Berkeley Place » Daredevil

WALT SIMONSON TAKES ON THE AVENGERS…And other news.

ekko — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 14:58:50 +0000

As artist only, the writer/artist who created Frog Thor and Beta Ray Bill will be the new regular artist for the Brian Michael Bendis written Avengers book, beginning with issue #25. Of course, with Bendis promising to leave The Avengers this year, could it be Walt is prepping for a larger role? One can only hope, as Simonson’s imagination has led to some brilliant work in the past, such as:

· The afore-mentioned creation of Beta Ray Bill and Frog Thor, and a long run on Thor that split Don Blake and Thor for the first time, brought Ragnarok, and introduced Asgardian warriors to the wonders of automatic weapons.

· With his wife, an X-Factor run that introduced Cable and Mr. Sinister.

· The artwork on X-Men/Teen Titans, the greatest Marvel-DC crossover ever.

· A tremendous run on The Fantastic Four that replaced the foursome with Ghost Rider, Hulk, Spidey and Wolverine.

· Award winning issues of Detective Comics, during the 1974 event “The Manhunter Saga.”

For more on the world of comics, including the rundown on new and cancelled DC titles, hit the break….

MARVEL COUNTERPROGRAMS AGAINST CARTOON NATION’S D.C. NATION BLOCK. CN announced last year that they’d premier a block of Young Justice, a new CGI Batman cartoon, and several animated shorts, among other things, in 2012. Not to be outdone, Disney XD promises that on April 1 the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon will debut, alongside new episodes of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and some shorts.

THE CRIMINAL MOVIE. Ed Brubaker is adapting he and Sean Phillips first chapter in the “Criminal” series, titled “Coward,” for the big screen.

JUSTICE LEAGUE TO BECOME CURRENT. Five years will pass between issues #6 and 7, so that the book can “catch up” to the DCU. Lots of people say this book isn’t tight enough, the characters and relationships aren’t cohering, etc. etc., but I really dig it. It’s probably the DC book I most look forward to reading every month, other than Batman.

HOLDING THE LINE AT $2.99 WAS THE OLD DCU. You’ve probably heard by now: Batman and Detective will raise their prices to $3.99. The good news: More pages (from 32 to 40). The bad news: They’ll be back up features and “editorial content,” so who cares?

BEARMAGEDDON. From the maker of Axe Cop who was not aged 7, Eisner-Award nominee Ethan Nicolle’s next project will be a webcomic in which the bears rise up to kill us all. I don’t know if it was inspired by Stephen Colbert, but I’m sure he’ll be terrified by it. Axe Cop was actually pretty funny—and all ages appropriate. More here.

GREEN ARROW. Is getting a TV show. Live action. But it won’t the Green Arrow from Smallville. Which is pretty much a good thing, since all he seemed to be able to do was brood and get taken hostage. Other live action DC shows being developed, all of which were announced last year, include shows based on Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, The Spectre(?!), Deadman, and Wonder Woman—although it looks like that last one is pretty much dead.

MILLARWORLD. Lots of news announced this week from Mark Millar, including: A space opera (“Jupiter’s Children”) written by Millar and illustrated by Frank “All Star Superman” Quitely; more details about the already-ready for the big screen comic project “The Secret Service” to be illustrated by Dave Gibbons; and spin-offs/continuations of “Nemesis” and “Kick-Ass” (namely, a new “Hit-Girl” series)

WILL GRANT MORRISON FINALLY KICK IT INTO HIGH GEAR? DC promises that the first 6 issues of Action Comics are laying the groundwork for the “real” stories to come in 2012, including a cross-over with the other Supers (boy and girl). Let’s hope so—‘cause I’m on the verge of bailing.

AVENGING SPIDER-MAN/PUNISHER/DAREDEVIL CROSSOVER. The three titles will intersect on a storyline, with each issue to be handled by that comic’s creative team. I have to say, I was really looking forward to Greg “Gotham Central” Rucka taking over Punisher, but the comic has been…Extremely underwhelming. But I guess this means that, because Mark Waid’s Daredevil is probably the best monthly series on the racks right now, I’ll have to buy the tie-in issues. Sigh. More merry mighty Marvel marketing. The story will be called “The Omega Effect,” and will involve Daredevil’s recent acquisition of evidence against the Marvel Universe’s “5 families” (Hydra, AIM, Black Spectre, Secret Empire and Hidden Team). And hey, whenever DD and Punisher get together it’s a pretty rockin’ time. So if you’re like me and you plan to buy into the whole arc, you need to buy Avenging Spider-Man #6, Daredevil #11 and Punisher #10.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

ekko — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:57:22 +0000

Daredevil by Frank Quietly!

THE BEST OF 2011: COMIC BOOKS!

ekko — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:19:45 +0000

From Marvel

Celebrating the best of the year….Hit the break.

COMIC BOOK SALES FOR NOVEMBER 2011

ekko — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:52:07 +0000

DC copped 40% issues sold, Marvel got 38%. Of course, DC is down a lot. 22% to be exact. But that’s totally to be expected, with the media push and 52 #1s in one month. I’d expect a little more downturn in the coming months. They’re still up from their pre-New 52 market share, but my prediction is that in a few months they’ll be back where they were before the whole relaunch. Does that mean it wasn’t worth it? Of course not. Those few months of big sales were BIG sales for DC—and the amount of hype and publicity they got can only be good for those of us who love comics. It’s probably due solely to the New 52 that overall comic sales are up 7% for the year—the first rise in yearly figures in two years.

The top 10 titles were still mostly DC: Justice League #3 led the pack, followed by #3s of Batman, Action, and Green Lantern. Interestingly, Marvel’s “Point One” book came in at #5—it had a $6 price tag and generally got bad reviews. (All filler! No meat!) I’m sure that helped Marvel’s dollar sales figs significantly. Also interesting: #6 in November 2011’s top 10 was the new Avenging Spider-Man title. I’m hoping that book is a hit, as I was always a big fan of Marvel Team-Up.
Rounding out the bottom four of the top 10, beginning at #7, were Uncanny X-Men #1, Detective #3, Flash #3 and, finally, Wolverine and the X-Men #2.

A bigger shock to me was what the New 52 continues to do for DC’s OGN/Trade Paperback sales. I thought the reboot essentially killed off their back issue market, since the New 52 meant the old stories no longer mattered. But DC had half of the top 10 paperbacks sold last month—in a pre-Christmas month that found graphic novel sales up 30% from October. A good month for trades! I’m also very, very glad to see Joe the Barbarian in the top 10. I know I had something to do with that—I bought two copies.

Here’s your top 10 trades. Note the complete absence of anything Marvel—despite their release of the amazing John Byrne Fantastic Four Omnibus.

10. Joe the Barbarian (DC/Vertigo)
9. BPRD: Being Human (Dark Horse)
8. Sailor Moon Vol. 2
7. Green Lantern: War of the Green Lanterns (DC)
6. Scalped Vol. 8 (DC/Vertigo)
5. Batman and Robin Vol. 2 (DC)
4. The Walking Dead Vol. 1 (reissue) (Image)
3. The Boys Vol. 9 (Dynamite)
2. Hellboy: House of the Living Dead (Dark Horse)
1. Batman: Noel Deluxe Edition (DC)

Daredevil vs. Mole Man by Paolo Rivera. You can get me this original art for my birthday or Christmas or just 'cause you love me.

THE TOP 100 COMIC BOOK HEROES OF ALL TIME

ekko — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:22:34 +0000

IGN published a top 100 comic book heroes that made me crazy, both in its predictability (Hey! Superman and Bats are #s 1 and 2!), overinclusiveness (every single Robin except Damian Wayne (who is the most interesting one by far), as well as Superboy and Supergirl? Really?) and its attempts to be esoteric without providing sufficient justification (Groo makes the list, but they don’t really say what makes him so essential; James Gordon makes the list, but Aunt May and Uncle Ben don’t–nor does Jarvis; and Nova makes the list, but nobody really gives a shit about Nova). Maybe it was the list’s sketchy criteria for placement: “Picked by their cultural impact, character development, social relevance, general cool factor, and importance of storylines, these are the best of the best.

It made me so nuts, I made my own list. Yes, there’s a lot of overlap. But mine is better. Because I said so.

Note: If you’re just looking for a list without supporting arguments, you can jump to the last page of this post. But you can’t tell me I was wrong to put Thor at #33 unless you go and read why. So, read every page and then tell me why I’m full of $#!+.

Enjoy!

COMIC NEWS: “Why didn’t they just kill them all first, then launch the new 52?”

ekko — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 09:50:07 +0000

From the mouths of babes. My kid said to me yesterday, after we read the fantastic Batman #1, “They should have just killed them all and then did the new 52!” I agree. That would have been awesome: Old U, everybody dies. Then reboot. That would have been cool as shit, plus they would have sold a ton more comics because everyone would have bought the last issues and then the new #1s…

…And while we are talking about bad ideas: Did anyone see Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots: The Movie starring Wolverine? No? Well, looks like there’s going to be a “Real Steel 2.” No kidding.

For more news you won’t believe, hit the break.
EVIL DEAD 4. We started with Real Steel, and we’ll continue with the non-comic-book news. The fourth installment of the Evil Dead franchise will not have Ash in it. Or Sam Raimi, from what I gather. Sniff. Sniff.

BATMAN, INC. ONE-SHOT SLATED FOR DECEMBER. Grant Morrison’s killed-by-the-new-52 title will end with a one-shot in December, in which Batman and his worldwide alliance take on Doctor Dedalus, School of Night and the schoolgirl assassins, bat-robots, and Nazi masterminds with Alzheimer’s. All that according to Morrison himself. Cameron Stewart will be on the art (hooray!), and the story will cap off the Inc. series and set the stage for 2012′s Batman: Leviathan. The latter will be Morrison’s final Batwork, and he promises that it will wrap up all six-years of his work with the character. I’m a fan of what Scott Snyder is doing these days, but I can’t imagine how it will fit in with Morrison’s stuff. Or with the new 52. And frankly, I don’t care. Morrison can do whatever he wants and if it don’t fit into new 52, I won’t give a rat’s ass.

TEEN TITANS: GAMES. Perhaps to coordinate with the recent publication of the can’t-rave-about-it-enough New Teen Titans Omnibus, DC is finally releasing “The New Teen Titans : Games,” an original graphic novel written 30 years ago by the best Titans writer ever, Marv Wolfman, and illustrated by the best Titans artist ever, George Perez. It’s the Nightwing version of the team: Starfire, Cyborg, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Changeling, Jericho, Raven…All of ‘em…Versus a new villain: The Gamemaster. Obviously, it doesn’t take place in continuity. I can’t wait to get my hands on this thing…

MARVEL’S BRIGHTEST DAY. Marvel is already teasing “Fearless,” which will come after Fear Itself. Like Brightest Day followed Blackest Night. Of course, Blackest Night was a lot better than Fear Itself. And Brightest Day was horrible. The teasers feature a lot of Valkyrie. And Sin. The story is something about those two chicks globetrotting to collect the hammers disposed of after Fear Itselzzzzzzzzzz.

THE NEXT VOLUME OF “CRIMINAL.” It will be titled “Fatale” and will be 12 issues instead of the usual 5 or 6. Brubaker says it will take place both in the 1930s and the present, and will be noir-ish but also will have a “horror” element, which would be new to the Criminal series. If you haven’t been reading Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Criminal books, you’re missing out. I recommend getting them in trade anyway, so don’t worry about the loosies, because they’re best read as long-form comic novels.

AVENGERS: X-SANCTION. The next Cable story will be him vs. The Avengers, and will be created by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness. Which, frankly, could go either way.
PIGS. A new comic—with a Jock cover for issue #1—on the Image brand about a KGB Cuban sleeper cell, in the present day, trying to overthrow the U.S. Government through a series of kidnappings, assassinations and acts of terrorism. The first issue was great. Go indie, and scoop it up!

SUPERHERO DVDS F-ING ROCK. Topping the charts for the first week of September, in both Bu-ray and DVD, was X-Men First Class. Also in the top ten: Hanna, which was kind of a superhero flick and also which was, by the way, an amazing movie. Sales topped $30 million. Sniff. Sniff. I smell a sequel!

7 WARRIORS: THE CHICK 300. BOOM! Studios, in November, will produce a comic set in 6th century Libya and starring seven chicks with swords. Written by Michaël Le Galli and drawn by Francis Manapul.

WOLVERINE. Filming is pushed back again, this time to after star Hugh Jackman films Tobe “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” Hooper’s adaptation of Les Miserables, the musical. Sigh. Can’t they just fire Jackman and move it along? He’s practically too old for the part anyway.

MARK WAID’S DAREDEVIL. Has, with issue #3, finally delivered on its promise to recast Daredevil and make you not miss the old one. Fantastic. Absolutely perfect superhero comics.

SQUIRREL GIRL. Lots of folks credit Dan Slott with this character, seeing as how she really made her bones as part of his too-funny-to-survive Great Lakes Avengers book, but she’s actually a Steve Ditko creation. Anyway, Bendis has been using her quite a bit lately, which may be why she plays a major role in the second Marvel Super Hero Squad video game, “Comic Combat,” coming November 15 to Wii, Xbox and PS3. It’ll use the new uDraw tablet.

THE WALKING DEAD, STARRING OPRAH. AMC confirms a ½ hour post-Walking Dead live wrap up talk show, Talking Dead, hosted by Chris “The Nerdist” Hardwick.

DANIEL ACUNA JOINS THE AVENGERS. Beginning with issue 18, the “regular” Avengers #18 will be drawn by (the amazing and brilliant) Acuña. Thank God. This book has been characterized by the worst John Romita, Jr., art in that man’s otherwise stellar career. The story arc will feature a new team…Of Dark Avengers! Should be a thrill.

THE RAY. After the new 52, DC will launch some miniseries that, frankly, don’t sound all that intriguing Except this one. Reimagining the Freedom Fighter character (previously reimagined by Grant Morrison), The Ray has the power of light. The series will be by the superstar team of Palmiotti and Gray, who say it is in the vein of their Power Girl series. And if you didn’t read that series, you missed out on some truly hilarious writing. And two other things. That only Amanda Conner can draw so well. (I’m talking about boobs, guys.)

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH COMICS AND SUPERMOVIES, MAN?

ekko — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 14:04:38 +0000

Glad you asked. Or, to be exact, glad I asked me on your behalf.

Hit the break for the latest news and my views. Drop a comment and argue with me while you’re here.

CAPTAIN AMERICA. I’m leading with this: How awesome was the Avengers preview after the movie? 100 percent awesome. Check it out here:
watch?v=GkLkqQGOBTs

DETECTIVE COMICS #880. With the iconic Joker-by-Jock cover, this is one of the best Batman/Joker stories I’ve read since…Ever. If you’re not reading this, you’re stupid.

THE WALKING DEAD UPDATES. I understand that AMC has a few critical darling shows right now (Breaking Bad, The Killing), so maybe they’re getting spoiled…But I would think they’d take better care of a show that one of the highest cable debuts of all time. Writer, producer, director and showrunner Frank Darabont has left the show. Darabont also adapted (brilliantly) a few Stephen King stories into movies you might have heard of—including Shawshank Redemption (one of my top 10 movies of all time) and The Mist (one of the best, scariest horror films of the last 10 years—and it did it without being torture porn!). Another show writer, Glen Mazzara, is taking on the showrunner position, and Robert Kirkman and Gale Anne Hurd are continuing on in producer roles as well. So maybe all will be fine…But it’s never good to lose someone of Darabont’s stature right in the middle of filming, and for the departure to be so abrupt and unexplained.

GREEN LANTERN 2 WILL BE EDGY… The Prez of Warner Bros. says the next one will be edgier—if they make it at all. That’s the word he used. “Edgier.” Was that really the problem with the movie? A guy with a ring that makes giant boxing gloves is not really known for edge. The problem with the movie is that it wasn’t any fun. Making it edgier is just going to make it worse. If that’s possible. Jeff Robinov’s exact quote was: “We had a decent opening so we learned there is an audience. To go forward we need to make it a little edgier and darker with more emphasis on action…. And we have to find a way to balance the time the movie spends in space versus on Earth.” Ahem. No, Jeff, that ain’t the problem. It’s having a girlfriend with zero depth and a Hal Jordan whose character made no sense—and was completely unlikeable. It’s having the other Lanterns basically exist only as comedy relief or background noise. It’s having a villain that looked like smoke, and had the personality of smoke, too. If you want a good GL movie, it’s really not that hard: Focus on the characters, stupid. That’s what made Thor and Captain America and X-Men First Class so great. Good character development, good dialog, and, perhaps most important: A good villain. In the same interview, Robinov said that they have a “solid” script for the next Flash. “Solid?” That’s the best he could do? Is he describing his next DC film or his next bowel movement? Or both? Tell you what: Don’t do another GL (which frees Ryan Reynolds up for Deadpool), just give us a really, really good Superman movie. That hasn’t been done in over 20 years.

…BUT GHOST RIDER 2 WILL BE GRITTY. And the Ghost Rider panel at SDCC mentioned that the new film, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, will be “grittier.” That wouldn’t take much—the first film was neither gritty nor edgy. (Nor interesting, for that matter.) This one is based on the too-brief and seemingly truncated Garth Ennis run on the character, which was one of the stronger comic book runs for this character (whose comics typically, ahem, suck). It’s also directed by the guys who did the Jason Statham movie Crank, so I’ve got hopes…And stars Nic Cage again, which can be very good or atrocious, depending on which Nic Cage shows up to the set. Anyway, the shots released so far look damn cool. And, really, Ghost Rider has always been about the look…

WOLVERINE MOVIE. If and when it ever gets made, Wolverine 2 will star an almost-too-old-for-this Hugh Jackman in a script based on the (brilliant) Claremont-Miller miniseries in which Wolverine fights Silver Samurai.

SHRAPNEL IS BIG-SCREEN BOUND AS WELL. Mark Long’s Radical Comic’s indie title Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising, a 5-issue space opera about a rebellion on Venus against the oppressive “Solar Alliance” government, is finally scripted and their seeking an actress to play the lead rebel, Samantha. Hillary Swank is circling the boat. Radical comics is basically a shop that makes comics to sell to movie studios. The film has a ready-to-go sequel, the second comic book miniseries Shrapnel: Hubris. I’m not sure how I feel about a comic book company that solely produces comic books in order to get a movie deal. That’s basically the story with Cowboys and Aliens, which was given away at many comic book stores in order to generate hype and get readers. On the one hand, I’m in favor of anything that brings attention to the medium. On the other hand, it delegitimizes comics as an art form when they are used merely as a sales tool. Of course, Andy Warhol said the same thing with his Campbells Soup art…

AND SPEAKING OF COMMERCIALIZED COMICS…MILLARWORD. Mark Millar, for a brief, shining moment was one of the best writers in comicdom. Now, his product is much less even. But his “Superior” series is flat out terrific. For those who’ve wondered what happened to it (publication was halted recently), Millar promises it’s back on track with two issues to ship in October and then the first story arc will end with a double-sized #7 in November. Number seven?!? And double-sized?!? Has he no respect for the trade industry standard of 5-issue arcs!?! After that, his long-promised superhero heist book, Supercrooks, will begin in January. And he says he’s already sold it to a movie studio. Sigh. See the item above this one. But I guess if the books are good, no harm no foul.

DAREDEVIL #1. Lived up to every high expectation. Nay, it surpassed them. And it is a perfect jumping on point for new readers.

FEAR ITSELF. Sucks. Really. It didn’t even make sense when Tony Stark drank alcohol to get attention from Odin. First of all, there’s been no indication in his regular book that he was getting closer to falling off the wagon. And second of all, it was completely random and weird. And killing Bucky in an event rather than in his own book was a slap in the face of regular readers of Captain America. Now they’re going to be extending the concept of evil magic hammers into a post-event event titled “Battlescars.” I won’t be participating. But if you’re asking can an event be even lamer, the answer has to be: See Flashpoint. Here’s an “event” that we all KNOW doesn’t matter because DC is completely re-doing it’s universe anyway, and it seems fairly obvious at this point that Flashpoint is just a long-winded way of saying “Retcon!” We know the Flashpoint U won’t matter. Martha Wayne won’t be Joker. Superman won’t be a latch-key kid. Come on.

MAN OF STEEL. For the Superman reboot,Laurence Fishburne will play Daily Planet editor Perry White. Question: With newspapers becoming increasingly less relevant, shouldn’t Clark Kent work for something other than a paper in the DC reboot?

THE MIGHTY IS FILMBOUND. I’m pretty sure I’ve reported on this before, but Peter J. Tomasi and Keith Champagne’s long-running comic The Mighty now has a screenwriter: Drew Pearce, author of the BBC superhero sitcom “No Heroics.” I haven’t been able to score a copy of a DVD of that show yet, but I hear it was good. Anyway, Pearce is currently writing Iron Man 3, which I’m sure will take priority over this project anyway.

MARVEL POINT ONE. Here’s an interesting way to promote new series: In November 2011, Marvel will publish an oversized volume titled “Marvel Point One” that will feature original short stories (not previews of upcoming books) about most of its major characters/properties (Deadpool, FF, Thor, Spidey, X-Men, Cap, Iron Man, Avengers, Punisher, etc.) that will show where those series will be going in the next year or so. It’s a cool idea to this rather than a “preview” book that simply repeats pages in coming books, because the original stories may be enough to hook new readers.

YOUNG JUSTICE. Will return for a second season next year (the first season was ridiculously short), and will include a non-team ep focusing on Red Arrow. It’s a great show. Can’t wait.

X-MEN DESTINY. I so can’t wait for this Activision game, set to release in September. You get to be a new mutant, pick her powers, decide whether to take sides with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants or the X-Men…And you can of course play Cyclops, Wolverine, Gambit, Psylocke, Havoc, Nightcrawler, Storm, Magneto, Juggernaut, etc. I hope it’s 4 player, like Marvel Ultimate Alliance (probably my favorite game ever).

DOC STRANGE MOVIE. Supposedly, Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer have turned in a script (they wrote the new Conan movie and helped write Cowboys & Aliens), and Marvel Studios is tarting to talk about hiring a director. I have to say, though, that out of all the properties they could push to the big screen, the Doc would be low on my list. Just off the top of my head I can reel off a half-dozen better, more interesting, more accessible films: Power Man and Iron Fist (a 1970s style film would be cool as hell); Power Pack (come on, man, bring some kid-friendly flicks on board!); Black Panther or Falcon or Shang Chi (let’s get some color going!); Deadpool(!); Winter Soldier (come on, a cool spy flick spinning out of Captain America!); or even a Howard the Duck and Man Thing flick. Hell, the one I really want is NEXTWAVE: Agents of H.A.T.E. Bring it.

G.I. JOE vs. SPIDER-MAN. G.I. Joe 2 and the Spidey reboot are slated for virtually simultaneous releases, with Joe out on June 29, 2012, and Spidey on July 3.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THE BEST TRADES OF JULY: Only four recommendations this month. Hmmm. Either a slow month, or I haven’t been watching the publication schedule closely enough.

4. Essential Spider-Man Vol. 10. Yeah, it’s black and white, but these stories include (finally!) some of the Roger Stern era—the best Spidey ever told. Collecting Amazing Spider-Man #211-230, it includes three of my favorite comic books of all time: Spider-Man vs. The Foolkiller (a done-in-one) and Spidey vs. Juggernaut (a done-in-two, and possibly the greatest 2-part comic book of all time). 500 pages and just twenty bucks.

3. Avengers Academy Vol. 2: Real World. You can wait for the paperback if you like, but don’t sleep on what is far and away the best Avengers book on the market in years.

2. Scarlet Book One. Proving that Brian Michael Bendis is still capable of greatness.

1. Incognito Vol. 2: Bad Influences. Brubaker and Phillips return to their masterful tale of a supervillain in witness protection.

THE JUNE IN COMIC BOOK TRADES

ekko — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:39:04 +0000

What to buy, what not to buy from the past month.

WHAT TO BUY: THE TOP 5 TRADES OF JUNE 2011

These get a 100 percent solid recommendation from this city corner of the interwebs:

Honorable mention: X-Men: Second Coming. This gets a mention because it’s a lot of fun. The tale of Hope coming to the present from the future, to save all mutants. It sounds stupid, I know, but this is where the X-Men work best: In a straight-shot storyline where there’s lots of doom and gloom and lasers and all kinds of battling. It’s basically a long-form brawl, and if you’ve not kept up with the mutant line, you can easily jump in here.

5. Baltimore Volume 1: The Plague Ships. Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden introduced Lord Henry Baltimore back in 2007, but now he’s got his own series. One of the best-selling indie books of the year (#1 sold out, even though it was also offered for free comic book day). After Lord Baltimore unwittingly releases a horde of vampires, he goes searching to destroy their leader. Gothic steampunk horror.

4. Marvel Universe vs. The Punisher. A miniseries that could have gone horribly wrong goes wonderfully right. Hilarious, action-packed, and featuring some of the best Deadpool stuff I’ve ever read. Written by Jonathan Mayberry and illustrated by Goran “PunisherMAX” Parlov. Chris borrowed my copy of the hardcover, and still hasn’t read it. Shame on him. Go on, everyone shame him. Oh, and also on sale this week (6/29) is the sequel: Marvel Universe vs. Wolverine. Mmmmm. Good stuff.

3. Uncanny X-Force: Deathlok Nation (hardcover). You can wait for the paperback, if you like, but don’t sleep on this, the best X-book around. When Jason Aaron tried to bring Deathlok back in the pages of Wolverine, it sucked. This doesn’t. Plus, it builds on threads extending to the first appearances of Fantomex (in Grant Morrison’s New X-Men, which is mentioned all over this post!) Featuring Deathlok versions of Captain America, Spider-Man, Elektra, Cyclops, Venom . . . A whole buncha cool stuff. Plus, they throw in a reprint of Deathlok’s first appearance in Astonishing Tales #25 (1974).

2. Sweet Tooth Vol. 3: Animal Armies. If you aren’t reading this book, you’re missing one of the best Vertigo books of all time. Truly. It’s spooky, odd, quirky, and touching. And Chris, if you still haven’t read the trades I loaned you: Shame on you!

1. Batwoman: Elegy. Possibly the most visually arresting comic book produced by one of the big two in the past 10 years. The story can be a little confusing, but it’s well worth paying attention to. I had to post some of the interior art here–just to let you see the kind of innovative design you’re missing.

THE TOP 5 REISSUES OF JUNE 2011

In addition to some trades of recently created comic books, check out these blasts from the past:

5. The Boys Definitive Edition Vol. 3. Yes, these issues have already appeared in trade paperbacks, and yes $75 is a lot of money. But this is oversized and hardbound. Darick Robertson’s art is worth it, don’t you think?

4. The Impossible Man. Everyone’s favorite imp, in every appearance drawn by Jack Kirby. It includes his first appearance in Fantastic 4 #11 (written by Stan the Man), his best appearance in FF #176, my favorite issue of Spider Woman (#45, from 1978), and the best X-Men Annual ever (#7). Among other things. Yes, the late 1970s through the mid 1980s were a fantastic time to be reading comics.

3. New X-Men by Grant Morrison Book 2. The only flaw in this is that it’s “digest sized”—slightly smaller than the average comic book. But I’ve always said that Morrison’s New X-Men run was about the words, not the pictures. (Although the issues drawn by Frank Quietly are pretty good, they’re not his best—and I’m not a big Ethan Van Sciver fan.)

2. Daredevil: Yellow. From the days when the name Jeph Loeb meant something, with art by one of the best: Tim Sale.

1. Creepy Comics Vol. 1. Reprinting the first four issues of Dark Horse’s reboot of the pre-code horror title, and featuring the work of folks like Doug Moench, Bernie Wrightson, Angelo Torres, Mike Woods, and Jason Shawn Alexander, among many others. I saw this at my local shop (Victory Comics in Falls Church—holla!) and almost bought it immediately. But then I remembered I needed to have money for dinner that night. Maybe next time.

ONE I WANNA BUY, BUT DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT:

Osborn: Evil Incarcerated. The story of Norman’s life in prison. I don’t know much about it, but I love the writer (Kelly Sue DeConnick, who wrote the under-read and under-rated Sif miniseries) and the artist (Emma Rios, who is freaking amazing).

THREE NOT TO BUY

Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga. The only Spidey story so bad they had to re-make it. Seriously, this is terrible. Don’t even be curious.

Daredevil: Reborn. Because Shadowland wasn’t enough to convince Marvel to kick Andy Diggle off of this title.

Uncanny X-Men: Quarantine. Okay, this actually isn’t a horrible book, but what makes me crazy is that Marvel thinks I have amnesia. Am I supposed to completely ignore the fact that Grant Morrison did a virtually identical storyline in New X-Men? Wait. How could I forget that, when Marvel is reprinting New X-Men this very month (see above)!!! And most importantly, how could Cyclops forget it?!?

LOOK! IN THIS POST! IT’S COMIC BOOK NEWS!

ekko — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 21:53:54 +0000

This week is almost all about reboots and returns. And before the break, I’m leading with this:

MORE DETAILS ABOUT DC’S NEW 52: PAGE LEAKED FROM UPCOMING GRANT MORRISON ACTION COMICS #1!!

Just kidding. But here’s some stuff we do know about the upcoming revamped DCU:

Action Comics and Justice League are set in the past, which means they are basically origin-story retcons.
Green Lantern, Batman and Legion of Super Heroes continue existing continuity, without a reboot, which of course means that those superheroes’ past stays the same. Unclear what that means for Superman, whose past is intertwined with LSH, but it was pretty obvious to everyone that DC wouldn’t mess with Geoff Johns’ biggest selling DC books of the last five years (GL, Blackest Night, etc.) or with Grant Morrison. If they screwed with Grant, I think Dan Didio would be hung in Times Square. And he still may be, actually.
The Deadman tale in DC Presents, Green Arrow #1 and Hawkman #1 all start right after the end of Brightest Day.
Everything else gets a reboot, apparently. Don’t know if that includes Swamp Thing—but if it does, then the current “Search for Swamp Thing” mini is completely irrelevant.

And if everything is rebooted, I asked myself while poking around Amazon this week for recent trades to buy, then why bother? I did plunk down cash for the Batwoman: Elegy trade paperback because it is visually stunning, and I still bought Secret Six, ‘cause it’s so fantastically good, but other than that: I spent my money on an old Warren Ellis title I haven’t ever read, called Desolation Jones.

So, wake me up when September ends. Until then, hit the break for some cool news of the week….

REBOOTS, REIMAGININGS AND RETCONS . . .

D.C. ain’t the only ones pushing new #1s:

GHOST RIDER IS A CHICK FOR A NEW #1. The point-one Ghost Rider issue offered a sneak peek of the Spirit of Vengeance to come, and suggested that she will be on yet-another Avengers black ops team, alongside my least favorite new version of an old Marvel character, Red Hulk, and the most-improved new version of an old Marvel character, Venom. Don’t know where Ghost Rider 2.0 will fit in the pantheon of super-remakes, but the art looks cool. Then again, a cool look is basically all Ghost Rider ever really had. I dunno about another new Avengers team, but if it’s all reboots, you could throw the new male Wasp on the team, maybe a couple Young Avengers (the new Hawkeye, perhaps?) and the new Power Man (whose mini with Iron Fist, written by Fred Van Lente, was actually pretty solid). Without having to re-make its Universe, Marvel has gradually been introducing a mess of modernized characters—and usually, they’re doing it well. As long as you don’t count Deadpool Family. Ugh.

UNCANNY X-MEN ENDS WITH ISSUE #544 . . . AND BEGINS WITH #1. As a result of the schism storyline, the title will end and immediately relaunch with a #1 in November (after the onslaught of DcnU #1s), alongside “Wolverine and the X-Men #1” coming in October. Kieron Gillen will continue on Uncanny, which will feature Cyclops and (presumably) the (self)righteous muties, while Jason Aaron will write “Wolverine and the X-Men.” I’m pretty sure that’s Aaron’s first team book. Jason can be real hit-or-miss, so we’ll see how all of this pans out. And Wolverine as a team leader? Oh, and what will happen to the best X-book on the market, Rick Remender’s X-Force?

DAREDEVIL #1. I’ve written about this one before. It’s the reboot that I am most looking forward. Marvel ran a 5-part interview with author Mark Waid, featuring some great art previews on day three. I’m already enjoying Waid’s take on the character—in answering the question, “How does the Matt Murdock of today differ from the Matt Murdock first introduced over 40 years ago?” Waid said: “Well, he’s probably suffered more than any other Marvel character ever, and that takes its toll … The Matt of 40 years ago had a lot of good days ahead of him. The Matt of today is one really bad day away from madness.” Check out parts 1, 2, 3 (the art one), 4 and 5.

AVENGERS 1959. Y’know, I was a big Howard Chaykin fan back in his American Flagg days, but I wasn’t really feeling his work on Avengers. But apparently I’m in the minority. Starting October, he’ll be doing a 5-issue Avengers mini. Apparently, in 1959 the team consisted of Nick Fury, Dominic Fortune, Kraven the Hunter, Sabretooth, Namora, Blonde Phantom, and a new character. I hope there’s no effort to retcon this into “regular” continuity. But I think there is. Apparently, Bendis can do whatever he wants, and he restructured the past with the recent Infinity story arc in Avengers. I can’t get overly excited about this—the cast of characters doesn’t thrill me—but at least they’re not rebooting their entire universe. Just the center of it. Whatever. If I think too much about it, I’ll just get annoyed.

CARNAGE RETURNS. Marvel has announced the return of the red Venom in a series called “Carnage USA.” I have never been a fan of Carnage, and am only a fan of the new Flash Thompson Venom, but I have to say that I’m intrigued. Not by the story—Carnage goes on a killing spree and Spidey and the New Avengers hunt him down. Meh. No, I am intrigued by the creative team: Zeb Wells and Clayton Crain. Wells is probably in my top 5 of all writers on comics today. The man is pure genius.

MARVEL’S SIX GUNS? If you can forgive Andy Diggle for destroying Daredevil (try remembering him for The Losers instead), you might be psyched to hear that he’s reimagining six Marvel western characters in the present day Marvel U. I’m assuming that means Rawhide Kid, Two-Gun Kid, Kid Colt, maybe Apache Kid or Outlaw Kid . . . Maybe even the old cowboy Ghost Rider. But if Palmiotti and Gray couldn’t get me to spend money on a western comic, damn sure Diggle can’t. Coming in October.

AND IN “OVEREXPOSED NEWS” . . .

AVENGING SPIDER-MAN. One of the best things about the way Marvel has handled Spider-Man every since “not killing” Peter’s Aunt is that they’ve pretty much stuck to a one-title narrative. There have been the occassional miniseries, and an ill-fated Peter Parker book—and Spider-Man is now on more teams than Wolverine—but basically, Amazing was all you needed. Now Marvel’s experimenting with oversaturation and pushing fan loyalty again by announcing a new title, “Avenging Spider-Man.” The good news is, it will written by Zeb Wells who, as I said before, is one of the best writers around (and proved himself as a top-notch Spider-Man writer during the One More Day run). Zeb says it will be an all action book—he’s leaving Peter Parker for Dan Slott to deal with. Really, it sounds a little like “Marvel Team-Up” (the promo tag is “My friends can beat up your friends”), with the first story being Spidey and Red Hulk vs. Mole Man, but will focus on the Avengers. (Of course, who isn’t an Avenger these days?) Now, the old 1970s-80s Team-Up title was a favorite of young Ekko’s—I had just about all of them—so this could actually be good, as long as it doesn’t get too heavy into continuity. The art chores will be by Joe Madureira, who these days is better known for video game design than comic books.

NEAL ADAMS AND CHRISTOS GAGE DO WOLVERINE. I’ve already told you, though you probably forgot, that Neal Adams is doing an issue of the New Avengers soon (#16.1), which will be full of awesomeness, but now it looks like he’ll be sticking around with Marvel to do a project with Avengers Academy writer Christos Gage. It looks like a 5-issue Wolverine (or Logan-related) mini. I don’t see how this could possibly be a bad thing.

NEWS ABOUT SOME LESSER-KNOWN COMICS . . . THAT SHOULD BE GREATER-KNOWN!

HAVE YOU HEARD OF DOROTHY IN OZ? If you’re not reading Eric Shanower and Skottie Young’s Oz books, you are truly missing out. Based faithfully on Frank Baum’s books (not the movie), these titles have been funny, visually stunning, and good for all ages. But really for all ages: Adults won’t be bored at all. Highly, highly, highly recommended. Below is just a little taste of the brilliance…

THE ANNHILATORS? Everybody’s always raving about Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s work on the Marvel “cosmic” line, but all that space stuff just leaves me cold. The books sell moderately well, but have a rabid fanbase, so Marvel is bringing them back again. The next project will take place on Earth, and will feature the cosmic team (Gladiator, Quasar, Ronan, Ikon and Beta-Ray Bill) versus The Avengers. Oh, and Rocket Raccoon.

MOVING COMIC BOOKS

ALL STAR SUPERMAN DVD. It is pure brilliance. It includes pretty much every beat from Grant Morrison’s definitive Superman story, the animated art is amazingly close to Frank Quietly’s comic panels, and the story is so good it actually made my wife cry. Seeing it on DVD made me realize how much of a “love story” it is. A Superman chick flick, that’s animated! If you haven’t seen it yet, cop it off Netflix or buy it. It’s one of the best superhero DVDs I’ve ever seen.

SPEAKING OF SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL . . . Russell Crowe will play Krypotonian daddy Jor-El. Is anyone excited for this? After so many missteps with big-screen Supermen, I’m kinda . . . Not.

AND SPEAKING OF BIG-SCREEN D.C.: GREEN LANTERN. The biggest-budget Superhero flick of the summer ($200 million on the movie and $100 on marketing) opened at just over $50 mil—less than X-Men: First Class. Now everyone is saying that the comic book movie is dead. Hm. Maybe it’s just because the movie . . . Kinda sucked? My kids liked it, but I thought it was a bore. I’m not much for space operas.

AND SPEAKING OF OUTER SPACE . . . COWBOYS AND ALIENS. Showing appropriate love and deference to comic fans, Jon Favreau has made sure that the world premiere of his latest comic-book-into-movie adaptation will premier at Comic-Con. Good for him.

AND SPEAKING OF INDIE BOOKS MAKING IT BIG: AMERICAN GODS, 100 BULLETS, and POWERS. Neil Gaiman’s (big and heavy) novel has now become a 6-year series(!) to run on HBO, with 12 eps per season and a budget of up to $240 million. This is quite a commitment from a “network” that has been searching for a hit for a while, and is getting crushed by Showtime. At the same time, FX cast Jason Patric and Lucy Punch as homicide detectives investigating the deaths of superheroes, in its serialized adaptation of the Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, creator-owned series. Michael Dinner (Justified, Sons of Anarchy) will direct. And to round out a Holy Trinity of indie TV comic book goodness, David S. Goyer (Blade, Batman Begins) is attached to write and produce a Showtime adaptation of the Eisner and Harvey award-winning Vertigo 100-issue series by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso about a guy with one gun, 100 bulets, and a list of bad, bad folks who need to get shot.

AND INDIE COMIC TV WOULDN’T BE COMPLETE WITHOUT WALKING DEAD UPDATES! They’ve announced that Pruitt Taylor Vince has been cast as Otis. And fans of the book know what that means: Next season will take place on the farm.

COMICBOOKNEWSBLAST

ekko — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 14:10:48 +0000

Before I launch into the semi-regular comic book news items, I want to throw attention to Turbo Defiant Kimecan, an online graphic novel that’s been around since January 2010 and is poised to jump to print later this year. But it’s not the print work that’s catching my attention, it’s how they handled the online publication. The panels jump seamlessly, the art is beautifully reproduced…It’s actually fun to read it online, as each mouse click builds suspense. This is the future of comics. Why they’re going to print, I don’t know. Oh, wait. Yes I do. Because you can’t make money with online indie comic book.

This week: The new Daredevil! Joker versus Dick-Bat! More new DC books announced! The X-Men First Class sequel! And more! Hit the break!

The news this time around, with the stories in no particular order . . .

DAREDEVIL: IN PRINT AND ON THE BIG SCREEN!

Based on runs by Frank Miller, Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev, and Ed Brubaker, DD is, in my view, the comic book character with the highest “greatness” potential. So, naturally, I’m wicked excited that the current (dreadful) run is over and July 7 will see a “rebirth” of Daredevil at the hands of Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera, and Marcos Martin. Marvel’s released a few advance pages of a battle against a Spider-Man “One More Day” villain named The Spot, and the art is—as you’d expect—some of the most imaginative, beautiful stuff I’ve seen in years. This looks like it will be the phenomenal book that DD deserves (and needs, post-Shadowland)—maybe even reaching the heights of the Miller/Bendis/Brubaker runs.

But my hopes are now slightly reduced, as The Man Who Can’t Keep His Hands Off Of Anyone, Brian Michael Bendis (Marvel’s answer to Geoff Johns) will be bringing DD into the “New Avengers” fold right after Waid begins his run. I was looking forward to Mark Waid being able to stretch out and go slow—he’s best at gradually building storylines—but I don’t see how he can do that while his main guy is being simultaneously rehabilitated by Bendis. Don’t get me wrong–I enjoy my Bendis. I just think that it would be nice to see a single author’s perspective on bringing the title back, and I had high hopes for Waid being allowed to just be Waid, without having to deal with another major change in his character’s life. Daredevil has never been a team player before, so that alone will bring up additional complications for him.

And, at the same time, Marvel will release (finally) the “Daredevil: End of Days” mini, written by Bendis and David Mack with art by Klaus Janson, Bill Sienkiewicz and Alex Maleev. “End of Days”is, according to Bendis “Not a What-If story. . . This IS how the story of Daredevil will end.” Obviously, it’s not in continuity. It will be, of course, fantastic to see Janson return to DD (as well as Bendis, Mack and Maleev), and I can’t wait to see the legendary Sienkiewicz’s take on the character.

As for the movie…Yah, the first one sucked. Hard and long. It sucked so hard it deflated any hope for the future. Yet, it still spawned a spin-off (which was really just an excuse to see Jennifer Garner in tight clothes—not that there’s anything wrong with that). I was so, so, so disappointed, as DD is probably my favorite Marvel character-one who has the potential for many interesting movies. Well, the reboot is moving forward with the screenwriter of the Fringe TV show and the film Brooklyn’s Finest, Brad Caleb Kane. The story will be based on Frank Miller’s “Born Again” storyline, in which Miller returned to the comic several years after his epic, industry-changing run, to tell what happens when a junkie who knows Murdock’s identity decides to sell the secret for the price of a vein spike. It’s a strange story to pick: No origin (thank God!) and a heavy reliance on a back story that only the most hardcore fans will be familiar with. I hope they pull it off, but I have to say, on this one, I am not a man without fear.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

The relaunch (another Cap #1) wherein Steve gets his pajamas and Frisbee back will begin with the funeral of Peggy Carter, who is a main character in the film. This is due in late July, to coordinate with the film release.

Now, to editorialize: At first blush, having the Captain America comic sync with the movie seems like a good idea. But it isn’t. Here’s a true fact: Movies don’t drive comic book sales. Show me empirical evidence that I’m wrong. I’ll give you a few minutes to scan the last few years of sales figures.

“But what about the boom in sales for Wanted and Scott Pilgrim and The Walking Dead,” you say, “which happened when their movies/TV shows came out?” To which I respond: (a) Those were independent books, and they had nowhere to go but up in terms of sales. Marvel and DC Zombies, who populate comic books stores but avoid indie books, got curious enough to test the waters. But folks who never read comics didn’t start as a result of the movies. And, more importantly: (b) The real sales jumps were not in comic books, but in trade paperbacks. See, now, there you can see a jump. So if Marvel really wanted to boost sales around movie time, they’d release a graphic novel to launch the new Cap—or they’d come out with some definitive omnibus release. Like they did with Simonson’s Thor (brilliant move!).

AND THE REST OF THE NEWS….

AVENGERS. In other comic book movie news: Now the rumor is we’ll see Thanos (as well as Loki and the Skrulls) in the Avengers movie. I hope this doesn’t turn into a “jam it all in” film—like Spider-Man 3—but with Joss Whedon at the helm, I remain extremely optimistic.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS SEQUEL(?). And to make it a Marvel Movie Trifecta: The screenwriters of the new film said at a London Comicon that they are working on the script for the next one, and they’re considering bringing in . . . Cable! My thoughts? Glad you asked. Other than Days of Future Passed and possibly Grant Morrison’s final New X-Men arc, most X-time travel stories make my head hurt. And other than the relatively recent X-arc, “Second Coming,” where Cable “died,” Cable without Deadpool is pretty much grape jelly without peanut butter. It’ll do to make bread better, but too much of it makes the bread soggy. Strained analogy? Try reading some solo Cable books. You’ll see what I mean. They just don’t stand up. Anyway, the film grossed $56 million U.S.
dollars and $120 million worldwide, yet they’re calling it a failure. Personally, I think it may be the best superhero movie ever—or, at least, it’s damn close.

STRANGE ADVENTURES #1. At the end of May, Vertigo released this 80-pager featuring their best contributors: Jeff Lemire, Brian Azzarello, Peter Milligan, Denys Cowan and many others. Highly recommended.

G.I. JOE: COBRA STRIKES. I dunno about all of you, but I kinda dug the G.I. Joe movie. It was over-the-top Larry Hama fun. Looks like the sequel may star Dwayne Johnson as Roadblock. I admit it: I’m a sucker for The Rock. I’m excited.

SPIDER ISLAND: THE AVENGERS. Of course The Avengers are going to tie-in with the Spider event. But what will thrill my two little boys is the lineup: Hawkeye (a favorite of both), Ms. Marvel and Mrs. Cage (they’re at the age where it’s kinda cool to have some chicks around) and my oldest kid’s favorite fringe character . . . Frog Man!

WHY SO SERIOUS? If you’re not reading Scott Snyder and Jock’s work on Detective Comics, you’re missing out. Where else can you read a detective story where the murder victim is a whale. A real whale. Found on the floor of a bank. Seriously. And we’ll be seeing the return of the Joker. (He’ll escape from Arkham yet again.) And you’ve got to see Jock’s rendition. Actually, you can. Just to the right there, a little.

Amazing, eh?

AND SPEAKING OF ARKHAM….Hey, since DC is revamping its universe I suggest either: (1) Zap everyone’s memory about Arkham, so it’s plausible why they keep sending criminals there; or (2) Build a new damn lock-down mental ward! I’m saying it as a joke, but wouldn’t that be a wicked premise for a new series? “Arkham 2” or “New Arkham,” about the construction of the prison and then the first criminals put in there, how to secure it, how they treat the prisoners, etc. Dan Slott and others have done tales from within Arkham that were very good—this has mad potential. Here’s my suggestions for the first three arcs: (1) Penguin, the entrepreneur, gets someone working on building the prison to construct a few secret doors, complete with maps, which Cobblepot then sells to a few high bidders (in the “real world” (a.k.a. our universe), the Son of Sam actually helped construct a wing in Ossining Prison); (2) A janitor slowly
driven mad by Joker, who whispers at him from behind the cell doors turns into a supervillain similar to Joker, who tries to reenact Joker’s crimes; (3) A celebrity stalker gets a job as a guard and starts collecting—and selling—personal items from the inmates. One of the inmates finds out and takes offense. Mayhem ensues. The possibilities are endless! Now, Dan Didio, go make it happen!

ESSEX COUNTY: THE MOVIE. Yes. Jeff Lemire’s cult classic, which has been voted one of the greatest graphic novels of all time, will be directed by John Dykstra (visual FX on X-Men: First Class), under the title “Super Zero.” It’s hard to imagine this quirky book as a film, but I’m curious….

GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD KNIGHTS. Apparently, the DVD will be a series of shorts focused on individual members of the Corps, like Kilowog, Tomar Re, etc., tied together with a central theme. The director of the film compared it to Pulp Fiction in an interview with CBR . Okay, that’s a reach, but I am looking forward to it.