I LOVE COMICS ISLE OF MISFIT BOYS

In other news:

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/4258/arrowsin0.jpg

Also, in my capacity as ILC mod nerd, I am re-reading GM's New X-run. Newsflash: I wuv it SQUEEEEEEEEEEE.

I'm getting:
52 WEEK #41--back to the Montoya plot!
BATMAN #663--back to the Morrison plot!
GODLAND #16--for 60 cents, I'll give it another try
NEXTWAVE AGENTS OF HATE THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT TP--because everyone swears by it
THUNDERBOLTS #111--even though I have a sinking feeling
KRAZY & IGNATZ 1939-1940 A BRICK STUFFED WITH MOOMBINS--actually I have this already, but who doesn't love Herriman?

[xpost]

Great minds etc! Given FQ's proclivity for being, um, methodical, I would've been fine w/ just TWO artists - maybe an Igor Kordey that wasn't on 15 books @ the same time, maybe JPL & Sienkiewicz (tho they seem better suited for the somber & lowkey one-shots they did), maybe even Phil Jimenez!

If someone could team up GM & JRJR on something (ha - like his JLA run!), I'd be pretty WOOOOOOOOOOOO about life.

David: I have no objections to Kirbylove, it just seemed like there was nothing else to it, really. Like, yes, you love the King, now what are you going to do about it?

Douglas: I only remember seeing said rumour on ILC in some GM/NXM thread. Mentioned almost in passing, plus the fleshy people I've asked about it at my LCS don't know anything about it.

ASTONISHING X-MEN: Hey - someone with green skin yells in this book, probably. Why not?
BATMAN 663: NOW WITH PHOTOREALISITIC PICTURES OF CLOWNS IN OFF-KILTER COMPOSITIONS!!!
CASANOVA #7: There's a big anthemic, possibly apocryphal, stereophonic-in-a-trademark-low-fi-way "ALLLLLRIIIIIGHT" from an pre-BEE THOUSAND Guided By Voices album that pretty much sums up my reaction to this release. I look forward to being rocked.

so the new DC solicitations are up...

I feel the same way but I lacked the nerve to admit it. I don't feel like it's the pace that I have problems with, even though in the past that's usually been my main criticism of GM; instead, I never felt like the Batson story had any consequence or substance to it, which I guess comes to pacing.

Kaare, your art is great, but, um, no?

It's been too slow for mine - the second issue could just be a panel saying "BTW you have a kid" and have more wacky Perfect Strangers scenes.

instead, I never felt like the Batson story had any consequence or substance to it, which I guess comes to pacing.

All more Batman stories need to have no consequence!

In Other Rumored News: seems like JMS is going to be leaving the friend neighborhood confines of Amazing Spider-Man (about 2 years too late, IMO), & one of two possible dudes is slated to follow: Brian Reed (Friend of Bendis, co-conspirator on the Illuminati mini, currently doing a bang-up job on Ms. Marvel) or Ed Brubaker (needs no intro).

Either of those guys would be a boon, I think, even w/ the crap that's been done to Spidey of late (cf. everything JMS has perpetrated, from the Totemic BS to the Gwen Stacy crap to THE OTHER). Both of them have soldiered through editorially-mandated nonsense (cf. CIVIL WAR) & escaped with their dignity, so I'm sure they'd do fine wading through this morass.

I imagine BR has the less strenuous schedule (tho he's slated to help out with that perpetually promised Spider-Woman series), tho Eddie B getting his mitts on the Spidey clan seems like a dream come true (even though I'm of a mind that EB could write just about anything - spandexy or otherwise - & make it work). If Cam Stewart could somehow be roped into slumming it on a Big Two supertitle w/ Mr. Brubaker, that could possibly be the best thing ever.

i don't really read a lot of comicx, but i started reading the trade paperback of Kingdom Come.

It's really great!

The artwork is different...I guess Alex Ross is Big Deal in comix, according to the guys I work with.

His stuff reminds me of Norman Rockwell in a wierd way. It doesn't look like any other comic art I've ever seen.

Seems great so far : )

If you like Kingdom Come, you might also enjoy:
JUSTICE, a current 12-issue series by Alex Ross (I think he is writing it, too?) about the Justice League of America destroying the world, or something.
ALL STAR SUPERMAN, because it's really, really good.

Well, the fourth issue wrap-up was pretty ropey, but up until then I thought it was kind of great. It's campy and weightless, but not self-parodying. It reminds me a lot of the Alan Grant run on Detective Comics. And good jokes, too -- there should be more jokes in comics. Nice to have a Batman story that's well-written AND disposable -- we usually get one or the other.

Is this some Elsewords-style crap, or are they really killing MJ? Or does he have another wife on the side he reserves his dangerous spunk for?

I just wanna say that when I read it didn't sound so stupid (to me).

The Grant / Breyfogle run on Detective is one of my (if not my) favourite Batman run!. So many good jokes, Breyfogle in state of grace and some of the longest running "new" villains created from the 80's onward.

And about Cameron Stewart: read "The Other Side" last week and it's another "war is hell" story, but told in such way that it resembles more a mix between an old E.C. horror story and an old E.C. war story. Great, great, stuff.

I recently read Black Hole for the first time, and I liked the athmosphere in the comic a lot, but the whole thing felt a bit too vague. I mean, what was the "disease" supposed to be a metaphor for? Youthful alienation? If so, why was it so closely connected to (fear of) sex? I guess AIDS is the easiest answer (the people who get the disease are treated kinda like HIV positive), but it seems a bit too obvious.

-- Chuck_Tatum (pj.isaac...), February 13th, 2007.

hey chuck fuck off.

um...yeah so thx for the tips huk. i'll leave now, promise. :)

If you like the writer, Mark Waid, though, you should really check out his new Legion stuff. It's much more fun, and just as "epic."

If you like Dark Knight Returns, I'd highly recommend looking into BATMAN: YEAR ONE, which is also by Frank Miller but with David Mazzuchelli (very elegant, with an extraordinary sense of design) on art. Some people (one of whom happens to be me) consider it a better story.

And me.

Mazzuchelli is an odd one - his late superhero comics are much more interesting than his subsequent 'art comix' series Rubber Blanket, which seemed a gratuitous pointless denial of the artist's phenom drawing/craft skillz

GAWD the WonderCon programming schedule is UP but real ILC IS NOT for me to GEEK OUT!! T__T

(Only vaguely comics related, but not really worth a thread in its own right)

And I doubt MATT wants to pay AT LEAST THIRTY BUCKS A MONTH to FIND OUT.

- World War 3 promo image has Robin in Red Robin getup.
- collagetasm as a shock final page in er, I forget what.

And I second the Eric Powell hubbaing - even GJ @ his most corny headpunchiest couldn't screw this up (& don't prove me wrong, duder).

SO WRONG

i STILL haven't been to the comic book store in weeks. i should go today. maybe i will go RIGHT NOW. hrmr. i bet i've already missed a lot of titles fer goods. i hate it when this happens. no comic shop close to my house means i don't want to make a stop in the wet & cold between work/home.

also of possible interest, peter bagge drew this ad for the store i work at:
http://a960.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/1/l_e618959c5b46d2b82997bfbdc806f23f.jpg

Anyway, Showcase Aquaman is Aqua-Awesome. VERY kid-oriented. Sorta like the Flintstones, where the most fun is in seeing prehistoric animals playing records, washing dishes, etc, only the underwater animals that do the same in Aquaman never make wisecracks. So far my favourite story is "Aquaman's Sea Animal Hospital", which is a very gentle and non-violent story about Aquaman opening a Sea Animal Hospital (duh) and helping his finny friends (many of which don't actually have fins--there seems to be a rather loose definition of "fish" in these stories). And then, quite suddenly and abruptly, SEA PIRATES SHOOT AQUAMAN DEAD! I won't spoil the story for you, but, um, I'm so happy I got this volume. I'm still not sure if I'll continue buying the Showcase series unabated, but, whatev.

AQUAMAN EVEN HAS THE POWER TO MAKE A STORY WITH THE SILVER AGE GREEN ARROW IN IT GOOD. That's saying something.

Also wonderful is the very first panel in the Aquaman origin story, where you see this frazzled old sailor type shouting incentive at a young kid locked in a tank with two sharks.

anyway:
COUNTDOWN 51-48
Written by Paul Dini and others
Breakdowns by Keith Giffen
51 written by Paul Dini; art by Jesus Saiz
50 written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray; art by Jim Calafiore
49 written by Tony Bedard; art by Carlos Magno
48 written by Adam Beechen; art by David Lopez
Covers by Andy Kubert & Tim Townshend
The event of the year is here! This brand-new, year-long weekly series features a
cast of hundreds where anything goes! With head writer Paul Dini and a rotating team of
some of the industry’s best writers and artists, COUNTDOWN will serve as the backbone
of the DCU in 2007.
When a character dies in COUNTDOWN 51, it sets off an unexpected ripple that
will touch virtually every character in the DC Universe.
The COUNTDOWN is on…so begins the end!
COUNTDOWN 51 on sale May 9
COUNTDOWN 50 on sale May 16
COUNTDOWN 49 on sale May 23
COUNTDOWN 48 on sale May 30
32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

also, RIP Bob Oksner
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_02_18.html#012954

It's a good spot though. There's a story to be told as well of the sadness he seems to feel stumbling across the purple-eyed mutant offspring of Atlantis (which may well be why you see it most in the Aqualad stories). He probably needs more EMO STARING ACROSS THE SEA FROM ROCKY OUTCROPS.

Other things remembered about why the rest of you should buy this - Aquaman being able to control a water buffalo because it has... er... water in its name. And the one where Lois Lane gets turned into a mermaid because her legs hurt, only for Superman to memorise the whole history of medicine and turn them back into legs again.

Anyway, Countdown. I'm not sure what the linkage is, but one of the Teen Titans dies in the book shipping a week before the first Countdown. Or perhaps doesn't, but is dead by the time the next issue of Titans comes out.

What's the "major spoiler" mentioned in the comments field on 52 PickUp that's in the latest GLC?

Did Showcase HoM Vol 2 ship when it was supposed to, or has it been delayed?

BTW, finally caught up on 52. That fight = BALLS. Read like GJ all the way (cf. the speechifying about being a hero GOD SHUT UP) w/ the other folks adding dialogue flourishes. Also, smart me didn't realize the other woman in NP was Ms. Prince until I finished reading & looked @ the cover. Brains!

Smart money's on Starfire to bite it (and then come back whenever Johns returns to TT).

GLC spoiler maybe "Great Darkness Saga" fakeout?

What be "Great Darkness Saga"?

Can anyone w00t or pfft on the P&G Uncle Sam stuff? I think Douglas (!!!) & Aldo were reading it...?

Oh, Huk - not you too.

52 WEEK #42
KRYPTO THE SUPER DOG #6 (OF 6) - final issue! buy it or the dog gets it!
OMEGA MEN #5 (OF 6) - Flint Henry, where have you been all my life?
ROBIN #159
SPIRIT #3
SUPERMAN #659 - MORE KRYPTO!
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #4
SHE-HULK 2 #16
ACTION PHILOSOPHERS #8 SENSELESS VIOLENCE SPECTACULAR

1) get Cliff Chiang on She-Hulk yesterday (tho I heart Rick Burchett)
2) I would be fine w/ Genius Jones being all meta, except for the godawful "didn't make CENTS" pun
3) FUNKY FLASHMAN!

As for Wonder Heinberg - I guess "scheduling delays" have prompted DC to push off the final part of his story into some special one-shot / annual thing - #5's gonna be a fill-in, #6 is going to start the Jodi Picoult run, & to make it up to the fannies (according to AH), the final part of Where Is McSteamy? is gonna feature loads of special bonus goodies (hopefully not drawn by C-list fill-ins).

Note to Big Two - when working w/ TV & movie folks, plz get the scripts IN THE CAN before you start soliciting.

IGNORE ME.

That KRYPTO kiddie miniseries has been surprisingly fun.

COUNTDOWN, uh, DEVELOPING.

(um hi, can anyone spot hidden gems in this potentially awful but intriguing ebay list of minis? sorry to waste time/divert conversation.)

For me:
52 WEEK #42: mother of mercy, is this the end of Dibny Diary?
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #1: Waid and Perez together--this looks like big fun
THE HELMET OF FATE: BLACK ALICE: just because I like the character
THE SPIRIT #3: origin time!
CIVIL WAR #7: I have a joke I'm not going to be able to crack until Wednesday
NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI #2: and wait, is #3 coming out in 2010?
HOUSE OF SUGAR GN: really terrific project from imprint Hope Larson started to publish it
HEARTBREAK SOUP TP: actually I have this already--the fourth or fifth incarnation I've owned this material in--but holy crap it's great
MAGGIE THE MECHANIC TP: ditto--the Hernandez-curious who don't want to drop $50 on the "Locas" or "Palomar" hardcovers should really try these two

Minty Fresh: in that list, I'd say DC's "Invasion" is curiously entertaining in an over-the-top semi-awful way; the sadface 1979 "World of Krypton" mini is worth a look; and the 7 Soldiers things are wonderful if you haven't read 'em, especially Zatanna. Otherwise, total grimness: almost nothing I'd rescue from a quarter bin.

52 WEEK #42
AQUAMAN SWORD OF ATLANTIS #49: Kurt's not exactly leaving on a high note; make way for INFINITE TADFACE
BIRDS OF PREY #103
BRAVE AND THE BOLD CVR A #1
CHECKMATE #11: plz do not revert back to the suck that was issues 1 thru 4 or so
DMZ #16 (MR)
HELMET OF FATE BLACK ALICE #1: ah, bless you, Gail
SPIRIT #3
SUPERMAN #659
WONDER WOMAN #4 (RES)

BATTLE POPE #13 (MR)
INVINCIBLE #39

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #538 CW: Cardiac nooooooooooo
CIVIL WAR #7 (OF 7): The Spot nooooooooooo
HELLSTORM SON OF SATAN #5 (OF 5) (MR)
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #3
NEW AVENGERS ILLUMINATI #2 (OF 5)
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #4: guess-starring Stilt-Man's Hot Wife, AKA Stems
SHE-HULK 2 #16: B-I-WEN-DI-GO! (TM Slott Machine)
SILENT WAR #2 (OF 6): ah, bless you, Frazier
SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #1: McKeever Spidey woo; reprints boo
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #39
X-MEN FIRST CLASS #6 (OF 8): SKRULL!

LOCAL #8 (OF 12) (MR)

AVATAR COMICS ALAN MOORE'S MAGIC WORDS G/N VOL 1 2002
AWESOME COMICS KABOOM 1-3 FULL SET 1999 JEPH LOEB
CROSSGEN COMICS SALVATORE'S DEMONWARS EYE.. 1-5 SET
CROSSGEN COMICS SALVATORE'S DEMONWARS TRIAL.. 1-5 SET
CROSSGEN COMICS SAURIANS 1-2 FULL SET 2002 MARK WAID
CROSSGEN COMICS SOLUS 1-8 FULL SET 2003 PEREZ
DARK HORSE COMICS GO BOY 7 1-4 SET 2003
DARK HORSE COMICS SEX WARRIOR 1-2 FULL SET 1993 MILLS
DARK HORSE COMICS SIN CITY SILENT NIGHT SPECIAL MILLER
DARK HORSE COMICS STAR WARS BOBA FETT SPECIAL 1996
DARK HORSE COMICS STAR WARS DARK EMPIRE G/N 1994
DARK HORSE COMICS STAR WARS EMPIRE STRIKES BACK G/N '97
DARK HORSE COMICS STAR WARS REVENGE OF THE SITH G/N '05
DARK HORSE COMICS STAR WARS VISIONARIES G/N 2005
DC COMICS ADAM STRANGE 1-3 FULL G/N SET 1990 KUBERT
DC COMICS AQUAMAN 1-4 FULL SET 1993/94 PETER DAVID
DC COMICS AQUAMAN 1-5 FULL SET 1989 KEITH GIFFEN
DC COMICS BATMAN DARK KNIGHT ADVENTURES G/N 1994
DC COMICS DESPERADOES QUIET O/T GRAVE 1-5 FULL SET 2001
DC COMICS FOREVER PEOPLE 1-6 FULL SET 1988
DC COMICS GIANTKILLER 1-6 FULL SET+ 2000/01 BRERETON
DC COMICS GREEN LANTERN NEW DAWN GRAPHIC NOVEL 1997
DC/CLIFFHANGER COMICS CRIMSON x5 DF VARIANTS WITH C.O.A
DC/CLIFFHANGER COMICS TWO-STEP 1-3 FULL SET 2003 ELLIS
DC/HOMAGE COMICS DISAVOWED 1-6 FULL SET 2000
IMAGE COMICS 10th MUSE 1-9 FULL SET 2000/02
IMAGE COMICS 21 TWENTY ONE 1-3 FULL SET 1996 WEIN
IMAGE COMICS ALLEY CAT 1-6 FULL SET+SPECS ALLEY BAGGETT
IMAGE COMICS ALTER NATION 1-4 FULL SET 2004
IMAGE COMICS AREA 52 1-4 FULL SET 2001
IMAGE COMICS ARIA SUMMER'S SPELL 1-2 FULL SET 2002
IMAGE COMICS ARIA USES OF ENCHANTMENT 1-4 FULL SET 2003
IMAGE COMICS ATHENA INC 1-6 +MORE 2001/03 HABERLIN
IMAGE COMICS BLOOD LEGACY 1-4 FULL SET 2000
IMAGE COMICS BLOODWULF 1-4 + SPECIAL FULL SET 1995
IMAGE COMICS BOOF + THE BRUISE CREW 1-6 FULL SET 1994
IMAGE COMICS CHASSIS 1-5 FULL SET 1999/2000
IMAGE COMICS CYBERNARY 1-5 FULL SET 1995/96
IMAGE COMICS DARING ESCAPES 1-4 FULL SET 1998/9 HOUDINI
IMAGE COMICS DARK MINDS VOL2 0-10 FULL SET 2001/02
IMAGE COMICS DARK REALM 1-4 FULL SET 2000/01
IMAGE COMICS FELON 1-4 FULL SET 2001/02 GREG RUCKA
MARVEL COMICS BLAZE OF GLORY 1-4 FULL SET 2000
MARVEL COMICS DAREDEVIL NINJA 1-3 FULL SET 2000 BENDIS
MARVEL COMICS DEADLINE 1-4 FULL SET 2002 DAILY BUGLE
MARVEL COMICS DOOM 1-3 FULL SET 2000
MARVEL COMICS ELEKTRA ROOT OF EVIL 1-4 FULL SET 1995
MARVEL COMICS GHOST RIDER CROSSROADS SPECIAL 1995
MARVEL COMICS NIGHT THRASHER 1-4 FULL SET 1992/93
MARVEL COMICS NIGHTSIDE 1-4 FULL SET 2001/02

ONI PRESS QUEEN & COUNTRY DECLASSIFIED 1-3 SET RUCKA
DC COMICS JLA ROCK OF AGES G/N 1998 GRANT MORRISON

You know you're in Flavor Country when you have to name the model for the main character of the mini you're trying to dump as the selling point.

oh yeah i forgot immortal iron fist this week!

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #4: PUNISHIN'!
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #3: IRON FISTIN'! (and yes - ew.)
SOCK MONKEY: THE "INCHES" INCIDENT #3: Am I the only one showing this book love? Will Inches prevail against gingerbread obsessed ants? Will Uncle Gabby and Crow Doll survive her "madness"? Will I remember the name of the Cap'n guy?

Really now. Huh...

[xpost] - Well, SOMEONE dies. Might as well be him.

I know. Some things just can't wait for the trade - for me one of those things is the image of a billion ants crawling into the cracked head of a cute doll.

Almost as lovely, LOEG: Black Dossier is going to be surprisingly affordable! Hopefully, that is the fancypants edition.

Will prob. be rebuying the Los Bros strips, too

* "Superman For All Seasons" trade
* "Batman: Year 100" trade
* "Showcase Presents: Shazam!" (like Huk, I am starting to think that all this showcasing might be filling up my shelves too much - but Matthew's description of this really made me curious)
* "Popeye" (lol collection is hueg)

Am I about to have fun? YES I AM!

I also saw this thing there called "Scooter Girl", which I was torn about - on the one hand, I just can't stand manga, but on the other, I am a total sucker for tweeness, soap opera and Swingin' London bullshit. Anyone know anything about this?

CIVIL WAR #7: Manages to make IDENTITY CRISIS look like Grant Morrison. Just awful, although Reed's letter to Susan at the end is hilarious.

I almost want the ending spoiled, but I'm not sure I give a shit. Tho I'd have to wait until next week to find out what actually happened. Does another minority / C-list hero die?

The Spider-Man / Mr. Fantastic exchange…oh you will cringe.

Honestly, I think my estimation of CW would've increased 100 fold if a monkey with Tourette's and no frontal lobe wrote the dialogue instead of MM. Hope he's putting more effort into his JPEG fumetti!

I finally picked up the first issue of Dark Tower, and ... geez. The art is just distracting.