1. WALKING DEAD. Of course this is the lead story . . . AMC released a 4-minute trailer, and confirmed that the show will launch on Halloween for a special 90-minute episode directed by Frank Darabont, followed by 5 more episodes for the first “season.” (They’re already in pre-production for season 2.) If you’re not saying you can’t wait until Halloween, you are hereby forbidden to read my blog ever again.

2.  SMALLVILLE. Buzz is starting about the September 24 debut of the final season of the [pretty good, then bad, then really good, then pretty good, then dull] series “Smallville,” which has been around long enough to wear out its welcome. The final season will be not-Superman-or-Superboy’s battle alongside Green Arrow and probably at least half a dozen others (not-Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, Hawkman, etc.) against Darkseid. Also, the incredibly hot prudish nudist Erica Durance (anybody who heard her interview with Howard Stern a few years ago knows what I mean), who plays Lois Lane, will also play Isis(?) this season. Oh, and Supergirl will be back. Could be good, but keeping Clark out of the tights has gone on too long. Folks are asking what to replace this series with? Howzabout Superman??? ‘Cause this show never had him.

3. ANT-MAN. Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim flick got a mixed reception (but I loved it!) and was a box office dud, but he’s still the only guy attached to an Ant-Man movie. Wright wants to make it a spy thriller. Really? Ant-Man (to me) is kind of a silly character. I only really liked him when he went inside Iron Man after Tony’s systems were fried during a battle with the Hulk (I think that was Iron Man #153, but I’m doing this off the top of my head) during the terrific Roger Stern days. (I did like Scott Lang’s appearances in the brilliant Brian Michael Bendis series, “Alias.”) Other than that, he’s a b-lister who should stay off the a-list. If they’re looking for lesser-known folks to get the spotlight, a Giant Man/Wasp movie would be more interesting, or more Blade flicks! Hell, I’d rather see a whole slew of guys: Power Man and Iron Fist, a Daredevil reboot, Moon Knight . .

4. IRON FIST. Marvel Studios hired Rich Wilkes (of the horrible “xXx” action film) to write a screenplay. Of course, we all know that “write a screenplay” rarely translates into a movie that human beings can actually see. But if the chi is with him, Danny Rand will be the first star of a Disney film about a Marvel character (the currently slated Marvel movies are all Marvel Studios productions, started before the merger).

5.  DEADPOOL. You have to give it to Ryan Reynolds. Despite all indications to the contrary, he’s pushing to get the Deadpool movie made and talking it up constantly. As Rob Liefeld tweets, “There needs to be a &^%# Deadpool movie NOW!”

6. NEIL GAIMAN’S SANDMAN. Sandman, a most excellent comic book series under any criteria that ran from 1988-96 and was partly responsible for the creation of D.C.’s Vertigo imprint, may be coming to T.V. I know, you’ve heard that before (it was supposed to be coming to HBO), but now it looks like D.C.’s bigger sister, Warner Bros., sees a market on the CW—which is starving for material and is owned by (of course) Warner Bros. The odds, then, of the project actually reaching completion seem a lot greater.

7.  BATMEN. If you were a fan of Batman: International (I wasn’t) then you may be excited by the news that when Bruce Wayne is done returning, he will wear the Batsuit. But Grayson will, too. Apparently, Batman is going to incorporate himself around the world—kind of like the Avengers: Initiative idea. Se, we’ll have Batman, Detective, Batman and Robin, Batman Inc., and Batman: The Dark Knight. Every month. Marvel should do this with Deadpool, since they can’t seem to publish enough of him every month, either.

8.  DAREDEVIL AND GAMBIT. Looks like Gambit will be the new Daredevil. I’m not psyched about it, but my son is apeshit. Daredevil and Gambit are, respectfully, his two favorite heroes. So for him, this is like a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup: Two great tastes that go great together. Daredevil will be ending at the end of the Shadowland arc in November with issue #512. Andy Diggle will return with Daredevil Reborn #1 in January. How much you wanna bet Daredevil Reborn” lasts about 13 issues, and then they go back to the regular numbering with #525? (Or later with #550?) Murdock will be back, that’s for sure. Reborn will feature the art of Davide Gianfelice, who is currently impressing the world on the indie ”Northlanders” series.  Here’s the cover of “Reborn,” drawn by Jock:

And to close this out . . . Nuthin’ but:

SPIDER-MAN NEWS

Yeah, Brand New Day is ending and the book will drop to a twice-a-month schedule.   As of now, I don’t think Marvel plans to fragment the Spider-Universe the way it was before BND by having half-a-dozen Spider Books each month (thank God), but major changes are afoot.  I hope so, because BND is going out with an uncharacteristic whimper.  The usually great series’ concluding arc “OMIT,” is not just silly, it’s lame and boring and doesn’t even seem to fit in with the overall BND story.  Here’s some of the changes a’coming that I’ve heard:

- Spidey will get new tech.

- The next storyline, “Origin of the Species,” was originally called “The Sinister 666” as it features several classic Spider-Villains like a new Scorpion, Rhino, and Electro.

- Norman Osborn, Carnage and Spider Girl (a.k.a. Arana) will be getting their own titles, although Oz and Carnage’s will be miniseries. One will be Oz in prison, the other will be Spidey and Iron Man vs. Carnage. No announcement yet about creative teams.

1.  COMICS LEARN FROM TUPAC. It’s good to be dead!  The Top 10 bestselling single comics of the month of 2010, according to Diamond distributors, all had to do with characters who are recently dead, “dead,” or back from the dead:

1. Avengers #1 (Steve Rogers—and Iron Man, if you count being a vegetable as dead)
2.  Siege #4 (Steve and Sentry and a bunch of disposable Asgardians)
3.  and 6. Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1 and 2 (Bruce)
4.  Secret Avengers #1 (Steve—and Moon Knight, but he died back in the late 1970s)
5. and 7.  Brightest Day #1 and 2 (Deadman!  And others.)
8.  Green Lantern #54 (Hal Jordan)
9.  Batman and Robin #12 (this book wouldn’t exist if Bruce weren’t dead)
10.  Uncanny X-Men #524 (Nightcrawler)

Sad to say that The Walking Dead wasn’t one of these . . . D.C. had 60% of the top 10, and they also kicked Marvel’s butt on the trades top sellers, too, owning 40% of that market (due largely to Vertigo), with the latest Ex Machina the bestseller and entries from Sweet Tooth, Scalped, and then the Wednesday Comics hardcover.  Marvel had just three entries: Invincible Iron Man, Kick-Ass (hardcover) and Deadpool Vol. 3.  The rest belonged to these worthy indie books, all of which you should buy right now: Invincible Vol. 12; The Walking Dead Book Five; and Hellsing Vol. 10 (actually, I don’t know anything about Hellsing).

2.  VAMPIRELLA. Dynamite got the rights to reprint the old Vampirella books and mags, which probably doesn’t excite any of you until you remember all the folks who have roots in the title: Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Frank Frazetta (pictured at right), Amanda Conner, Mark Millar, Neal Adams, Richard Corben, Jimmy Palmiotti and Barry Windsor-Smith.  See?  Now you’re interested.

3.  DEADPOOL. A week has gone by, so it’s ime for yet another DP series: “Deadpool Pulp”, by Mike Benson, Adam Glass, and artist Laurence Campbell.  This will be like the Noir series—it takes place in the 1950s, outside of “regular” Marvel lore.

4.  SUPERMAN. J. Michael Straczynski is taking over the title by putting Superman on the ground.  Kal-el will begin walking across America with issue #701.  I’m getting the impression that JMS will be treating Superman like a God during his run on the book.  DC is marketing this with an essay contest for fans to win the chance to have Superman visit their own home town, in the comic.  Is a gimmick needed when you’ve got a writer like JMS attached to your book?  Well, anyway, after his run on Thor, I trust the guy.  I’ll buy the book.  At least, in trade form.  He’s also re-doing Wonder Woman’s origin, which should be very interezzzzzzzz.

5.  OLDER MAN LOGAN. Hailed by many as the greatest Wolverine story ever, Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s Old Man Logan may get a sequel, with the same comic team.

6. BATMAN REFERENCE MANUAL! Check out this Batman Reference Manual. Comprehensive, funny . . . What more can you ask for?

7. Little Orphan Annie has been cancelled!

AND IN MOVIE NEWS . . .

1.  X-MEN: FIRST CLASS. This flick already has a summer 2011 release date and isn’t written or cast yet.  If they can throw this movie together in a year, why do we have to wait so long for all the other movies?  It’s not a Marvel Studios pic, and maybe that’s why.

2.  MARVEL SHORT FILMS. Marvel Studios and Disney floated the idea of small films—10 minute “shorts”—that would appear before their full length flicks, which would feature b-listers like Luke Cage or Black Panther.  They also just hired a guy to write a Dr. Strange movie, but it’s not clear if that will be a feature or a short.  Really?  Out of all the lesser-knowns, they’re gonna go with the Doc?  Seems like a bad choice to me.  I’d go with another Blade movie, or with Luke Cage or Iron Fist . . . Even Power Pack before Strange.

3.  MORE WALKING DEAD UPDATES. Frank Darabont (producer) now says that the show plans to reach the prison story arc at the end of the second sentence, which means one and two will be about Rick Grimes travelling and forming the group.  I’m sad, because I want to see it all, but I’m happy that they aren’t rushing it.  No need to run out of stories here and start creating your own when you’ve got a long-running serialized book that is sheer genius as the source material.

4.  MORE D.C. ANIMATED UPDATES.  The next DVD cartoon flick will be another Superman/Batman, following on the heels of the well-executed, well-received “Public Enemies” DVD.  This one will be “Superman/Batman: Apocalypse,” and will feature the duo against (you guessed it), Darkseid.  Darky is the only real “big bad” in the DCU who is at all interesting or who has gained any real traction over the decades.  Whenever there’s a crisis, Darkseid is there.  It will be based on one of Jeph Loeb’s good works (his stuff is either very good, or horrible), which was the “Superman/Batman: Supergirl” arc.  Ironically, Loeb was just promoted to the head of Marvel Entertainment’s T.V. department.

See you next week, same blog-time, same blog-url!

1.  THE WALKING DEAD. I’m leading with this story because (a) I love zombies; (b) I love comics; and (c) I’m starting to love AMC’s original productions.  Oh, and (d) because “The Mist” is one of the best horror films of the past 10 years.  And this story combines all of this, and more!  AMC released still shots of what the zombies will look like in their Frank (Shawshank Redemption and The Mist) Darabont helmed adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s brilliant, ongoing epic, The Walking Dead.  The bad news: Season one will be just 6 eps.  No release date yet, either.  The picture, above, does a very nice job at mirroring Adlard’s brilliant art from the comic.  If they can do an equal job at paralleling Kirkman’s scripts, we’re in business!

Go here to see all the pictures.

2. GREEN LANTERN’S BIG AND SMALL, AND OTHER D.C. MOVING PICTURE NEWS. Here a Hal, there a Hal, everywhere a Hal Hal! Not only were plot points about the movie recently leaked to the internet, but Cartoon Network has announced a cartoon coming in 2012.  The leaked details weren’t huge (or unexpected), but they confirm that the film will feature the entire Green Lantern Corps, the threat will be Parallax, and characters will include Sinestro, Abin Sur, and Amanda Waller.  DC is also saying that their next live-action flick will be Batman in 2012, and then The Flash after that, but Wonder Woman and Aquaman are also in development.  Vincent Chase is up for the lead in the latter film.  Seriously, though, my question is, is Justice League dead in the water?  I wonder whether the abysmal failure that will be called “Jonah Hex” will have any effect?  And another thing: Why does it take so damn long to release all this stuff?  At least DC isn’t making the 1-a-year mistake Marvel keeps making: Both Batman and Superman will come out in 2012, with Bats getting Independence Day and Supes taking Christmas.  Still, it seems nobody has learned from Peter Jackson that it is easier and more economical to film three movies at once and then stagger the post-production and release dates.

3.  SPEAKING OF GREEN . . . I was a big advocate of the Rulk series when it started: Big, muscular McGuiness artwork and Jeph Loeb at his Bruckheimer best, but the series floundered under its own weight.  It started taking itself too seriously, created a whole conspiracy thing, and stretched out the central question: Who is Red Hulk?  Turns out, it is General Thunderbolt Ross.  Which we all pretty much knew anyway.  This series had a promising, fun start but ended up being some of the worst work these two extremely talented individuals ever put out.  Sad.

4.  X-MEN FIRST CLASS. And speaking of movies, the “X-Men: First Class” movie appears to have begun casting, so it may actually be a “go.”  James McAvoy has signed on to be the young(er) Professor X.  They’ve also got a director (Matthew Vaughn) and a release date of June 2011.

5.  TEEN TITANS . . . Hasn’t been good since Geoff Johns left it several years ago.  In fact, it’s been awful.  To try to save this once venerated franchise, D.C. is bringing in JT Krul.  Krul wrote the Blackest Night Titans spin-off, which wasn’t horrible but was pretty much dispensable.  He says he’s going to try to make the team stable and relevant again.  That would be nice.  During both the Marv Wolfman and Johns runs, it was one of my favorite reads.

6.  THE RETURN OF THE LIZARD. If you don’t know that Amazing Spider-Man has been revamping and reintroducing Spider-Man’s rogues gallery, one crook at a time, then you haven’t been reading this blog enough.  Spidey’s enemies are by far the most engaging group of baddies in comic history.  Yeah, Batman has a bunch of foes, but they’re not nearly as distinctive as the ones created by Stan Lee so many years ago, which included a zoo crew (Lizard, Vulture, Rhino, Scorpion); hunters, thieves and killers (Kraven, Chameleon, Shocker, Mysterio); mob leaders (Hammerhead, Kingpin, Silvermane); forces of nature (Molten Man, Electro, Sandman, Hydro Man); and of course the evil geniuses (Green Goblin, Tinkerer, Doc Ock).  The latest three-issue arc featured The Lizard, reimagined now as a Jeckyl/Hyde type who can control little lizards like Aquaman speaks to fish.  The plot itself was fairly simple, and not nearly as interesting as the Rhino and Sandman arcs, but it was well-written.  For example, the internal dialogue is on a par with Daniel Way’s work on Deadpool.  The star here, though, is artist Chris Bachalo.  Amazing work on a title that is surprisingly solid and consistent considering it publishes thrice monthly.

7.  THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE. Between this title and Batman and Robin, I’m actually turning into something I never thought I’d be: A fan of Grant Morrison.  His narratives are still a little too random and insidery for me, a casual Batman reader, but they’ve gotten much better than they used to be.  And the stories are constantly intriguing.  I know where this miniseries has to end, but I have no idea how it is going to get there.

8.  THE DEATH OF DRACULA/X-MEN #1. By now most of you probably know that Victor (Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth) Gischler and Paco (Deadpool) Medina has written the next big X-Event, “Curse of the Mutants,” which is about mutants and vampires.  Basically, Lord Drac dies and the rest of the bloodsuckers scramble for a new leader.  Wow!  That sounds . . . Stupid.  No, not stupid: Blatant and pathetic.  We know all the teens are digging Twilight, and True Blood is the only popular show left on HBO, but come one.  The one-off Claremont did, years ago, where Storm hooked up with Dracula in the Uncanny X-Men title was good.  But no more ever needed to be said on the topic.  I’d say I’ll keep an open mind, but that would be a lie.  I won’t.  X-Men books have been too convoluted, intermingled, intermixed and complicated for decades now, and just starting at an issue #1 simply is too little, too late.  How did Claremont’s brilliant vision get so off track?

9.  AVENGERS MOVIE. Last but not least, one of my favorite new actors, Jeremy Renner, may play Hawkeye in The Avengers.  Combine that with Joss Whedon in line as director and you’ve got The Best Superhero Movie Ever Made.

Robert Kirkman has established his narrative credibility with The Walking Dead series. It is aptly named, because the book is essentially a very, very long walk through the lives of the survivors of a zombie plague. It has no clear end in sight (other than death), no five-issue story arcs, no predictable characters or cyphers, no spandex, and no color. And even if borrowed heavily from the classic film 28 Days Later in its first issue, any cribbing disappeared quickly and left no lasting effects. The book has been recognized as a masterpiece by no less than The New York Times, and if you haven’t read it yet, this is the perfect time: The first 50 issues were recently compiled in a doorstop-heavy single volume. That may sound intimidating, but I guarantee you’ll read it fast. And want more. But The Walking Dead is so “un-comic-book” that you might be wondering if Kirkman can do anything more conventional.

Well, he has written for some of Marvel’s more off-kilter titles (Marvel Zombies, Ultimate X-Men) and even some straightforward stuff on Captain America. He’s also got his own “family of heroes” title, “Invincible,” which has gotten good reviews but it never really worked for me. I haven’t had the time or money to check out “The Astounding Wolf-Man” and “Capes,” which a lot of folks rave about.  (Note: Kirkman recently announced that Wolf-Man will end with #25, so I expect there will be a big bound volume available soon.)  But I did see the first Trade Paperback of Haunt on the shelf at Victory Comics in Falls Church and figured I’d give it a try.

The series is part Firestorm, part espionage, and part gore-filled monster flick. The writing is solid, exciting, taut and completely unpredictable. It’s as good as Kirkman’s work on The Walking Dead, but also very difficult to compare. Haunt is more conventional, in that the first Trade is a clear story arc (“The Origin!”), and it’s got more traditional characters as well. But Kirkman handles it expertly–so that it is as fresh as anything else you’ll read.

As for the art, I’ve never liked Todd MacFarlane more.  MacFarlane is best known for his Spider-Man work, but unless he was drawing Carnage or Venom, he never really worked for me on that book–his stuff is a lot like John Romita, Jr., but it’s a little too . . . Creepy. His Spawn project was pretty good, but the story never got me. Here, he’s a perfect match. Å possessed secret agent, “Haunt” is a lanky, fluid character with large eyes and claws. In short, he looks like Spider-Man. And the story is in constant motion, just like MacFarlane’s “posed” style. Every frame is a poster. It’s that good.  And the pages are well-arranged, laid out with clear vision.

This book gets an A+ from me. You need to buy it. Now.

Best Limited Series or Story Arc.

Nominees: Blackest Night (DC); Incognito, (Marvel Icon); Pluto: Urasawa X Tezuka (VIZ Media); “Old Man Logan” story arc (Marvel); The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Marvel).

First of all, I haven’t read “Pluto,” so it shouldn’t win. And at the risk of committing sacrilege, I like Brubaker’s superhero work but his crime comics leave me a little cold, so that takes out Incognito. Blackest Night was a lot of fun, but the first three (and a half) issues were lengthy exposition that made for good reading only if you were a DC Nerd of the highest order. And it’s final payoff—that DC won’t resurrect dead people anymore—is completely unbelievable. I’ve only read parts of Old Man Logan, and I loved what I saw, but I have to go with Oz. Eric Shanower’s knowledge of the original books is bottomless, and he managed to create original characters here that didn’t simply crib from the iconic film. And Skottie Young’s art is some of the best kid-friendly but adult-savvy art I’ve ever seen. And I do mean EVER. If you haven’t picked this up just for the pictures alone, shame on you. I’d also pick Oz for the Best Publication for Kids category, but Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute, another nominee, is a very close second.

What should have been nominated: Tony Stark’s mind melting story, or Geoff Johns’ Adventure Comics run, even though that one had a few missteps.

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)

Nominees: Brave & the Bold #28: “Blackhawk and the Flash: Firing Line” (DC); Captain America #601: “Red, White, and Blue-Blood” (Marvel); Ganges #3 (Fantagraphics); The Unwritten #5: “How the Whale Became” (Vertigo/DC); Usagi Yojimbo #123: “The Death of Lord Hikiji” (Dark Horse).

I don’t have a lot to say here because I haven’t read any of these except Cap, but I can safely say: Pick any of these except that one. I know it was a big deal to bring Gene Colan back, but all it did was remind me why I wasn’t so crazy about him in the first place.

Best Writer

Nominees: Ed Brubaker for Captain America, Daredevil, Marvels Project, Criminal, Incognito; Geoff Johns for Adventure Comics, Blackest Night, The Flash: Rebirth, Superman: Secret Origin; James Robinson for Justice League: Cry for Justice (DC); Mark Waid for Irredeemable, The Incredibles; and Bill Willingham for Fables.

This is the toughest category for me to pick. I’ve never been a huge Fables fan (I like it, but don’t get what all the hype is about), and ditto everything Mark Waid has ever done, so those two are easy to eliminate. Justice League hasn’t been good since the second nominee in this category left the book, so that leaves just two: Ed and Geoff. Both are great, and both are nominated for great work. But I’m giving the edge to Ed because he took his characters to places they’d never been before and, at the end of the day, Blackest Night didn’t change much about the DCU.   It resurrected a few characters, but there wasn’t any development of those characters.

Who should have been in this category: Garth Ennis, Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis.

Best Continuing Series
Nominees: Fables, by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Andrew Pepoy et al. (Vertigo/DC); Irredeemable, by Mark Waid and Peter Krause (BOOM!); Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa (VIZ Media); The Unwritten, by Mike Carey and Peter Gross (Vertigo/DC); The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard (Image).

The answer here is so obvious it’s painful. The Walking Dead is like nothing you’ve ever read before: A long form story, with no obvious arcs or cliffhangers. It’s real life. With zombies.

What should have been here: The Boys, New Avengers, Batman and Robin.

Now that it’s over, we can look back over the 8-issue expanse of D.C.’s most recent “event,” Blackest Night, and see how it measures up. First of all, I can easily say, without a doubt, that it’s the best D.C. event ever. Hands down. All of their past Crises (except perhaps Identity Crisis) have been cluttered, unmanageable affairs with a few assets or game-changers. Batman R.I.P. was confusing and required way too much background knowledge for the average reader. Yet Blackest Night, by focusing on the Green Lantern universe but threatening all existence, was at once self-contained and expansive. And, most importantly, it actually had a slam-bang ending. The climax of an event is where even mighty Marvel missteps (Cap surrenders at the end of Civil War?!?), but Geoff Johns’ conclusion—with its reunions and resurrection no-shows–was enough to warm the heart and bring tears to the eyes.

The first three and a half issues had me doubting whether it would be worth reading. It was just a lot of esoteric characters “rising” and other characters dying without any real emotional impact or any sense that they were, in fact, truly dead. The only cross-over miniseries that I read, Superman, Batman, Titans, and Flash, were disposable. As a casual D.C. reader, there wasn’t much for me there. I was in doubt.

But then the series began to gain momentum. I began to notice how brilliant Ivan Reis’ layouts were—I’ve never seen an entire series told in widescreen before. Geoff Johns’ philosophical discussions began to actually have impact—he was done with exposition and was ready to “show not tell.” Green Lantern has always been my least favorite major D.C. hero. The only time I really liked him before Geoff Johns took over the reigns was when Robin handed him his hat in All Star Batman and Robin. And although I liked the return of Hal Jordan, and liked Sinestro War a little more, I still wasn’t loving the character or concepts. Yet I found myself looking forward to each issue of Blackest Night. It became the book I read first each week.

Was it perfect? No. Johns still spends a little too much time on concept and not enough on character, which creates emotional distance between the reader and the action. And Reis can be a little too busy—he’s the student, while George Perez is the master. And I’m not sure I believe that from here on out, dead is dead in the DCU. After all, the next big thing will be the return of Bruce Wayne. (I know, I know, he was never really “dead.”)
And in the final issue, a lot of what we all knew would happen happened. But it still hit me right in the gut. And left me trusting in, and eagerly awaiting, Brightest Day.

Adventure Comics. When Geoff Johns was on board, this was a monthly must-buy.  Since his departure, we saw a strong (but fairly meaningless) Blackest Night tie-in and an issue containing three prequels.  I can’t endorse that for four bucks.  Barely any story there!  The jury is still out on where they’ll take this book, but it doesn’t look good.  Verdict: Wait for a trade to see if the book is worth getting.

Amazing Spider-Man. I do enjoy this series very much, but sometimes you’ll find an issue that’s half-full of a Flash Thompson sob story.  Boring.  Or there’s a one-and-done with Black Cat that’s better than it ought to be, but still ain’t worth three bucks.  Buying monthly lets you avoid those occasional missteps in an otherwise strong series.  Verdict: Buy monthly.

Batman and Robin. Not only is this the only Batbook worth buying right now, it’s the only Grant Morrison you need.  True, all of his work ties together in a big, nonlinear mess.  But it’s still not going to add much to your experience here, unless you study Batman R.I.P. and Final Crisis like the Torah.  Just hop in and accept everything you see, and you’re guaranteed a great ride.  Morrison makes use of all the classic Bat-tropes like gadgets; a two person, father-son-ish partnership; and over-the-top corny villains.  It’s like the Bob Kane Batman through the eyes of Frank Miller.  Or Rob Zombie.  Verdict: Buy monthly because you need time to digest between issues.  Morrison is nothing if not dense and obtuse.

The Bendis Books. Obviously, if you want to know what’s going on in the Marvel Universe you have to read these books.  But I much prefer to be able to experience them in larger chunks, because Bendis will often have entire issues devoted to nothing but dialogue and build up with no payoff.  I find this less annoying when I’ve got the next issue to follow up with immediately.  That said, this is the best Cape work on the market today, bar none.  Verdict: Either way, you won’t go wrong.

Captain America. I think Brubaker’s run on this series has been the best run ever, so I say it’s a must-read.  However, Brubaker’s stories tend to be intricate espionage novels, and although they are affected by events in the MU, the story arcs best read in chunks.  Verdict: Buy the trades.

Daredevil.  It’s a little to early to say whether Dan Diggle’s rollercoaster ride will maintain its quality, but for now it’s a gas to see DD doing superhero stuff instead of dodging reporters or cooling his heels in prison.  It’s pulpy, action fun that is perfect in 40-page installments.  Verdict: Buy monthly, because it’s fun to have the excitement build between issues.

Prelude to Deadpool Corps. We’re now 2 issues deep in this weekly miniseries that appears to be a prelude to another miniseries about a character with at least 3 other books out at the same time.  Too much Deadpool?  Undoubtedly.  But at the same time, Victor Gischler take on the alterniverse versions of the character is fun and funny, and gets a recommendation from me.  My advice: If you buy this as a weekly book, you can avoid the first issue (with Rob Liefeld—a great guy and generally a terrific artist—doing his absolute worst art ever) and just buy the Kidpool, Severed Headpool, and Dogpool issues.  I predict they’ll be the best.  Verdict: Buy monthly, and buy selectively.

Deadpool Team Up. All team-up books are heavily character driven: If you want to see what’s up with US1 these days (and I think you should want that) then buy that issue.  If you could care less about the Zapata Brothers, you can skip one (and I think you should skip that one).  And if there’s a DP series to skip, this is the one.  Verdict: Buy based on a browse.

All the other Deadpool books. You can wait for the trades here.  To the extent that they jump in and out of “regular” Marvel continuity, it’s nothing you need to know about.  And both Deadpool and Merc with a Mouth tell stories, with fairly self-contained arcs, so you can jump in where you want.  Moreover, some arcs are clearly better than others.  Deadpool Secret Invasion was great.  Deadpool as a pirate, not so much.  And the current Hit Monkey story is very thin.  Verdict: Buy the trades,  but if you’re going to buy one monthly, make it Merc With a Mouth.

Ex-Machina. Most indies can be bought as trades because they are self-contained and they don’t get a lot of press so any surprises aren’t likely to be ruined for you.  Moreover, this indie super-politician book is clearly a long-form story.  Verdict: Buy trades.

All the Hulk Books.  Dude, just don’t buy them.  Boy did Jeph Loeb go off the rails here.

Invincible Iron Man. Matt Fraction’s book has been nothing short of amazing.  My thing with Fraction, though, is that I tend to like to read his stuff in one sitting.  I did it with Iron Fist.  I did it with Punisher.  However, what goes on in Tony’s world is relevant to the Bendis books, so you may want to be current.  Verdict: Toss-up.

Punisher. The Frankencastle book is lots of fun, but you definitely can get it in trade without losing anything.  And unlike Daredevil and Amazing Spider-Man, it isn’t really parceled out in 40-page cliff-hangers.  It all kind of flows.  As for PunisherMax, I just can’t endorse anything with Dillon’s art.  Sorry.  (But the Garth Ennis stuff was some of the best street-level crime stories I’ve ever read in comics—go buy those!)  Verdict: Buy Frankencastle in trade; skip PunisherMax.

All the Ultimates books. It’s a different universe, so you won’t be behind in anything essential.  Verdict: I’m waiting for the trades.

The Walking Dead. The Walking Dead is one of the greatest long-form comics I’ve ever read.  That said, I can’t see how anyone can read it in issue form.  It’s a long, never-ending novel, that must be (ahem) digested in big chunks.  Verdict: Get the gigantic softcover (issues #1-48), and then let a few trades pile up before digging in again.

As always, praise and bellyaching is welcome in the comments section.

25. THE RISE OF THE MINOR CHARACTER. Between Brubaker/Fraction/Aja’s work on Iron Fist, Bucky becoming Captain America, the inclusion of Luke Cage and Spider-Woman in New Avengers, the reinvention of folks like Captain Britain, She-Hulk, Punisher, Moon Knight, and Ghost Rider, and the explosion of Deadpool, Marvel has done a great job at keeping its minor characters in the forefront this decade. And with such a rich cast of supporting players, this is a welcome addition. They’ve even done a great job at establishing some new characters, such as the afore-mentioned Young Avengers, The Sentry, and The Immortal Weapons.

24. JLA/AVENGERS. All right, this may not have been that important, but come on. You know you wanted it. But don’t buy it for the story—it’s one of those cosmic space epics that doesn’t make a lot of sense. George Perez is the master of large group shots—he’s not an intimate artist, he’s a “stand back and watch the widescreen” type—and that’s exactly what this book needed.

23. KICK-ASS. Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.’s creation on Marvel’s Icon imprint was the first comic to sell movie rights—and get the movie made, to boot–before finishing its first story arc. Marvel deserves kudos for supporting these creators in their vision.

22. THE ADVENT OF THE YOUNG AVENGERS. Why is this on my list of decade-defining events? Because it is almost impossible to get people to spend money on new characters. Think about it. How many new hero books get launched and last more than a year? Almost none. And those that do, are usually independent. Here, Marvel took a pretty dumb idea (baby Cap! baby Vision!) and turned it into something pretty cool. The creative team, Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, deserved their Harvey award for best new series by creating characters who modeled themselves after Marvel’s JLA but who were individuals—nothing like the persons they based themselves on. Not to mention, they won an award from GLAAD for portraying a gay character in a positive, well-balanced way (I won’t give away who it is) and formed the basis (kind of) for a surprisingly good Marvel all-ages DVD (“Avengers Next”). The book lasted only 12 issues, but four miniserieses later,
there are hints that the group will return. Let’s hope it does. I mean comics are about icons, but Marvel’s icons are, well, old. It’s great to have a book about kids again.

21. PRESIDENT OBAMA APPEARS IN AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. First of all, to have a world leader admit that he enjoys reading comic books was a truly amazing event. But Spider-Man’s team up with the POTUS ended up being the best-selling comic of the entire decade. Not to mention the great hype Marvel generated behind the cross-over. Their publicists deserve a standing ovation for this, along with their promotion of the Death of Captain America, The Spider-Man/Colbert team-up, and all the creepy posters they used as the “Secret Invasion” campaign.

20. PAGE ONE RECAPS. Another editorial decision that has made comics more readable and accessible is the one-page recap, which Marvel now does for nearly all its titles and, at least in the Deadpool and Spider-Man books, inserts creativity as well, making the recap a must-read even for regular subscribers.

19. ROBERT KIRKMAN’S “THE WALKING DEAD.” No, that’s not a misprint. Without Kirkman’s indie title, there would have been no Marvel Zombies, which served as the jump-off for several horror-fusion titles and characters, from Zombie Headpool to Frankencastle and the revival of the Legion of Monsters. And probably Marvel Apes, too. A lot of campy fun!

18. MARVEL DIGITAL COMICS UNLIMITED. Perhaps this is more likely to be an important event for the 2010s than it was for the 2000s, but Marvel’s attempt to provide on-line back-issues and some new content deserves a mention not because it successfully changed the game, but because it showed how the game might change in the near future.

17. THE RISE OF TRADE PAPERBACKS. Along the same line as “growing the hell up,” Marvel in 2002 launched an aggressive trade paperback program that today has all but superseded the monthly serialized format. In some ways, this is sad. It’s led to comic books being worthless as collector’s items, killed the back-issue industry, and led to markedly decreased monthly sales. On the other hand, the trade books put comics into bookstores and made them viable in online markets like Amazon. In short, the trade format may have saved the industry by killing it.

16. GROWING THE HELL UP . . . By 2000, everyone pretty much knew that kids weren’t the main readers of comics any more. But in 2001, Joe Quesada took official notice by launching the MAX line and dumping the outdated and condescending Comics Code Authority, which was designed originally to establish that comics were okay for little ones to read. The first action allowed Marvel to take in the team responsible for the indie book “Preacher”– Ennis and Dillon—who made The Punisher into a character worth reading about for the first time since . . . Well, ever. He was no longer a lame Batman ripoff, and although the stories Ennis told were generally straightforward violent crime sagas, they had the kind of grit that made them cinematic. Dropping the Comics Code was a signal to the world that comic books were now grown up, and could be seen as legitimate literature—not as pulp to occupy the kids. I’d argue that this trend really began way back
with Frank Miller’s Daredevil, but it wasn’t until Quesada had the vision to transform not just individual series but the entire Marvel Universe that it really took hold. This change in perspective made just about everything else on this list possible.

15. . . . BUT STAYING YOUNG AT HEART! Yeah, Millar and Bendis are serious cookies with an eye for bleakness and major change. But at the same time, Joe Quesada gave Chris Eliopoulos a license to make us laugh with his charming “Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius” series. The books get a little stale after a while, but there’s at least seven issues of wonderful reading here. Add to the mix the rebirth of Power Pack in a series of kid-friendly mini-series, the Marvel Adventures line, Mini Marvels (brilliant!), the Super Hero Squad, and X-Men and Wolverine First Class, and you’ve got some solid books for all ages that don’t dumb down the Marvel Universe.

14. GRANT MORRISON AND FRANK QUIETLY TAKE OVER THE X-MEN. Many credit Morrison’s “New X-Men” run as a game-changer. I have to admit, I’m not a huge fan of the series, but I recognize that he was able to make manageable the convoluted, unwieldy, ridiculous and boring X-Universe, and completely reorganize it—just like Chris Claremont did in Giant-Size X-Men #1. What did Morrison do? He turned the Sentinels into something savage and uncontrolled; hooked up Cyclops and Emma Frost; killed thousands of mutants in one fell swoop and one single issue while at the same time reversing the polarity of the North and South poles; and made the first Shi’ar space saga worth reading since Claremont introduced them all back in the ‘80s. One more thing: nobody interprets Morrison better than Frank Quietly, whose crisp art often adds clarity to Morrison’s more obtuse tendencies. He was the perfect artist for this series.

13. MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE. Marvel makes the first super-hero video game that doesn’t suck, and Deadpool’s popularity quadruples.

12. DISNEY. The possible implications of the Disney/Marvel merger are alternately fabulous (more movies and cartoons, and maybe even more kid-friendly superheroes!) or terrifying (the House of Mouse were key members of the anti-Communist censorship movement in the 1950s). But right now, it’s hard to tell whether it will affect the Marvel Universe at all—or even whether it will pan out for stockholders—but the fact that a company like this could ever buy a company like that . . . Was surprising to all.

11. SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY AND THE SPIDER SUMMIT. In 2007, Marvel took an action that many considered brutal and awful: They ended Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage not by divorce but by deus ex machina as Mephisto erased much of Straczynski’s generally celebrated run on the series. The story itself, though, was unimportant. The critical part of Brand New Day was that Joe Quesada was right: Spider-Man had become too dark, and too married. He needed to be a young, single, geek-about-town, and this was the way to do it. Regardless of what you think of brand new day, it’s impossible not to notice that The Amazing Spider-Man, as a thrice-monthly title, is worlds better now than it was in 2006. Or 2005. Or pretty much any time since the Roger Stern era. It also marked the first time Marvel went three-times-a-month with a book, rotating the creative team under one editorial board and holding regular “summits” about the character. This has
worked much better than having several different Spidey titles coming out each month, each with their own continuing storyline. In fact, I think they should do this other over-exposed characters like Wolverine and Deadpool.

10. DAREDEVIL. Beginning with Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev’s run and all the way to the end of the decade with Brubaker, no other character left the 2000s so much better than he’d come in—and this was a decade marked by radical reinvention and reinterpretation. After Frank Miller essentially defined Daredevil as Marvel’s darkest street avenger, nobody seemed to be able to step in and tell a good DD story. Bendis’ work on Daredevil showed that old, stale characters could become rich despite the baggage they carried around. This is another example of a reboot, in amy ways, but the themes Bendis played with (and Brubaker built on later) became the ones that helped shape the decade: The purpose, value, and function of a secret identity; the thin line between hero and villain; the inability to escape inner demons; and difficulty of being heroic in a violent, desperate world.

9. DARK REIGN. Norman Osborn saved the world and became the new face of S..H.I.E.L.D., reworking the secret agent agency in his own image. This made the MU a sad and depressing place, but it also made possible so many big changes in tone, and allowed younger creators to reshape old heroes like Iron Man and the cast of all of the Avengers books into newer, more modern versions. Yeah, it was hard to let go of the past, but Bendis and Millar had been bracing us for this ever since the Civil War. This was just the next logical step. It was hard to pick between this and “House of M,” but since Grant Morrison already killed a ton of muties in New X-Men, I knocked M off the slot here. But M did prove that big events could be self-contained, and it was the first event that Marvel handled really, really well with regards to creativity and maintaining the integrity of the affected characters.

8. SPIDER-MAN: THE MOVIES. Sam Raimi is the one to credit with finally delivering a live-action Spider-Man worth watching, and with making superhero films for all ages that are not at the same time infantile. Eschewing the “adult” orientation introduced by Tim Burton’s Batman and avoiding the cartoonish pitfalls of Clooney’s Dark Knight, Raimi did for superhero movies what Stan Lee did for superhero comics: He made a film that could speak to young(ish) kids and (not overly serious) adults at the same time. It also established that superheroes could still bring in dollars without sacrificing their nerd integrity. I’d put X-Men (the 2000 movie) here, too, because it made tremendous amounts of money and showed that team-live-action is feasible, but it was really Spidey who broke down barriers.

7. JOSS WHEDON ON ASTONISHING X-MEN. Why is this 2004 series important? Because it was one of the early examples of Hollywood coming to Marvel, rather than the other way around. Celebrated T.V. and film writer Joss Whedon teamed up with artist John Cassaday to expand upon Grant Morrison’s work on the New X-Men and create 24 of the best comic books of all time. It gave comics a little more legitimacy—they could be works of art on their own, not just serve as inspiration for popcorn flicks.  Plus, it was funny.  Funny X-Men.  Think of it!

6. AVENGERS DISSEMBLED/NEW AVENGERS/MIGHTY AVENGERS/DARK AVENGERS. During the 1990s there were some decent Avengers stories, but the book wasn’t the flagship title it was always intended to be. When Brian Michael Bendis took a hold of it, he killed off several characters that he didn’t want to play with (including fan—and person—favorite Hawkeye) and reintroduced the team with a cast that, while it included the biggest names in Marvel, also included some seemingly mismatched and/or minor characters. But the book has become the most important book at Marvel in terms of both continuity and sales statistics. More importantly, New Avengers became one of the most fun superbooks on the market. And the Marvel Universe showed that it was so big, it took several books to really tell the story (although Might A is pretty dispensible).

5. THE IRON MAN MOVIE. Everyone knew Spider-Man with Tobey McGuire would be a hit. It was a no-brainer. But this is the movie that made Marvel attractive to Disney. If they could do this for one B-Lister, then why can’t they do it for their whole stable? To be clear: I liked X-Men, X2, and Spider-Man a lot more than I liked Iron Man, but there were several things that made Iron Man special. First, it was made by Marvel. Sony proved long ago that it could make a blockbuster, but with this film Marvel Studios established that it could attract top talent and sell a movie to the public that would be enjoyed by fanboys, critics, and even (gasp) ladies! Second, it wasn’t about Spider-Man. Most of America didn’t know Tony Stark from Tony the Tiger, and if they’d heard of Iron Man they probably thought he was the dude from the Black Sabbath song. Finally, although Tobey McGuire was somewhat of a name before he became Peter Parker, the Iron Man
crew were really out there. Jon Favreau was an indie director with no action cred and Robert Downey, Jr., was best known for getting wasted and dressing up as Wonder Woman.

4. BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS INTRODUCES ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN AND THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSE IS BORN. In 2000, one of Joe Quesada’s first (and most important) acts was to hire Brian Michael Bendis and unleash the first “Ultimate” book. Ultimate Spider-Man may have been more “realistic” or “modern” than the initial Lee/Ditko take on Spidey, but it was still light fun, as Spider-Man needs to be (and hadn’t been, arguably, since Clone Wars). In this way, it’s quite distinguishable from Millar’s Ultimate universe, a categorically dismal and menacing world. Bendis also introduced a different way of telling stories: One that focused on intimate close-ups rather than pan-shots and widescreen action. As a reboot, this book (and, obviously, Bendis) was one of the most game-changing plays of the last fifty years. Where previous reboots (D.C. has retold Superman’s origin how many times?) ignored aspects of a hero’s history to suit a creative
vision, Bendis took Spidey into a new universe all together—without relying on Uatu. This became a pattern for Marvel in double-O decade, and many of the decade’s most interesting books are examples of that (e.g., Neil Gaiman’s brilliant 1602). In fact, I bet D.C.’s acclaimed All Star Batman/Superman books wouldn’t have come to pass without it.

3. CIVIL WAR. With The Ultimates, Mark Millar had established himself as a man with a decidedly dark vision and a willingness to take beloved characters and make them, well, assholes. In Civil War, it was Iron Man’s Millar moment. Unlike similar “events” that preceded it, Civil War not only incorporated every single hero in the MU, it changed them, fundamentally. It’s a testament to the editorial coordination in Marvel that this thing worked at all. Many have complained that the ending was weak—that Cap should have died here, not in his own book—but I dispute that notion. Yeah, ending a war with a surrender is a little anticlimactic, and it certainly made me stand up and shout angrily when I read it. But looking back, Civil War paved the way for the rise and fall of Iron Man (the most compelling take on the character since the 1980s), turned the New Avengers into antiheroes (a status far more normal and acceptable for members like
Spider-Man, Cage, and Spider Woman), and for Dark Reign—certainly an important storyline in its own right. You can’t say Civil War ended with issue 8—the series, in retrospect, was actually a prequel to Siege.

2. JOE QUESADA ASCENDS TO EDITOR IN CHIEF. Far and away the most important Marvel staffing event of the decade happened at the beginning. In 2000, Joe Quesada took over as EiC of Marvel Comics, after starting the “Marvel Knights” line, a moderately successful “reboot” franchise, in the 1990s. Unlike many EiCs (in fact, unlike all since Jim Shooter, I believe), Quesada was a creator first, executive second, so he understood the connection artists have to their work. His reign has been characterized by hiring bold talent and allowing them to completely dismantle all of Marvel’s conventions. And remember, the company had declared bankruptcy and was all but dead in the 1990s.

1. THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA. Can there really be any question here? Cap was always important to fans of Marvel, but he was hardly as iconic as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Superman, Batman (or pretty much any JLAer).. Yet his death was front page news (at least in New York) and got mentions in every form of media—including extended segments on The Colbert Report. It made Cap a bestselling series (and it had deserved to be one already, if only for the 25 issues Brubaker and Epting did prior to killing Steve Rogers). It also brought back many people who’d stopped reading comics because they’d gotten stale and boring. It was proof that anything can happen. Even more tremendous were that the news didn’t leak—the event was a true shock to the world, just like a real assassination—and the fact that later issues proved that the series was even better without its title character. It was one of the few comic books that almost made me
cry. Almost.

1.  SOMETIMES IT ENDS IN APRIL.

5.  WHO’S IVAN REITMAN GONNA CALL? Ivan has agreed to do Ghostbusters 3, and there are indications Sigourney Weaver could be on board.  I like Siggy and all, but without Bill Murray . ..
6.  CHICKS WITH PECS! In the spirit of Pet Avengers, Marvel is turning women into novelty items with a new book, Her-Oes, an out-of-continuity book featuring hot Marvel ladies like Wasp, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel and Namora . . . In High School.  The sample art from
http://www.comicbookresources.com/
Comic Book Resources looks very Power-Pack-ish, so I’m guessing this will be an all-ages book, but the author is comparing it to Ultimate Spider-Man.  The only hope for this book is that it’s written by Grace Randolph, the woman behind BOOM’s “Muppet Peter Pan,” a decent quality kids comic.  I reserve judgment . . .

7.  WALKING DEAD REDEMPTION. I reported last week about AMC picking up a Walking Dead series.  Well, they’ve approved the pilot, and it’s written by Frank (Shawshank Redemption, The Mist) Darabont.  Couldn’t think of anyone better.  We’ll end on that!

2.  In better news: No date is announced yet, but AMC—home of one of my favorite shows (no, not Mad Men—Breaking Bad!)—will be serializing Robert Kirkman’s “Walking Dead” comic book.  Comic is a ton of fun . . .

3.  I saw my first movie of 2010—Daybreaker.  Was it great? No.  But it was amusing, and definitely had its moments.  My main problem with it was that it was too well produced.  Stylized monster movies just don’t tend to be scary to me.  I prefer the grit of Romero and Carpenter.  Did see a preview for The Crazies, though, and it looks vile.  Can’t wait to see it.

4.  Did you hear that David Finch, the genius artist of Millar’s Ultimates run, recently signed exclusively to DC?  How did that happen?  I can’t believe Marvel would let him go like that.  Anyway, he’ll be the cover artist for the post-Blackest Night event, titled “Brightest Day.”  It’s not entirely clear what the even will mean, but it will have lots of cross-overs so that you can spend your money on titles you wouldn’t normally buy just to get a page or two of necessary continuity.  The series will start in April, will last a year and be published biweekly.  Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi are the writing staff.  I know lots of folks praised 52, but I guess I’m just not enough of a DC guy to get all wet about this.  I do dig BN, though.  In fact, Newsrama ran a great interview with Geoff Johns, where he explained about Blackest Night and the fight between mortals and Nekron: “We [mortals] age because we’re not supposed to be here. So we grow old. It’s the universe fighting against us. We age and die because we aren’t wanted here. Space was here then life came and messed up everything. In truth, life is chaos and death is order.”  I never read the series that way before.  It’s kinda deep.

5.  Why aren’t you all reading the hilarious, ultraviolent, carefree and insane Punisher comic book yet?  It’s like Deadpool, only way more wild.  Seriously.  Punisher isn’t a stupid idea anymore, not since Warren Ellis did the “serious” PunisherMax series.

6.  There’s an A-Team trailer out, with Liam Neeson as Hannibal!  The real key to this film will be whether Quinton “Rampage” Jackson can fill Mr. T’s bejeweled shoes . . . And believe me, I have doubts.

7.  Joe Johnston, director of The Wolfman, discussed the Captain America movie with BOXOFFICE.com recently, and showed that he doesn’t know much about Cap. First, he says, “The great thing about Captain America is he’s a super hero without any super powers.”   Really?  So that super soldier serum was a placebo?  Then, Johnston says that after Steve Rogers was turned into Cap, “You’d think he got everything he wanted. Well, he didn’t get everything he wanted.”  Yes, he did!  He wanted to be a hero!  One of the best things about Captain America is that he never, ever doubts being a hero.  He doesn’t let a burglar run by him and kill his uncle; he doesn’t miss his mommy and daddy as a drive for vengeance; and for a long time, he hasn’t even had a secret identity!  The movie will be an origin story, and I’m not real psyched about that.  I’d much rather see him and Bucky tearing ass through the Nazis than skinny-boy-gets-big.  Cap is probably my second favorite superhero, so I hope to God they do right by him.  Or at least pattern him after Brubaker’s Cap, not Bendis’ or Millar’s.

8.  And finally, in the advance hype section, I don’t know if I’ve told y’all that Animalogic Studios (Happy Feet) is working on a movie of Jeff Smith’s wonderful, all ages appropriate “Bone” comic.  Hope it’s good!