Comic Core

Spider-man 3 or Sandman can fly?? WTF??

2007-05-16T10:03:00.000-03:00

8/10

I saw Spider-man 3 last week and delayed posting about it so that it had time to sink in and so I had enough time for initial reactions to wear off. That being said, I did enjoy it and didn't find that it suffered from "Multiple Villain Syndrome" as much as I thought it would. Expect spoilers and some "quick hits" as to what was good and bad.

However, the movie did lack where it came to developing the villains in detail like the previous 2 movies did. In the first one there was a nice gradual buildup to the Goblin reveal and a similar scenario with Dr. Octopus in the second. Here though, because there are 3 villains, screen time is precious and each villain could have been fleshed out a bit more. The back stories that they did show did get the job done though and the audience can easily understand their motivations. The second Green Goblin, Harry didn't need much to get his story out there as it has been building for 2 movies. The nagging thing about the Sandman is that he didn't really need to team up with Venom as he had no real reason to want Spidey dead. It would have made more sense for his character to just run and hide.

Emo Spidey = annoying
Song and dance numbers = ditto

The special effects in the film were top notch and the Sandman scenes were particularly exciting (though why he can fly as a sandstorm is beyond me). The fight at the end where we have a good old fashioned comic-book team-up was really neat and I was pleased to see the redemption of Harry seen in the comics come through on the big screen.

The fight with Venom was great and it was especially rewarding to see Peter use his brain to defeat him instead of sheer brawn.

Basically, if you liked the first two, you'll probably like this one as well.

New Comic Book Day 2007

2007-05-07T08:46:00.000-03:00

Man, did Elfsar comics ever spoil me on Free Comic Book Day (FCBD). For those that need a refresher, Elfsar was a wonderful little comic shop in the heart of Downtown Vancouver that I used to get my comics from. They made a huge deal about FCBD. They would have a barbeque, guest signings, prizes, a large selection of free comics and above all, excellent sales such as the buy-2-get-1-free that I took liberal advantage of during the previous 2 FCBDs here and here. As well, the proprietor Ethan, puts a big push on it for kids because he figures so long as you can get kids reading something, it's a good thing

That being said, I can never pass up a chance for free swag, so I ventured to Lightning Bolt comics to snag the goods. Though it was fine, I was somewhat disappointed with the selection as not all the comics sent out for FCBD were sitting on the table. If you go here you can see a list of the titles available and the ones at Lightning Bolt were mainly the Gold Sponsor Titles with a smattering of the Silver. I picked up a few items but nothing was fantastic. Here's a list of what I got:

Bongo's Free for All 2007 (the best one I read thus far)
Umbrella Academy Zero Killer Pantheon City 2007
Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century 2007
The Lone Ranger / New Battlestar Galactica Flip Book 2007
Transformers the Movie Prequel # 1 2007 (picked this up for Mark as I have 0 interest in Transformer comics)
Tokyopop Choose Your Weapon 2007
Amazing Spider-Man Swing Shift 2007 (this was actually not too bad either)
Owly & Korgi 2007 (very cute book)

I was very disappointed that they didn't have Comics Festival! - 2007 FCBD Edition as it supposedly had a Scott Pilgrim strip in it. No sales or fanfare either unfortunately. Maybe next year I can schedule a trip to Vancouver...

An Update

2007-04-12T23:22:00.000-03:00

Hi folks,

Sorry about the lack of updates. However, I am working on a Graphic N review and will hopefully start posting about some downloaded (Sshhh!) comics. As well, I have a growing interest in financial planning and increasing my personal wealth. My ideas, thoughts, goals, and actions about such matters can be found (soon) at my new blog. This will be a nice way to track the increase of my "financial intelligence" and any progress I make with acquiring more moolah. Or it will mean I have two blogs that never get updated.

Ghost Rider: A Pleasant Surprise

2007-02-19T22:03:00.000-04:00

8/10

So as you might guess from the title of this post, I enjoyed the movie Ghost Rider starring none other than Nic Cage. Believe you me, no one is more shocked than I.

Maybe it was unfamiliarity with the source material that made me like what a die-hard Ghost Rider fan might have hated, or perhaps it was the fact that I had low expectations to begin with, but GR was a fun super-hero movie that didn't try to take itself too seriously. I mean come on, it's a friggen biker dude on fire for God's sake!

So short thought review time: the movie told the origin of the Ghost Rider legend as well as provided a solid backstory for our hero Johnny Blaze. The addition of the romantic interest fueled Johnny's fire (so to speak) and the elemental villains gave a good show, though they were snuffed out a bit too quickly in my opinion. The final fight with the main villain Blackheart was well done and the way in which Johnny thought to extinguish him was rather clever.

The special effects in the film were scorching for the most part, as they should be when trying to convincingly convey a person with a flaming skull for a head. The only slip was some of the villain shots which left me a little cold. I guess the CGI folks decided to burn most of the money on the Ghost Rider effects and it definately shows as all his scenes looked incredible (especially driving up and off the building - hot momma!).

So from this movie we have learned a few things: Nicolas Cage CAN pull off playing a super-hero (thank god they didn't choose him for Superman though), Eva Mendes HATES her top three buttons, and guys with flaming heads that ride flaming transportation (bikes and horses) kick major ass. And it was better than the Hulk movie, so that's at least worth something.

A Great Way to End 2006

2006-12-31T23:23:00.000-04:00

I write this after polishing off a bottle of 2005 Pieroth Riesling in celebration of the turning of the calendar. I was checking my gmail account and off to the side I noticed the names of the people I sent e-mails to. Surprisingly, there were different colored icons next to some of the names (I realized later that this was for people that had gmail accounts). The one next to Chris Sims of the Invincible Super-Blog fame was highlighted orange. I clicked on it and a chat window opened up. The face-kick master was online! I then sent a message as my inhibitions were a tad loosened from the aforementioned wine. Here is the chat in it's (almost) entirety (it has been edited for content and may not be suitable for all viewers.

me: what are you up to Mr. ISB?

Chris: Writing an article for Cracked.
(Which is code for watching a movie and making up jokes about it)

me: Wow! I can't believe I'm in a live chat with Chris Sims

Chris: Live and in person.

me: That's pretty fucking awesome
considering you likely don't know who I am

Chris: Don't let it go to your head, kid.
(This is where, in a movie, I'd put on aviator shades and spit an entire cigarette out or something)

me: and I just finished a bottle of wine

Chris: Yeah, I had to look it up real quick, I'll admit.
I haven't had a single drink yet tonight.
Keyword: YET.

me: so HAppy New Year
what time is is where you are?

Chris: 9:42

me: 10:42 here
thats something that i dont recall being made explicit on the ISB. where does it originate from?

Chris: It says it right in the sidebar.. Oh, no wait, I took that out.
It's there if you go to my Blogger profile, though. I'm from South Carolina.

me: do you have a tracking thing for the blog that shows where hits are coming from?

Chris: Like where as in what webpage, or where as in where on the planet?
Because the answer's yes to both, but I only pay attention to the former.

me: planet

Chris: Yeah, it's got a little map feature on it.

me: so if you ever DO look at the map, the daily hit from Prince Edward Island in Canada is from me

Chris: You're from Canada?!
GET BACK, VAMPIRE!
Or possibly werewolf!

me: well I don't think i can defend the vampire claim, as Canada does leech one hell of a lot of shit from the states
but werewolves are only in northern alberta, jeez

Chris: Oh, right.
And as we all know, Newfoundland is the province of the Newfie, or EL CHUPACABRA.

me: a rare and elusive prey, they are. they can be captured with vassive amounts of alcohol and cod fish

Chris: It's a mysterious land in which you dwell.

Chris: I'm just funning about the vampire part.
I used to date a Canadian girl. It... ended poorly.

me: you just weren't into poutine and very low budget TV and movies eh?

Chris: She stole my Swamp Thing trades!
And no, poutine is utterly vile.
Gravy and french fries were never meant to lie in a foul union.

me: well we only get 10 shipments of comics for each province so her reaction was typical.
but my guess is she took them because you didn't like poutine

Chris: Well that's to be expected. $2.99 US is what, eighty, ninety CAD and a goat?

me: well, quite frankly yes, but you can leave off the goat and knock off 20% if you include your first born child

Chris: 1 Canadian Child = Goat + 40 CAD.
Got it.

me: we don't want to over populate

Chris: What?!
But..
That means..
DEAR GOD!
POUTINE IS PEOPLE!
PEEEEEEOPLLLLLLE!

me: no, it's just americans that go into the wrong hockey rink

me: anyways, i'll let you get back to your movie (which one is it?). It was cool talking with you and keep up the good work on the ISB

Chris: Right now?
Zoolander.

me: good lord

Chris: But I'm also writing about Night at the Museum and Starsky & Hutch.
Zoolander, sir, is a CLASSIC of modern cinema.

me: only if you're high while watching (or so I hear)

Chris: It's profoundly underrated.
Truly, it's THE PRODUCERS for our times.

me: well have a Happy New Year Chris. I look forward to the mind-blowing-awesomeness you have in store for 2007

Chris: Thanks!
Happy New Year to you too.
Go drink another bottle of wine and shout loudly about Etrigan the Demon.
That is the true way of the ISB.

me: should I shout in rhyme?
I don't do that all the time

Chris: Of course you should. If you don't, it's no good.
Sent at 11:11 PM on Sunday

me: well then, perhaps I will. The wine though, will have to chill

Chris: You should drink 'til you're purple.
And then you could..
...
Shit.

me: haha
have a good one Chris

Chris: Happy New Year!

me: my resolution is to give people more kicks to the face

Chris: That's a good one

There you have it. My chat with Chris Sims, a great way to close out 2006. Happy New Year!

Another Reason why Civil War is Stupid

2006-12-20T10:07:00.000-04:00

For those not in the know, Civil War is Marvel's current "BIG EVENT" where tons of stuff happens but is ultimately unsatisfying. The premise is that after a large scale tragedy as a result of Super-human activity, the Gov'ment wants to introduce a policy (The Superhuman Registration Act) whereby anyone with super powers has to register as a super-human and receive training if they want to fight bad guys. If you don't register you go to jail. And not just any jail either. A secret jail in another dimension where you will be put without trial that was designed by Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four and built by Iron Man. Waitasec. Aren't Iron Man and Reed Richards good guys? Well that's a whole other kettle of fish.

I have not bought an issue of Civil War. Why? After the mess that was Infinite Crisis I decided not to be sucked in by company wide crossover events. The info I've learned about the event has come from the net as EVERYONE is talking about it. Either how good it is or how god-awful it is. In that respect, the event can be seen as successful: it has people talking about comics enthusiastically. It likely hasn't brought many non-comic fans into the medium, but at least it's generating some excitement within the industry, however short lived that excitement may be.

On to the point. In Civil War #2, this happened:

That's right folks, Spider-man revealed his secret identity to the world. Big news right? Cool shite right? Well, no quite frankly. Why? Well you can make arguments about how it's pretty irresponsible to do that because it's basically painting a target on you and your family. Especially coming from the super-hero who's whole shtick is being responsible. He must have had a brain fart or something because just two years prior (our time) we have the following panels during Brian Micheal Bendis's run on Daredevil where Matt Murdock was outed as Daredevil in the press. The ~55 issues Bendis worked on dealt with the ramifications of a super-hero losing his secret identiy. Spider-man made a guest appearance in a few issues. Here we go (click on images for large view):

and let's not forget

So there you have it. Spider-man basically saying he would never in a million years reveal his secret identity because he knows exactly what would happen if he did. That is why Civil War is stupid; not only did Peter Parker reveal his identiy, he did it willingly, which in my books is a big no-no.

And yes this post would have been more appropriate when Civil War #2 first came out, but I only got around to reading the Daredevil trades last week. Sue me. Or better yet, lock me in a prision that exists in another dimension.

Online Comics - piracy at its finest

2006-12-13T23:01:00.000-04:00

I haven't really been one to download much media off the internet. Sure I have some mp3s but I'm not really a music guy. I have some TV shows that aren't available elsewhere, but I usually go for boxed set DVDs. Recently I have downloaded some comics, but I'm more of a staple-and-paper type reader. That being said, I stumbled onto a torrent site (the Pirate Bay) where a user named Devourer combines many scanned comics into one torrent so that you can download all the new comics that come out every week. I believe he collects individual torrents from many other users (as scanning 70+ comics in a day would be a lot of work) to provide this lump sum of issues.

So far I've download things that are expensive that I was thinking of buying (Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall and Pride of Baghdad) and some issues from new series that I didn't want to spend money on before I knew if I liked it or not (Pirates of Coney Island, the Escapists, and Dr. Strange: the Oath).

I think this use of torrents is worthwhile and justifiable. I prefer my comics as real, physical objects as opposed to images on a screen so I think the downloading is an excellent way to see if expensive items are worth paying for and whether or not a mini-series is worth getting in the trade. As well, it's a nice way for me to sample things I wouldn't get normally (like Pirates of Coney Island, which was pretty good) at no cost. Image Comics is a good example of a company trying to do this by offering many first issues of series as online freebies.

Of course there will be nay-sayers shouting that downloading comics is hurting the industry. That you're taking money away from small comic shops that are struggling as it is. Well I have a question for those people: do you enjoy spending money on things you don't enjoy? Do you regularly go into a CD shop and pick out random stuff because the cover looks cool? Of course not. You buy things that you like or have a good idea that you will like based on previous experience.

Even if you buy that CD, most of it is likely crap and you only like 2-3 songs. That's why I don't buy CDs. However, if you can sample CDs for free to filter out that crap then you ensure that you will have a quality listening experience. The same is true with comics. 90% of the comics out there (and there are a lot of comics out each month) are garbage. There has to be a filter there for the consumer to know what they will like. Thus downloadable comics. Items that would have passed through my real-world, in-store filter can now be trapped and viewed from the comfort of my faux-leather desk chair.

To sum up: I now download comics. If I like it, I will buy it. If it was something that I wouldn't normally have bought to try out, then an angel gets its wings.

Comics: diversification of the medium and why Batman knows everything

2006-12-04T12:08:00.000-04:00

Dan's comments on the previous post fueled a long-winded response from me. While I was writing it, I thought it better to post it as a new entry as opposed to being buried in the comments section.

Here were Dan's remarks:

"Maybe comics should make the transition to the internet, where print is actually a secondary product. Although there would obviously be a difference between Ultimate Spiderman and PvP as far presentation and etc. is concerned, I think it's still do-able. The medium is the message, peoples."

followed by

"Keep in mind that other people, the people the comic industry wants to attract to their wares, may not share your particular tastes or opinions regarding comics and affiliated paraphernalia. Creators have to walk a high wire, to attract new fans and not alienate the hard core following (supposing they have one). Look at the newer Star Wars movies as a classic mis-step in the effort to grow the fanbase.

And just to get it out there, I have the following complaint against comics, which may be a source of problems to the attraction of a new fanbase: campiness. My god I hate campiness! It isn't cool if everyone and their dog has a superpower, or that batman always has the answer. I'm probably out of touch with today's comics, but do you remember all the craze around Superman's death? Marketing aside, I think that the thought that a main character could actually die, albeit temporarily, was such a strike against campiness that everyone wanted to see if other comics had changed as well. Boom! All of these new people reading comics.

Your thoughts?"

Don't mind if I do.

The thing about online comics I mentioned stems from current views I've seen on the subject. However, this is mainly from people who read comics already so they are used to the format it is in now. I don't know if a pole of non-comics readers (all other things being equal) would reveal
the preference for online comics or not. It would be an interesting study and the marketing wizards at Marvel and DC should look at it.

That being said, allow me to elaborate. In my opinion the problem with online comics, as they are now, is as follows: They are difficult to read! The comics that Image and Marvel offer online are presented in the same dimensions as a real physical comic. What's annoying is when you have to zoom in to read the thing then scroll down to read the rest (granted a larger moniter might help things). That extra activity, I think, takes away from the reading experience the same way commercials take you out of the story when watching television. It's hard to be immersed in a story when you are constantly scrolling around and waiting for the images to load, etc... Does that mean you can't enjoy an online comic? No. It just means the reading experience could be better.

Can creators/publishers find a better way to present the material online? Yes, but that means the artists and writers basically have to learn a new way of storytelling. The writer has to adapt his/her pacing to perhaps smaller online pages and the artist has to break the mold when it comes to page layouts in order to effectively tell the story. Is that a big deal? Maybe not for consumers, but for those whose livlihoods depend on this artform the change might be a scary thing.

Some creators have already done this of course. I don't read many online comics though I know Penny Arcade and PvP are pretty popular. These are short comic strips similar to those you find in a newspaper. For some people these strips offer a few minutes of enjoyment each day and there's nothing wrong with that at all. However what if you want a more in depth story and reading experience? I don't like the idea of clicking constantly through the archive reading strip after strip of (though often funny) stories that don't particularly link together as a cohesive unit.

Is there a happy medium between the regular 32 page paper comics and the online interweb? Likely but the industry is a long way from finding it. This comes into the realm of the publishers unwillingness to take short term losses for future gains. The can try to do online stuff, but that costs money and time with no guarantee of return. They have to get out of that mentality.

My idea is that you have the same product in multiple formats. Print your comics to tailor to the hardcore fanbase, but also offer the same product online in a better package - minimize the things that can take you out of the reading experience. Less clicking = better in my opinion.

Dan's other point about campiness has also sparked a response. I still don't quite understand the wiki definition of it but I'll discuss it a bit.

Is it cool that everyone and their dog has a super-power? Not really but it does show diversity in what is basically a new race/species. The "world with very few super-powered beings" idea has been done many times, sometimes done well (The Authority) and others not so much (Supreme Power). And it is a good idea to show what a "real-world" would be like with super beings in it. The flip side of the coin is the Marvel and DC universes where there are lots of super people running around. Does that take something away from a good story? I don't think so. But if you have a problem with too many people being able to walk through walls or shoot laser beams out of your head then super-hero comics likely aren't for you anyways.

Is it bad that Batman always has the answer? No. Why? Because he is the goddamn Batman, that's why.

But seriously, Batman is a character who is supposed to be the greatest detective in the world. If there's something he can't figure out, then it makes him look stupid and it undermines the character. Have there been problems that are tough? Hell yes. The recent trade paperback, Batman: Crime City, is a good example. It would be the same as if someone beat the Flash in a race. Flash is supposed to be the fastest man alive and if someone beats him, then it undermines the character. Finally, HE'S FUCKING BATMAN for christsakes. Another example of Batman's awesomeness can be found here.

In closing let's talk about the Superman death thing. This was a big deal and sparked a media event the likes of which the comics industry had never seen. However, how many of those people that bought Superman #75 actually stayed with comics? If current sales are an indicator: not many. Now "deaths" of heroes are commonplace and are basically used as a gimmic and a storytelling copout.

That being said, comics have been trying to get away from the campiness and "comics are for kids" personna. More mature themes can be found, not only in creator owned independant publications, but from the main companies as well. A few years ago a series came out called Identity Crisis that had the rape of a main character's wife as a plot point. Though you'd be hardpressed to find a positive review about the 7 issue mini-series on the net (mainly citing the use of the rape as a plot point, rather than dealing with the ramifications of rape as a concern), the fact is comic book writers are trying to put shades of grey into their work rather than the black and white of good vs. bad and that's at least something.

Sins of the Past...Hope for the Future

2006-11-29T12:32:00.000-04:00

Since my comics are coming in monthly installments now, I find I'm often in search around the house for something to read. Thus I tapped into my Wizard back issues. I know, I know, it's Wizard, but that's not the "sin" I refer to in the title of this post.

In my search through the gigantic stack of Wizards (I've been getting it since issue #9 and they are currently at 183), I decided to start at the beginning with #9. What a difference in the style of the magazine compared to now as well as the difference in what was going on in the industry! There were actual in-depth articles with creators and comic coverage wasn't exclusive to Marvel and DC. However the differences, or more so, the change in Wizard magazine over the years will be reserved for a future series of posts.

The point? I came across an editorial letter written by Patrick Daniel O'Neill, a scan of which is shown below on the left (click for larger image) along with a follow-up from issue #11 (on the right).

Now you have to remember, this is 1992, 14 frigging years ago! The problem that the comic book industry had then is still very much present today: that of an aging and declining fanbase. In fact I'd hazard to say it's worse today then now because when I was a kid, at least you could get comics at the grocery store; they were more accesible. Today? The only comics you'll see at Sobey's or Shoppers Drug Mart are in the newspapers and even those are on the way out.

It's pretty irresponsible of the main comic makers to keep pandering to the same fanbase with no real initiative to grow that fanbase. I mean honestly, who are the trade paperbacks with DVD-like extras or the Absolute Editions of everything for, except for those people who already had the single issues anyways? You think the average consumer will drop $100 for a comic? I don't. You think a kid has enough money to follow the main Marvel universe these days where you have to get like 12 different comics to understand what's going on in Spider-man? I don't.

A lot of this stuff has been said before and obviously the problem has been long-lasting. It just goes to show the laziness of publishers and the lack of creativity in getting their product out into the mainstream. Not to mention the unwillingness to take short-term losses for future gains. Business is risk - deal with it.

That being said, it's nice to see a new initiative from DC where they have budgeted $250,000 to market a new line of comics and original graphic novels to teenage girls. This is the only real push I can remember to grow a new fanbase for comics, though there have been some failures in the past (as mentioned in the 1992 articles). This is old news by now, but the new line is called Minx and will consist of slightly larger than digest sized graphic novels which will run close to 200 pages and retail for $10 or less.

So good for DC. Why are they doing it? You can debate all you want, and people have since the news was announced on message boards and on blogs, but obviously they are doing it to make more money. Is that a bad thing? Of course not. They are a business and they have finally realized that they aren't taking advantage of the demand for stories that interest young females (as evident by the popularity of Manga titles - lots of story in a cheap, portable format). They have corrected that situation and I wish them well. People are complaining that there aren't enough female creators on the books, that DC is a sexist corporation and by publishing comics designed for girls they look like a greedy corporation not interested in the medium/artform of comics. Get a grip. They are making a product to make money and if people like the product then they will. Should we fault them for that? No. Do female creators necessarily equal better comics for girls? I doubt it. The editorial staff in charge of this new initiative just picked the talent they thought was best. Did they do it based on the writer or artist's gender? I doubt it. It's about finding the right person for the job - same as in every profession (but that's a whole other issue altogether).

In my books, anything that can make comics more accesible to people (the GNs will be sold in bookstores) and make reading comics more socially acceptable is definately a good thing. It's about time a comapny did something about it too.

Confessions of a Comic Book Junkie

2006-10-31T13:30:00.000-04:00

So it's been 2 months and change since my last post. The responsibilities of a "real job" in the "real world" take up a surprisingly large amount of time and hence, my blogging has suffered for it. Anyways, I've found some free time and here we go, not with a graphic novel review, but with something I've been thinking about since way before Greg discussed it, here (and better than I could do it too): Comicoholicism (my word not his). Yes, I, John Gallant, am a comicoholic and this is my story.

My addiction (or "hobby" as I called it in those days) began at the tender age of 7 in 1989 with the purchase of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #4 published by Archie Comics. You see, I was an avid fan of the cartoon show, which at that time had been running for about 2 years. My enthusiasm for the green foursome was unrivaled (save for perhaps Neil Moore) and I wanted anything to do with the TMNT. Thus the destructive cycle began.

This comic, this 32 page of 4 color ink wonder, was friggin' awesome! Thus you can imagine that as soon as I got the chance, I was right back at that comic rack in Shoppers Drug Mart looking for more printed adventures of my favourite ninja quartet. Well I didn't find any (how was a naive 7 year old expected to know about monthly schedules?) but what I did find made me almost as happy. In addition to watching cartoons, I also had many action figures (as any growing lad should have in my opinion) so much to my surprise, not only were they making comics about the TV shows I watched, they were making comics about the toys I played with! Most notably Batman and Superman. Hence my first exposure to the superhero comic genre.

Things went that way for a while as I discovered new super heroes at the comic stands: Spider-man, the Fantastic Four, more Superman titles, more Batman titles. It wasn't just the super heroes either; they were still making comics based on my cartoons: Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers and the Turtles were still going strong. This is the "non-satiety" stage of my comics addiction. I was so enamoured with the characters on TV and through action figures, that I constantly needed more material about those characters and was forced to use the medium of comics to satisfy the craving.

Then in 1991-92 Wizard Magazine happened. The first issue I got was #9 with a sweet cover of Venom on it. This blew my mind. I was reading comics, but now I could read about other people reading comics and what new comics were coming out. And waitasec...my comics ARE WORTH MONEY??? Yes it was with Wizard that I discovered the price guide and started to think of the value my so-called-hobby had. Herein lies the trap. Comic fans are obsessed about their comics and despite the fact they might have a collection worth thousands of dollars, it would kill them to part with any of it. So in fact, their collection is worth nothing. But this didn't concern me; I was just content to know that the stuff I was buying every week (and it was every week at this point) could actually be worth money.

Wizard was my gateway to a comic book world I never knew existed. There were how-to-draw articles, interviews with the people that were creating the comics I read, and all done with a sense of humour that really appealed to an impressionable 9 year old. Thus my spending increased as Wizard was recommending comics left and right. Some of which that I'd never even heard of or saw at the comic stands: Bone, Cerebus, and Sandman to name a few.

Around this time is also when Image comics started up and I was regularly getting Spawn, WildC.A.T.S and the rest because I thought they were kewl. I like to think of this stage of my comics addiction as the Sheep stage as I was blindly following what Wizard said was good and not really putting too much stock into the story development of the comics.

Also around this time, I discovered The Comic Hunter (CH) in Charlottetown. This was a store that's sole focus was on selling comics and comic related paraphernalia. I just about died. This was just about the greatest thing that could ever happen. I spent literally hours in that place looking through everything and buying quite a bit. Not only could I go to one place and find anything I wanted to buy, but they had (and still do) a rewards program that gave me $10 bucks off for every $100 that I spent. Wicked! Free comics! You can imagine though that at this point in my life I didn't have a large income so I would save up for those rare days when we'd make the 45 minute journey to the "big city."

In addition to the "sheep" stage, this is where I enter the "collector" stage. You see, Wizard was telling me that my comics were worth money, but they were only worth money if they were in good condition. Yikes! I better take care of those beauties. So on one of many trips to the CH, I bought my first set of comic book supplies: bags and boards which the comics go into and boxes which the newly bagged and boarded comics go into, sometimes never to be read again - gotta keep them in near mint condition don't you know. Thus floor space in my small bedroom diminished as the number of clean, white, and heavy boxes increased. Both room and money for comic boxes were soon in short supply, so I began a frequent cycle of removing old comics from their bags to make room for newer ones, shipping the old ones to liquor boxes underneath the stairs. In this way, I suppose, the addict in me overtook the collector mentality as anyone who’s anyone knows, a basement is likely the best place to store comics if you are looking to sell damp, discoloured bits of paper several years from now.

Fast forward to 2004. At this point I am planning to move to Vancouver, British Columbia with (my then girlfriend now fiancé Pam) to pursue a Masters degree in Astronomy. To make extra money for the trip and for living expenses, I decide to sell a large chunk of my comic collection (which at this time is upwards of 4000-5000 comics – I kept track of the actual number in the late 90s but gave that up). Luckily I have a friend, Mark Richardson, who wanted to get into comics for the investment side of it. Thus I unloaded 2000 comics to him for the reasonable price of $1000. This was material that I didn’t follow very much: the Batman, Superman, X-men, and main Spider-man titles as well as some of the stuff I had gotten as a kid: TMNT, Chip N’ Dale, etc… I sort of drifted away from the main super hero titles, preferring more story based comics rather than action, but would still purchase the crossover events like JLA/AVENGERS and Marvel vs. DC, that sort of thing.

So off I was to Vancouver and one of the first things I did was to scout out the local comic shops. Conveniently, The Comic Shop was less than two blocks from our apartment so that was the shop of choice for several months. However, I soon discovered another shop in Yaletown: Elfsar comics. Elfsar made a good first impression on me as they have all their stock well organized and have an excellent computer system to keep track of everything. To top it off, people who had accounts with Elfsar who bought more than 5 titles a month would save 20% on their order AND get free bags and boards. I was sold and made the switch.

It was at Elfsar were I realized some symptoms of my addiction. I would go faithfully every Wednesday for New Comic Day (an important day worthy of capitalization) to pick up my order which consisted of on average 4-5 titles. Symptom the first: On the rare occasion that I couldn’t get to Elfsar until Thursday, or God forbid, The Weekend, I would get extremely cranky. It was like an itch I couldn’t scratch. Not having new comics annoyed me. Symptom the second: On the rare occasion that the shipping schedule was such that only one or two of my monthly titles came out that week, I would not only get extremely cranky, but would actively stay in the store for upwards of an hour looking for stuff I could convince myself to buy. I knew right then I was a full blown comicaholic. Here I was, not content with the stuff that I enjoy every month, but willing to buy something I probably wouldn’t enjoy just for the sake of having some comics to read. I needed help.

I didn’t join a support group. I didn’t seek advice from the multitudes of twenty-something OCD (obsessive comics disorder) afflicted fanbase. I didn’t even check to see if Dr. Phil had some advice on the subject. All I did was move across the country.

You see after my Masters degree wrapped up, Pam and I headed back to good ole’ Prince Edward Island. As it happens Elfsar has a great mail order program so I decided to stick with them rather than going to one (of two) local shops on the island. In this way, I am no longer trapped in the weekly buying cycle. My comics arrive nicely packaged once a month and I no longer feel the burning need to have comics all the time. I’ve also eliminated some chaff from my monthly pull list, both due to cost considerations (it doesn’t seem like much spending $20-$30 a week but when you get hit with a $140 comic bill once a month it kind of wakes you up) and the fact that I find myself less interested in some of the comics I was getting. Yes gone are the Teen Titans, 52, and the Ultimate titles. No more will I be a slave to the new Justice League of America, The Boys, or Justice. I was mainly getting them for the sake of getting them hoping they’d either, get better or be more fulfilling (see next topic).

Another great thing I’m planning to due to wean myself away from the single issues is to wait for trade paperbacks. I figure there’s not much sense in getting the single issues unless you are in it for the investment. I’m not. I’d rather just sit down and read a good story rather that worrying about what the thing is worth. Thus my foray into Amazon and Chapters online ordering. This is a great way to save a few dollars (wait until you get more than $35 to get free shipping) and get a more satisfying read rather than wait for the story to play out over 6 months.

Only time will tell if my online ordering will run as rampant as my “real world” purchasing has been in the past, but with a fiancé and other responsibilities on the horizon, $ towards comics might not be in the cards. My name is John Gallant and I’m still a comicaholic. But I’m getting better.

Do not open until...

2006-08-20T00:00:00.000-03:00

...I say so Dammit!

As I mentioned, I will be moving from British Columbia back to Prince Edward Island to start living in the "real world" (whatever that is). I will still be purchasing many of my comics from Elfsar here in Vancouver through their very convenient mail-order program. Due to logistics, the comics will only be sent once a month, thus henceforth "New Comic Day" will change to "New Comic Month" with posts appearing (obviously) every month when new product arrives.

To not leave my faithful readers (all 2 of them) without content, I will endeavor to give reviews on original graphic novels and trade paperbacks (which I will be purchasing through Amazon) periodically throughout the month. As well, if I happen to pull something out of the collection that seems interesting enough to chat about, I might do so, but I'm not making any promises.

Check back during the third week in September for new content! (hopefully)

New Comic Day August 16

2006-08-17T01:40:00.000-03:00

Once again I get comics very near my birthday (tomorrow) which is always a nice treat. This will be the last update in terms of new comics for a while as I am moving and will only be getting comics about once a month.

Boys #1

I liked Preacher a heckuva lot and when I saw the solicitation for this ("We're going to out-Preacher Preacher), I figured I'd pick it up. The story is basically about a group of government sponsored toughs that take down super heroes if they get out of line. At least that what the story will be about once the standard recruitment phase is overwith. This issue introduces us to Butch who is the leader and seems to have heightened levels of perception. The first recruit joins the team because his girlfriend was very brutally killed as collateral damage from a super hero fight. In short, she was between a wall and a villain of Juggernaught like size as said villain was moving at high speed. It wasn't pretty, though it seemed to be thrown in for the sake of goriness. I enjoyed it, but I don't know if I enjoyed it enough to get monthly.

Casanova #3

This was a neat issue that structured around a theme seen in the classic Star Trek: TNG episode where they're stuck in a time loop and only Riker's plan will save them. Data figures out that the occurance of the number three in everyday events is the clue and the say is saved...What were we talking about? Oh yeah, Casanova #3. Here we see the ramifications of Cass's mission from last issue in three different peroids of time: the present (a), 7 days ago (b), and 97 days ago (right after the mission)(c). The pages switch from a to b to c and back for the whole of the issue and it makes for an interesting read. We get the sense that Cass wants to be in control of his own life and to not be such of a bad guy. It's not the best series I've ever read, but it's definately something different and worth the low price point.

Phonogram #1 (of 6)
I didn't order this when it came out in previews, but since then I've read interviews with the creators and saw the sample pages so I decided to pick it up. The central idea with this is that music is magic and people that can use music are phonomancers. It's a cool idea and the book is "hip" (if that's the right term for it), but here's the problem: I don't listen to a lot of music and whatever message the authors are trying to project will likely be lost on me. When I listen to music, I don't pay attention to the lyrics. I don't know what (insert song here) is "about". If I like it, I like it for the sound and that's probably it. I think that if I was a music freak like Jon Ben, the comic would speak to me a bit more. As such, it was a good comic, not super-duper.

However, the main character, David Khol looks a helluva lot like a good friend of mine and thus I present:
Neil Moore as a comic character (albeit somewhat cockier - if that's possible):

Ultimate Fantastic Four #32

This is the end of the zombie FF storyline and the end of Mark Millar and Greg Land's run on the title. Doom in Reed's body does a spell to exorcise the demon from Johnny, but makes a "mistake" and instead of transporting it directly to the N-Zone, it just pops out onto his chest, thus endangering all life on Earth. I think this was intentional on Doom's part because once the demon is out, it looks for the most powerful being to posess next. Instead of it being Thor though, it's Reed in Doom's body. This gives Doom the opportunity to switch back to his body and perform a selfless act to appear heroic. I would have liked to see a longer story of how Reed deals with being in Doom's body. I'm glad that Land is not the artist anymore. Man he stinks.

Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #2

This was a good issue and I liked it better than last week's Ultimate Spider-man annual. It told a fun super hero story without seeming like random events thrown together to try to make a story. It features the Moleman as the villain, who sinks a lab full of brilliant youngsters in order to recreate a sub-terranean utopia. The FF show up an try to stop him and FAIL! The smart kids whip together some cool weapons and take MM down. A cool twist is that the smart kids want to stay underground because they are sick of building weapons for the government. All in all a good issue with lots of action and a great story. Definately something to pick up if you're even a passing fan of the FF.

New Comic Day August 9

2006-08-10T02:00:00.000-03:00

Fables #52

So this looks like the beginning of the end for our friendly fables. In retribution for Bigby burning down the sacred grove, the leaders for the Adversary get together to plot the final invasion and destruction of Fabletown and our mundy world. In addition, we get to see more of the Red Riding Hood subplot and a neat backstory about Rapunzel illustrated by Gene Ha. In addition to that, we get introduced to a few new faces in the Adversary's army: the Nome King from the Oz lands and Hansel, the Inquisitor General for the entire imperium, to name a few. All this adds up to another excellent issue in an excellent series.

Emissary #3

Wow! Two issues of this in two weeks = awesome. We see the Emissary exhibit more powers (teleportaion of himself + healing powers) and tell the mob to stop being so mobbish. He struggles to understand why people are acting the way they do and the female FBI agent (forget her name) does a good job of trying to explain it. Though I can see why Cronin thinks it's boring, I really like the premise of showing how people would react to this type of event for the first time. There's still not a lot of characterization from the supporting cast which is too bad since issue #1 made it look like that would be the main focus of the book. Next issue should be interesting as the Emissary takes on the Pope.

Ultimate Spider-man Annual #2

I can't decide if I liked this annual or not. Even though it's a self contained story and we get to see Spidey interact with some ultimate characters we haven't seen in a while (Daredevil, the Punisher, and Moon Knight) with some decent fight scenese, the story seems to exist solely so that Captain Jean DeWolff can take a cue from her regular Marvel Universe counterpart. I didn't care for the lack of explanation for how both Moon Knight and the Punisher escaped custody either. This wasn't nearly as good as last years annual which focused on Peter starting to go out with Kitty Pryde of the X-men.

Ultimate X-men #73

This is the second part of the "Magical" storyline where the shite hits the fan. Here is is revealed that the Magician has been using his powers to mess with the heads of the rest of the X-men, making them do/say/beleive things they normally wouldn't do/say/beleive. There are some theories that the Magician is an illusionist similar to Proteus from the regular marvel universe which makes sense because he seems uber powerful enough to hold his own against the entire X-men team. The last page reveal of Jean phoenixing up and confronting the Magician was cool so I look forward to next issue. The art isn't the best which is a surprise as this is one of Marvel's big titles so you'd think they'd have some stellar talent on it.

New Comic Day August 3 because comics were a day late...@$$holes

2006-08-04T02:00:00.000-03:00

Wow, there certainly is a buttload of comics this week, which makes up for the fact I had to wait a whole extra day to get them. Without further ado...

Detective Comics #822

I liked the idea behind this issue. Some girl is killed and her father hires the Riddler to figure out the mystery behind her death. Batman gets involved too, propting an unlikely teamup between the dark knight and the riddling rapscallion. I also liked the fun way Batman shows up the Riddler in the end by figuring out who the real killer was. Dini provides good dialouge throughout and seems to really "get" the Riddler.

That being said, it seemed a little too easy and the finale was kind of just thrown at the reader from left field. Maybe that's the drawback with a done-in-one issue - there's just not enough space to provide a bit of (IMO needed) filler. It was still an enjoyable issue despite that reservation.

Ex Machina #22

Yay! A non-colourform cover! The creepy cover aside, this was a good second installment for this latest arc. We get to see some backstory with the Great Machine, some interesting politiking, a guy getting a hummer from a fireman respirator, and a guy get blown in half from a shotgun. This issue also sees a style change from Tony Harris. Here he does an ink wash over his inked pencils. I'm not sure what it means, but it's different. Not sure if it's good, but it's definately different. The only thing I didn't care for was Mitchell referring to homosexuals as "your kind". Seems out of character, but he was agitated at the time, so it might have been a slip of the tongue.

Y: The Last Man #48

This is another one of those issues where it is dedicated to telling the backstory of one of the major players in the series. This time around it's about the Israli commando chick. While interesting, I don't really care too much about her character and it seemed to be a weak issue this late in the series (it's ending at #60). Art by Goran Sudzuka is great though and he captures emotion really well.

Emissary #2

I'm glad I am getting this series because it centres on an idea that I think is pretty interesting: what would it be like if people with powers existed in real life? A notable example is the Authority. And this is another. I think the writer, Jason Rand, nails how lots of people would react: with fear, hostility, violence, etc. Though, from last issue, I thought we'd be seeing more of the reactions from the supporting cast members than we do in this issue and its much more about the city's response. I hope Rand doesn't lose the focus of the book and make the characters cardboard cutouts.

As well the Emissary shows a new power which is damn cool. He can apparently teleport things, without seeing them, to wherever he is. The example in the comic is that to overcome the apparent language barrier between himself and the FBI agents, he teleports a case file out of an unseen officer's hands to his own. He does it again for several books. Very cool.

Invincible #34

Ah, the white wine spritzer of the comic book month. Exceptionally refreshing and leaves you wanting more. Here we see that Mark is very shaken up about killing Angstrom Levy last issue and is very morally torn about whether or not he did the right thing. You don't often see that in comics. Usually it's just a shoot-em-up adventure where killing is the norm. It's nice to see something different.

Before I tell you what bugged me about this issue I need to recap a bit. When Mark (Invincible) was fighting Angstrom, they travelled through different dimensions and once Angstrom was killed, it left Mark stranded. This issue sees the Guardians of the Globe rescue Invincible. However, they are from the future as it took many years to figure out which dimension Mark was trapped in. My problem is thus: it seems like the GotG are from the future of Mark's home reality which is fine, but for some reason Invincible asks what happened to the Invincible that was present in the current dimension that he's trapped in. (1) why would he care and (2) if the GotG are from his home dimension, then how would they even know about an Invincible in that dimension? Maybe it will be clear with a re-read, but with alternate realities and time travel, it seems unlikely.

Agents of Atlas #1 (of 6)

This is a neat idea for a comic though it's been done before I'm sure. A group of heroes who fought decades ago against EEEEVVVIIILLLLL, disbands and then is brought back together under unusal circumstances. In this case, said unusual circumstances being ex-group leader Jimmy Woo leading a band of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on an off-the-books mission that results in death and destruction. Life hanging by a thread, Woo is taken from the S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital by his former comrades. It was a good issue and the dichotomy in the artwork between the past events and current ones proved effective. And hey, who can say no to a comic with an uzi-toting gorilla?

Ultimate Spider-man #98

Part two of the clone saga! This wasn't as great an issue as the last one becuase it basically consists of Peter FREAKING OUT and getting his ass kicked by (obviously) a female version of himself. The cameo by the fantastic four was cool though as well as the revelation that the cloning business has something to do with Oscorp (suprise!) and that Mary Jane has been relocated to the abandoned Oscorp facility. Bagley continues to be great with the art chores as we near the penultimate #100 issue. I can't believe I didn't like his art when he was on Amazing Spider-man in the mid 90s.

Mouse Guard #4 (of 6)

Mice fighting! Cute! This is an excellent series and I can't wait for more. Bravo Mr. Peterson. This issue sees Lieam being found out by members of the Axe who take him to their mysterious leader (foreshadowing!) who isn't revealed, but is referred to as a male and whose voice Lieam seems to recognize. Saxon and Kenzie are found by a legendary member of the guard, Celanawe who agrees to help them stop the Axe, but not until after he and Saxon lay into each other in a pretty brutal fight. Good stuff. Go buy it. Now...right now. Why are you still reading this? Buy Mouse Guard god damn it!

New Comic Day July 26 + Fireworks!

2006-07-26T20:39:00.000-03:00

Thus ends the explosive posting in the effort to get caught up with "New Comic Days". Speaking of explosions, this week was the beginning of Vancouver's Celebration of light, where over the course of 4 nights, 4 countries compete in 30 minute fireworks shows. As a special treat, some photos I took of the event are included with your irregular dose of comic reviews. As another extra-special treat, this week's post will feature "Best line in the comic".

Let's start it up shall we?

Jack of Fables #1

This is a spin-off series of Fables, as you might have guessed from the title, staring Jack. Once again I remind the un-edjumicated that Fables concerns itself with storybook characters that exist in the real world. Jack (of "and the beanstalk" and "jumped over the candlestick" fame) was expelled from Fabletown and left to make his way in the world. He was great in the main series so I was looking forward to this new off-shoot.

That being said, the Jack from the main series was more of a prankster who always seemed to come up short with his schemes, whereas this Jack is a bit of a prick. He's still interesting, but his attitude is distinctly different from when he was in the main series (likely has something to do with his being expelled - natch).

The short of this isssue is that Jack gets kidnapped and relocated to basically Fables jail, though they call it a retirement home. The story is well done and told in first person through Jack. The art seems a bit sloppy at times, but hopefully will improve as the series progresses. It was also nice of Willingham, the writer, to give background information so a reader unfamiliar with the regular Fables series wouldn't feel lost.

Best line in the comic: "Well, guess what, boys and girls? We really exist, we're immortal and we've been secretly living among you for centuries. And yes, we're all better than you." See, what did I tell you? Prick.

Casanova #2

Like many people, Casanova #1 confused the hell out of me. I read it again before reading this issue and it made a wack more sense, so that's good. Another good thing is #2. We get to see Cass in a futuristic/old-fashioned spy story where he's playing the double agent. The story moves along at a brisk pace though there is alot of material here (does that make sense) and it feels longer than it's 16 pages. I don't think Fraction's statement about the issue being all about Fathers and Sons comes through but maybe a re-read will prove otherwise. I continue to believe this book has great potential. We'll see if it gets there though.

Best line in the comic: "All this potential and you flipped your shit."

Batman #655

I was really, really, really looking forward for this to come out but I was mildly disappointed even though it was still a good issue. I think it was because of the action packed Detective #821 a few weeks ago that spoiled me. This comic should have come out first. Whereas Detective had tons-o-ass-kicking, this is a more character driven story featuring Batman trying to regain the Bruce Wayne persona after being "grim-and-gritty" for the last (real-time) ten years or so. Morrison does a good job of showing the familiarity of the Bruce-Alfred friendship as well as the relationship Tim (Robin) has with his mentor. The acting Bruce does in his playboy-mode is pretty cheesey but that is how it should be. Bruce should act somewhat aloof without a care in the world. I know I would if had more money than God. Anyways, a good if not great first issue from Morrison and Kubert. Maybe I'll wait for the trade for this one...

Best line in the comic: "Look, how about I make this easy and take all of your numbers? Then everybody gets to be happy. Especially me." That Bruce. Such a player. No wonder he has a bastard kid running around.

The Next #1

This was a funky comic and bought it somewhat on a whim. It's very science-fictiony with phrases like "singularity harpoon", "hold onto a key concept", and "past the nexus point with this cluster." Not to mention that the main characters are nth dimensional beings that can manipulate matter in three dimentions at will.

Said characters (the Next) are pretty interesting though they are made up of tweaked cliches: there's the level headed leader taking the name Cindy Cindy Cindy, the smart guy Ben (short for Benjamin Jefferson State-Sponsored Thomas Alva Global Franklin Warming Baseball Cake), the destructive one Poetry Slam, the artsy guy Tweet, and a dumb guy who is essentially a dog (though he's actually "a rehearsed concept--an algorithm with some free will" - see? science fictiony!). Anyways, of course they meet up with a regular earthling and befriend her. That's really the only point of the book that takes away from the story. The girl (Monikka Wong) doesn't freak out nearly enough and takes the crazy antics the Next perform a bit too easily. However, she is portrayed to be "punk" so maybe that stereotype is more willing to accept strange transpirin' do-ins. Oh yeah Superman is in it too to investigate the rift the Next made in TTTTIIIMMMEEEE and SSSSSPPPPAAAACCCCEEEE!

Best line in the comic: "At least the africanized killer bees never showed up, and aren't they glad."

So what have we learned today? That new comics are good. But reading new comics by the light of fireworks? Difficult! Both in one day however: AWESOME.

New Comic Day July 19

2006-07-19T20:29:00.000-03:00

Almost caught up to the present-day with this installment.

Ultimate X_men #72
I'm on the fence (Eamon Graeme reference!) about this issue. On the one hand we see the Magician kick a LOT of ass, but on the other, not much else goes on. The battle seems to be just filler to get to the twist at the end which is a bit disappointing. However, it might just be my way of looking at it and Kirkman might just be setting up lots of sub-plots like in Invincible which I really like. I think I can make a better judgement nest issue.

The back up story with the Masked Marvel was kind of cute as it features the theme of a comic about comics which is a good idea in principle. In this case, though it's kind of interesting, it's Marvel trying to milk the fans for opinions on new characters (there's a plug for the marvel site and a feedback e-mail) which would be better served as an online endeavour only.

Eternals #2
Neil Gaiman might be falling flat with this series. While issue #1 had some cool moments, this one seems to only serve the purpose of introducing two of the Eternals to each other while not much else happens. Icarus is tortured in creative ways so I guess that's something, but we all know how that's going to turn out thanks to goddamn Previews. I'm thinking of dropping this title, but unfortunately, since I order stuff two months in advance, I'm already obligated to get up to issue #4, so another two won't hurt. I still have some faith in Gaiman though to turn it up a notch soon.

Justice League of America #0
I liked this issue despite the odd structure it had. To show the importance of the JLA and the link between the big three (Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman), the writer, Brad Meltzer, shows various points of the JLA history as well as possible futures. In other words he switches from scenes taking place "yesterday" to those which happen "tomorrow". It took a few pages before realizing what was going on, but I think it works despite the fact that introducing future continuity is likely a BAD idea. Ultimately the issue ends with a scene taking place "today" where the big 3 get together after the one year later business to discuss who will be on the new team. I think Meltzer captures the spirit of the JLA with this one and each different era is distinct from the others, both in look and the character's personality. There is an ensemble cast of artists on this issue and all of them do a good job, though Ed Benes pulls regular artist duty next issue. I think I'll be getting this either monthly or in trade form as there is just something so appealing about the JLA - these larger than life heroes battling larger than life threats. I'm sorry that I let go of my Grant Morrison run...

Franklin Richards: Son of a Super Genius Super Summer Spectacular
Not too much to say about this one except that it is a very cute and humourous comic similar in style to Calvin and Hobbes. This issue consists of short strips where Franklin gets into trouble and H.E.R.B.I.E. has to bail him out and try to teach him the error of his ways. Marc Sumerak does a great job at facial expressions of both Franklin and H.E.R.B.I.E. (despite his being a robot - H.E.R.B.I.E. not Sumerak), ranging fromterror, inquisitiveness, boredom, and excitement. Good stuff all around and I think I will get these comics whenever they come out.

Elephantmen #1
Another something that is outside the norm for me. In the world of Hip Flask, SCIENCE! has created animal-human hybrids (kind of) for the purposes of running around in battlefields and killing lots of other animal-human hybrids. However, the wars are over, and the surviving animals are left to eek out a living in any way that they can. The main story is told via a little girl named Savannah and her meeting with Ebony the elephant as he sits alone and forelorn on a city bench. The dichotomy between Savannah's innocence and the flashbacks to Ebony's gruesome past is well done and makes for an interesting read. The artwork is pretty as it features big animals carrying guns and making scary faces. Showing expression on weird shaped animal heads must be tough, but Moritat does a great job. I may have to start getting this on a monthly basis.

New Comic Day July 12

2006-07-12T23:39:00.000-03:00

This is the first of my posts to attempt to get caught back up. Since blogger has a nifty feature where you can change what day you posted, it'll look like it was posted when it was supposed to. I'm sneaky that way. Read and enjoy!

Onto two weeks ago's comics! It was a good week!

Ultimate Fantastic Four #31
So the FF zombies finally escape from their cell this issue (after waiting like a year) using the most lame-ass trick possible. As soon as I saw them "de-materialize" from their room, I was like "god-damn it, this will be stupid." I turn the page and sure enough, I was right. Here's the dilly-o: Zombie Reed and zombie Sue (henceforth ZR and ZS) start talking to the guards about how ZR customized a ballpoint pen using distilled ink, food chemicals, and a strand of hair to build a teleportation device. The zombies form a huddle and promptly disappear. This is the point where the guards freak the hell out and rush into the cell to see where they might have gotten to. What they should have done was say "Oh yeah, the FF has a member called the Invisible Woman and realized that of course, the zombies were still in the cell. LAME!

Apart from that though, it's not a badly written issue (still crappy poser-riffic Greg Land art though) and the ending with Dr. Doom forcing Reed to switch bodies with him (it's the Fantastic Four, that's why) is pretty neat. I hope this problem isn't resolved next issue though (it's a three parter - hopefully just about getting rid of the zombies) as I think it could be explored quite well. This isn't likely a high possibility though as issue #33 gives a new creative team on the book.

Fables #51
Ah, Fables. This is a tasty installment from Willingham and guest artist Shawn McManus. It features super-spy extrordinare Cinderella trying to negotiate a treaty with the folk that live above the clouds that beanstalks grow through. Over the course of the issue Cindy turns into a mouse, skydives off a beanstalk, tells off some giant quacks, makes a shady deal with Frau Totenkinder, and helps in a delicate operation to cure the reigning king of the high ground in the sky. Whew! All this and the subplots are managed to be moved forwards too!

McManus does a very good job with the art chores and you can tell he was having fun when he did this issue. He's also very adept at conveying character's emotions through facial expressions, a feat that many artists fall short on. A very enjoyable issue.

The Escapists #1 (of 6)
This was a fun little book that is outside of my normal comic book buying box. It cost a dollar so I was willing to try something very different as I had no idea about the Escapist. Anyhoo, this issue has a theme which is always sort of neat when done well. It's basically a comic book about comic books. The main character is a comic book geek that wants to reintroduce the comic book character he loved as a kid, The Escapist, to the modern day world. We see the kid grow up and how much he loves the medium. He meets up with a sultry artist who agrees to draw the comic and his longtime friend dresses up as the Escapist to promote the book. Despite the rotating artists for this comic, I think it has potential to be a very interesting series.

Ultimate Spider-man #97
Part one of the Ultimate Clone Saga is here! You may go now.

Still here? Actually this issue was good as it had a little bit of everything which I will now enumerate: (1) There's a good dynamic between Kitty and Peter after she finds out he went to Mary Jane (MJ) about the Morbius stuff from the last two issues. (2) We finally get some explantaion as to why MJ is being more friendly towards Peter after her freaking out at him a while back. (3) MJ listens and gets the hell out of dodge when a fight starts instead of hanging out on the sidelines like a damn fool. (4) A pretty decent fight scene between Spidey and the Scorpion (though it had a predictable ending and why are cops so stupid?). (5) We get left with an exciting cliffhanger. So five awesome things about this issue. I know I've said in the past that this comic series is, well basically shitty, but that was only for a an arc or two and it's been pretty above average otherwise. Thumbs up for Bendis and Bagley.

Bang for your Bbbb-ucK!

2006-07-08T17:10:00.000-03:00

For those that don't know, I'm moving next month from sunny, cool Vancouver back to boring ole' P.E.I. This poses a problem for my comic buying habit as there are only two shops back home and one of them I don't buy stuff from due to friendship loyalties and the other, while run by a cool guy and friend, isn't the most organized. Fortunately, Elfsar does mail orders. Thus I will receive my comics by mail once a month and "New Comic Day" will change to "New Comic Month" beginning in September.

As well, I've been thinking about the cost of comics lately and realized they're bloody expensive. I could change my habits extensively and instead of getting single issues, I could switch to trade paperbacks (collections of ~ 6 of those single issues). This is usually the cheaper option. I've decided that I'll meet somewhere in the middle because there's a measure of pride in knowing you have 100 straight issues of Ultimate Spider-man or 50 issues of Invincible. So I'm going to continue getting singles from Elfsar for most titles, but any graphic novel that tickles my fancy will likely be ordered from Amazon because it is even cheaper than the 20% discount I get from Elfsar.

That's my mentality right now, but who knows, maybe next year I'll sell off all my singles and rebuy the stuff in trade form.

New Comic Day July 5

2006-07-05T13:46:00.000-03:00

In addition to picking up my second copy of Casanova #1 reviewed two weeks ago, I picked up the follwing gems. This week's theme will be: "Reason to buy this book."

Teen Titans #37

So it looks like this is the last issue with the Doom Patrol in it (thank god). I actually feel like I was buying a Teen Titans instead of "Doom Patrol featuring the Teen Titans because Geoff Johns has a man-crush on them." I didn't mind this issue as much as the others because Dr. Niles Caulder (aka The Chief) gets his comeupins for manipulating the Doom Patrol team members and we get to see just how important Cyborg is to the Titans through the eyes of temporary members during the missing one year. That aspect of the issue is nicely done by Johns, though it's just a way to introduce more characters. Robin's efforts to bring Superboy back from the dead by cloning him is also well done as it shows how much he cared about his friend. Though again there is some problems here as I can't recall a particular instance when he was alive that they were showed to be really close.

Tony Daniel's art is hit and miss with me. Some panels look really great and others not so much. Sometimes his characters are flat and static while at other times very dynamic. It's somewhat jarring. As a bonus, this is the first time I noticed the inking! The last 4 or so pages were obviously done by a different inker than the rest of the book. When I noticed this, I checked the credits and sure enough, two inkers: Kevin Conrad and Norm Rapmund. It would have been nice to have consistancy within the issue, but maybe they were trying for a different mood. I dunno, I'm not that deep.

Reason to buy this book: A disembodied brain in a newly cloned body declares his love to his intelligent servant ape. As Chris Sims is wont to say: You are now freaking out.

Y: The Last Man #47

We finally get the backstroy og Dr. Mann with this issue. I thought it was entertaining and showed her development from child to adult rather well. There are also hints as to who/what is really behind the event that killed all the men. Good thing too as this series is coming to a close with issue #60 and there's alot of loose ends to tie up.

The issue opened a bit weird though as Dr. Mann is bleeding profusely yet she seemed fine after last issue despite being stabbed in the shoulder. She kind of explains it at the end saying after she miscarried she expected some long term effects, so I guess that's the reason. Still, an odd opening.

Reason to buy this book: Titties!

Detective Comics #821

Here's the first offering from new creative team Paul Dini (of Batman: the Animated Series fame) and J.H. Williams III and damn is it good. I can't recall the last time I picked up a monthly in-continuity Bat-title but I'm glad I'll be getting this one regularly.

Dini gives us a "done-in-one" story where it is told from Batman's perspective. It empasizes the detective part of Batman where there is a new villain in town stealing from Gotham's elite and Bats has to figure out how he's doing it and who he is. The opening action sequence hooks us in and we then get to see some good character interaction between Batman and Comissioner Gordon. However, their dialogue is a bit to expositiony to seem natural and the same information could have been gained through a narrative from Batman while perusing case files in the Batcave. But I think Dini wanted to get Gordon in there so it's a bit of a trade off. We also get the sense of how much Batman cares about Robin when he won't let him help with the case because they are dealing with an unknown player. Alfred's dialogue is brilliant. Dry, sarcastic wit that you would expect from a Brit.

We are right there with Batman as he puts the pieces together and the journey is highly enjoyable. Excellent first issue from Dini.

The art from J.H. Williams III is great and some of his page layouts are very nice. The choice to highlight exactly where Batman is hitting his opponent in the opening sequence is a neat idea. Batman is always shown to be somewhat in the shadows just as he should be. Good stuff all around.

Reason to buy this book: Batman is a total player and thinks the word "corn" in his narrative.

Graphic Novel Reviews

2006-07-04T14:21:00.000-03:00

It has been suggested that in addition to the weekly reviews of stuff I buy, I occasionally write about longer comics, known as Trade Paperbacks (TPBs) or Graphic Novels (GN). As I thought about this, I wondered what definition I could use to consider something a Graphic Novel. At first, I decided that it would only be original works that were not just collections of monthly issues (TPBs), but self-contained stories that were only found in this longer format.

Then I realized that would be silly as many comics these days are quite obviously meant to be read as collected works, where each monthly issue is a chapter in a larger work. Thus any work longer than the regular 23 pages that tells a self-consistant story, is eligible. Here are some definitions I found on google by the way:

#1: Generally, any self-contained story in a single binding that uses a comic book-like page layout. In the comic book industry, the term is sometimes used to refer only to self-contained stories of 48 or more pages that has not been previously published serially. (The minimum page count varies; 64, 72, and 96 pages are other popular cut-off points.)

#2: Term created by Will Eisner; comic book with high quality storyline and artwork.

My favourite as it is quite silly
#3: A comic that cannot be read in one sitting.

#4 "Graphic novel" (sometimes abbreviated GN) is a term for a kind of book, usually telling an extended story with sequential art (i.e. comics). It is not strictly defined, and is often used to imply subjective distinctions between a given book and other kinds of comics.

I'll try to do one or so a month so keep checking back!

Superman Returns Review

2006-07-02T12:40:00.000-03:00

Spoilers be ahead so ye be warned.

Rating: 7.5 Superman Shields out of 10

I saw this yesterday and I liked it quite a bit. I almost gave it an 8/10, but we'll get to why it lost that extra 0.5 in a moment.

So a short plot outline to get you up to speed: Astronomers think they've observed remnants of Superman's home planet of Krypton and Superman leaves Earth for 5 years to investigate. He returns to find that the love of his life, Lois Lane, has moved on (not really) with a fiance and a child. Lex Luthor gets out of prison and steals some of the crystals from Superman's fortress of solitude in Anarctica with the plan to use the crystals to create new landmasses and sell the property (the crystals react with water and minerals around them to grow exponentially). Superman finds out about it and needs to stop him. I think that's all you need. Let's begin!

I hadn't seen the original in theatres but I think I can imagine what it must have been like after seeing this film. The opening credits scene was wonderful and I'm very happy that they chose to do it in a style similar to the original movies. My chest swelled when the John Williams score turned up. Excellent choice of using the same music.

Then we get into the movie proper. I'll get one thing out of the way first: the suit. I went on a bit of a rant about it when the initial photos were released because it was such a departure from what I was used to and I might have posted in shock/horror. I am officially changing my stance on the movie suit. It looks really good in the film and I think the darker palette grounds the movie a bit more than bright primary colours would.

Most people going to this movie likely expected Superman to be doing Superman-type things throughout the movie, with lots of punching and general super-heroics. There was some of that, but I knew going in that they wanted to focus more on character development rather than big slugfests. So depending on what you were expecting, this movie might fall flat for you. I think Bryan Singer, the director, took the right road for the "first" movie in this franchise. This has been stated before, but with Superman you need to show his human qualities so that the audience can relate to him a bit. If you don't he's just an alien strong guy who can fly around and do cool shit. This is very different from Batman who is just a regular guy who trains his body to near-perfection. That concept is easier for people to "get" than a baby put in a ship and sent into space before his planet blows up. The best example in the movie is that when Superman finds out that Lois has moved on, he wants to get his mind off it and just throws himself into his "work", saving people from harm.

Thus, while occasionally lagging, the character moments were quite good. The half point from an 8/10 is lost becuase Brandon Routh (who is playing Superman) gives a bit of flat dialogue at times. Not much, but enough to distract and knock a half point off. Despite this, I think he did a very good job of portraying that Clark Kent is very different from Superman. He's not as bungling as in the originals, but still gives the sense of awkwardness. The other 2 points are deducted for the movie being just a tad on the slow side. It could have used one more action sequence to better balance the character moments (which were good). Included in this deduction is the reveal of the S-shield when Clark tears open his shirt when responding to an emergency. This is a classic Superman moment and it wasn't as impressive as it should have been.

As Superman, Routh is really channelling Christopher Reeve and even sounds like him at times. There was much debate from fans wheter Routh was the right choice to play Superman because he's not the most muscular of lads. I think the tall, lean Superman works though and Routh delivers lines and expressions that suits the Man of Steel rather well.

Kate Bosworth does a much better job as Lois Lane than Katie Holmes did as Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins. Her interaction with Clark was as it should be - vague disinterest with a bit of professional friendship. She gives some bland lines too, but they aren't too noticable.

I was hesitant to see Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, but he does a marvelous job of portraying the brilliant yet crazy villain. You could hear a pin drop in the theatre when he berates Lois after she says "Superman will stop you". He exuded evil. Leaving him on a deserted island at the end of the movie was a bit goofy though.

Main actors done, how about scenes, special effects and sound? Glad you asked. The airplane/space shuttle save sequence was amazing as was the "bullet-proof eyeball" one. The scene when Superman gets the shit kicked out of him was hard to watch as it was pretty visceral. The special effects guys did a great job with the flying sequences though there were a couple that could have used a bit more polish. As for sound, you can NOT beat a John Williams soundtrack. Excellent stuff.

So that's my mishmash of thoughts on Superman Returns. Good movie with a few picky things. Definately worth seeing though.

Continuing the Madness...

2006-06-30T18:28:00.000-03:00

This has been done by two of the Boys Boys, Neil and Daniel, so I thought I'd go ahead as well.
It has nothing to do with comics per se, but it gives a chance for my loyal readers (2 at this point I think - the aformentioned members of the Boys Boys) to learn some information about me (despite the fact they likely already know this stuff).

1. FIRST NAME? John
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Probably, what's it to you?
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Listening to a World of Warcraft audio file of a guy freaking the hell out while commanding his clan on a raid. I laughed my ass off to the point of tears
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HAND WRITING? At times. It's a pleasant mix of printing and script
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCHMEAT? Pastrami, the most sensual of all meats
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Maybe...probably not though.
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Not since we were forced to write them in gradeschool.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes, and they're tonsilriffic
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Nah, save that for the crazy folk
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? Raisin Bran
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Only my good pairs
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Both in mind and body. Double threat!
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM FLAVOUR? Cookies and Creme (in a box!)
14. SHOE SIZE? 10.5
15. RED OR PINK? Red.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Thinning hair. Damn you MPB!!!
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? The Boys Boys.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? If they do, that's a paddling.
19. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? White and in sock-feet (too hot for shoes Dr. Jones).
20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Honour Roll sushi and a Diet Cherry Vanilla Coke
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Damn library construction right outside my office window
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? polka dot
23. FAVOURITE SMELL? cinnamon
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Pam wanting me to get the oil changed in the car. Women...always wanting something
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Their polarity
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? No one sent it! I copied it from Daniel's Blog, mwa-ha-ha!
27. FAVOURITE DRINK? Jones' Cream Soda
28. FAVOURITE SPORT? Poker (it's a sport! according to TSN anyways).
29. EYE COLOR? Brown
30. HAT SIZE? adjustable
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? nope, the idea of sticking something in my eye everyday isn't appealing
32. FAVOURITE FOOD? Corn on the Cob
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? A scary movie with a happy ending. Take that meaningless survey!
34. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? White
35. SUMMER OR WINTER? winter all the way. much rather be too cold than too hot
36. HUGS OR KISSES? depends who's giving them
37. FAVOURITE DESSERT? my homemade cheesecake
38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? I'm guessing Neil will have the first comment
39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Teh Cheeze -> Since this is cut and pasted from Daniel's blog, I assume The Cheeze is me, so suck it Dan.
40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? The Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martain
41. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Bubbles!
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? The Simpsons and I do, let's Eat! (don't ask)
43. FAVOURITE SOUNDS? One hand clapping
44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles.
45. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? League City, Texas
46. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I am a jack of all trades and master of none, so I guess that means I kind of suck at everything
47. AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Summerside, PE.
48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Stolen from Daniel's site.

And to make it relavent to comics: Hawkman.

New Comic Day June 28

2006-06-28T21:16:00.000-03:00

Ultimate Spider-man #96

This is the second (and last) part of the Morbius storyline. It had some cool moments such as Morbius laying the smack down on the vampires, Spidey getting bit and freaking out. However if you were considering picking up this issue, I'd recommend against it for the following reasons: (1) Morbius claims that he can save Ben Urich's life (he got bit last issue) and it looks like to do so, he has to bite him. Spider-man prevents Morbius from doing so but Morby chucks SPider-man through a wall where he fights some vampires. During this though, Morbius has fixed Urich up right good, then helps Spidey. What bugs me is that the healing takes place off panel and we get no explanation whatsoever about how Morbius can save him. (2) At the end, Peter is contemplating continuing his life as a crime-fighter and Mary Jane comes up to him all friendly asking what's wrong then ends up hugging him. That would be fine except for the fact that last issue, Peter and MJ had a pow-wow ending with her not wanting to be around him. Why the change of heart? Again no explanation.

For the two issues as a whole though it's good to see the writer, Brian Michael Bendis, tell a shorter story instead of the usual decompressed stuff he does in New Avengers and that god-awful Hobgoblin arc a year or so ago.

Invincible #33
Invincible continues to be one of my favourite comics. This issue sees Mark (aka Invincible) confronting Angstrom Levy as he threatens his mother and newly found half-brother. Angstrom wants to kill Mark because he blames Mark for his silly looking head. In order to acomplish said killing, Angstrom sends Mark through a myriad (your word of the day) of parallel universes where he fights various WMDs. This is done in the effort to weaken Mark so that Angstrom can finish Invincible off himself. The plan backfires though as Mark pounds the living tar out of Levy and ends up killing him (or so I assume - there was a HELLUVA lot of blood) while they are in another reality. I expected the Angstrom confrontation to last more than one issue and I think it might have worked better as a two-parter, but it was still good.

I enjoyed this issue because we get to see a nice turning point in Mark's character. This is the first time he's killed someone whilst in a rage so watching how he deals with that will prove interesting. As well, Mark is trapped in an alternate reality so seeing how he gets home will be fun as well.

I'm one of those comic readers who is more about the words than the art, but Invincible is always good in both departments. The facial expressions are well done and the colors are very vibrant. Top notch comic from Kirkman and crew.

Young Avengers #12

And then we have Young Avengers. Plagued by lateness, I really didn't give two shits about what happened in this issue (which is the last one). I won't bore you with a detailed plot summary, but in short: Young Avengers + Old Avengers = Kree and Skrulls getting punched ALOT. There wasn't even that much story as there were no less than 5 splash pages. The only good thing is the art by Jim Cheung. Hard to believe this comes from the same guy who wrote the excellent Wonder Woman #1.

New Comic Day June 21

2006-06-22T02:37:00.000-03:00

Lots of stuff this week so dig in! A recurring theme this week will be comics that come out out on a very irregular basis (ie. less than one per month). As well, I'm going to do a break down of cents/page (CPP) and see if the best value is also the best comic.

Eternals #1

This is the newest offering of uber-writer Neil Gaiman to the comic reading populous. This is a story based on characters called, yep you're right, The Eternals who were created by Jack Kirby in the seventies. I will freely admit that I am an Eternals virgin and hadn't heard of them at all until Gaiman was announced to be writing this 6 issue mini-series. I trust Neil Gaiman to entertain me and that trust is justified with this comic.

The idea behind this new series is that Ike Harris (Ikaris) is an Eternal in the present day but is the only one on Earth that remembers there ever were Eternals. The other members of the team are leading ordinary lives and have only the vaguest of sub-conscious thoughts that there's something not quite right in their everday experiences. Ike tries to convince a med student, Mark Curry, that he's actually Makkari, an Eternal, and gets the typical "you're crazy" response one might expect. Gaiman does a very good job of portraying Mark as the sceptic and of introducing the other characters, Sersi, Sprite and Thena. Though we are pretty sure that these characters are Eternals, Gaiman still plants the seeds of doubt through Mark and it makes for a very intriguing read. On a bad note though, I realize that he's trying to update the Eternals to the current Marvel Universe, but I didn't really care for the references to the Super-hero Registration Act going on in Civil War.

John Romita Jr. has always been a favourite artist of mine and most of his panels are very well done. The Celestials look fantastic and the expressions Mark has while Ike is telling him some Eternal history are spot on. However there were a few panels that were somewhat jarring. Ike leaping off Mark's fire escape looked very static was a main one and a few other minor things I noticed that I don't expect from JRJR.

All in all, it's not as great as I thought it would be from the oreview pages I read, but it was still decent.

CPP: $5.75/39 pages = 14.7 cents per page!

Ultimates 2 #11

To begin, if you don't know, the Ultimates are the Avengers in Marvel's ultimate universe line of comics. They are a big grittier than their regular Marvel Universe counterparts and more morally ambiguous, which makes them more interesting characters in my opinion. I really like the Ultimates so let's get that out of the way, but I don't particularly like this issue because all it really is, is a set up for the grand finale in issue #12.

So what's good about this issue? Well Thor gets out of his plastic room (somehow), lots of punching, and the Hulk comes back. Other than that though this issue is about getting all the players in place. Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) goes to his space station to activate something called "Iron Man Six, " Captain America gets creamed only to look up to see the leader of the enemy super-villains looming over him, Loki appears to be over confident, which will likely be the cause of the villains' downfall, etc... So while I'm sure #12 will be excellent, #11 sure isn't. As well, this book has been plagued by lateness, but it can be forgiven somewhat because the writer, Mark Millar, has been quite ill lately, battling Crohn's disease. Though he might have had the script done long ago and it might all be the fault of the penciller, Bryan Hitch, who doesn't give a great performance this issue. The inclusion of George W. Bush being a pansy was also a bit tacky I thought.

Last time an issue came out: March 1, 2006 (nearly 4 months ago!)
CPP: $3.40/28 pages = 12.1 cents per page!

Astonoshing X-men #15
Despite what others may claim, I think this is a damn fine comic book series. To catch you up, this is an X-men series that doesn't really care about the shared universe of other X-men titles and is pretty much standalone (as it should be). Written by Joss Whedon (my hero) and John Cassady (the object of many a man-crush), the combination being known as Jossady, the team consists of Cyclops, Beast, Wolverine, Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost, and Colossus. But wait! Isn't that Emma Frost, the White Queen on the cover with several notable X-men villains!? Yes, and it is in this issue were her betrayal comes to fruition. The new Hellfire Club, consisting of Sebastian Shaw, Cassandra Nova, the White Queen, Negasonic Teenage Warhead (that's not a typo and NTW from now on), and a mysterious fifth member lay the smack down on the X-men and truly hand them their asses.

Ass-handedry:
Emma does a great job pretending to be upset and we get a very nice visual right on page one. Cassandra Nova turns the normally brilliant Beast into his namesake, virtually eliminating his higher thought processes. NTW loosens Kitty's ability to control her phasing powers, and she literally phases down through the Earth's crust. Colossus beats down on Sebastian Shaw and forgets his power is to absorb kinetic energy. Shaw then gives Colossus the mother of all boxed ears and we see some metallic blood drip down his nose before he collapses. Nova removes Wolverine's agressiveness, turning him into the equivalent of a 5 year old girl (it's very cute). It's all very reminiscent of the fight against a previous incarnation of the Hellfire Club way back in Uncanny X-men #132, complete with an homage to a classic Wolverine moment:

Cool no? Anyhoo, this issue is a plot mover and hints at bigger stuff to come. Go Jossady!

Last time an issue came out: March 29, 2006
CPP: $3.40/23 pages = 14.9 cents per page!

Casanova #1

There's a bit of a story with this purchase so I'll bore you with that before I talk about the comic. I was really looking forward to this after I read the online preview. It looked really good and was certainly something different that what I was used to. I told Elfsar to pull it for me last week and to my surprise, it wasn't in the stack of comics Ethan plopped in front of me as I walked in. I checked the rack and there were none there. "Do you have a Casanova #1 for me?" I asked? Apparently they didn't receive the entire order and since I asked for one after their order cutoff date, I got shafted. It will be July 5th before I get this comic from Elfsar. However, not wanting to take the risk of getting a second printing, I went to Golden Age and snatched up a copy there. So I'll end up having two copies but it's cheap ($2.35) so it's not all bad.

Anyway what about the comic? It's kind of an espionage book (spy for the layman) which is a nice change of pace for me as the last one I followed was Mystique (the Vaughn run). This is written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by Gabriel Ba. Instead of being black and white, the comic has a two-tone color scheme mixing blacks and green/grey. It's very effective in creating a noirish feel which helps the book tremendously. The story is told from the perspective of Casanova Quinn, our "hero" and starts with a decent action sequence that ends with a girl's head getting blown off (nice). Cass's father is the head of E.M.P.I.R.E (Extra-Military Police, Intelligence, Rescue, and Espionage) a world-wide organization deicated to maintaining the peace and it is this organization that ends said action sequence. There's some sci-fi elements to this book as well, in the form of alternate universes and a big mutant brain originating from the fusion of occult zen worshipers, which is always nice.

Thinking about it, the things I really liked about this comic were the little things like the one panel cuts of other character's point of views and the powerpoint reference in the Newman Xeno scene. I really liked the panels with the empty word balloons as it lets the art tell the story and in the funeral scene we can see that Cass is so caught up in grief that, though the minister is talking to him, he's not really hearing him. The main story was a tad on the confusing side, but maybe that's because I read it at work and the sound of construction outside was a bit distracting. A nit-picky thing is that some of the dialouge is in French (Cass was in Paris), but I can't read French!

I didn't like it as much as the Lord and Master, but liked it much more than Greg. I'm sticking with it as I think this book has a lot of potential.

CPP: $2.35/28 pages (with no ads!) = an amazing 8.4 cents per page!

Justice #6 (of 12)
In case you don't know, this 12 issue series is about villains trying to save the world from destruction which they think will be the fault of the world's heroes. I've always liked the concept of heroes upsetting the status quo by trying to fix "real-world" problems (ie. the Authority) and having the villains do it while still being villains is a neat idea. However, this issue doesn't really move the plot forward as much as I'd like and the only interesting thing to happen is that Green Lantern's ring translates his being into a series of electronic impulses and "saves" him inside itself. Neat idea. I enjoy Alex Ross's painting style, but the penciler he's painting over, Doug Braithwaite, could use some improvement. Not much else to say about this one. It was a very "meh" comic.

Last time an issue came out: April 19, 2006
CPP: $4.75/30 pages = 15.8 cents per page!

Ex Machina #21

New storyline and some obvious new plotlines. Check out last week's review if you need an Ex Machina Primer. First, Mitch gets a hot new intern who is not all she seems to be, some potheads get the beat down from a fake fireman, politcal fires are lit over marijuana legalization, and a woman douses herself with gasoline on the steps of city hall and lights herself on fire! Notice a trend here? Anyways this seems to be standard fare lately with Ex Machina, but it's not boring and the juxtaposition of political and super-hero antics is a nice mix. I'd like to see more resolution with the "where did Mitch get his powers from" plotline, but I'm sure Vaughn will get to it as this will be a finite series. He has stated that it will show Mitch's five years in office so it will be a nice arc for the character to go through. The new intern's deviousness may be the starting point of the downfall of mayor Hundred.

Last time an issue came out: May 10, 2006 (it's monthly)
CPP: $4.00/22 pages = 18.2 cents per page!

All Star Superman #4

Ah, the best for last. This is a truly wonderful comic. In the world of crossover this and crossover that, mainstream comics have become pretty inaccessible to the average guy on the street. Not so with this comic. Any kid could pick this up and be entertained to no end. See, this issue revolves aroud Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen. He's a regular joe who is best buds with the big man and routinely gets him out of jams. How awesome is that?

With this issue, writer Grant Morrison harkens back to the old Jimmy Olsen/Superman teamups without being bogged down by years of pointless continuity, which is the idea behind the All Star line in the first place.

There's so many good things about this issue I'm tempted to stop this post and just tell you to go out and buy it so you'll see for yourself. I won't, but you should do that anyways.

The plot of this issue has Jimmy looking for something to write about for his "For a Day" columns in the Daily Planet. He chooses to go to the moon and take over the science institute P.R.O.J.E.C.T. from Leo Quintum. Unfortunately, Jimmy has been cursed with bad luck by a gypsy until the next full moon (sounds silly but it works), so you know something's gonna go wrong. Something does when the Bizzaro workers find some Black Kryptonite in the superheavy gravity underverse (where time itself cools to a solid). It's little extras like this that makes this comic fun and Morrison is a master at adding them. Anyways, the Black K makes Superman evil and Jimmy has to take a super-soldier syrum to prevent Superman from going on a rampage. In a classic comic book explanation, Superman gets weaker and dumber the worse he acts so he goes down pretty easily. I'm definately not doing this issue justice as you really have to see it to appreciate it.

The artwork from Frank Quitely is absolutely wonderful and combines with Morrison's exciting "done-in-one" story to produce a real gem. I don't often mention the colouring of a comic, but I will here as it is exceptionally vibrant. The pages really pop. Jamie Grant digitally inked and coloured the book and he deserves a hand. Using a computer to colour the book likely makes the difference between this and other comics, though I'm not sure what the traditional method is.

Excellent series and I only wish it came out more often.

Last time an issue came out: March 29, 2006
CPP: $3.20/22 pages = 14.5 cents per page!

Let me sum up:
Rank by Favorite (1 best - 7 worst)
1. All Star Superman #4
2. Astonishing X-men #15
3. Casanova #1
4. Eternals #1
5. Ex Machina #21
6. Justice #6
7. Ultimates 2 #11

Rank by CPP (1 best value - 7 worst value)
1. Casanova #1: 8.4
2. Ultimates 2 #11: 12.1
3. All Star Superman #4: 14.5
4. Eternals #1: 14.7
5. Astonishing X-men #15: 14.9
6. Justice #6: 15.8
7. Ex Machina #21: 18.2

Rank by time since last release (1 shortest - 7 longest)
1. Casanova #1: n/a
2. Eternals #1 n/a
3. Ex Machina #21: May 10 - 42 days
4. Justice #6: April 19 - 63 days
6. (tie) All Star Superman #4: March 29 - 84 days
6. (tie) Astonishing X-men #15: March 29 - 84 days
7. Ultimates 2 #11: March 1: 113 days

So All Star Superman is my #1 read this week and it has a decent CPP and Casanova, while good, isn't as good as I thought. It may require multiple readings to "get" everything as it is pretty dense. Bringing up the rear is Ultimates 2 #11 for both it's set-up nature and lateness. Boo-urns on that one.

A Worthy Cause

2006-06-16T14:18:00.000-03:00

Mark Millar, writer of the really good Ultimates, and perhaps not so good Civil War, recently (and is still) had a flare up from his Crohn's disease. Crohn's is a systemic inflammatory bowel disease which can result in severe inflammation of the intestinal tract and can effect the entire gastrointestinal tract, from mouth to anus, in the worst cases. He is organizing an auction to raise money which will go towards Professor John Hermon-Taylor's mission of finallizing a cure for this very serious disease. You can read the article at Newsarama here and send some bling if you can.