Adam Hughes has revealed his cover for the third issue of Fairest, Vertigo’s upcoming Fables spinoff series that will spotlight such female characters as Thumbelina, Rapunzel, Snow White and Rose Red. While the six-issue initial arc, by Fables creator Bill Willingham and artists Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning, centers on Briar Rose, Hughes puts Lumi, the Snow Queen (previously seen in the background of his cover for Fairest #1) front and center.

Check out the full image below. Fairest debuts from Vertigo in March; the third issue arrives in May.

Wet Moon

Hello and welcome to a special holiday edition of What Are You Reading? Actually it’s just a normal edition of What Are You Reading?, because changing the font color to red and green, and adding twinkling lights around the border just made it harder to read.

Our special guest this week is Andy Khouri, associate editor over at ComicsAlliance, where he drops comic news and commentary on a daily basis.

To see what Andy and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below.

Tim O’Shea

Batgirl #4

Batgirl #4: While I’ve been generally pleased with the new Batgirl by writer Gail Simone, it has not impressed me to the degree of say Mark Waid’s Daredevil…until this issue. And oddly it was a simple line of dialogue that caused me to pause and stop to stare at the page. Batgirl had just saved a couple and when he checked on the victims, the man said: “Because of you, we get to see our kids again. Thank you.” Rarely in a comic these days do the folks that the heroes rescue get any lines. The fact that Simone devotes story space to a small moment like that speaks volumes to how great a writer she is. And then the end of this issue has a reveal that’s a doozy.

Avengers Academy #23: For the past half year or so, series writer Christos Gage has shown that no such thing as the status quo in terms of the Avengers Academy cast or infrastructure. This latest arc involves time travel and it is interesting to see snippets of Gage’s larger view of the Academy-verse. Added bonus? Gage taps into the old Rom series to use a character in the present Marvel universe.

The Shade #3: This is the last issue with Cully Hamner on art. I am so bummed, but wait-who is on the deck for next issue? Darwyn Cooke and J. Bone, wow. Nice consolation prize, I’ll admit. Robinson’s penchant for shifting from historical period bits to present day is in full effect (and to my enjoyment). The art of conversation is something that made the original Starman series so delightful, and that art is alive in The Shade. Another bonus that might entice longtime Starman fans that have not picked up this series yet? This month’s cover is by Tony Harris. Still not moved? Next month’s issue involves two words: Times Past.

The Ray #1

The Ray #1: This comic held me in its sway until the last panel, which had a blip of violence I just do not need to see in a non-mature readers comic. I say this as a warning, it’s likely that folks who play a lot of video games or have a penchant for horror films will not be shocked. But when the villain from this issue puts his fist through a human head and you get to see it from a side angle, it’s just too sickening for my tastes. It’s visceral and likely the exact impact the creative team wanted. Do not get me wrong, it’s one misstep in an overall strong first issue, I just do not wish anyone to be surprised. I am a huge fan of artist Jamal Igle (and an equally supporter for writing team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray). I am 99 percent positive on this book, however, particularly the impressive manner that Palmiotti and Gray establish a unique supporting cast with a few scenes.

Marvel Adventures #21: I really do not know the rhyme or reason of this current all ages book, a few recent issues were reprints, but best I can tell this installment has two new stories, one written by J.M. DeMatteis and the other by Jen Van Meter. Van Meter’s Hulk story very much had the Bill Bixby TV show vibe to it (which works in the limited space she had and for the all ages audience). As much as I enjoyed it, I found myself shocked at how great the Dr. Strange/Captain America team-up was. I never thought that patriotism and mysticism could be mixed in a story, but DeMatteis proved me very wrong. I really hope the Strange/Cap artist Wellington Alves has more assignments down the road for Marvel, particularly given his strong eye for layout.

Batman: The Brave & the Bold #14

Batman: The Brave & the Bold #14: I really appreciate when DC or Marvel does a story like this in the holidays. Rather than going with the Christian-themed tale (which as a Catholic, of course I dig), this Sholly Fisch/Rick Burchett tale partially focuses on the story of Chanukah and has the fate of a neighborhood shul (synagogue) as the center of the story. For parents, aunts and uncles looking for a small holiday gift that might interest a kid in comics—please snag this.

Resurrection Man #4: For Christmas, Santa, I would like this Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning-written comic series to have a nice long run. The fight scenes in this comic are intense, but not in a disturbing sense—and I just love how Fernando Dagnino utilizes distinct panel choices—as well as his approach to the book’s lead character, Mitch Shelley.

Black Panther #526: This book may be cancelled, but it is still entertaining the hell out of me. Last issue I complained about the murky qualities of the coloring obscuring Shawn Martinbrough’s art. I am happy to say this issue’s coloring of Martinbrough by Felix Serrano is much more complimentary. And writer David Liss is really hitting his stride pitting Panther against the Kingpin, which makes for great storytelling.

Brigid Alverson

Level Up

This is a rarity for a First Second book, but Level Up has a terrible cover. I know it relates to the subject matter, gaming, but it’s drab and plain, while the story itself is quite imaginative. Written by Gene Luen Yang and illustrated by Thien Pham, it’s a twist on the Asian-American stereotype of the pushy parents who only want their kid to go to medical school. The hero, Dennis Ouyang, just wants to play video games, but his parents don’t get it at all, and he never has a quarter to play Pac-Man, let alone the bucks to buy a Nintendo system. On the day of his father’s funeral, as Dennis is about to graduate high school, he buys a game system and becomes completely absorbed in gaming. What happens next made me think he was having a psychotic break, but it’s really a fantasy tale–a group of angelic creatures emerges from a card his father had sent him years ago and nudges him toward medical school. Yang and Pham do a nice job of teasing out the nuances of Dennis’s dilemmas, his changing friendships, and his slow realization of the right path–and how his past has unexpectedly prepared him for it. It’s a quick read and a good one.

It would be easy to miss the fact that Jim Henson’s The Storyteller, a new anthology from Archaia, is based on the television show of the same name. If, like me, you weren’t watching a lot of TV in the 1980s and never saw the show, you could read the whole book and not realize it. It’s true, one of the stories is based on an unproduced Storyteller script, but aside from that, there doesn’t seem to be any mention of the show, which is odd–I would at least expect to see an introduction explaining the genesis of the book. Never mind, though, because this is a great little anthology of folk tales adapted and illustrated by some of the most talented comics creators around: Roger Langridge, Colleen Coover, Jeff Parker, Marjorie Liu, among others. This being an Archaia book, the design and production values are superb, and while it’s an all-ages book, there’s a lot here for older readers to appreciate.

Andy Khouri

Wet Moon by Ross Campbell

Wet Moon

I’m a little ashamed to admit that I didn’t even know this existed before all five volumes showed up in the mail recently, but Ross Campbell’s Wet Moon became over the course of one rainy night one of my favorite comics series. There is no high concept hook to this story of variously gothic and geeky and gay girls (and some boys) attending art college in the American south, it’s just completely based on the fairly large cast and their complex relationships with each other. Light on melodrama but heavy on emotion, humor and character development, I’d say Wet Moon is a soap opera but in the best possible sense of that term. Campbell makes each individual truly that – an individual, and I found that as soon as I’d completed one volume (digest-sized paperbacks from Oni Press) I had to immediately start on the next one to see what happens next–not in the sense of a plot or cliffhanger, but just because I came to really enjoy hanging out with his characters. I read five books in just a couple of nights.

But what impressed me most about Wet Moon–and the sort of thing that I find myself caring more about with comics and film–is how Campbell created such an immersive world. From page one, you’re taken in. The uniqueness of the character designs, the details in the locations, the style of dialogue–everything about Wet Moon pulls you in, as opposed to being the sort of narrative you sort of observe and contemplate on some intellectual level. As much as I wanted to keep reading the narrative, I think I liked just sort of living in the world of Wet Moon even more. I can’t wait for the next book.

FreakAngels by Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield

FreakAngels

You’ve got 12 kids all born on the same day and all possessing increasingly amazing powers like telepathy and telekinesis and teleportation and so on, and they operate as a gang in a post-apocalyptic London. Each character as a specific talent–agriculture, mechanics, security, etc.–and they work together to protect the citizens of their neighborhood from marauders and other threats from around the city while insulting each other in the best Ellisian tradition.

FreakAngels is remarkable in part for Duffield’s great artwork, particularly his often gorgeous background renderings and ability to make you understand how something like a bicycle-pedal-based flying machine might work. Indeed, FreakAngels spends quite a lot of time exploring the notion of getting on with life in a post-apocalyptic society, where cleverness and innovation would be crucial to survival when there’s no electricity or other resources upon which the world has become dependent. Duffield is amazing at depicting these kinds of lever-and-pulley kinds of things in a way that’s easy to understand and actually quite nice to look at.

Like Campbell with Wet Moon, Duffield makes FreakAngels into a time and place that is utterly specific to itself, and I found myself getting a visceral thrill from visiting that world (the book’s leisurely, perhaps manga-like pace helps immerse you in it in a very cool way). But what keeps you there are the FreakAngels themselves, who’re among the most vivid characters Ellis has ever created, and of course the mystery at the heart of the series: who are the FreakAngels and what did they do?

FreakAngels has been completed and is available in six trade paperbacks or hardcovers.

Google+

Publishing | Marvel and DC Comics are among the first companies to join Google+ as a part of the Google + Pages initiative, along with other early adopters like the WWE, Angry Birds, The Muppets and Pepsi. Companies that initially joined Google+ back when it first launched had their accounts shut down as Google worked on “building a similarly optimized business experience for Google+” like they had for individuals. Google+ Pages launched yesterday. [The Source, Marvel.com]

Creators | Cartoonist Susie Cagle shares her account of being arrested last week during Occupy Oakland. [AlterNet]

Digital | Digital comics distributor iVerse Media has received a $4 million private-equity investment for the expansion of marketing and product development for its Comics+ app. [TechCrunch]

Comics | They can’t call it The Avengers, because, well, you know, but BOOM! Studios is reprinting the Eclipse series Steed and Mrs. Peel, written by Grant Morrison. The original miniseries, which ran in the early 1990s, comprised three issues, but BOOM! will be splitting it into six, priced at $3.99 each. [Multiversity Comics]

Resurrection Man #3

Creators | Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning discuss their work on DC’s Resurrection Man. [USA Today]

Creators | Robot 6 contributor Brigid Alverson and Anime News Network reporter Crystal Hodgkins interview Hiro Mashima, creator of the whimsical shonen manga Fairy Tail. [MTV Geek]

Retailers | Chris Sims tours the Marvel Retailer Resource Center, saying that it is “a neat idea with a lot of potential that could easily help retailers, with a few major bugs that still need to be fixed.” [ComicsAlliance]

Comics | Super Itch shows off some vintage issues of Stan Lee and Stan Goldberg’s teen comic Kathy the Teenage Tornado. [Super Itch]

Scene | Kevin Czap reports in on the comics scene in Cleveland, hometown to such legendary creators as Harvey Pekar, Bill Watterson, and Brian Michael Bendis, as well as a fresh crop of young artists and writers. [The Comics Journal]

Conventions | Margaret O’Connell takes the long view in her report on New York Comic Con, giving a good overall view of this year’s con and its evolution during its short life. [Sequential Tart]

Optic Nerve #12

Welcome to What Are You Reading? Our special guest today is Chris Duffy, editor of First Second’s Nursery Rhyme Comics. We spotlighted this anthology project all week here on Robot 6; check out our interviews with Chris as well as contributors Scott C., Aaron Reiner, Richard Sala and Eleanor Davis.

And to see what Chris and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below.

*****

Tim O’Shea

Resurrection Man

Resurrection Man #2: The writing team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning has increasingly grown on me in recent years. But what is really selling me on returning to this series with issue #3 is artist Fernando Dagnino. Whether intentional on his part or not, there are moments that Dagnino’s approach with this book reminds of Butch Guice’s style (the artist on the initial RM run).

Mister Terrific #2: After I read this issue, I mentally kicked myself for the waste of money. The art on this book is just incredibly rushed and uninspiring (by Gianluca Gugliotta — which is a shame as he has a two-page splash at one point with the lead character that is quite exquisite), which could be overlooked if Eric Wallace’s plot did not leave me wanting far more.

Batman and Robin #2: Writer Peter Tomasi constructs some great moments between fathers and sons in this issue (Alfred and Bruce, Bruce and Damian). And after thinking that DC editorial had settled Damian into a traditional sidekick role, I was pleasantly surprised to see Tomasi inject a bit of old (character roots) internal good vs. evil conflict back into the character.

Alpha Flight #5: The art of the bait and switch is something that is used to great effect in this series, repeatedly—and I have to tire of it. Also intriguing to see the character dynamics between Taskmaster and Puck. Glad this series has become an ongoing.

FF

FF #10: This is the best art I have seen from Barry Kitson in a very long time. I am unsure if he was experimenting with a change in his style, or had been rushed, on past assignments—but this issue is visually strong thanks to him. And my FF series rule that the title reads better when Sue Richards appears still holds true (she is in this issue). As a 1970s fan who always loved the surprise cliffhanger, this issue ends on a solid note (and no, it’s not Johnny Storm alive).

Super Dinosaur #5: Robert Kirkman writes an appealing all-ages book with this project. Note I said all ages. Yes, my 12-year-old son book will enjoy this book. But of equal importance, his 43-year-old dad was thrown and hooked by the big reveal in this issue.

Uncanny X-Force: The Apocolypse Solution trade paperback: While I have been reading Rick Remender’s Venom series, I had not checked out this series. The NYCC announcement that he would be taking on Secret Avengers (with one of my favorite artists Gabriel Hardman), I thought it would be a good time to consider the writer’s approach on this X-covert title. Fortunately two of my pals at the local comic book store (thanks Dugan and Mike) steered me toward this first trade collection for the series. Artist Jerome Opeña (who I first took note of when he teamed with writer Stuart Moore in 2004 on Dark Horse/Rocket’s Lone) is perfectly suited for these clandestine affairs. And I like that it seems the dirty work this team must do keeps them out of most X-crossovers that occur, making it even more of an accessible read for me.

The Shade #1: Good giggly wiggly, how did I not know that this maxi-series involved one of my favorite artists, Cully Hamner. Call me crazy, but Hamner’s ever-evolving eye for distinctive and cinematic layouts is steadily making him this comics era’s Alex Toth. I have a new theory about James Robinson’s writing (which was last consistently engaging on his long and beloved Starman run), if he can write a story that has a member of the O’Dare family (or maybe it’s the fact he’s back in Opal City), but something in Robinson relaxes and he delivers a solid story (this maxi-series features Shade’s girlfriend, Hope O’Dare). While the issue opens and closes with a simple three-word phrase: “October brings melancholy”—a great deal happens in between that phrase and its repeating. Welcome back, Opal City. Now if someone can just find a way to bring back Sue and Ralph.

Chris Mautner

In preparation for my upcoming big Comics College post on Grant Morrison, I read his entire run on JLA, which I had more or less avoided up until now. To be honest, I wasn’t terribly impressed by it and am not quite sure why it’s garnered so many accolades. It strikes me overall as very shallow work; very plot heavy and so focused on having a grand, epic narrative that it misses the deeper themes and character touches that I think make Morrison such a noteworthy writer. In short, it’s all rather shallow and nowhere where as rich as say, Doom Patrol, or Invisibles. Plus, while I don’t like ragging on artists, I must say that Howard Porter’s pencils do absolutely nothing for me.

Shade #1

Shade #1 — Why couldn’t the bulk of the new 52 titles be as well plotted and entertaining as this issue? I’ve never read James Robinson’s run on Starman before and know nothing about the Shade, but I found this to be a smartly plotted, entertaining superhero comic that had me curious to eager to find out what happened next. A good deal of this success should be laid at artist Cully Hamner’s feet. My only gripe is regarding the gore at the end that seems a bit excessive to me. I feel like a prude complaining about this stuff, but it feels so out of place in an otherwise disarmingly charming comic.

Tom Bondurant

So there I was, enjoying the heck out of Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy’s American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #5, when it hit me — didn’t Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang make fun of the whole cool-trend-mashup thing five years ago, when they turned the Nazi Lord Julius into a vampire named Primaul (TM) in “Architecture & Mortality?”

Then I remembered Julius was a Nazi vampire gorilla, and that made it OK.

Kidding aside, SOTF was a really fine adjunct to the main AV series, because man were those Nazi vamps some scary f’ers. Most of issue #5 involves a blow-the-doors-off chase scene, with our heroes using a death ray to melt a path for their motorcycle down the side of a mountain as a giant monster tears into said Nazis and tanks are plummeting off said mountain too closely for comfort. Contrast that with the quiet epilogue, which reminds us why Felicia and Cash were tearing down the mountain in the first place, and you get an excellent example of the skills of all involved.

The Unwritten

The Unwritten #30 (written by Mike Carey, drawn by Peter Gross with Vince Locke) was a melancholy, heartbreaking conclusion to the Golden Age arc “On To Genesis.” I keep wanting to introduce this series to my friends and family who are Harry Potter fans, but it has gone so far beyond Potter pastiche that the comparison no longer applies. “Genesis” brings together a forgotten superhero and Frankenstein’s monster as Tom’s friends and allies in his war with the shadowy forces who seek to rule (to keep ruling?) over … well, over all of human culture and history, I guess. This time, though, the superhero is just one facet of a tragic figure who, like Tom, straddles the line between human being and literary creation. On one hand you’re grateful for the life he has, but really it’s not that great of a life. The events of the issue provoke a final-page act of defiance from Tom, energizing the series for the next big (biweekly!) arc.

Finally, I’ve been going truly old-school with my super-team reading, having picked up a copy of All-Star Comics Archives Vol. 1. So far I’m only through the first story, the Justice Society’s first appearance in issue #3, but — and I know how this sounds — I’m a little surprised at how well it holds up. See, for those who don’t know, the first story isn’t really a JSA adventure in the way we might think of one. Instead, it’s a set of individual adventures united by a framing sequence after Johnny Thunder and his Thunderbolt crash the weekly JSA meeting. (Subsequent stories were apparently more conventional.) What’s more, the individual stories were produced by the characters’ regular creative teams — so Gardner Fox and E.E. Hibbard drew the Flash chapter, Fox and Shelly Moldoff drew the Hawkman chapter, Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily drew the Spectre chapter, etc. This is hardly an uncommon practice today, but it’s not what I was used to (having grown up on the Justice League and its fancy-dancy single creative team). In fact I found it pretty charming, especially at the end of each story when a wide-eyed Johnny Thunder would get some reassuring moral from Doctor Fate or the Spectre. I’m not used to supernatural figures, who play with forces which would make mere mortals pee their pants in awe and/or terror, sounding like your favorite uncle. There’s eleven more of these Archives, and I have the first of Roy Thomas’ All Star Companions as well — so I may have to buy a new bookshelf….

Chris Duffy

Ilium

Ilium (novel) by Dan Simmons: I read Hyperion this summer by the same author and ate it up! Ilium is less absorbing at first but it builds curiosity and suspense about the fate of humankind as it goes. It’s a book with not one but about 17 high concepts going on at once. (That’s what Hyperion was like as well.) Far-flung future. It stars a handful of old-style humans (like us), a group of robots from Jupiter’s moons (who are more human than humans), and a resurrected Homeric scholar who it watching the story of the Iliad play out…on Mars. It’s actually much stranger than that sounds. This Simmons guy has written a lot and I plan to try more after this.

Action Comics by Morrison and Morales: I really like watching Superman’s origin retold with a new twist: Superman is actually an interesting character. You wonder what makes him tick. Plus there’s a lot of ACTION. Reminds me a bit of the Tom DeHaven Superman novel (which was great).

Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol: I liked it a lot–very well told teenage ghost story (for teens and starring teens, including the ghost).

Duncan the Wonder Dog: I have only read a page, but it looks pretty good. I’m a sucker for stories about animals with human intelligence. That’s what this is, right?

Optic Nerve #12: Buy this floppy! Adrian Tomine is one of a kind. This issue has two stories. The first is “Hortisculpture,” told in daily strip format with a full page Sunday-style comic after every 6 strips. A middle aged landscaper hears the siren call of a new art form–a melding of sculpture and horticulture. Get it? Hortisculpture! The strips move forward in a really endearing way–the kicker panels are always great little character moments. It’s not always hilarious (nor is it always meant to be) but I really like all the people Tomine creates. “Amber Sweet” ran originally in the New York Times. It’s a doppleganger story with a porn twist. It reads perfectly as a short story. The highlight of the issue though: the letters page. Tomine runs letters that are endearing, crazy, angry, condescending, litigious, and broken-hearted. The longest one sounds like it was written by a Tomine character– a student who adapted an Optic Nerve comic into a play and presented it as his own work. Strange enough to do it, but to then write to the cartoonist and fess up? Oh my god, I would read a book of these.

Another day, another trailer from David Macho promoting one of DC Comics’ relaunch titles. This time it’s Resurrection Man #1, by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Fernando Dagnino, which marks the return of Mitch Shelly, the character created in 1997 by none other than Abnett, Lanning and Jackson Guice.

It’s the return of Mitch Shelly – and he’s still dead.

Resurrection Man can’t stay dead for long, though – and with each rebirth comes new and unexpected powers. But his many returns have not gone unnoticed, and forces are gathering to learn what’s so special about him – and to see which of them will finally stop Resurrection Man dead.

Resurrection Man #1, which sports a cover by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, debuts Sept. 14.

Doctor Who

Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item.

Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

Graeme McMillan

Let’s give all credit to IDW for their sense of timing. I’m so psyched up in advance of this Saturday’s return of Doctor Who to my television screen that this Wednesday’s release of Doctor Who Annual 2011 (IDW, $7.99) seems like the ideal way to prepare myself. If I had $15, I’d happily spend more than half of it on that particular anthology. The rest would go towards closing out the current incarnation of the DCU, as I’d be grabbing both Action Comics #904 and Batman: Gates of Gotham #5 (Both DC, $2.99).

If I had $30, I’d keep going with my DC Deathwatch: Batman Incorporated #8? Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #13? Xombi #6? (All DC, $2.99)To me, my funnybooks! I’m also curious enough about Kevin Smith’s Bionic Man #1 (Dynamite, $3.99) – done by the same team who made his Green Hornet surprisingly enjoyable, Phil Hester and Jonathan Lau – that I’ll probably pick it up to see if that particular lightning can strike twice.

Splurgewise, I’m unsure whether I’ve actually read the stories in the Esperanza collection of Jaime Hernandez’ Love & Rockets stories (Fantagraphics, $18.99) – I tend to lose track of the material between the first L&R run and the new one, for some reason – but if I haven’t, then that, for sure. And if I have, then there’s always a new volume of Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys (Vol. 16, Viz, $12.99)…

Brigid Alverson

If I had a dollar…

In Sunday’s What Are You Reading column, I mentioned how much I enjoyed Tony Lee and Andrew Currie’s Doctor Who Volume 2 #1 (terribly unwieldy title) in which Rory’s spam e-mails come to life (holograms, actually) and infest the Tardis, and I was recommending spending two bucks on the digital edition. Well, scrap that: IDW is publishing a dollar edition and that, my friends, is the bargain of the week.

Spontaneous

Now, if I had 14 more dollars, the choices become more complex. Obviously I have to buy Kill Shakespeare #12 ($3.99), because that wraps up the series, and an excellent series it has been. Next into the basket is the third issue of Spontaneous ($3.99); I liked the first two issues, in which a misfit and an intrepid girl reporter go after a series of mysterious apparent cases of spontaneous human combustion, and Brett Weldele’s luminous art seals the deal for me. Then I’ll toss the latest issue of MAD Magazine ($5.99) on top of the stack and consider my comics buying a job well done.

At the $30 level, I’m tempted to pick up something for my nieces and nephew, as there are a lot of good kids’ books out this week in the $10 neighborhood. I’m a particular fan of Frank Cammuso’s Knights of the Lunch Table books-reading them is like watching an animated cartoon-so I’m going to go for the third volume, The Battling Bands ($11.95). That leaves just enough for an Archie comic, and this week’s Archie #624 features yet another story ripped from the headlines-Dilton Doiley goes head-to-head with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg-so include me in!

At the top of my splurge list this week are two very different vintage comics books, Blackjacked and Pistol Whipped: A Crime Does Not Pay Primer ($19.99), edited by Denis Kitchen and filled with vintage issues of that comic, and Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising ($28.99). Both of these are reasonably priced, so I might just pick ‘em both up. And if I’m feeling indulgent, I’ll add the two new Kids Club graphic novels from Top Shelf, Okie Dokie Donuts and Pirate Penguin vs. Ninja Chicken, both $9.95, and BOOM! Studios’ Wordgirl: Coalition of Malice ($7.99) to cement my position as The Best Aunt.

Chris Mautner

Batman Inc.

If I had $15:

Issue 8 of Batman Incorporated is a given, but I’d also probably nab Okie Dokie Donuts by Chris Eliopoulus ($9.95). I really enjoyed his last comic, the effervescent Monster Party, enough to at least take a gander at this one.

If I had $30:

I’ve already got a copy, but let me recommend plunking down your entire $30 on the 301st issue of The Comics Journal. This brick of a … magazine? book? journal? features some great essays and interviews, most notably Tim Kreider’s lengthy analysis of Cerebus, and an extensive roundtable on R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis, including a thoughtful interview with Crumb hisself.

But if it’s softcore smut you’re looking for, there’s the Pin-Up Art of Humorama, which features gag cartoons by folks like Dave Berg and Brad “Marmaduke” Anderson about buxom secretaries being chased around their desks by portly, lustful employers and whatnot.

Splurge:

Certainly the $69.95 hardcover, signed and numbered edition of Anders Nilsen’s major, 15-years in the making, graphic novel Big Questions seems like the big splurge of the week. The book is thick; you could build your upper arm strength just by lifting this baby a few times. But the book’s well worth the price and weight.

JK Parkin

New Mutants #30

Allrighty, $15 … top of my list this week would be New Mutants #30 ($2.99), a Fear Itself tie-in that I’m getting it because Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have made this title a hell of a lot of fun. They’re good at that. I’d then get four reliably good titles — Chew #20 ($2.99), FF #8 ($2.99), Northlanders #43 ($2.99) and Batman Inc. #8 ($2.99).

If I had $30, I’d also grab Xombi #6 ($2.99) … like Batman Inc., this is the last issue before the big DC relaunch next month, but unlike Batman Inc., we’ve had no indication that this one will be back. Which is too bad; it gets announced, it starts up, everything changes and once again we have no Xombi title. Hopefully we won’t have to wait so long to see it again. I’d also get Oni’s Spontaneous #3 ($3.99).

Splurge this week is pretty easy, since I’ve been waiting a long time for it — Kagan McLeod’s Infinite Kung-Fu ($24.95) from Top Shelf.

Michael May

Wonder Woman #614

If I had $15, I’d say good-bye to a couple of series with Xombi #6 ($2.99) and Wonder Woman #614 ($2.99). I have a positive outlook about Wonder Woman’s new direction under Azzarello and Chiang, but I hope that Xombi also eventually finds its way into the DCnU. Next, I’d pick up the penultimate, fourth issue of Mystery Men ($2.99), another series I’ll be sad to see end when it’s done. But it’s not all about farewells this week, because I’m also saying hello to the first issue of IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ongoing ($3.99).

If I had $30 though, I’d trade-wait TMNT and Wonder Woman to make room for the Marineman collection, A Matter of Life and Death ($19.99). I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the series in single-issues and can’t wait to read it again in this form.

As usual, I have a hard time picking one splurge item. Pirate Penguin vs. Ninja Chicken ($9.95) sounds like a lot of fun, but I’ve also been eagerly awaiting the collection of Josh Fialkov’s Echoes ($19.99). However, I’ve been waiting for the balance of Kagan McLeod’s awesome Infinite Kung-Fu ($24.95) for nine years, so if I had to pick just one, that would be it.

Heroes for Hire

The writing team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have come back down to Earth and the streets of Marvel with the new Heroes for Hire (H4H) series, which premiered in December. After reading the first issue, which ended with a spectacular plot curve ball, I wanted to find out more about the series. This Wednesday, January 5, marks the release of issue 2–featuring Ghost Rider and Silver Sable. Despite his busy comics and prose writing schedule, Abnett was kind enough to do a brief email interview about the series–and offer readers a chance make hero hire suggestions for future issues.

Tim O’Shea: After working in space with myriad Marvel universe alien species, what’s the most enjoyable aspect to getting to also dabble in the “nitty, gritty, human vigilante street action of Heroes for Hire” as you recently described it.

Dan Abnett: The change of pace, really. Bill Rosemann, our editor, asked us if we’d like to do something that was a contrast to the cosmic stuff we’ve been doing, and the first thing Andy and I ever did for Marvel US was a year or so’s run on the Punisher in the early 1990s. So we decided to go ‘back on the streets’.

O’Shea: What makes Marvel street action different than say the streets of other comic book universes?

Abnett: Despite the fact that it’s a comic book Universe, and therefore full of fantasy elements, it’s very real. There’s is a great cast of ‘street level’ characters, mostly of the vigilante type, to play with. You can have quite realistic,, gritty character-driven stories, plus lots of Marvel Universe fun.

O’Shea: Folks should skip this question if they have not read the first issue, but I have to ask, how early in the development of Heroes for Hire did you realize you wanted to bring Puppet Master into the dynamics?

Abnett: Very early, actually. We first devised a way to have a rotating cast of heroes, so we could use as many as possible and get lots of mix and match variations. This is a ‘new’ format of Heroes for Hire: the premise is that a handler chooses and deploys different heroes for different missions, sometimes trading favors or info with them in return for their help as opposed to just paying them). We wanted there to be a murky back story behind the mack story, something we could unpick and take apart while the adventures were happening. If I remember right I think the very last thing we added was the name. We had everything else sorted out before we agreed it should re-use (and re-invent) the classic H4H brand name.

O’Shea: Part of the cast will be rotating among different heroes, but there will be recurring characters (other than Misty Knight). Is it too early to divulge who some of the recurring characters are?

Abnett: Yes, and yes. Actually, I think it’d be safe to mention that the Paladin plays a major role. And ‘guest heroes’ will return and become semi-regulars.

O’Shea: In a recent Marvel universe interview you tease that the Misty mystery is just one of the surprises laced through the series. What is the key to building mysteries and surprises without throwing off the pace of action?

Abnett: Not sure there’s a trick to it. Andy and I just like to compose stories that way, with different things happening on different levels that play out at different speeds: the immediate drama of the current adventure, the slow-burn mystery and shock twists of the back story etc .

O’Shea: Any questions for your H4H/Robot 6 readers/fans?

Abnett: I guess I could mention we’re open to suggestions. Which Marvel character would the reader like to see ‘hired’ for a mission or two?

Oh Thank Heavens the Raccoon is here!

I knew it. I saw @Marvel post a tweet last night, and I just knew it was going to be good. I left milk and cookies out for my comic news Santa and OH BOY IT’S CHRISTMAS MORNING COME EARLY!

Just scroll down and take a look at Kevin’s sexy post about the most awesome of news coming down the wire from Marvel as Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning continue to look to the skies and dream of greatness.

From the press release:

Editor Bill Rosemann added “Take the assembled majesty of Marvel’s most powerful heroes, add on the cult-fave duo of Rocket Raccoon and Groot, pile on a ridiculous amount of writing and artistic talent, and top it all off with cool covers by Alex Garner and the one and only Mike Mignola. That, True Believers, is a recipe for face-melting, brain-frying, pedal-to-the-metal, that’s-why-I-read-comics awesomeness.

Hell yeah.

Since 2006, Marvel’s cosmic adventures have been turned upside down, starting with the very first Annihilation event, orchestrated by Keith Giffen. The threats were galactic in nature, the heroes small and powerful against the forces of true evil. While Civil War brought life-changing political stories to the Marvel Comics page, Annihilation brought back the wider-scope, cast-of-thousands style storytelling that made things like Secret Wars and the Infinity Gauntlet part of a True Believer’s vocabulary. From the first Annihilation came Annihilation: Conquest and the same life-and-death symphony was played for our enjoyment. Civilizations crumbled, characters struggled with new responsibilities and the weight of the galaxy came down on some very unusual shoulders. While they might have doubted themselves, and wrestled with the infectious Phalanx and the unbeatable Ultron to the point of personal destruction, the reader can’t doubt these characters and these stories. They paid off once before and they did so again, promising a new era of cosmic heroes in the form of the new Guardians of the Galaxy.

I was so sold on those books by the time they were solicited. The Guardians of the Galaxy weave in a lot of amazing elements with great space adventure, and I now care more about a giant sentient space tree than I do about a lot of X-Men. Abnett, Lanning and Giffen took two years and created a universe to explore, and I felt confident signing up for anything and everything they did.

Then came the War of Kings.

Our great and powerful orchestra started to sound a little discordant, but not in a bad way. The message was still powerful, there were still civilizations at stake and great men fought with a great purpose, but … no longer were the villains ultimately wrong. Sure, Vulcan was a nutcase who should have been killed off a long time ago, but the Shi’ar people got caught up in something they never should have been party to. The Kree were now led by the Inhumans, a move that really looks like insult to injury; the Inhumans were created to be this sub-race for the powerful Kree and now at their weakest, they were being controlled by those they sought to control for eons. Kind of cool and poetic for the Inhumans, but since we’ve been following the Kree in the tales of Annihilation, a little like kicking an entire nation while it’s down. In the end, the solution to the reign of Emperor Vulcan would lead to a greater threat than that madman could provide.

The Thanos Imperative brought this all to a finale. Not just an end, as storylines start and end every month as comics do every month, but a finale. Like we’ve watched something gripping and tragic and exciting that has finally come to a conclusion that made me think that the musicians are going to put down their instruments and not play anymore. Again, the quality of story never ever diminished, Abnett and Lanning continued to bring the best to every issue, epic in scope and grand in scheme and thought. I suppose I feel that I didn’t get enough of a dessert for all the meat and potatoes we ate; I mean, from War of Kings, I’d been hoping for some sort of huge return for all the loss suffered; the Shi’ar are a wreck, the Kree still have the usurpers ruling over them, Ronan the Accuser is sort of a pussy cat now thanks to Crystal (how long before she cheats on him, any bets?), a great rift had opened up in space… something needed to happen.  For the triumphs and tragedy of the Star Wars saga to give up the best payback, Darth Vader had to make that face turn and get some peace in his last moments thanks to redemption. The rebels had to win with a sense of celebration. We needed to rebuild with a sense of the future, at harmony with the losses of our past.

Instead, two of the most human characters in the cosmic side of the Universe are gone: Nova and Star Lord were left to face the Mad Titan, who’s just been dumped by Death again. The Cthulhu-verse has been ‘closed’ and, again, the day is saved, but this is the second major cosmic event to return things to less than zero. I’ve seen so much cosmic joy from past stories that the last two have been just sort of … less joyous. The Thanos Imperative left me sort of looking out a big window into the vastness of a space with a woman that may or may not be my sister and two robots, all wondering just when space got so big that adventure couldn’t be seen from the deck of your spaceship.

The Thanos Imperative is definitely our Empire Strikes Back. Characters have been challenged with personal demons, some have lost, new revelations are made and yeah, it’s a down ending. Personally, I’ve been in a sort of Cosmic Adventure Ennui; what could possibly come that could make things better than the past or resolve the tragedy of the present?

Annihilators #1

BAM. The Annhilators. In one word I am renewed in my hope that the cosmic side of Marvel will never lose their touch of grand adventure, dire threat and human triumph. They are going back to the name that made them great. They are the greatest cosmic heroes you could gather, and they are taking up where the rag-tag bunch of characters left off. Yeah, this isn’t the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy. This isn’t even the end of Nova and Star-Lord (after all, he did say the Cosmic Cube had “maybe a couple of charges left”). Sure, it maybe a mini-series, but that’s how all this started. Marvel has a good thing going with Abnett and Lanning and the cosmic side of their universe, and they would be fools to let it all go. Since 2006, readers could turn their eyes to stars to get a Star Wars sense of adventure, where science and the unknown meet in the middle for fantastic alien races and cultures counter to our own. I should have never doubted.

Annihilators #1

In the wake of The Thanos Imperative, Marvel will launch Annihilators, a four-issue limited series that teams writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning with artists Tan Eng Huat and Timothy Green III.

Debuting in March, Annihilators brings together the Silver Surfer, Beta-Ray Bill, Quasar, Gladiator and Ronan the Accuser — the so-called “Cosmic Avengers” — as they attempt to “fill the void left by the loss of Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy.” The miniseries is being billed as an ideal jumping-on point for readers unfamiliar with Marvel’s recent cosmic titles.

“We picked the top flight, first class heroes,” Lanning tells Marvel.com. “The wish list; the A-grade, to contrast with the mavericks and misfits of [Guardians of the Galaxy]. This is the anti-Guardians, though their primary role is the same, and they’re essentially the Guardians’ legacy.”

Each double-sized issue will feature a full-length lead story by Abnett, Lanning and Huat, plus a back-up story by DnA and Green: the Rocket Raccoon and Groot adventure that was announced in July at Comic-Con International as a separate four-issue miniseries.

Update: Read the official press release after the break:

Marvel Unleashes The ANNIHILATORS!

The Silver Surfer! Beta-Ray Bill! Gladiator! Quasar! Ronan the Accuser! The greatest heroes of the cosmos join forces this March in the oversized Annihilators #1 (of 4)! Marvel’s space action masters Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, along with Eisner Award winning artist Tan Eng Huat unveil the only team mighty enough to face the Dire Wraiths! With galactic civilization in disarray after The Thanos Imperative, the Annihilators must band together to prevent the sinister shape-shifting horde from destroying the universe itself. Innocent worlds teeter on the precipice of destruction…so it’s time for the best of the best to unite and unleash righteous justice!

“The Annihilators is the cosmic dream team…the biggest hitters forming the most powerful super-team in the known Universe!” said DnA. “Prepare to feel the Cosmos shake!”

Every issue of Annihilators features two full-length stories—that’s over 40 pages of all new content from your favorite Cosmic creators! In the second story, join DnA and artist Timothy Green II as they launch Rocket Raccoon and Groot on an adventure that’ll change their lives forever. In commemoration of this can’t-miss story, this issue also features a variant cover from legendary creator Mike Mignola!

Editor Bill Rosemann added “Take the assembled majesty of Marvel’s most powerful heroes, add on the cult-fave duo of Rocket Raccoon and Groot, pile on a ridiculous amount of writing and artistic talent, and top it all off with cool covers by Alex Garner and the one and only Mike Mignola. That, True Believers, is a recipe for face-melting, brain-frying, pedal-to-the-metal, that’s-why-I-read-comics awesomeness.”

This March you can’t miss Annihilators #1 (of 4)!

ANNIHILATORS #1 (of 4)
Written by DAN ABNETT & ANDY LANNING
Pencils by TANG ENG HUAT & TIMOTHY GREEN II
Cover by ALEX GARNER
Variant Cover by MIKE MIGNOLA
Rated T+…$4.99
ON SALE IN MARCH!

… but we’re going to skip all that today. Captain America posts on Independence Day are kind of cliché, don’t you think? And since Captain America: Reborn #1 is just starting out what could very well be Act Three of the epic tale that is Brubaker’s Grand Design, well. The man isn’t done with it yet, so we can save the throwing of roses and the ticker tape parades for how awesome he is for when he’s done getting to the awesome parts at the end of his awesomeness (SPOILER: it’s gonna be awesome).

Let’s instead turn towards a story that’s coming to its own close and the war of Independence that no one may win after all.

When the Inhumans rose Atillan out of the surface of the moon at the conclusion of Secret Invasion, Queen Medusa made a very impassioned speech about the essential purpose of the Inhuman race and the final call to embrace it. It was a good speech and it was absolutely truthful; for the longest time, the Inhumans had been background filler for the Fantastic Four, special guest stars when a Marvel hero needed some cool looking backup dancers or valiant heroes of their own who just manage to make it out of danger to go back to their solitary little lives until someone else wants some exotic background characters for their stories. They’re either bounced from the toxic surface of the Earth or from the Blue Area of the Moon, a landscape so desolate it’s no wonder people rolled them over to get to Earth.

But, at heart, the Inhumans should have been able to crush their threats without a second thought. These people were specifically created as a rather ingenious and powerful personal army that would ascend the Kree into the dominant lifeform in the galaxy. The Inhumans have enough variety and creativity that they should have had their own book long ago and it took Abnett and Lanning to usher them into the role that was written for them: kick ass galactic army. Yeah, it was cool to have a pacifistic super race but look where that got them? So they drop the pretense of just wanting to get along and decide to stand up, fight and take their destiny to the stars, a freedom to do as they wish and that first wish goes to conquering the Kree.

Right back to where it started, Secret Invasion: War of Kings (or is it War of Kings: Secret Invasion? Does it matter?) had the Inhumans lift off and burn their way through space to nearly drop themselves right on the boots of Ronan the Accuser, a man who once challenged their right to self-govern, like Dorothy’s house on the Wicked Witch of the East. Medusa declared their intentions towards their former keepers, basically calling the ‘put up or shut up’ card: the Kree wanted a personal army of genetic supermen that would usher their race into a new evolutionary era? Well, brother, you got it, but not on your terms and not under your rule. Having barely made it out of Annihilation: Conquest with any sort of dignity intact, the Kree are without direction and without their Supreme Intelligence, a near-omniscient source that the Kree had followed for millions of years. Should this have happened a few years ago, pre-Annihilations, the Kree would have slapped the Inhumans around some then put them under their dominion. Nowadays, the Kree willingly give up their sovereignty with a couple words.

Sure, there’s been some civil unrest but the victories in battle and the compassion of Princess Diana Crystal pretty much put complaints to rest. The Inhumans had been a ‘free’ people before and all they had gotten for it was tragedy and a guest spot on the Fantastic Four. Preaching a very positive message of the greatest power being held in check and a desire to bring understanding to both Inhumans and humans hasn’t gotten them as far as kicking and explosions have. We the reader can look back at his juxtaposition from a distance and say ‘Ha ha, irony!’ as the culture the Kree once thought to enslave is now calling the shots. But, my friends, it doesn’t end there. If it did, we’d have a little abject lesson to chew on through the series and probably would find ourselves at the end of it having learned a little something as the galaxy rights itself again. It’s just not going to be that easy and if you’ve been reading the Marvel Space Odysseys, you’d have been ready for that from the start.

War of Kings #5 came out this Wednesday and added a whole new loophole to the idea of Inhuman ‘freedom’. In order to call a halt to this War of Kings (just like the title of the book!), the Inhumans have weaponized their Terrigen Mists and created a massive sonic-genetic bomb (shut up, it’s science) that would mutate people across worlds, therefore uniting the Shi’ar as Inhumans by force and did no one say this plan out loud to realize how crazy it sounds? Desperate times call for desperate measures, sure. The death of Lillandra Nermani pretty much promised us we weren’t going back to a tidy status quo and we were going to get some serious repercussions out of this, but a genetic reboot of the galaxy? Are the Inhumans so married to this new idea of freedom that they are willing to go against everything they had stood for previously to enslave another culture and bring another kicking and screaming into their fold? Did any of them read Earth X? The entire series and even before, Emperor Vulcan has been written as so villainous and crazy that he should be drawn less as a Caligula figure and more as a Snidely Whiplash. It could have been as simple as getting on the loudspeaker and calling his haircut silly to get him riled up enough to charge out to the field of battle himself. He enjoys watching his Empire dance before him like puppets but the man is unhinged; it’s not some great leap of logic that he could be coaxed out into a duel to the death for the whole bag of marbles but that isn’t the point of War of Kings. This is a fight for the Inhuman race’s right to fulfill their destiny, to be the galaxy’s finest warriors and to uplift the Kree race by any means necessary.

I’m sure Black Bolt regretted that he has but one life to give for his people, but such sacrifices weren’t necessary after all as by the end of issue #5, Emperor CrazyPants has torn through the T-Bomb Black Bolt had been planning to personally hurl down the Shi’ar’s throats. The final battle will come down to two Kings both with blood on their hands but only one for the right reasons.