I’m reading the second volume of “Action Philosophers”, so good! But some of the stuff in the Marx one (“capitalism in neither white, straight or male by nature”, paraphrase)...I’m sure that’s true and all, but perhaps a bit out of place to have Marx himself comment on it? I mean, those sorts of issues never really came up during his lifetime, did they?

In other news:

Just read Fables vol 2, and it is a lot better than the first, if still a bit clunky in places. Nice Kirby-tinged work from Buckingham and the inker whose name I can’t remember.

Steve Leiohla (sic), I think—he’s left the book (IIRC), but his work w/ MB was definitely great. Fables never really loses its clunkiness, but that awkwardness somehow turns into a plus for the book. Can’t really explain how, but it does—Willingham’s recent superhero work, OTOH, retains this clunk w/out doing much w/ it.

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

hi dere.

Hello, how was your New Gods-athon?

I just read Doom Patrol Vol. 5: Magic Bus. GM could have stretched out that Nobody for Prez for a few more issues and I’d have been ok with it.

Well, as long as we’re here, the new shipping list is up: http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/shipping_021407.txt

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?

David, I bought the hardcover with all the Morrison X-Men stuff, and am currently making my way through it myself. Oh, how I wish he’d been able to find ONE ARTIST who could make monthly deadlines...

Douglas, what didn’t you like about G0DLAND (respect the zero!) the first time around? The rampant Kirbylove/fetish?

[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.

Douglas, any truth to the rumours that the NXM HC is missing ~10 pages from the TPBs?

I’m sorry for saying mean stuff about Jeff Smith Shazam. Shit is awesome!

52 WEEK #41

BATMAN #663

GEN 13 #5

JLA CLASSIFIED #34

MARTIAN MANHUNTER #7

OMAC #8

SHOWCASE PRESENTS AQUAMAN VOL 1 TP

STORMWATCH PHD #4

TRIALS OF SHAZAM #5

Y THE LAST MAN #54

NEXTWAVE AGENTS OF HATE #12

PUNISHER PRESENTS BARRACUDA MAX #1

ULTIMATE X-MEN #79

DonkLeeeee—it might be missing the script sample that was included w/ the NUFF SAID issue.

can we start yelling for our own board again? :p

Donkey Kong: where is this rumor?

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?

Aldo: TRIALS OF SHAZAM!>?!? How Winnicky is it?

I don’t see why we need our own sandbox board. We’ll get our board back in a “couple days” (translation: next week).

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.

Trials Of Shazam is pretty Winnicky, but they have just introduced a POTENTIALLY GOOD character, so I’ll stick with it I think. Premise: Captain Marvel has to visit the gods whose powers he gains, in their modern Gaimany disguises, and win them over to get his powers back.

ONCE MORE, INTO THE FLASH!:

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.

52 WEEK #41—

BATMAN #663—I think GM’s Batman has been the weakest of his recent stuff (though I haven’t read whatever Wildstorm thing you guys were all crying about a few months ago). Maybe it’s been too fastpaced for my liking.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #9—This could have been Gotham Central in Space. But it’s not.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER #7 (OF 8)—Only one more month until J’Onn reverts to him what I like. Though, aside from the INTENSELY HIDEOUS new design, it’s been sorta above mediocre in a I’ve been reading some many shitty comics so long it looks like up to me kind of way.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS AQUAMAN VOL 1 TP—I should probably take Showcase off my pull list, or move to a bigger house.

SUPERMAN CAMELOT FALLS HC—Did they ever finish this storyline? Or was the storyline just Arion showing up and blaming the shit-tay future on Superman (when it was really obviously Jimmy’s fault, another “mate/meet” screw-up)

so the new DC solicitations are up...

I was kidding about the board thing, joeks!

I think GM’s Batman has been the weakest of his recent stuff (though I haven’t read whatever Wildstorm thing you guys were all crying about a few months ago). Maybe it’s been too fastpaced for my liking.

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.

Oh, no—according to the Internets, Spider-Man: Reign has Spidey confessing that he killed his wife with his RADIOACTIVE SPERM.

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

BATMAN #663—I think GM’s Batman has been the weakest of his recent stuff (though I haven’t read whatever Wildstorm thing you guys were all crying about a few months ago). Maybe it’s been too fastpaced for my liking.

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!

I don’t know if I’ve ever had a week with more DC than Marvel ever. Only 52, Batman, GLC, and Astonishing X-Men, for me.

so, anyone read dark tower?

I’m guessing upwards of 200,000 folks did. None of them are here, tho, as far as I know.

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.

hey everybody.

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 : )

Uh-oh.

Hi Matt,

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.

I think GM’s Batman has been the weakest of his recent stuff (though I haven’t read whatever Wildstorm thing you guys were all crying about a few months ago). Maybe it’s been too fastpaced for my liking.

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.

I’d agree, but I didn’t laugh at any of the jokes.

I’m kindof meh on Ms Marvel, it’s alright but it’s been something like 12 issues and I still don’t really care about the main character.

Oh, no—according to the Internets, Spider-Man: Reign has Spidey confessing that he killed his wife with his RADIOACTIVE SPERM.

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?

It’s Elseworlds-style crap, tho given what they’ve done w/ the “official” Spidey storyline of late, I don’t think it matters anymore.

I was liking Spiderman Reign (even though it’s simply “The Dark Spidey Returns”) until Huck voiced the fact that, indeed, Spider-Man killed Mary Jane with his radioactive sperm.

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.

Why would Spider-Man’s sperm only be radioactive instead of his whole body?

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.

I don’t know if the radiated spunk is an awkward homage to that Lee/Ditko Spidey plot where PP gave Aunt May a blood transfusion & almost killed her because of his radioactive blood. I guess MAYBE Kaare Andrews is thinking that MJ caught Spidey AIDS or something because the radioactivity fugged up his DNA, but now I feel like Hairy Gnolls going for the worst No-Prize in the world.

Was it really me who pointed out the spider-sperm? I know I made a big deal about the spider-sack in the first issue. I feel like I’m the go-to-guy when people think of juvenile shit on ILC—and I guess it’s deserved, so whatev.

It’s not really that different from the Armageddon 2001 Superman story where “10 years in the future” (aka 6 years ago) Lois is dead because Superman knocked her up and then the Superembryo kicked.

I actually liked S-M:R #3 a lot more than I liked #2 which seemed like a lot of spinning wheels.

Uh-oh.

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

hey chuck fuck off.

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

You don’t have to leave!

I got back into comics after 12/13 yrs away through Kingdom Come! I’m not mocking you!

Yeah, M@tt, don’t leave. Most people here who’ve read “Kingdom Come” hate it (I certainly do), and Alex Ross isn’t too popular either (although I think Dan Perry has had some good things to say about him), but ya know, consensus is boring! Stick around.

Tuomas: I think the “disease” in Black Hole is a metaphor for sex itself, and the way it changes adolescents. (Parents are afraid of their kids getting it, it makes you different from the way you were before and moves you from one community into another, etc.) Note all the blatant sex-as-the-scary-unknown imagery in the book, from the slit in the frog’s belly in the very first scene onwards.

Yeah, but the kids didn’t just move from one phase to another, they quite clearly moved from being part of the mainstream society to feeling estranged, living on the fringes, looked down upon by other folks (not just parents, but other teens as well). And the way I interpreted the ending is that the two main characters were slowly coming in terms with this estrangement. Sex-as-scary is definitely part of the story, but I felt Burns was aiming for something else too.

Oops, sorry Matt! I’m not a fan of Kingdom Come either, but mutual-comics-nerd-consensus is definitely boring.

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.”

And Jay-Z likes Kingdom Come, too!

My nerd penance is having to trudge a mile through a Canadian snow dump to buy 52 today.

At least you know that you won’t be doing so merely for a full-issue Steel fight.

Though maybe call ahead to see if the comics actually made it through the snow.

it’s all good chuck. i don’t know much abt comics, but i like the ones i’ve read (watchmen, league of xtraordinary gents, and dark knight returns...and some punisher series that was really violent and kinda silly in a good way)

Man I haven’t been to the store in weeks.

Hey Matt—

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.

A Canadian mile isn’t that far! Even in snow!!

BATMAN: YEAR ONE... Some people (one of whom happens to be me) consider it a better story.

And me.

Richie’s rec is a gd one, esp. as DC have just issued yet another paperback edition of Year One complete with Mazzuchelli thumbnails and Miller’s script pages—it’s like a little object lesson in how to read+make comics, v useful for the newcomer. The colouring by Richmond Lewis is as gd as it gets.

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

Batman: Year One is positive vaudevillian.

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

...as I know people are just DYING to know which artists I’m going to terrorize for free sketches and exactly how I’m going to stalk BRAIN KAY VON this year, and how I can’t go to the Friday BSG panel.

Nice, an actual decent artist on 52 this week.

Meanwhile, in Dark Tower news:

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=20372

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

matt DO YOU KNOW that even though most of ilc hates KC that alot of it is actually becoming REAL LIFE DC CONTINUITY?!!?!?

IT MIGHT NOT BE, tho.

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

What are the actual hints so far (not counting Kingdom, right?)

- World War 3 promo image has Robin in Red Robin getup.

- collagetasm as a shock final page in er, I forget what.

- shock final end to next Green Arrow as Ollie’s arm falls off!

- skintight costumes start to sag in a “realistic” fashion

- Donna Troy starts looking like her from Strangers With Candy

Note to self: visit George Perez site to scrub Huk-L’s description of Secret Comic Wife from head.

Leeeeee, if ILC isn’t back, you have to post your sketches and recap your stalkery behavior here. Very enjoyable.

BATMAN #663 very, very, very good—and astonishingly so, considering the 1997 “rawk!!!” album artwork which plagues it (should undermine, but functions reasonably well for the purposes of illustration).

Really? I got scared and left it on the shelf, which is the first time I’ve done that for a GM comic in a while.

The art kinda reminded me of that horrible computer-generated Batman comic from the early nineties. (Digital Justice?)

uuughh they are dragging out this montoya is the new question shit

I’m ignoring this Batman “booK” type bs.

Meanwhile hubba(2x) = http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/Action/ActionPOwell.html

I’m gonna guess that there aren’t that many L@ur@ Hud$0ns from NYC that read comix, work @ a comic store & used to (still?) post to ILC. The reason I mention this is her blog (fwabow) just got mentioned on ZEE BEAT (slorp), so, um, yeah? Yeah.

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

OMG LOOK WHO’S LETTERING ARCHIE

SO WRONG

The art reminded me of John Van Fleet, because it was! I wuv JVF, though I don’t know if he’s actually done anything since Shadows’ Fall.

You know, this might shock the one or two of you that actually read this book or care, but I don’t think Ultimate Professor X is actually dead OMG! I think Kirkman’s having the Prof pull that trick he did in the “real” X-books, where he pretended to die so he could prepare for the Z’Nox invasion! & maybe Magician is the Ultimate Mimic! Or something! Yeah! COMICS! BIG WHIFF ZOW!

Also—if someone could inform Yanick Paquette that teenage women, on average, do not have DD breasts, that would be AWESOME, as it would make his rather swank Kevin Nowlan nods easier to enjoy.

Why isn’t Patrick Gleason drawing MORE comics?

MY SON IS A WILDCAT!

I just realized that Hannibal Tatu is really David Spade circa 1991.

AND I THOUGHT AQUAMAN SMELLED BAD ON THE OUTSIDE!

ooh, good for laura! she’s also writing occasionally for publishers weekly too, i understand? and working for virgin comics in some undisclosed position. but she doesn’t post anymore.. maybe she lurks still?

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:

Wow Ian, that is godhead.

Ha—Huk, I was gonna ask you to ‘splain what happened in GLC, because while it looked all cool & shit, I could barely make heads or tails of all the black hole / fighting shenanigans.

*lurk*

So, um, Chameleon Boy’s dad and Infectious Lass’s Great-Great-Grandmother and Darkseid beat up someone or other, and found the Dominators’ station and, um, Guy Gardner doesn’t kill so, like, he has to go back to the normal GL gang. I don’t know how much I remember, but it was fun while it lasted. Very impressive outing from writer Keith Champagne, whose only previous writering was on a DEATHLY DULL JSA adventure in the Thunderbolt Dimension. High hopes for his WWIII stuff!

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.

I second the love for Showcase Aquaman. This is nearly as good as the Superman volumes—the Sea Animal hospital story, and the one set in New Venice are worth their entry alone, and then once Aqualad turns up there are Jimmy Olsen levels of goodness, especially the one where Aqualad loses his memory the day before his test for school, and the one where they arrange the Undersea Olympics.

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

Oh God, I remember that Green Arrow/Aquaman from the DC Archives edition I own. Green Arrow and Aquaman notice that their respective foes have switched territories, so instead of doing the *logical* thing and having Aquaman defeat GA’s underwater foe and GA fite with Aquaman’s enemy on dry land, they decide that the best thing to do is get Green Arrow some diving gear and have Aquaman drive around the city with A GIANT FISH-FILLED TANK!

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.

Yeah, Aqualad is way more from the Jimmy Olsen mold than the Robin mold. I like Aquaman’s intimations in the Aqualad intro that he’s really nothing but a drifter...in a way, he’s Superman w/o Clark Kent. He’s just this castoff orphan unequiped to live in The New World, but utterly alienated from The Old World. He’s the (blond-haired and presumably blue-eyed) Jew who couldn’t assimilate. I’m very pleasantly surprised at the pathos I’ve found in Aquaman.

Did I just blow ILC’s mind with my intimation that Aquaman is the Wander Jew (eff one Phantom Stranger) or did everyone just take the rest of the weekend off?

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

+ing somewhere in above msg

written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

but Adam Beechen (the new Dan Slott???)

yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

also, RIP Bob Oksner

http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_02_18.html#012954

Because if you can’t trust the people who gave you Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters, you must be able to read.

I started drinking not long after you posted that, which is why I didn’t pick up on it.

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?

I’m actually thinking about not buying this. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME etc.

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!

Oh yeah, the Lois Lane/Aquaman story, where Superman is given “every degree we have”, and then NOT ONCE called “Dr. Superman”.

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

GLC spoiler maybe “Great Darkness Saga” fakeout?

See, I might have thought Starfire, but the April issue of Titans features a “shocking conclusion to the Deathstroke saga”. That’s normally hyperbole, but given the next issue has SADFACE GRAVE WATCHING on the cover it being Starfire seems like a cop-out, or at least a missed opportunity.

What be “Great Darkness Saga”?

Classic Levitz-era LOSH story whose climactic reveal is SPOILED by the trade cover

Ha—I think there’s a similar GOTCHA in the previous Legion series (by Abnett & Lanning) re: a modern DC villain mucking around in the future. Of course, they haven’t traded a damn thing, so there’s no spoilers to be had (lest I be spoilin arrrr) (or, um, you look @ one of the covers of the series).

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

Butter for Bludhaven wasn’t enough?

BTW—the last issue of CIVIL WAR! This week! AND the revelation of who makes Spidey cry (again)! And The Brave & The Bold! (Buy the Batman cover! Screw Green Lantern!) All this & more (possibly).

Oh, Huk—not you too.

ooh, fun week!

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

No BRAVE & BOLD, Hukapoo! Waht is wrong!!1!!!?!?

I don’t see it on the list?

The Uncle Sam book is shockingly meh. For every moment where it’s really w00t (and there are a few) there as many where it’s pfft. I can’t really get to grips with the artwork either. I’d definitely read it as a cbr, but wouldn’t recommend buying the issues or a trade if you weren’t a MUG LIKE ME.

Midtown sez it’s shipping!

Also, for those of you that haven’t yet sipped @ the frothy glowing cup of goodness that is G0DLAND, the latest issue (ONLY 60 CENTS) is a fine introduction to what’s already happened, & what’s gonna happen. Douglas is sorta right, in that there might not be more than rampant Kirby love happening throughout (dig those carazy analogues for Lockjaw & the Celestials) (& the Omega Effect!), but Joe Casey’s riff on the Funky Flashman’s gift of gab is pretty inspired (especially when it concerns the dialogue of one Basil Cronus, a skull in a jar prone to tuning in & dropping out, currently ambulating around the world atop the body of a female assassin)—one of the plots involved ol’ Basil kidnapping the Lockjaw stand-in so he could get high off the alien doggie’s blood! (I’m 75% sure I didn’t make that up.)

Also, re: the Big Reveal in the Dr. 13 story backing up Spectre: Life on the Streets as the Spirit of Vengeance

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!

yeah, B.Azz going ONE STEP over shocka.

52 WEEK #42—sounds like it’s the last Ralph issue.

AQUAMAN SWORD OF ATLANTIS #49—Last issue before Tad Williams turns it into Lord Of The Sadface

BOYS #7—Hahaha Diamond GET ONE CLUE

CATWOMAN #64—Hmm. This is one patchy book.

HELLBLAZER #229—NOT MINE

OMEGA MEN #5—I have missed one of these somewhere down the line, I think.

SPIRIT #3—OH NOES ORIGIN ISSUE

WONDER WOMAN #4—Has this been deliberately delayed to avoid 52 spoilerage?

JACK STAFF #13—The last issue of this seemed to be the very last one, so quite what this might contain I don’t know

POWERS #23—Losing patience with this tbh

PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #4—This had better have mini Iron Men in it this month

SHE-HULK 2 #16—Now with added Wolfering

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #39—See Powers

aldo nooooooo re: UFF! It’s totally enjoyable & stuff! Shut up!

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.

With UFF, it’s just I can’t remember what’s been in it for what seems like ages. Actually, that’s bollocks isn’t it because the last arc introduced ULTIMATE THANOS who’s possessing Reed.

IGNORE ME.

I’m waiting until the real list goes up (non-shocker), but I will note that, as much as I hated BATTLE FOR BLUDHAVEN and boy did I hate it, there have been some very good bits in the UNCLE SAM mini. Not quite enough to endorse it wholeheartedly at cover price, but if you see it in the 25-cent bin, snap it up.

That KRYPTO kiddie miniseries has been surprisingly fun.

COUNTDOWN, uh, DEVELOPING.

52, krypto, pwj, she hulk!

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

The real list is up: http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/shipping_022107.txt

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.

Dopey request: could someone w/ eBay access post a list of the minis minty’s asking about, so those of us that have eBay BANNED from our work browsers can goof off properly?

Also, What Douglas & Aldo & Dr. Supes Said, Where Applicable:

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)

this will give you the flava (haha it does look starkly grim now):

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

Just that one page? Quick browsing on 3rd page gives me:

ONI PRESS QUEEN & COUNTRY DECLASSIFIED 1–3 SET RUCKA

DC COMICS JLA ROCK OF AGES G/N 1998 GRANT MORRISON

IMAGE COMICS ALLEY CAT 1–6 FULL SET+SPECS ALLEY BAGGETT

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.

i’m sold! ivasion sounds great. some rucka would be nice, i think ive only read him on det. comics and 52. is image really that much of a wasteland other than kirkman and fraction?

oh yeah i forgot immortal iron fist this week!

Numerically themed this week—Fractions vs. Millions: WHO WILL WINNNNNNN?

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?

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #538 CW: Cardiac nooooooooooo

Really now. Huh...

I missed Sock Monkey! But I will not miss it! If you are catching the drift I am throwing! Wahey!

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

Yeah, Invasion was pretty good at the time. I tried reading the ebay listing and died after page 1.

I missed Sock Monkey! But I will not miss it! If you are catching the drift I am throwing! Wahey!

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.

Action Philosophers not on real list.

:(

“Invasion” was actually what got me into reading your glamorous American superhero-comics. I think I was really into “V” at the time, and it looked like the same sort of thing. The first issue’s the best one, though.

Invasion also had some really good crossover issues, like JLI and Animal Man. Well, those comics were really good in 88/89? anyway.

I take it this is for western comics, then?

only in teh sense that ILM is for “western music”, i.e., that’s what most folks here know, BUT TELL US ABOUT YR EASTERN FUNNIES, PLS.

TEH FURY OF CONFUCIOUS

I’ve actually been reading some more serious works.

Psychological thrillers like ‘Monster’ and the same author’s lesser(and infinitely more convoluted) ’20th Century Boys.‘

Monster scared the shit out of me in the daytime around friends while listening to Bubblegum music. Best villian ever. I beleive the English editions are up to #7 in the USA. I believe it has over 20 volumes, and it only starts to lose steam around number....20. It’s intense as hell right up until the climax. That part’s a little drawn out, but the end... I give that thing a straight 10/10

A couple pieces about gender identity from a few different perspectives. namely ‘Hourou Musuko’ or ‘Transient Son’ and ‘Family Compo’ or ‘F Compo’ or whatever name it’s known as in whatever country.

Then there’s the classics, but I’d need to mine my memory.

My brain’s a little fried from reading 20th C.B. scans(I have no other means at all) for about the past 18 hours...and it’s not over yet.

Dammit Dr. Superman, don’t encourage him.

Sockmonkey, 52, Checkmate, Spirit, Iron Fist

I’ve read just the first couple of volumes of “Monster,” but yeah, they’re really good. And I LUV LUV “Death Note.”

Uh-oh.

Death Note is also awesome. Not quite as ‘chilling’ as Monster, but definitely in the same category overall.

Speaking of, um, not this—in case you’re upset that the current incarnation of Supergirl has crystal bacne, take a peek @ this great drawing of her during a simpler time.

So lovely!

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

Anyone here read “Black Hole?”

Alt-F is yr friend.

Ha—I like that Tuomas’ question about the disease in Black Hole is followed by me blathering about Spider-Man’s glowing spooge.

I don’t know that the disease was neccesarally a metaphor for anything in particular. the whole thing had a sort of ‘W. S. Burroughs’ vibe.

It seems to glean alot of things from personal experience and crystalize it into a sort of ‘dream state’ feel.

It may just be intended to evoke similarities to aids, sex, ‘deviant’ behavior etc. without being specific.

Sad to hear abt Bob Oksner:-(

Will prob. be rebuying the Los Bros strips, too

wednesday bump

Countdown Reviled: http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=102192

...starring Jimmy Olsen!

LOL @ Nextwave

“the weekly comics hole”

Four-Color Goatse

Purchased right now at teh comic store:

* “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?

Scooter Girl is by Blue Monday’s Chynna Clugston, but I thought it was rather disappointing by the standards of Bleu and her adventures. (it’s also not set in London. If you haven’t read Blue Monday—grab one of those instead!)

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.

YAYAYAYAY

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?

I think there’s two deaths on-panel, but apparently many are listed as ‘missing’ as of the ‘end’.

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

Is it any less cringeworthy than the majority of the coredump plot-moving spit-swapping Millar’s engaged w/ throughout this series?

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!

nu-IL-whatever scares me.

although the end(?) of Ralph’s storyline in 52 is definitely executed better than Steel’s, it still has that same “well shit, let’s just hurry up and get this story over with” feel as issue 40. Granted the realish-time aspect of the series must make it hard to resolve things in both a satisfying and in-depth manner, but knowing that doesn’t make the conclusion seem any less rushed.

also: how the hell did I find 14 comics I was willing to pay three bucks a piece for today?

Guys, that Aquaman Showcase sounds amazing! I had no intention of buying it, and now it’s next on my list.

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

how did steel survive fecal blood?!

Okay, I was proud of this one: http://52-pickup.blogspot.com/2007/02/week-42-doing-donuts-on-free-lunch.html