goodness while the rest of us went without. Where, I ask you, is the justice?!?!?!??!?!?!

As usual, an issue of Phonogram means I do less of a review than a paean to its greatness, and although I really, really want to savage an issue just so Gillen and McKelvie don't get swelled heads more than they are already swelled, I just can't. (Okay, I don't really want to savage an issue. It's only fun to do that when it's a Green Lantern gore-fest or an interminably dull Justice League story.) This would be the perfect issue to do it, because this issue focuses on Laura Heaven, the girl from the series whom everyone (the characters in the comic, I mean) seems to think is dull as dishwater. Not only that, she thinks and quotes large chunks of lyrics almost pathologically. Now, I suspect many, many people do that (long ago when I was in college, I could quote large segments of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, among other movies), but we usually do it when we're hanging around with friends who can also do it, and it's a bonding experience from a shared kind of gestalt. It's not done as a defensive maneuver to put people off and distance yourself from them, as Laura does it. (I could be wrong - maybe many people do that.) For instance, I never say, "The important thing here is that you ask me what kind of car it is" unless I'm 99% positive the response will be, "A BITCHIN' CAMARO!" (Or some variation thereof.) But Laura walls herself off with her quotes, and therefore she's the kind of person we should hate.

But we don't. Or at least I don't. Gillen and McKelvie make it so we can't hate her. We can't even pity her, which might be worse. I'm not sure we exactly like her, but we realize why she does what she does, which is almost as good. It starts early, when McKelvie shows Laura staring in at Penny, and the desire in her eye (we only see one, as she's peeping through a narrow aperture) is almost palpable. As she and Penny head to the club, we get the anger and longing from Laura when Penny goes off with her perfect boy, and her envy of the barmaid who seems to float above it all where she can't. Her encounter with Emily in the bathroom (which we've seen a few times in the series, always from a different perspective) is a sweet moment, even if Emily wouldn't think so, and then Laura's sadness at being Lloyd's second choice sums up the book perfectly. When she thinks of another quote and then crosses it out (a bit heavy-handed by Gillen, but still effective), we see her transformation into her own person completed. Gillen explains the issue in his end notes, which he didn't need to do (seriously, KG, we totally got it, and you need to trust your writing more), but if you just read the story and skip the end notes, you'll once again sit back, amazed at how the two creators can so sharply delineate these characters in such a short time. I mean, the tender touch of Emily's fingers on Laura's forehead or the second-to-last panel of the book, in which Laura is both beautiful and terrifying, have more emotion in them than most DC or Marvel books do in their entire issue ... and that's just the art. When you combine it with Gillen's brilliant dialogue, you get Phonogram. And once again, I can't just review it, I must sing its praises to the skies. That's just the way I am, man!

Oh, and the back-up story is cute, too. The cover promises the "most gratuitous double-page spread of all time." I'd have to agree!

Let us hope that Image has its production problems sorted out and issues #6 and 7 come quickly. Damn, I love this comic. But here's my savaging of it! In one panel (the one where Laura's at the bar, bored), I don't like how McKelvie draws her fingers. Ha! Take that, you smug Brits! Can you stand the withering criticism of how Laura's fingers look? I think not!!!!!

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "I'll eat up all your crackers and your licorice."*

* You just know those freeloaders Gillen and McKelvie would do that if they came over to your house!

One panel of awesome:

I love McKelvie's art

Spider-Woman #3 by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Alex Maleev (artist), and Cory Petit (letterer). $2.99, 20 pgs, FC, Marvel.

And then there's Spider-Woman, which I'm still trying to figure out. I really have no problem with Bendis's pacing, as long as the story is interesting. I think Alias and Daredevil are wonderful, for instance. And the story in this series, so far, isn't bad. I don't know where Bendis is going with it, which is okay, and although I'm not terribly jazzed by HYDRA, I don't have that big a problem with them. The issue I do have with it is the way Bendis writes the two female leads. I've come to grips with the fact that Bendis often writes his female leads in the same way (Rucka, the other man writing lots of comics these days who seems to write decent female leads, does this too). I don't mind it when that female is the only strong female in the book, but now that Viper is in this comic, it sounds like the exact same person is carrying on a conversation with herself. Viper is a bit more confident than Jessica, but they still sound the same. It's somewhat annoying. I know that Bendis doesn't necessarily have to do this - his Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy were sufficiently different, but perhaps that's because the book was more superheroic and not as focused on the characters - and that makes it more annoying. Jessica tells us that Viper believes that she's her (Jessica's) mother, but that doesn't explain it away. Oh well. I suppose I'll have to deal with it if I decide to keep buying the book.

As for Maleev ... I'm still not digging his art on this comic. I know he's done the photo-referencing thing for some time, and it never bugged me too much, but it seems like a few things are working against it here. First, Madripoor isn't a real place, and Maleev doesn't do much to make it feel real. The city is extremely vaguely-defined, and it hurts the general misc-en-scene. Second, as this book is a bit more superheroic than Daredevil, we get the various gadgets, and they don't fit together well in the book. The flying car looks really weird, for instance. Finally, Maleev seems to be taking some shortcuts in integrating the foreground in with the background. The flying car's battle with the helicopters looks like a badly-shot movie against a blue screen, with the background added later. I guess that could be how it was done, but with a comic, it seems like the foreground could be integrated better into the background. I like Maleev quite a bit, but this isn't working as well as it could.

Anyway, Bendis and Maleev have a couple of issues to win me over. This is still the kind of comic that Bendis seems to do well on, so I'm certainly willing to give him some leeway. We shall see what he does with it!

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "I'm spunky; I like my oatmeal lumpy."*

* I like to think this is how Jessica Drew likes her oatmeal, and she sure is spunky!

One panel of awesome:

If only my mother had given me that advice, it could have saved me a whole lot of heartbreak!

Super Friends #21 ("Happily Never After") by Sholly Fisch (writer), Stewart McKenny (penciller), Dan Davis (inker), Sal Cipriano (letterer), and Heroic Age (colorist). $2.50, 20 pgs, FC, DC.

It's a bit sad that when I'm in the mood to read a good, old-fashioned, single-issue superhero comic, often the best place to go is Johnny DC's line and Super Friends (or the Brave and the Bold title they also publish). There's nothing complicated about this issue, and it could easily be a single issue of Justice League of America, if those guys weren't so busy wallowing in angst. I usually buy these issues based on the covers, and that one's pretty awesome, isn't it?

As for the story ... Remember Waid and Hitch's "Queen of Fables" story in JLA #47-49? Well, Fisch does it in one issue, and it's more entertaining than that entire story! I love the set-up: the Justice League finds a book on their satellite, Superman opens it, and they're whisked away to the Queen of Fables' realm! One page, no worry about "explaining" anything, and they're into the story. Good stuff! Anyway, the queen wants the Super Friends to stay in her land because they're so good for stories, and she splits them up (in classic JLA style), sends them each to a different part of her world, and challenges them to get back. Of course they do, and Fisch does an excellent job (in limited space, remember) of showing how each character tackles the challenges differently based on their personality. Superman uses his strength, Batman his brains, Flash his speed, Wonder Woman her compassion ('cause she's a weak woman, don't you know), Aquaman his ... well, his intelligence too, in a different way than Bats, and John Stewart his ... well, his wisdom too. Dang, those Justice Leaguers sure are smart! They all use their brains in one way or another, and even though it's a kid's book so Fisch doesn't want to show them punching things out, it's more refreshing to see them being, you know, heroic instead of just bashing things because they can. And, of course, they solve the problem of being trapped in the Queen's world using their heads, too.

It's really a wonderful little story about heroes being heroes, drawn very nicely by McKenny, who adds little touches in the gutters that evoke various fairy tales and nursery rhymes. It's quite funny. There's really nothing "childish" about this comic, and it's too bad that a lot of comics in the "regular" continuity can't seem to get this kind of story right. Oh well.

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "Ya stare, ya glare, ya constantly try to compare me, but ya can't get near me."*

* Normal DC superhero books can't compare to this!

One panel of awesome:

I dig the Australian Rainbow Serpent - he looks so happy to be evil!

Underground #3 (of 5) by Jeff Parker (writer), Steve Lieber (artist), and Ron Chan (colorist). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Image.

I don't know how much credit Parker should get for this issue, as a lot of the dialogue deals with Wes and Seth getting attacked by the punks who were sabotaging the cave. If Parker had a lot to do with the layout of this issue, that's one thing, because Lieber does a fantastic job making this a very claustrophobic and even terrifying issue, as it takes place almost entirely inside the cave, even deeper than the principals have gone before, which means the characters have less knowledge of what's going on with the topography. Of course, there's no light, either, and Lieber does a wonderful job by bringing the "camera" in to focus on characters' faces, pulling out to show the emptiness that surrounds them, and it's quite disorienting, which is very keen. It feels like a movie, but because the images are static, we can concentrate on them a bit more and get a good feel for what's happening more than we can a movie, where the cuts come more quickly. The ending isn't quite as dramatic as Lieber's full-page drawing warrants, mainly because we don't care too much about the person in the drawing, but it does show the dangers of, you know, fucking around in a hole in the ground.

This continues to be a tense comic that looks great. If you've only read Parker's Marvel stuff, give it a look, because it does allow him to show some other strengths in his writing. And Lieber is always good!

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "I'm the new fool in town and my sound's laid down by the Underground."*

* Duh.

One panel of awesome:

There are at least two things wrong with fighting in this way

Zorro #17 by Matt Wagner (writer), Francesco Francavilla (artist), and Simon Bowland (letterer). $3.50, 22 pgs, FC, Dynamite Entertainment.

I'm still loving this story arc, in which Wagner shows us all the reactions to Zorro from various people who have come across him. It makes Zorro a more mysterious figure - in the first two arcs, he was a large presence, and while they were very good, it made Zorro less of a figure of the night and more of a superhero. Wagner, in this arc, has lessened his presence and made him more dangerous, and it's neat. There's very little in these stories that surprise us - there's a bad guy, Zorro shows him what's what - but the way Wagner constructs them, we're on the edge of our seats as we wait for the inevitable moment when Zorro shows up. And the reveal of what Zorro does to Don Rafael - again, even though we anticipate what he's going to do - is excellent. A lot of this credit goes to Wagner, of course, but a lot goes to Francavilla, who is, as usual, marvelous. His pencil work is great, but his coloring (I assume he does it, as no one is credited) is as good, as he gives most of the book a rich yellow-brown color, evoking the windswept coast of California, until Zorro shows up, when the primary color switches to red, showing our hero's anger at Don Rafael's poor treatment of his workers. It's always nice to see artists thinking about more than just the pencils, and Francavilla (and the colorist, if he didn't do it) gives us that.

Anyway, it's another fine issue of Zorro. I'm completely unsurprised.

What line from "The Humpty Dance" best describes this? "And all the rappers in the top ten; please allow me to bump thee."*

* The "rappers" in this instance are the fat landowners exploiting the proletariat. It totally works, people!

One panel of awesome:

Batman best take his badassery elsewhere!

I mentioned a while back that I'm busy indoctrinating my daughter into the ways of comics. I'm not being as aggressive with my other daughter, mainly because she can't read, but my lovely wife bought her a cool T-shirt recently, and I thought I'd share it with you:

That's Iron Man, Captain America, and Spider-Man on a T-shirt that reads "I Love Superheroes." Remember when they were all friends? Good times! Once Mia starts reading (which may be quite some time), I'll have to give her some comics! She'll be sure to dig Tony Stark trying to put Steve Rogers in jail! That's what the United States is all about!!!!

Let's get some totally random lyrics:

"'Twas 1659 forgotten now for sure
They dragged us from our homeland
With the musket and their gun
Cromwell and his roundheads
Battered all we know
Shackled hopes of freedom
We're now but stolen goods
Darken the horizon
Blackened from the sun
This rotten cage of Bridgetown
Is where I now belong"

Cheery!

Fire away with your opinions, people, about comics or otherwise! What do you think of the new format? I'm just experimenting. Yay or nay?

25 Comments

• At November 19, 2009, Michael wrote:

  I like the bit with the covers up front. Easiest way to tell whether there's a book I'm interested in ...

• At November 19, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  That was my evil plan, Michael. I'm glad it works for you.

• At November 19, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  I've never heard the song or for that matter the band (though I know them by name), but I'll bet ...

• At November 19, 2009, torpor wrote:

  I'll take that "gratuitous double-page spread" of ONE STEP BEYOND! anyday over Millar's ridiculously stupid "SNIKT!" in Old Man Logan.

• At November 19, 2009, Alex From T. wrote:

  Nice T-shirt I want one for my daughter, good news to hear that finally I can pick up a new ...

• At November 19, 2009, Deco wrote:

  love that t-shirt; if I could find one w/all girls my 4-year-old daughter would probably wear it non-stop. oh and ...

• At November 19, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  The real question is, which comic once got busy in a Burger King bathroom?

• At November 19, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Really liked the back cover of Zorro.

• At November 19, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Mike: I'm not sure, but I don't think it's one of these!

  Alan: Yeah, I liked the back cover too. ...

• At November 19, 2009, Steve Lieber wrote:

  Thanks for the coverage. For the record, Jeff Parker had a LOT of input into UNDERGROUND's layout. We're both part ...

• At November 19, 2009, Jack Norris wrote:

  I tried an issue of that Superfriends comic a while back, and the only thing that bugged me was that ...

• At November 19, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Sure. To the new format.

  BUUUUUUUUUUUUT, you don't win the parenting award of the year for the "indoctrinating your daughter into ...

• At November 19, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  I give the format a thumbs up...

  And you nailed my problem with Maleev's art here rather well (before I could ...

• At November 19, 2009, Francesco Francavilla wrote:

  Thank you for enjoying the book, Greg, and you are correct: I am coloring this arc in addition to pencilling ...

• At November 19, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  Is Batman back now? I heard he was dead. (I knew, of course, that any such death would ...

• At November 19, 2009, Bright-Raven wrote:

  Hey Greg:

  Suggestion for a comic for your girls: ELECTRIC GIRL by Mike Brennan through AIT/PlanetLar

  http://www.electricgirl.com/

  I can't say I bought any ...

• At November 20, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  You don't need to be able to read to enjoy pictures of superheroes - I loved superheroes as a kid ...

• At November 20, 2009, Random Stranger wrote:

  I believe those lyrics are 'Tobacco Island' by Flogging Molly. You don't need a B.A. in history to enjoy the ...

• At November 20, 2009, Jamie McKelvie wrote:

  :(

• At November 20, 2009, Kieron Gillen wrote:

  :)

• At November 20, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Jack: That's very weird. I don't have that issue, but that's still weird.

  Mary: Batman: Unseen is a "lost" tale ...

• At November 20, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  Amen to the new format. I love the "One panel of awesome"! Really great post all around this ...

• At November 20, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  If you are a fan of comics, not buying Phonogram should be a criminal offense. Or at the very ...

• At November 20, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  Chalk up another fan of this great new format. Good job, Greg.

• At November 21, 2009, Drew wrote:

  Wow, you covered Underground (and got a comment from Mr. Lieber!) this week, S.W.O.R.D. last week, and JLI in between—I ...

Because Matthew gave no indication that he's read any manga at all I decided to offer recommendations of fairly well known titles to help him get his feet "wet" with stories I feel are very friendly to the American comic book reader.

1.  Slam Dunk, by Takehike Inoue, published by Viz.

Description by publisher: Basketball. The court, the ball, the hoop. The hopes, the dreams, the sweat. It takes dedication and discipline to be the best, and the Shohoku High hoops team wants to be just that—the best. They have one last year to make their captain's dream of reaching the finals come true—will they do it? Takehiko Inoue's legendary basketball manga is finally here, and the tale of a lifetime is in your hands!

Sakuragi Hanamichi's got no game with girls—none at all! It doesn't help that he's known for throwing down at a moment's notice and always coming out on top. A hopeless bruiser, he's been rejected by 50 girls in a row! All that changes when he meets the girl of his dreams, Haruko, and she's actually not afraid of him! When she introduces him to the game of basketball, his life is changed forever...

2.  Planetes, Makoto Yukimura, published by Tokyopop.

Description by publishers: In the 2070's, mankind has established a mining base on the moon and dispatched men to explore Mars. The first manned mission to Jupiter is also in progress. As a result of this interplanetary activity, space debris is increasing and its collection has become a new profession.

In the 1st volume of Makoto Yukimura's Planetes, we meet Yuri, Hachimaki, and Fee. Hachimaki's dream is to buy his own spaceship. He thinks he can earn money quickly by joining the crew of the first expedition to Jupiter. Yuri lost his wife in a space travel accident, and became a debris collector out of a desperate desire to discover some remembrance of her. Fee takes great pride in her profession and works very hard, having left behind her husband and young son on earth.

In a dark and cruel universe, each of these space junkers grapples with his or her own personal problems.

3.  Bleach, by Tite Kubo, published by Viz.

Description by publisher: Bleach tells the story of Ichigo Kurosaki, who is just like any other ordinary 15-year-old high school student -- except for his special ability to see ghosts. So when a teenage girl materializes through his bedroom wall, it should be no call for alarm. However, this girl, named Rukia, is a shinigami (Soul Reaper) who is hunting a Hollow (an evil spirit that consumes souls). The Hollow proceeds to attack Ichigo's family and Rukia is badly wounded. In order to defeat the evil spirit, Rukia must let Ichigo temporarily become a Soul Reaper by absorbing some of her energy. However, Ichigo inadvertently ends up with all of Rukia's powers and after defeating the Hollow, she informs Ichigo that since she has relinquished all her powers, he must now take on all the responsibilities of a Soul Reaper until she can figure out how to get her powers back. Now this 15-year-old high school student begins a brand new vocation as a hyperkinetic, all-purpose ghost buster. With enough attitude to make a grown demon blush, Ichigo and crew are cleaning up the afterlife, one ghoul at a time.

24 Comments

• At November 19, 2009, Matthew E wrote:

  Matthew E. (who might hate me just a little)

  I might?

  Matthew gave no indication that he's read any manga at all ...

• At November 19, 2009, Jordan wrote:

  I'd also suggest H2 (a good manga about baseball) and even Hunter x Hunter (which has definitely faded a bit ...

• At November 19, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Matthew -- sorry, I just was having a little fun at your expense because you gave me three such different ...

• At November 19, 2009, JimYung wrote:

  Is there a baseball manga being published in the US? Thanks for bringing Big Windup to my attention. I'll move ...

• At November 19, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  JimYung -- As far as I know there are no manga about baseball being published in the U.S. (the only ...

• At November 19, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  When I think baseball manga I think Mitsuru Adachi, but the only manga of his to be published in the ...

• At November 19, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Ohhhh good catch, Michelle! For those reading the comments that means this manga will be available, free, online for ...

• At November 19, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  And, if reader interest is enough, eventually published in a print edition! :)

  Here's the update calendar that confirms its appearance ...

• At November 19, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  Aaaaand here it is!

• At November 19, 2009, JimYung wrote:

  Wow, that was bad! It seems like a baseball manga about American baseball without any knowledge of American baseball.

• At November 19, 2009, rocket_yaourt wrote:

  i could recommand a lot of mangas, i'm french so i don't really know how much different mangas you have ...

• At November 19, 2009, T. wrote:

  If he likes Legion of Super-Heroes, I'd think you'd be better off going with Naruto and One Piece rather than ...

• At November 19, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Actually, I think of Bleach as the most basic kind of superhero-esque type book out there! (That was my ...

• At November 19, 2009, Okman wrote:

  It's a real shame there's no Mitsuru Adachi stuff in America yet. Honestly, I remember reading H2 a couple years ...

• At November 19, 2009, Michelle Smith wrote:

  I'm hoping that, with the recent trend towards omnibus editions, someone will license Adachi's Touch and put it out, like, ...

• At November 19, 2009, Ryan wrote:

  When someone hasn't read Manga you should either recommend the absolute, slam bang, no miss classics like Lone Wolf and ...

• At November 20, 2009, Joe wrote:

  You'd be foolish to disregard Japan's love of baseball, Ryan. High school baseball over in Japan is as big as ...

• At November 20, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Yeah, I'm with Joe on this one.

  The shonen/action story is a huge field in Japan, it makes sense to recommend ...

• At November 20, 2009, Love, terror, Jaws « MangaBlog wrote:

  [...] Leigh has more customized manga recommendations at Comics Should Be [...]

• At November 20, 2009, Matthew E wrote:

  I realize these picks don't really correspond to his interests, but his interests are uniquely American. Looking to a foreign ...

• At November 20, 2009, Digit wrote:

  If it wasn't for the specific criteria mentioned, I'd have recommend "Monster" by Naoki Urasawa for the new-to-manga.

  it's intelligent, it's ...

• At November 20, 2009, Digit wrote:

  (Well, depending on how you define Arthurian, anyway!)

• At November 20, 2009, CriticalFel wrote:

  I also agree with T. that One Piece and Naruto represent the "huge ensemble cast" better.

  Unlike Bleach, both have an ...

• At November 20, 2009, Matthew E wrote:

  I'm taking notes.

  (Just so I don't come off as unreasonable, I'd like to mention that the criteria I mentioned were ...

11 Comments

• At November 19, 2009, Thok wrote:

  Feh, he's no Flash or Despero.

• At November 19, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Forget about playing chess against Superman... imagine a Superman piece IN the game. It would just clean up; you would ...

• At November 19, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  That Super-bully should go and pick on someone his OWN size!!!!

• At November 19, 2009, Chad wrote:

  I dunno. How can he kick anything without legs?

  Also, using brawn to win chess is so middle school.

• At November 19, 2009, Mark McD wrote:

  "Also, using brawn to win chess is so middle school."

  There's not a single situation in a chess match that you ...

• At November 19, 2009, Mea wrote:

  So is this the origins of Chess Boxing?

• At November 19, 2009, Sean Whitmore wrote:

  Of course he'd win, he cheats. He's a rook, but he's clearly moving diagonally.

  Also he's punching a guy.

• At November 19, 2009, azjohnson5 wrote:

  @Sean Whitmore: he's a Knight

• At November 19, 2009, Sean Whitmore wrote:

  He should've been a bishop; I know for a fact he owns the hat.

• At November 19, 2009, Jack Norris wrote:

  Chad: not to mention the other guy having no ass.

• At November 19, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Ah, Golden Age Superman - cut in two, stuck onto a chess piece, about to fall on his face and ...

The Nostalgia November archive can be found here.

Transformers #64 by Simon Furman and Jose Delbo continues the "Matrix Quest" storyarc as, this time, we get a trio of Autobots sent to a planet to find the Matrix. They were told to be on the look-out for any odd resurrections or events, and the reappearance of a Klud, a giant leviathan/whale-like beast, seems like a sure sign that the Matrix is nearby. During the intial contact, Longtooth loses a leg to the beast and becomes an Ahab-esque figure as he hunts the Klud, obsessed with killing it. At the same time, Lord Thunderwing and his group arrive in search of the Matrix and the Klud provides the key clue to discovering it.

This was probably my favourite issue so far, mostly because I like how Longtooth and Thunderwing mirror one another in their obsessions. Longtooth's injury focuses him on revenge to the point where he does everything he can to forget his past -- he's no longer an Autobot, he's just a hunter. Thunderwing's obsession with the Matrix is similar as, once he discovers its whereabouts, he calls off his forces, seemingly forgetting the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. One of his followers comments that this is the second time that Thunderwing has stopped them mid-fight from killing Autobots to go off in search of the Matrix. Both are losing themselves in their obsession. In the end, Longtooth has the chance to kill the Klud, but doesn't, escaping his obsession, while Thunderwing continues with his.

While the writing had me engaged throughout, Jose Delbo's art continues to deteriorate as this issue is cluttered and just ugly at times. In some cases, that works -- Thunderwing becoming more monstrous in appearance is a great idea. But, other pages, are just difficult to look at they're so ugly and ill-composed. However, he does deliver a fantastic splash page of the Klud breaking through the surface of the water -- and his expressions for Longtooth are usually good.

We get a bit of history about the Matrix and how it's the lifeforce of the Autobots' living god Primus -- who created the Autobots in his image to continue his fight against Unicron... and has recently revealed their whereabouts to Unicron, making finding the Matrix essential. Wait, he revealed their whereabouts to his enemy? Time to find a new god, I think...

Next Thursday, it's the conclusion of "Matrix Quest" with a cover that promises a Thunderwing/Optimus Prime fight.

3 Comments

• At November 19, 2009, Ritchard wrote:

  In an earlier issue, the Autobots learned that Primus had slumbered within Cybertron for millions of years, because Unicron would ...

• At November 19, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  The comic said a few weeks, I think... I got the impression that the events here were taking place at ...

• At November 19, 2009, Ritchard wrote:

  Ah, it's been a while since I re-read Matrix Quest. Maybe I remember thinking it should've been a matter of ...

Neal Adams' cover for DC 100-Page Super Spectaculer #6 would seem to certainly be on the list of options for the Top 75 Most Iconic DC Covers. It was so famous that DC reprinted the comic in 2004, and it was ALREADY a reprint collection! That's how notable Adams' cover was.

However, Adams' cover is an homage to the cover of All-Star Comics #16 by Frank Harry.

So which one should make the list?

The original cover or the more famous homage?

16 Comments

• At November 19, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  Adams'. Again, if it's about which is the more iconic (influential) and not favorite or better looking, it was that ...

• At November 19, 2009, Julian wrote:

  All Star Comics #16 established the iconography.

• At November 19, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  This is the first time I've ever seen the Frank Harry cover.

  I've been waiting for a poster of the ...

• At November 19, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  I've never seen either of these, ever... But here's a good question. What are the odds this cover influenced Justice ...

• At November 19, 2009, Jace Mace wrote:

  I can't vote for either. I don't really think that a gallery of superheroes standing shoulder-to-shoulder makes for a good ...

• At November 19, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  If I had to choose between the cover to Justice League #1 and either of these, I'd choose JL without ...

• At November 19, 2009, Mark Cook wrote:

  Why not both? Although I guess you'd probably be sitting at 76 covers then...

• At November 19, 2009, chad wrote:

  have to go with the original version since it was the first that did it that without it adams proably ...

• At November 19, 2009, Wayne wrote:

  Adams, if for no other reason than THAT is the comic that really made me a comics fan for life.

• At November 19, 2009, Matt K wrote:

  Not knowing these covers, I prefer the All Star one. In the 100 Page cover the spotlight seems kind ...

• At November 19, 2009, LouReedRichards wrote:

  Yeah, I like the "common folk" aspect of the Golden Age one. Plus, I like that Dr. midnight has that ...

• At November 19, 2009, danjack wrote:

  I

  LOVE

  BOTH

  THESE

  COVERS!

  They both rock so hard it ain't funny!

  DFTBA

• At November 19, 2009, Scott Harris wrote:

  I have to say I think the original is fantastic and I like it a lot more than the homage. ...

• At November 19, 2009, Eric wrote:

  I vote for this one:

  http://coveredblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/anthony-vukojevich-covers-dc-100-page.html

• At November 20, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  This is a tough one...not sure which I would vote for.

• At November 20, 2009, Chris Stansfield wrote:

  Honestly, neither. I've never thought this was a great representation of Adams's work. The figures are sloppily drawn, and the ...

Here's the next four covers! And click here for the master list of all the covers posted so far!

35 Comments

• At November 19, 2009, Hangman Jury wrote:

  I have never seen that second one. Ever.

• At November 19, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  The homage cover by Neal Adams is more famous, but since folks thought All-Star #4 was the more iconic cover ...

• At November 19, 2009, Julian wrote:

  If you haven't seen that cover or variations on the theme, you haven't seen many comics.

• At November 19, 2009, dhole wrote:

  I haven't seen that second one either, and I've seen many, many comics!

  But not a lot of DC golden/silver age ...

• At November 19, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  That Mazzucchelli cover will be getting my vote. None of the others will

• At November 19, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  I've seen a lot of comics but I've never seen that Aquaman cover. I have seen #2 though.

• At November 19, 2009, chad wrote:

  as much as i went for the all star orignal cover which that was fast. got to go with the ...

• At November 19, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  The Batman cover gets my vote.

  The Brainac guy should be ashamed of himself for wearing that costume.

• At November 19, 2009, Scott MacIver wrote:

  The lettering on those 60-70's Aquaman comics were always so fly.

  That's right, fly.

• At November 19, 2009, Hangman Jury wrote:

  "If you haven't seen that cover or variations on the theme, you haven't seen many comics."

  I have not only seen ...

• At November 19, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I think everyone should now be forced to open their comments with "I have seen a lot of comic book ...

• At November 19, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Oooh, better yet!

  Before commenting, everyone should have to state how many comic book covers they have seen. And no estimations, ...

• At November 19, 2009, Richard J. Marcej wrote:

  "I see dead comic book covers."

• At November 19, 2009, Andy wrote:

  I have seen precisely 11,226 comic book covers in all my years on this Earth, also 468 graphic novel covers ...

• At November 19, 2009, Thok wrote:

  I think it's fair to say that while all of these are iconic, Batman 404 is the only one that ...

• At November 19, 2009, fourthworlder wrote:

  I'm counting, dammit, I'm counting.

  And I HAVE seen that Aquaman cover before. It's a beauty.

• At November 19, 2009, Jonathan Ehrich wrote:

  I have seen ALL comic book covers before, and I have never seen #2.

  (Except in the poll above this post ...

• At November 19, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  Love the Cardy Aquaman cover.

• At November 19, 2009, Dan Fleming wrote:

  Batman Year One.

  The aquaman cover is not iconic, but damn if it isn't amazing.

• At November 19, 2009, Craig B. wrote:

  I know I should know this, but what's the significance of #1 - first appearance of Braniac? It just ...

• At November 19, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yeah, first Brainiac.

  Within a year, Action Comics introduced Brainiac, Supergirl and the adult Bizarro (plus Metallo).

  Not bad for a year's ...

• At November 19, 2009, Phil Sandifer wrote:

  Since my pick of the Batman: Year One cover is now listed, I'll add one to yesterday's list of most ...

• At November 19, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  You'll have better luck with your other picks, Phil. ;)

• At November 19, 2009, Mike Blake wrote:

  DC considered the Brainiac cover iconic enough to use on the cover of the SHOWCASE PRESENTS volume that included it:

  http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/File:Showcase_Presents_Superman_Volume_1.jpg

• At November 19, 2009, Roman wrote:

  Is that Aquaman cover by Nick Cardy?

• At November 19, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yep.

• At November 19, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  If anyone has a cleaner copy of the front cover of the DC 100-Page Super Spectacular, please drop me a ...

• At November 19, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  J'onn's head looks really weird on the 100 page SS.

• At November 19, 2009, Wade AuCoin wrote:

  I'd like to add Wonder Woman #72 from the 1987 series, Batman #11 from the original series and of course ...

• At November 19, 2009, azjohnson5 wrote:

  First, they are all incredible; second, the #2 cover ,give Dick Giordano as much credit as Mr. Adams on that ...

• At November 19, 2009, Torsten Adair wrote:

  The iconic cover of Batman: Year One is the extreme spotlit close-up of Batman on the cover of the collection. ...

• At November 19, 2009, Phil wrote:

  Yeah, I kinda figured Zero Hour #4 wasn't going anywhere, but man, that clutched empty Flash mask? That was one ...

• At November 19, 2009, Paulv wrote:

  The 100 Page SS seems as special now as it did when I first picked it up off the rack ...

• At November 19, 2009, fourthworlder wrote:

  I remember being about ten and loving the novelty of the 100 pg Super Spec, and trying to understand who ...

• At November 20, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  The Braniac cover isn't all that impressive. But the other 3 are really great looking covers...I'd have to go with ...

Today we finish a two-part look at the Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth one-shot, by writer Warren Ellis and artist John Cassaday.

Okay, so when last we left our heroes, the good folks of Planetary (Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner and The Drummer) were tangling with Batman over this powerful fellow who keeps re-writing history (as a result of freaking out over some past trauma).

As Batman battles the Planetary team, the guy keeps re-writing history and Batman shifts between different versions of himself (Dark Knight Returns Batman, Batman TV show Batman, O'Neil/Adams Batman) until suddenly, he lands on old school Batman, which does not bode well for our reality shaping suspect...

As Batman leaves, there's some cute flirting between Batman and Jakita. I'd love to include it, but there just isn't enough room, and I had to get all the above pages.

25 Comments

• At November 19, 2009, Dunc wrote:

  I've only read the first Planetary trade but I'm skipping to this one and heading to the shop now.

  My God ...

• At November 19, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  This is great stuff and really touching, especially coming from Ellis.

  It's one of the few times that I remember seeing ...

• At November 19, 2009, Furious George wrote:

  Somebody get John Cassaday on a Batman book right now.

• At November 19, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  I meant cynicism, obviously :-)

• At November 19, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  I really want "Crossing Worlds" to go Absolute now...

  Like an appendix piece, in the same vein as Absolute Death...

  Please, ...

• At November 19, 2009, Joe Mama wrote:

  "You can give them safety. You can show them they're not alone. That's how you make the world make sense. ...

• At November 19, 2009, Ed wrote:

  I just have to gush a little bit - this "Year of Cool Comic Book Moments" is the single greatest ...

• At November 19, 2009, chad wrote:

  loved the speech batman gives to john revealing how he manages to keep going after losing like john his parents. ...

• At November 19, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Glad that you're enjoying the feature, Ed. Sadly, only a little more than a month to go!

  The Batman with a ...

• At November 19, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Mr. B.C. You really should make MORE room for whatever you need to post, and the consequences BE damned!!!! ...

• At November 19, 2009, Scott MacIver wrote:

  It was such a good way to tie together the mythos of Batman, and make him work again as a ...

• At November 19, 2009, Andy wrote:

  @Ed-

  The Batman talking at the end was, I believe, supposed to be an amalgam, idealized Batman that took the best ...

• At November 19, 2009, Neil Cameron wrote:

  Warren Ellis really summed up in this one shot everything about Batman you ever needed.

  Why DC has not collected the ...

• At November 19, 2009, Josh wrote:

  Brian: what about the last Batman, then, from the third page on? I think that's what Ed's talking about.

• At November 19, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Ah, gotcha.

  Yeah, that's Cassaday's take on an integrated Batman.

• At November 19, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  It's Jakita and Elijah's reactions at the top of the 4th page that always set this scene apart for me, ...

• At November 19, 2009, joshschr wrote:

  A cool moment from a cool series. Dick Grayson and the Joker's cameo at the start of the story ...

• At November 19, 2009, Chad wrote:

  I love it when Ellis drops his "I'm so cyncial and I drink a lot and I like to flirt ...

• At November 19, 2009, Michael wrote:

  Joshschr, I'm pretty sure Batman didn't exist at all in the main Planetary reality.

  Another Planetary/DC crossover moment I'd ...

• At November 19, 2009, jocutus wrote:

  Yeah, that last Batman is pretty awesome. After cycling through all the various well known versions (including the original ...

• At November 20, 2009, Ed wrote:

  I think the lesson here is, if everybody else would handle Batman as well as he is handled here, wouldn't ...

• At November 20, 2009, Roman wrote:

  Somebody at DC, get Cassaday onto Morrison's 6th arc of Batman and Robin! Also, bribe Darwyn Cooke, Farel Dalrymple, ...

• At November 20, 2009, Dean wrote:

  I love Ellis and Cassaday as a team. It is a shame Cassaday has squandered so much of limited ...

• At November 20, 2009, Joe Que? wrote:

  Planetary is overrated.

  As always, Warren Ellis' characters has zero depth.

  Except for this one moment.

• At November 21, 2009, Patient Boy wrote:

  Isn't the last iteration of Batman an Alex Ross design? I never really liked it all that much.

Random Thought! I've yet to try and get my girlfriend to read comics. She's read some, but always because she wanted to. Like, I got her the X-Files mini-series that Wildstorm put out a year ago as it was coming out -- because she's a fan of the show and I asked if she'd want it. She's read Fell since she asked for some comics to read and that seemed like what she would like. She's open to reading more, but doesn't have a strong enthusiasm for it -- and I don't want to press the matter. We've got plenty of other things in common, so why do I need to push comics on her? Besides, she already watches wrestling with me a lot of the time... can't anything just be mine?

Random Thought! My favourite sandwich: bologna and Cheez Whiz on white bread. I make double-decker versions to save bread. Put Cheez Whiz on one side of the first slice, lay the bologna on it, put CW on one side of another, lay it on top, put CW on the other side, blogna, CW on side of the last slice... rip off the top of the crusts. Tasty, tasty, tasty. I've eaten that sandwich (albeit not in the double-decker form) since I was a little kid. It was the only sandwich I'd eat then -- I also like PB&J and roast beef with (honey) mustard and onions now -- and my grade one teacher actually thought that eating that would make me stupid. She told my mom that. Seriously. My mom, being a smart lady, realised that that's bullshit and it's important that her son actually eat lunch. I continue to eat those sandwiches to this day and have a Master's...

Random Thought! Wrestling links: High Road/Low Road on Batista's heel turn (this was a hard one for me since I really like his heel turn -- I hope I did my negative part well... but, honestly, there aren't a lot of negatives with this one except for 'I don't like Batista,' which isn't a great argument for something this detailed). a roundtable preview of this past Sunday's TNA Turning Point PPV where I contributed my predictions for the event and went 2-6 (ouch!); and wrestler of the week, which I also contributed to. I love contributing to these roundtable group things. Usually, it's fairly easy and low effort -- takes ten to fifteen minutes at most. And they've always been my favourite pieces to read as you get a lot of perspectives in one place.

Random Thought! What's up with the Beast in SWORD #1? It's like he has no idea what running that sort of agency would entail as far as personal time...

Random Thought! More plugging time... years ago, I wrote a couple of comics for an anthology that's since been repackaged from its original graphic novel format into single issues available through a POD company. Tales from the Plex #3 features "Down by the River," which is about a guy and his pregnant girlfriend... I have vague memories of this one as being written for an artist who wanted something Poe-like... despite my having read no Poe at the time. Tales from the Plex issues fourteen and fifteen feature "Murder from Beyond the Stars," a 22-page story split up over the two issues. I'm somewhat fond of that story, illustrated by Brice Hall (who was graphics editor at my university paper while I was an A&E editor), it's about the murder of the president of Mars. I think I went a bit overboard with trying to cram a lot in through various storytelling techniques, but it's fun. And features a detective named Anthrax Palmer, which I think we can all agree is a pretty cool name. Here are the first four pages:

Random Thought! It may seem stubborn and stupid, but I'm not buying a Human Target book that's written by anyone other than Peter Milligan.

Random Thought! Dark Avengers #11: A lacklustre issue that doesn't really do anything. The stuff at the beginning with Victoria Hand is good, but the rest feels like treading water. No real insight offered or gained. And I hate Greg Horn's art. The past two issues have left me pretty cold.

Random Thought! Spider-Woman #3: This series is pretty good, but nothing amazing. I find Jessica's narration a little grating at times, a bit too self-conscious and self-pitying. Alex Maleev's art veers from amazing to ugly a bit too much as he finds the right mix of photoreference, computer effects, and his actual skill -- which he possesses quite a bit of.

Random Thought! I'll be reviewing The Authority: The Lost Year #3 for CBR, but... how did it only take one issue to make me groan and want to drop the book? I don't care if that twist at the end was Morrison's original plan, it's rather stupid. The first issue of the series had such potential with the Authority in the real world and, now, it's become very typical and mundane. Also, I would prefer to never see another comic inked by Trevor Scott who butchers Darick Robertson's art. Look for me saying all of that nicer at CBR sometime in the next few days.

Random Thought! So, Cerebus Archive is POD only now and glamourpuss looks like it's going that way... fuck. I won't miss Cerebus Archive too much since it was interesting but not 'must read,' but glamourpuss is absolutely brilliant and unique. Sure, the fashion stuff was hit or miss, but the focus on art? Brilliant.

Random Thought! Where was the Red Hood and Scarlet's HQ?

Random Thought! For future reference: telling me not to do something or dismissing something I do in a rude and dickish way? Best way to get me to do it more. Especially when it produces so many comments...

Random Thought! Collected here from my Twitter account is a little topic I wrote about on Saturday night. I've stuck it in one paragraph with no editing...

Tonight is "read a bunch of .pdfs of comics for reviewing and for pleasure" night. I'm really behind on the second part of that idea. I actually dislike reading comics in pdf form since they're made with seeing the full page in mind and you can't do that here and actually READ the words. Also, double-page spreads done horizontally? Not fun on a stationary screen. Not that I'm complaining. I love being able to check things out this way and love being sent pdfs... just not my ideal format. However, I do tell most publishers/creators to send me pdfs instead of physical copies for immediacy and clutter-saving reasons. Also, pdfs are a great way to get reviews. Not just because it doesn't involve paying for a comic but because it guarantees getting the book. Shops can't order everything and over the past year I've had to beg off reviewing a half dozen or so books because the shop didn't have them. pdfs also allow reviewers to keep up with books when OTHER reviewers call the first issue(s) so future reviews can be informed. I also try and buy any books I read in pdf and really enjoy (sometimes in singles sometimes in trade). I don't keep pdfs after using them. Also, pdfs lead to advance reviews that tell people ahead of Wednesday to buy a comic -- or not buy it... okay, so there's a downside... There is a wisdom, though, in not having reviewers keep up with everything since limiting them to doing what they already buys means a better shot at good reviews. Though, I doubt anyone's given that serious thought really. The 'keeping reviewers' informed is important if only because it means they'll be inclined to review something other than part 1 of a story. I mean, who wants reviews of JUST of part 1 and MAYBE the last part of a story? And I say that as a reviewer who's never been afraid to jump in mid-story for a review... for good or ill. Really, though, pdfs benefit the smaller, overlooked titles. The stuff you WANT reviewed (good or bad, honestly) just so people know of it. Otherwise, it's really left up to: what a reviewer is already buying, what s/he feels like spending money, or thinks will be on the rack. And, depending on the shop, don't bet on low-selling titles having a big rack presence. Hell, sometimes higher selling titles don't. And, depending on the shop, don't bet on low-selling titles having a big rack presence. Hell, sometimes higher selling titles don't. So, no reviews (aka free press) for those comics because of one shop not having a rack copy. Reordering will get ME a copy, but not a review. Also, honestly, pdfs have turned me on to a lot of books that I probably wouldn't have given a shot otherwise -- books that I then reviewed and made others aware of. Maybe not a lot of people picked them up, but some did and that's worth it, right?

Random Thought! Boston Legal was a fantastic show and I can prove it with two words: Denny Crane.

Random Thought! What I Learned from The Brave and the Bold #29: the '60s were better because people were friendly despite Vietnam and riots and other bad things, okay?

Random Thought! Man, I was really enjoying the hell out of V. by Thomas Pynchon until the final 150-200 pages where it seemed like he didn't know where he wanted to take things anymore.

Random Thought! I should go write a review or something...

46 Comments

• At November 18, 2009, Michael wrote:

  Greg Horn? Ewwww...

• At November 18, 2009, rwe1138 wrote:

  Yours is the first complaint about Beast in SWORD I've read that had nothing to do with the art.

• At November 18, 2009, Patrick C wrote:

  Red Hood and Scarlet's HQ was in the back of a truck.

• At November 18, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  rwe1138 -- He acted like someone completely new to that lifestyle. It threw me off a bit.

  Patrick -- I gathered, ...

• At November 18, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  We've got plenty of other things in common, so why do I need to push comics on her?

  Because they are ...

• At November 18, 2009, HondoBrode wrote:

  You do know that the writer of the upcoming Human Target comic is the creator of the character, right ? ...

• At November 18, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  In fairness, the Dark Avenger sissue -- based on Bendis's hype for it -- is more about building up the ...

• At November 18, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Also, I would prefer to never see another comic inked by Trevor Scott who butchers Darick Robertson's art.

  Trevor Scott used ...

• At November 18, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  My Canadian grandmother introduced me to the wonder that is Cheez Whiz many a long decade ago. But the Whiz ...

• At November 18, 2009, Patrick C wrote:

  I totally agree about the art. It took me 2 reads to figure out they were in a truck, ...

• At November 18, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I don't have it front of me, but from memory, up until he goes off the roof, you don't see ...

• At November 18, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Random Thought! If a Bill Paxton Pinball Machine could seem this cool :http://coronacomingattractions.com/news/worlds-only-bill-paxton-pinball-machine, can you imagine what a Grant Morrison ...

• At November 18, 2009, Craig wrote:

  RASL shipped this week in a #1-5 shrink-wrapped with temporary tattoos (two from RASL, two from Bone). I only mention ...

• At November 18, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  Maybe that isn't the Beast in SWORD. It could be a blue mountain goat. I actually like the ...

• At November 18, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  What is POD? Print on demand? How would that apply to a self-published comic?

  I really enjoyed the first ...

• At November 18, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  FGJ -- I know that it's a medium, but it's a medium that's usually appreciated on an individual basis, so ...

• At November 18, 2009, dantecat wrote:

  Denny Crane - Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!!

• At November 18, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Denny Crane: never lost, never will.

• At November 18, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Shatner is an international embarrassment.

• At November 18, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  FGJ -- I know that it's a medium, but it's a medium that's usually appreciated on an individual basis, so ...

• At November 18, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  I have a girlfriend already... plus, I'm not a Sandman fan really...

• At November 18, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Shatner is an international embarrassment.

  You call this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEZVwQptvWw an embarrassment?

  I have a girlfriend already... plus, I'm not a Sandman ...

• At November 18, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  I don't think she'd like Sandman...

• At November 18, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  But ALL chicks like Sandman!

  If not, then Tarot: The Black Witch, perhaps?

• At November 18, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  I was thinking Criminal, actually. But, neither she nor I am in a big rush there... she's not as big ...

• At November 18, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Make her nervous for a laugh - lend her Young Liars first up, just to see how she reacts.

• At November 18, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  She's read some of my CBR reviews of that book, so she's not entirely unfamiliar with it.

• At November 18, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  If she likes more girlish stories, how about Marvel Divas? It's not as bad as some people have claimed; ...

• At November 19, 2009, Logan wrote:

  My opinion on Shatner: He is a mess and a total dick, but he plays great characters.

• At November 19, 2009, Kelly Thompson wrote:

  Coming a little late to the party, but I would not recommend Marvel Divas to anyone, male or female. ...

• At November 19, 2009, JackKing wrote:

  I had no idea that fight was on a rooftop. I thought it was in some huge underground complex or ...

• At November 19, 2009, Joe wrote:

  I usually hang out with Japanese girls and comics don't have as much as a stigma there as they do ...

• At November 19, 2009, Dexter wrote:

  Comics are a medium and most folks are exposed to the medium through newspaper comics or other 'funny pages.'

  But that's ...

• At November 19, 2009, Mer wrote:

  Chad - have you introduced her to Y? I've introduced a lot of girl friends to comics with ...

• At November 19, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Thanks for the tips, but... read the the actual post where I give my thoughts on introducing my girlfriend to ...

• At November 19, 2009, Steven R. Stahl wrote:

  DARK AVENGERS #11 is one of the worst "Avengers" issues Bendis has done, if not the worst. The villains aren't ...

• At November 19, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  "My favourite sandwich: bologna and Cheez Whiz on white bread."

  CRACKER

• At November 19, 2009, HondoBrode wrote:

  @ Chad - Yes, Peter Milligan is great, but Len Wein, the creator of the character, is working both on ...

• At November 19, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Yes, I am well aware of who Len Wein is. And I don't have a fondness for the character so ...

• At November 19, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  My wife will read a comic if I want her to, but there are very few comics that appeal to ...

• At November 19, 2009, Stefan Wenger wrote:

  I loved SWORD. I'm surprised to find myself adding it to my small roster of (just 12) books I ...

• At November 19, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Thanks for the tips, but... read the the actual post where I give my thoughts on introducing my girlfriend to ...

• At November 20, 2009, Mateo wrote:

  Can somebody just comment and let me know what the move of glamourpuss to a POD company means? I ...

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  What Print on Demand simply means is that they only print copies if someone orders them. So if, say, you ...

• At November 20, 2009, Mateo wrote:

  thanks for the info brian. would I go to any POD company site, or in glamourpuss's case, the comic ...

• At November 20, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Comixpress, I believe, is handling Glamourpuss.

  So you'd got to their site.

2 Comments

• At November 18, 2009, Gavin wrote:

  I posted in that thread way back right after it was started and it still says that my comment is ...

• At November 18, 2009, Jeremy wrote:

  ^That means only you and Brian can see it. It still got counted.

The Nostalgia November archive can be found here.

Damage Control #4 by Dwayne McDuffie and Ernie Colon concludes the second mini-series dedicated to the superhuman clean-up crew, which was a tie-in to "Acts of Vengeance." I never read any other issues of Damage Control, but, right off, I should point out that, reading this issue, I didn't feel I needed to. Not in a 'this was crap' way, but in a 'I understood everything without any problems' sort of way, which is odd since the plot seems somewhat involved here. Basically, Damage Control was bought by an asshole who has cut costs causing its workers to go on strike at the same time that the "Acts of Vengeance" story has happened, causing a lot of destruction. So, Nick Fury uses SHIELD to help the former owner buy it back after discovering that the new owner bought it, partly, with money borrowed from the Kingpin. In the end, things are good -- and the workers, during the course of the story, even forego the strike to save lives.

The tone of this comic is lighter than most, but isn't quite a comedy either. While good, I think I would have preferred it to go one way or the other since the jokes aren't that funny and the drama isn't that compelling. It's an odd mish-mash of styles, neither working completely all of the time. The only scene that works as comedy is when Fury needs to get SHIELD's accountant's take on if buying Damage Control is doable and we get Agent Pierce, an actual SHIELD agent who bursts in with the unconscious body of a would-be assassin. He looks like a parody of a gung-ho agent who then gets on the computer to show a quick three-hour presentation on what SHIELD should do, practically giddy over spreadsheets and such. The actual plot stuff involving Kingpin and Damage Control doesn't totally work, particularly since the Kingpin walks away having made a lot of money. But, this is a pleasant enough read that really just can't settle on a tone. It seems like McDuffie wants to push things in a comedic direction but is held back a bit, which is a shame, because I always like irreverent comedy in superhero books. Ernie Colon's art is cartoonish and would fit the comedic tone if it was allowed to develop. His strongest work here is when he's hamming it up a bit.

Tomorrow, another Transformers comic as "Matrix Quest" continues.

11 Comments

• At November 18, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Y'know, I'm starting to wonder if you, Chad, have had a terribly traumatic childhood that LED you to read all ...

• At November 18, 2009, Bwhig wrote:

  Of course the "drama isn't compelling" to you, you've only read one issue of the series! If you don't know ...

• At November 18, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  I can't speak for Chad, Tom, but I know I read and enjoyed a lot of comics as a kid ...

• At November 18, 2009, Sallyp wrote:

  You really should hunt down the other issues, they are a hoot.

• At November 18, 2009, Greg McElhatton wrote:

  Yeah, it's kind of hard to find the build up of drama compelling if you only read the final issue ...

• At November 18, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Yeah, as a kid, I was big on just getting whatever looked interesting at the time. Or, trading what I ...

• At November 18, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Of course the "drama isn't compelling" to you, you've only read one issue of the series!

  COP OUT!

  If that's the case, ...

• At November 18, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  The AoV Damage Control miniseries was easily the weakest of the three Marvel published in the late 1980s, so this ...

• At November 18, 2009, Casey wrote:

  Can Super-Pro be far behind?

• At November 18, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  On the Kingpin plot being unsatisfying, this is largely because Damage Control aren't superheroes. Other stories make it clear ...

• At November 19, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Comics have amped up the "logical" human casualties of super-powered action scenes to the point that Damage Control would now ...

Crimson Shell by Jun Mochizuki.  Crimson Shell is a single volume release that tries to cram about 5 volumes of plot into one.  Ambition in storytelling isn't a bad thing but in this fantasy story -- about a girl who has a special power planted in her body in the form of a "red rose seed" -- the reader is bombarded with plot-twist after plot-twist.  The heroine, Claudia, is betrayed by the dark swordsman who once rescued her from an isolated existence and had helped her to draw on her powers to fight those who have been contaminated by the deadly Black Rose.  Her only thought after the betrayal is to save him, a task made more complicated by the fact she constantly finds herself among people who are always revealed to have hidden motivations for getting close to her.

In a way, Crimson Shell draws on fairy tale-esque imagery (red roses, girl "woken" from a kind of slumber by a knight), while not actually trying to reproduce any particular fairy tale.   One thing that surprised me is that in spite of feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of the plot in this manga, I never wanted to stop reading the volume.  The art -- while still in what I think of as a Square-Enix "house style" -- integrates the imagery of roses to offer a distinctive twist on that style.  It is hard to see a beautiful rose and not be reminded of the thorns lurking there, which is exactly the kind of tone Mochizuki manages to maintain throughout the volume.

This is a flawed comic but it should be noted it is also Jun Mochizuki's very first collected work.  As such, it actually bodes well that the book is overwhelming rather than underwhelming, which means I am looking forward to checking out the upcoming December release of Pandora Hearts (also by Mochizuki) to see how she develops as a creator.

Review Copy provided by Yen Press.

Jormungand volume 1, by Keitario Takahashi.  In many ways, Jormungand -- an action tale detailing the dangerous missions of a group of arms dealers -- feels unfinished.  It has sketchy art, somewhat shallow characterization, and plots that lack a certain level of coherence.  The book hangs on the figure of Jonah, a young West Asian boy who has lost his parents to a war (I don't believe any particular war is identified as the culprit) and as a result has become a child soldier.  The book opens when he joins the gung-ho Koko's crew of mercenaries (i.e. "M.O.D." or Merchants of Death).  Jonah, therefore, becomes a peddler of the very thing he claims to hate the most -- guns.  In other words, from the start his characterization is rather cloudy, but then there's a lot that doesn't make much sense in this book.  Admittedly, there is a purposeful sense of perversity instilled in book -- after all, a boy who hates guns decides to sell them and a group that sells weapons claims to be working "to promote world peace."

Koko -- the leader who is a bit reminiscent of Revy from Black Lagoon -- is clearly the figure (or should I use the more offensive, but descriptive, phrase "hot chick"?) in this book who has a thing for both madness and violence (and, of course, seems the most hyped when those things are all tangled up together) but she lacks the charismatic pull Revy has.   And as a whole that is what the book suffers from the most -- more than just a sense of consistent characterization, these characters lack the hook that makes us care about what happens to them and why they got in the weapons business in the first place.  In a violent action story it helps immensely if we care about whether or not the characters are going to live to see tomorrow, particularly in order to interest us in the dangerous games they are playing in each chapter, but this first volume wasn't able to inspire either emotion in me.

Review Copy provided by Viz.

2 Comments

• At November 18, 2009, 4thletter! » Blog Archive » Jormungand 1: Peace Through Superior Firepower wrote:

  [...] reading it. The second was the fact that Kate Dacey (review on MangaCritic) and Danielle Leigh (review on CSBG) ...

• At November 19, 2009, Astro Boy and some giveaways « MangaBlog wrote:

  [...] Novel Reporter) Connie on vol. 3 of Arm of Kannon (Slightly Biased Manga) Danielle Leigh on Crimson Shell and ...

Here's the next four covers! And click here for the master list of all the covers posted so far!

37 Comments

• At November 18, 2009, XBen wrote:

  Is that the first time we have Supes and Bats on the same cover?

• At November 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  The fourth, actually, but the first where the two are notably interacting.

  EDITED TO ADD: I thought you were asking about ...

• At November 18, 2009, VeganWithaYoYo wrote:

  If I remember correctly, it's the first issue where two heroes from different books met each other... and thus the ...

• At November 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  It's not THAT significant, Michael, as heroes had met each other before, but it's the first time Superman and Batman ...

• At November 18, 2009, marcrod wrote:

  I have never seen that wonderwoman cover before but damn that looks awesome. if anyone has any background on this ...

• At November 18, 2009, jocutus wrote:

  The Wonder Woman cover is from WW #1, Vol. 2 by George Perez, the reboot after Crisis on Infinite Earths ...

• At November 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Is this the first wrap-around on the list?

  Second. The Superman/Ali cover was the first one.

• At November 18, 2009, Adam wrote:

  So what was the first time two characters had a "team up"? I don't have my All-Star Archives anymore, ...

• At November 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Good question, Adam.

  MLJ's Wizard and Shield crossed over with each other very early in the Golden Age. That was a ...

• At November 18, 2009, Matthew Johnson wrote:

  Re Adam's question -- I recall a note in the Greatest Team-Up Stories TPB that mentioned a very early meeting ...

• At November 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Stripesy was not introduced until a year after the Wizard/Shield meet-up.

• At November 18, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I'm torn between that Batman and Wonder Woman cover.

  Really torn.

• At November 18, 2009, chad wrote:

  not really caring for any of the covers but i pick the wonder woman cover for it was the ...

• At November 18, 2009, azjohnson5 wrote:

  This is more like it: #4 is as classic as it is awesome, #1 is as iconic as you can ...

• At November 18, 2009, Sam wrote:

  I recognize the Neal Adams image, but was that cover the first time it appeared? Wasn't it originally an ...

• At November 18, 2009, Phil Sandifer wrote:

  My top 5 that haven't been featured yet:

  Action #1

  All-Star Superman #1 (One of a handful of modern covers to deserve ...

• At November 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  There's one theme day that I'm waiting on that will have a few covers that people are waiting for.

  It just ...

• At November 18, 2009, Michael wrote:

  Is Batman trying to save Lois, or feel her up?

• At November 18, 2009, kalebhammer wrote:

  @Sam. I think it's from Batman #251 - The Joker's Five-Way Revenge toward the end when Batman is chasing ...

• At November 18, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  "All-Star Superman #1 (One of a handful of modern covers to deserve to be on this list)"

  Agreed.

  Also, about Wonder ...

• At November 18, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  I have to say that Wonder Woman cover is probably the most iconic of the four presented today. That's ...

• At November 18, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  D'oh! Here's that Animal Link, so you can click on it:

  http://www.comics.org/issue/45566/cover/4/?style=default

  (And, just in case anyone's curious, here's the full wrap-around ...

• At November 18, 2009, Adam wrote:

  I like that the WW cover is the first wrap-around on the list, although I doubt it's here for that ...

• At November 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  It is not the first wrap-around cover on the list.

• At November 18, 2009, azjohnson5 wrote:

  kalebhammer is correct Sam. Thank goodness there are some who read comics from before 1986. Have to say I friggin ...

• At November 18, 2009, azjohnson5 wrote:

  http://www.fivestarcomics.com/knightwolf/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/shazam.jpg

  http://www.comics.org/issue/68962/cover/4/?style=default

  two covers I'm rooting for

• At November 18, 2009, Phil Sandifer wrote:

  Though #5 is certainly one of the best Animal Man covers, if you want raw iconicness (and I do think ...

• At November 18, 2009, Jim McClain wrote:

  Another treasury wraparound cover that I dearly love was from All-New Collectors' Edition C55 --Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes. ...

• At November 18, 2009, John Trumbull wrote:

  I don't know if the Batman cover should really be on the list. It's just homaging a splash panel ...

• At November 18, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  I was convinced it was actually the panel, but I've just compared it and you're right it's a rip-off - ...

• At November 18, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  Hey Brian, I forgot to ask: All-Star #4 obviously won in yesterday's polling. What were the numbers?

• At November 18, 2009, Harold wrote:

  How come someone can "hate" the All-Star Superman #1 cover? Not liking it it´s ok, but hate??

• At November 18, 2009, ChrisDonaghy wrote:

  Heck, the iconic cover of the two IS the one from "Five-Way Revenge!" That story re-launched the Joker as ...

• At November 19, 2009, Eric wrote:

  Happy to see more Wonder Woman. This is probably her most iconic cover (I'm pretty sure it's been turned into ...

• At November 19, 2009, Eric wrote:

  Also, I prefer this JSA cover to the other one in the poll so I'm happy it won. But I'm ...

• At November 19, 2009, nikki wrote:

  I don't get what is so special about the superman and batman ones

• At November 19, 2009, Torsten Adair wrote:

  I'm following this series... quite excellent!

  However... I'm reading this on my Treo cellphone, and, at best, only two covers load.

  Could ...