Atomic Comics' Chandler, Arizona, location

Atomic Comics, the nationally known Arizona retail chain, abruptly closed all four locations on Sunday, shocking staff, customers and industry figures alike. Although the closing of the stores in Mesa, Phoenix, Chandler and Paradise Valley was initially announced last night by multiple employees and creators, owner Michael Malve confirmed the news this morning in an installment of his weekly newsletter titled “My Final Report.”

“As some of you may have already heard, after 25 years of running a successful business, sadly and much to my dismay, I have shut the doors of Atomic Comics,” Malve wrote. “The villain in this tragedy is the economy. I had hoped to be the superhero and triumph over the recession, but sadly the economic downturn of the past 5 years has proven to be unsustainable.”

In the newsletter, which can be read below, Malve revealed he’s filed for bankruptcy, and that he and his family are losing their home, ” as we had secured it against our leases which we obviously have to break.”

“I know there are many people out there facing very similar situations in these difficult times and now I can definitely empathize with them,” he continued. “I have always been and will forever be an extremely optimistic person and will look at this situation as an adventure. I have very high hopes for the next chapter of my life.”

Well regarded nationally for its in-store signings, innovative marketing and sheer size — it was believed to be among Diamond Comic Distributors’ largest accounts — Atomic gained international exposure last year when its name and logo were featured prominently in Kick-Ass, the film adaptation of the comic by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. The chain began in 1988, when Malve opened Bubba’s Comic Store in Phoenix. A year later he moved to Mesa, renaming the business Atomic Comics.

Malve, a major supporter of The Hero Initiative, sent a weekly newsletter to colleagues, creators and publishers, breaking down sales at his four stores. Although Malve was forthright in the emails, grumbling about the state of the market, there apparently were few indications that he was on the brink of closing until he commented in his Aug. 17 report that, “I don’t know how I am going to afford September at this point.”

The news triggered immediate reactions from the likes of Jim Lee, Joe Quesada — “The best retailer I’ve ever met closed his doors” — Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, Kevin Smith and Dan Slott.

However, it also led some to try to pinpoint a cause, and to sound the alarm. Controversial retailer Larry Doherty chimed in, “If Mike Malve has fallen we could ALL be doomed. His genius in retail is the high water mark,” later adding, “Print runs are REALLY low. Publishers that market digital to the SAME customer base just put Atomic Comics out of business.” Retailer and promoter Jimmy Jay replied, “if Atomic has fallen, it didn’t happen overnight. [...] Digital didn’t kill Atomic, that is simplification.”

But then Rob Liefeld weighed in, writing, “Atomic Comics is a cautionary tale of hype over commerce. [...] Hate that this will turn into a blight on the comics industry when it is isolated to a specific chain, not all encompassing. [...] Once again, terrible news about Atomic Comics. Confident the AZ. Comic scene will recover and Malve will rise again.”

Note: The article has been edited to reflect the content of Malve’s newsletter.

Read the full text of Malve’s “Final Report” below:

My Final Report

As some of you may have already heard, after 25 years of running a successful business, sadly and much to my dismay, I have shut the doors of Atomic Comics. The villain in this tragedy is the economy. I had hoped to be the superhero and triumph over the recession, but sadly the economic downturn of the past 5 years has proven to be unsustainable.

For over 20 years I ran a successful and debt free business, provided jobs for up to 60 employees at a time, with some working for me for 16 plus years!  I saw profits of up to 5 million during our best years. My wife recently bought me a copy of the book, “ONWARD” by Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks. I could really identify with some of the problems Starbucks had faced. Some similarities were that during the best of times, Atomic Comics, like Starbucks, expanded into high profile locations, but when the economy went sour, low sales could not support the higher rent at these high visibility locations. The leases at these particular stores which had originally provided the consumers with greater visibility and more foot traffic to our wonderful world of comic books, the higher overhead proved to be too much for Atomic as we faced declining sales.

As Atomic was seeing such success, we opened our headquarters which housed our shipping and receiving department, home base for our web store and worldwide mail order operation. We closed the headquarters down in May of 2010. I think the catalyst for Atomics’ downfall, as some of you may remember, occurred in October of 2006, just as the recession was beginning,  when a 16 year old uninsured driver, drover her car through the window of our Mesa Superstore, our largest and greatest revenue producer. This in turn caused a flood as the water main had been hit. This caused such severe damage and loss that we had to shut down for over 5 months. The damages were so severe we lost close to a million dollars in product. The loss of revenue due to being closed all those months as we headed into retail’s busiest season was astronomical. What really stood out to me was how many of Atomics’ customers were lost as we rebuilt the store. It seemed as if half our customers never returned. The great mystery to me is what exactly happened to all those missing customers. I can only speculate that once you take away the habit of weekly buying-it is hard to jump back into it. Since there was not another comic shop in the immediate area, I can only assume customers found other means to obtain their comics, maybe they started driving great distances to hit up other stores, some possibly went the way of the internet and are now ordering their books online or perhaps even downloading their books illegally, or maybe even some stopped collecting comics altogether.

I have some great memories of my regular customers, seeing these people week in and week out. Some for as many as 25 years of not missing a beat as they picked up their books. Bringing the new readers into comics by doing various promotions and events was something I enjoyed a great deal and will truly miss. Hopefully the customers and fans I cultivated will find new a new place to call home and get their geek on. To all my fellow comic book retailers out there, I truly hope you do not succumb to the same fate, can see this recession thru, and continue to be successful and flourish. I will be here rooting for you!  With DC’s September release of the #1’s, Marvel’s makeover of key books and continual growth, and other publishers working hard with some amazing new and exciting content, there is hope on the horizon for the direct market! I have enjoyed sharing thoughts and ideas with all these other retailers. Much love and appreciation to you all.

I have been blessed since day one to be surrounded by so many incredible people. There is no way that Atomic would have lasted all these years without everyone’s effort and support. To all of my employees past and present, friends in the industry, and business contacts I have made over the years, I plan on staying in touch. If I made a list of all the many people who have helped and supported me over the years the list would be lengthy beyond belief! So I’ll keep it short. At Atomic I would like to thank Bill Mitchell, Dale Worthington, Julian Moraga, and Mike Ueber. I have had hundreds of great employees over the years that went above and beyond as they dedicated themselves to making Atomic Comics a very special place. Someone who has given me an incredible amount of support is Ryan Liebowitz from Golden Apple Comics. He and his family have bent over backwards providing me with ideas and words of encouragement to keep me going. Ironically, Ryan’s father, Bill Liebowitz was my good friend and mentor when I opened my first store 25 years ago. I would like to thank and give credit to Joe Quesada, Mark Waid, and Jim McLaughlin for inspiring me to write this weekly report over a decade ago. It was conceived at Megacon as we hung out talking about the industry. I had already been writing a very informal monthly report just checking in on sales with the guys at Wizard magazine, but I don’t believe anyone was receiving true and accurate sales numbers until this weekly report began. I had wanted to portray a candid-no holds barred account of what was and what wasn’t selling. Lastly, I want to give a shout out and thank everyone in the comic and entertainment industry for their continued support over the years.

Making the decision to file bankruptcy was very difficult and painful. I have had a very wide range of emotions.  My family and I are headed into uncharted waters which is very scary for my wife and I as well as our children. We are losing our home as we had secured it against our leases which we obviously have to break. I know there are many people out there facing very similar situations in these difficult times and now I can definitely empathize with them. I have always been and will forever be an extremely optimistic person and will look at this situation as an adventure. I have very high hopes for the next chapter of my life. I have the support of my wonderful wife, Andrea, my kids, Alexandra & Jack, many loving family members, and lots of great friends. My passion in life, second of course to my family, is the comic book industry, of which I hope to remain a part of in the years to come. I don’t plan on giving any public interviews and would like mine and my family’s privacy respected so we can work on rebuilding our lives.

Sincerely

Mike Malve

Atomic Comics name and logo in "Kick-Ass"

Atomic Comics name and logo in "Kick-Ass"

Update: Jhonen Vasquez shares his thoughts in our comments section: “Atomic was the first big signing I ever did, and the first I had done outside of California when I was first starting out. From the very moment I met the guy, Mike treated me not like the malformed horror most people see me as, but like a friend and a huge supporter of my work. Loved signing at Atomic then and for years on and I wish Mike and everyone from Atomic well.”

Fear Itself #5

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

It’s a week where I’m happily embracing the superhero of it all. If I had $15, I’d go for the fifth issue of Marvel’s Fear Itself ($3.99), mostly because I’m this far in and I’ll probably keep going just to see how it turns out instead of actually enjoying it, as well as the first issue of “Spider Island” in Amazing Spider-Man #667 (Marvel, $3.99) to continue my love/hate relationship with Dan Slott’s Spider-Man run. But when it comes to full-on nostalgia, DC has me in the palm of its hand with DC Retroactive: Justice League of America – The ’80s #1 (DC, $4.99). No joke: The Justice League Detroit era is one of those guilty pleasures that I not only can’t explain, but also can’t resist – Gerry Conway revisiting that failed team for a new one-shot (especially with art by Ron Randall) is something that I literally can’t help myself but pick up.

*****

If I had $30, DC’s nostalgiafest would not only continue, but convince me to put Fear Itself back on the shelf so that I could pick up Showcase Presents: The Trial of The Flash (DC, $19.99). I’ve wanted to read this storyline since I came across random imported issues of it when I was nine years old in the UK, so a cheap reprint of (almost) the entire thing? There is absolutely no way that I can ignore this.

Splurgewise, that $99.99 Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus (Marvel Comics) looks pretty good, I have to admit. But really, I’d more than likely leave it on the shelf so that I could have more time with my Showcase Presents, just to remember how ignoble Barry Allen’s final days were…

Brigid Alverson

This is a tough week, as almost all the books I want are in the splurge category. However, there are two children’s graphic novels that I find really appealing as well.

So if I had $15, I’d put the first $8.95 of it toward Luz Sees the Light, by Claudia Davila. This comic got its start on the Transmission X webcomics site (also home to Sin Titulo and The Amazing Charles Christopher), and in the early strips, Davila showed that she could write a children’s comic about peak oil without coming off as strident, preachy, or no-fun-at-all. I expect this more mature book to be even better. That leaves me with enough money to pick up the second issue of the Kevin Keller mini-series ($2.99), which is technically Veronica #208. Kevin and his family are a bit too good to be true — he could learn a thing or two from Luz‹but there’s still enough to this mini-series to keep me interested.

If I had $30, I’d add in the other children’s graphic novel that has me intrigued, Doug TenNapel’s Bad Island ($10.95). I really enjoyed Ghostopolis, and someone on Amazon described this as being like Lost, if Lost had been totally thought out from the beginning. I’m sold. And I’ll throw in the latest issue of Life With Archie magazine ($3.99) for some soap opera goodness.

A splurge shouldn’t be an agonizing choice, but there’s so much good stuff this week that I could easily blow my daughter’s tuition. There is one book that stands out from the rest, however, and that’s Craig Yoe’s collection of Archie’s Madhouse comics ($34.99). I grew up with Archie’s Madhouse, and Yoe’s combination of complete comics and weird ephemera makes this a must buy for me. If I can hold the landlord off for a little while, I’d also like to pick up the complete edition of Terry Moore’s Echo ($39.99), which I have yet to read. And Dark Horse has the first volume of their Space Family Robinson archives ($49.99), which looks very tempting. It’s almost unfair how many good graphic novels are coming out this week (I’m averting my eyes altogether from Fantagraphics), so I’ll stop here.

Chris Mautner

Bad Island

If I had $15:

I’d probably get Doug TenNapel’s latest book, Bad Island, which I wrote about briefly in a recent What Are You Reading column, and throw in the latest issue of Criminal: Last of the Innocents on the pile for good measure.

If I had $30:

I’d steal a dollar from someone and get either Nipper Vol. 2, the latest entry in Drawn & Quarterly’s series collecting Doug Wright’s charming family strip, or volume 15 of Black Jack, cause I’m always down for some Black Jack.

Splurge:

I know virtually nothing about Jesse Moynihan’s Forming, except that a lot of people have been talking about it and saying really great things. That’s usually good enough for me.

Michael May

If I had $15, I’d start with the third issues of a couple of trusty companions, Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #3 ($2.99) and Alpha Flight #3 ($2.99). Frankenstein is getting me simultaneously excited for next month’s Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE #1 and a little nervous about the drop of the Creatures of the Unknown from the title. Hopefully those characters will stick around for the ongoing, ’cause I like them all. And Alpha Flight…this is sort of my dream comic. To go with those I’d add a couple of all-ages superhero books. All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #10 ($2.99) is a henchman’s tale and I always like those; Super Heroes #17 ($2.99) is Paul Tobin’s writing Black Widow and Hawkeye and I’m not missing that. Finally, I’d grab Hellboy: The Fury #3 ($2.99) for the big “shocker.”

If I had $30, I’d trade-wait Hellboy in order to afford Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities, Volume 2: The Ghastly Fiend of London ($15.99), because I’ve already been trade-waiting the hell out of that book and it’s finally here. I loved the first volume, or really anything that Kyle Hotz draws.

There are a few cool splurge items this week, but none of them compares to my excitement about the Criminal Macabre Omnibus, Volume 1 ($24.99). Not only is going to help me catch up on Steve Niles’ Cal McDonald series after I lagged shamefully behind, but it also finally completes”Supernatural Freak Machine,” the story that Cal fans have been waiting years for.

The Amazing Spider-Man #666

While Marvel fans knew the April-debuting “Infested” arc would put them on the path to “Spider-Island,” few details were known about the next big Spider-Man event. That is, until this evening.

On today’s episode of G4′s Attack of the Show, “Fresh Ink” host Blair Butler revealed that the storyline begins in August’s Amazing Spider-Man #667 as more than 16,000 New Yorkers begin to manifest abilities similar to Peter Parker. Among those residents embroiled in a spider-powered crime wave? Hawkeye and Shocker.

But as the crisis worsens, with many New Yorkers sprouting extra limbs, Mayor J. Jonah Jameson is forced to place Manhattan under quarantine. Hence, “Spider-Island.”

Butler teases that the event, by Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos, will permanently change some of Spider-Man’s core cast members.

Watch the “Fresh Ink” segment after the break.

Update: Now with the official press release and cover art, after the break.

Marvel Announces SPIDER-ISLAND

Major New Storyline Begins in Amazing Spider-Man #667

New York, NY – March 23, 2011—Marvel is proud to announce Spider-Island, the comic book event of the summer from the best-selling creative team of Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos. Kicking off this August in Amazing Spider-Man #667 (with a special prelude in #666) the citizens of Manhattan—including some of Spidey’s closest allies and deadliest foes—begin exhibiting the web-slinger’s very own powers! But as Spider-Man must stop a seemingly insurmountable super powered crime wave, he must also find out just who’s responsible for mutating Manhattan…and the truth will irrevocably alter his world. Fans will get their first full-length lead in to Spider-Island in Marvel’s special issue of Amazing Spider-Man, available for free at all participating comic shops on May 7th, Free Comic Book Day.

“Back when Slott launched Spider-Man into the ‘Big Time’ last year, he started laying the groundwork for possibly the biggest Spider-Man story you’ve ever seen,” said Stephen Wacker, Marvel Senior Editor. “The price of power is high for heroes and villains. The Avengers, the FF, Venom, Spider-Girl, Spider-Woman, the Sinister Six and even YOU are connected to ol’ Web-Head in new ways. By the end of this story, we’re going to see what Spider-Man means to Marvel Universe and just how far he’ll go to keep it safe…including some life-changing choices that have major consequences.”

This summer, Spider-Island brings great power to nearly everyone in New York City…and it’s Spidey’s great responsibility to keep this chaos from spreading even further! But just what will Spider-Man have to sacrifice in the process?

Plus, don’t miss “Infested”, beginning in the pages of April’s Amazing Spider-Man #659 and setting the stage for the next big chapter in Spider-Man history!

The Amazing Spider-Man #667

The Amazing Spider-Man #668

The Amazing Spider-Man #669

By now I take it for granted that everyone knows who Spider-Man is. Pop culture has evolved in such a way that people can recognize a lot of obscure heroes that we normally reserved for the True Believer. But that doesn’t mean people know everything and, like I said, people are excited to be there when it first happened, or even just when the last thing happened.

Ratings go up when the last episode of a television show airs. No one ever asks me at my comic shop for the most recent volume of the Walking Dead when they are inspired by the new TV show, they want the first volume even though it will recap some information they’ve already seen. Marvel’s Point One program could be that entry point for curious readers who at least know the basics, but want to have that thrill of being there when it first happened, whatever that may be.

Then what? Yeah, we all want to be there when Peter slings his first web or when the puny Banner transforms into the brutish Hulk for the first time, but there’s always more to that story than just its beginning. You can’t just string a bunch of events together, over and over, starting something and never finishing it. Stories that highlight this brave new start have to go on after that moment and never be the same again. If you use a death to highlight a moment in your story, things simply can’t return to normal the next issue. These beginnings and endings have to matter for the reader to be enticed to the next issue. Sure, Stacy X died in an issue of the most recent incarnation of the New Warriors, but that death meant nothing to the greater comics stories at large, no one important took it to heart and most likely she’ll come back as a zombie or a movie cameo, and that moment will be empty.

Two books came out this week in a double whammy of mourning, teaching me at least a little about how to do these beginnings and endings right. I’d like to give these two issues a toast, to the future of these characters and the undiscovered country that awaits them both.

(WARNING: Hey everybody, people died in comics! If you don’t know who these people are or haven’t caught up on the Fantastic Four or Amazing Spider-Man, please go do so. These are pretty phenomenal books right now, and they will win you over with excellent storytelling and astounding artwork. If you already know who lives and dies, read on and let’s discover some country. Read on!)

Looking at Fantastic Four #588 first because it’s alphabetical, and I still file Amazing Spider-Man under “Spider-Man” and not “Amazing,” we find ourselves staring at the end of an era. The last issue of the Fantastic Four has been printed, and we say goodbye to the most familiar incarnation of Marvel’s first family. Okay, it’s hard to say the above with a straight face because of how many times the roster has changed, family members have left or died or become the Fantastic Five or what have you. The idea of ending such a historical book seems pretty ludicrous, but really, let’s put aside some doubt and pretend that this is all permanent. Hickman and Dragotta weigh you down with this possible eventuality in a mostly silent issue full of dark, over-inked eyes haunting you from panel to panel. Each member of the Fantastic Four, from the kids and Susan to Avengers like Thor and Hulk, even their villains like Namor and Doctor Doom just seem crushed through heavy artwork and the lack of words to ease your through this loss. There are no words, just the empty absence of of a loved one. Each member of the family changes in this issue, they grow a little darker, get a little harder, either in focus or determination until by the end of things, the reader is grateful for the surprise twist at the end. It seems family might bring them together once more.

Personally speaking, there hasn’t been as good a memorial issue as this since the Death of Betty Banner in Incredible Hulk #467, where what had happened in the last issue forced a scar in the book that they really still haven’t recovered from. I know Betty Banner is technically alive as the Red She-Hulk, but her marriage to Bruce Banner and the life she had before will never come again. The Fantastic Four seem so shaken and burdened by this tragedy, it’s almost like they can’t live in this house anymore, metaphorically speaking. They need to reinvent themselves because the world they lived in just doesn’t exist without Johnny Storm anymore. Seeing Nathaniel Richards at the end of the book is such a relief because this means we won’t sink in this misery, but adventure on.

Heck, the Spider-Man and Franklin story is worth the price of the book alone, and it’s a relatively short backup feature. Both of them, in a way, are still young men who lost their uncles and secretly could have stopped the tragedy from happening. Through a very heart-warming and real exchange, Peter explains to Franklin that the bad memories of a loved one’s death eventually fade while the happier ones always remain. Even if you could have stopped the event from happening, you should still love yourself and others because that’s what those who loved you would have wanted. Yeah, my version’s a little corny and Hickman tells it better than I ever could, but it was a beautiful end to a very important book. That Fantastic Four are literally changing the world around them to escape the empty hole Johnny Storm had left behind.

I really wonder if Dan Slott and Jonathan Hickman passed notes in the back of class because Amazing Spider-Man #655 is the perfect dish to go with the the loss of the Fantastic Four. Both of them star a very stark and saddened funeral. Both of them are as silent as they need to be. Both have eyes that tug on your heart as you turn pages. But where the Fantastic Four turn to look at the world around them, Peter Parker’s journal is internal as nightmares from his past stalk him in his dreams. I will go out, buy a hat and then doff it to Marcos Martin, who brings art work that seems to curl around your brain and bring so much to the inner turmoil of Peter Parker. He’s taken on this horrible fun house reflection his the tragedies of his past, almost all of which revolve around someone’s death. He runs the gamut of super-hero folly, from the innocents who die in his wake, those who fall from his inactivity, those he can’t even remember anymore and the villains that don’t stop no matter how many times death takes them. How other heroes slaughter rather carelessly and what that does to Uncle Ben’s legacy should he take on the burden of being executioner himself. It’s surreal and gorgeous, so well thought out and debated that by the end of the book, Peter wakes to don his costume once more and declares to himself and New York City itself that no one will die on his watch again.

It’s very Gone with the Wind and I, for one, truly believe the convictions of the words. I’m not sure how he’s going to do that, considering someone is rather carelessly murdered on the next page, but I know that he’s going to make this work. The death of Marla Jameson will forever leave an imprint on Peter Parker, and this issue will be a turning point in the character of Spider-Man. The loss of a loved one caused him to turn inwards and change himself to fit the absence their death had left in his life.

True Believers, this will not be another “The Other.” This will not be “the Death of Reed Richards.” Ed Brubaker I think showed modern audiences jaded by over-hype and ’90s sensationalism that you can murder a major character, bury him and then, when the time is right, resurrect him and still leave the lasting imprint his death was supposed to represent. There can be a bold new direction for a character that can change the way you really look at them while still respecting what came before. Dan Slott and Jonathan Hickman can hit that same strength of storytelling and outwardly and inwardly bring us the best of what the Undiscovered Country has to offer.

Vietnamerica

Welcome to a special Super Bowl Sunday edition of What Are You Reading? Not that it’s any different from a regular WAYR column, but you can enjoy it while eating hot wings while the TV is paused.

Today our special guest is biology professor Jay Hosler, creator of Clan Apis and Optical Allusions. His latest book, Evolution, with artists Kevin Cannon and Zandor Cannon, was recently released by Hill & Wang. Check out his blog for a story he’s working on about photosynthesis.

To see what Jay and the Robot 6 gang are reading, click below.

*****

Chris Mautner

Ice Haven

I just re-read Daniel Clowes’ Ice Haven again, as Pantheon was kind enough to send me the new paperback version. It’s as enjoyable and tart a read as ever, but it does strike me as just a wee bit dated in that it was clearly written in a time before the Internet and similar kinds of technology became ubiquitous (one character even complains about no one reading her ‘zine for instance. Remember those?) The loneliness and alienation the characters seems slightly quaint in an age where everyone can find someone who shares their interests and can keep in touch with just about anyone who has a computer, regardless of how far away they are. These folks are just one Facebook account and Twitter feed away from solving their problems.

Tom Bondurant

The Unwritten #21

This week I’m very glad for the time to re-read all 21 issues of The Unwritten, Mike Carey and Peter Gross’ exploration of literature’s interaction with reality. Although I’ve been keeping up with the single issues, this was the first chance I’d had to sit down with the series as a whole. Overall it was pretty rewarding, because the series works on so many levels. (That was a nice James Whale reference in issue #21!) I also found myself more engaged with the characters, especially Lizzie and Savoy. However, since each issue encourages multiple readings (not just the clever multipath #17), I think Unwritten may be read best in singles. As much as I liked being able to consume whole story arcs at once, it’ll be nice to have a month to reflect between installments.

(By the way, another series with which I’d like to spend more time is Neal Adams’ Batman: Odyssey — mostly because I have no idea what’s going on. This past week’s issue #6 complicated things further with Deadman inside the Joker’s body, with Adams not really making it clear where the villain might be regaining control. The alternate
Dynamic Duo were kind of intriguing, though.)

Speaking of time between issues, I thought Amazing Spider-Man was going back to a monthly schedule once the rotating creative teams were done. This week’s #653 (by Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli) was quite fun, especially Squirrel Girl’s cameo as “Earth’s Mightiest Nanny.” Caselli’s work was fine, and I can see a few stylistic similarities between it and Humberto Ramos’, but I don’t know if Marvel is trying to establish an overall aesthetic for ASM with a particular set of artists. Not a criticism, just an observation. I am still getting used to the idea of Spidey as an Avenger, and while Slott has already used them in “Big Time,” this issue really showed how comfortable Spidey is with his teammates. Looking forward to #654 in just a few short days.

Finally, I really enjoyed the 2011 Superman 80-Page Giant, and I’m not just saying that for Abhay’s benefit. (I too figured out the twist in his Jimmy Olsen story, but a) that was probably the point, and b) it was still a good Jimmy/Superman story.) Neil Kleid and Dean Haspiel’s Perry White/Wildcat team-up was a nice little bit of history, Steve Horton and Dan McDaid’s Bizarro story was sweet and fun, and the Lois Lane story (written by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover, drawn by Amilcar Pinna) was yet another good reason to give DC’s greatest reporter her own feature. All in all, not a bad way to spend $6.

Brigid Alverson

Zita the Spacegirl

I’m reading two graphic novels right now that deal with well-worn storylines but manage to freshen them up a bit. Ben Hatke’s Zita the Spacegirl is about a girl who watches her friend get snatched through a rip in the real world and goes in after him. On the other side of the portal is a strange world filled with an assortment of muppetlike aliens (many of whom, oddly, speak English). It’s a hostile world and also a doomed one‹an asteroid is on track to hit it in just three days. The inhabitants’ attempt to deflect the asteroid has gone terribly awry, causing destruction and destabilization. Zita stumbles into this and, in true adventure-tale fashion, soon acquires a cohort of friends, a group blessed more with loyalty than skill, it must be said. Much of the charm of this book comes from Hatke’s simple but expressive line and also imaginative cast of characters. The aliens come in a true variety of shapes and temperaments, from the aptly named Strong-Strong to One, a round, maladroit flying robot. The plot follows the standard pattern of these books‹the quest, the double-cross, the epiphany‹but the ending is a bit of a surprise.

The first volume of Julietta Suzuki’s Kamisama Kiss presents the reader with a whole bouquet of shoujo-manga clichés, starting with the the irresponsible father who abandons his daughter, the plucky Nanami. You would think from reading shoujo manga that Japan has no child welfare system whatsoever; Nanami heads off to sleep in a nearby park but ends up rescuing a stranger who has been chased up a tree by a dog. The grateful stranger offers her his home, which he has not visited in 20 years, but upon arrival Nanami discovers that the home is actually a Shinto shrine, and she is now the resident deity. She is, of course, terribly unqualified for the job, and the hot-but-hostile Tomoe, the last deity’s helper, is in no mood to make things any easier. Although these elements show up in a lot of shoujo manga, Suzuki spices them up with a liberal dose of humor and Japanese folklore, as well as a plot that doesn’t fall into place right away but keeps Nanami’s situation unstable‹and therefore interesting.

Michael May

Namor #5

I blew most of my reading time this week on non-fiction, but I did squeeze in Namor #5 to see what Marvel’s doing with THEIR underwater superhero these days. I know it’s not the most recent issue (#6 is next in the pile), but it was a great introduction to the character and his world. Artistically, they should’ve skipped the introductory X-Men crossover story arc and started with this one. Stuart Moore does a nice job of highlighting the many moods of Sub-Mariner and how he’s been perceived in such different ways throughout his career, while also reconciling those “faces” (as the story is titled) into a single personality. And as he does this, he shows off too some supporting cast and teases an interesting direction for future issues. I’m eager to read more.

Tim O’Shea

The first Mermin arc from Joey Weiser comes crashing (and I mean crashing in giant waves crashing) to an end with issue 5. It’s a heck of a finish that entertained my 11-year old son immensely (as well as myself). This story is at its best when Mermin is bantering with his old and new friends, the character is an odd mixture of innocence and snark–a combination I enjoy.

I hate, hate, hate spending $4 on a single comic–and had convinced myself that I could wait for trades on Dan Slott’s Spider-Man. But dangit if the latest cover did not draw me in (plus the ever-fleeting opportunity to see Slott write Thing dialogue yet again {yeah, I’m the guy that loved Slott’s Thing ongoing series from a few years back}). I really hope Max Modell is not some evil genius about to turn on Parker, because after reading just a few scenes with the guy, I like him already. And that’s a credit to how great Slott is at writing characters that immediately catch the audience’s interest. Bonus points for the banter between Spidey and Squirrel Girl.

Paul Tobin’s really hitting his stride as a writer with Spider-Girl. Death appears to be final (no surprise returns) in this series, and I think the book’s a must read for the ways that Tobin addresses the grieving process without being heavy handed. I really hope Marvel editorial will allow Sue Richards to continue to play a role in this book, as the dynamics are a departure from what I’ve grown to expect in Marvel.

It took until Hulk #29 for me to finally realize artist Gabriel Hardman could draw a bunch of characters picking their noses and I would still love his work. There’s an energy and a dynamic sense of layout to his work that is rarely present in monthly comics. Added bonus, Jeff Parker’s script is far more than people probing their noses.

Carla Hoffman

Avengers Annual #21

I’ve been reading some weird comics. Sure, there’s Invincible Iron Man #500.1 we could talk about, but why do that when I can tell you I read Avengers Annual #21! Part 4 of the Citizen Kang storyline that ran through a handful of annuals back in 1992, this particular issue caught my eye while shelving the Citizen Kang trade. Our store is stocked lovingly with back issues, I hunted this one down and tried to take a single part out of an old school event and see how it compares. First off, the art is both terrible and beautiful, like the dawn; everybody is yelling, noses could slice the finest cheese, implausible anatomy at stake in some cases, this is not the masterwork of the ages. But yet, the story is easy to follow, pictures depict the narrative and there’s even this cute trick of Thor casually leaning on the next frame on the page. The story, while full of adorably hokey lines, is pretty straightforward, Kang is fighting the Avengers when his girlfriend in suspended animation throws an M. Night Shyamalan twist and in the end, we all learn that while we fight to conquer the future, the past is never that far behind. Really, it’s not half bad and more than half fun, so find an issue when you can. I grabbed it mostly for the extras: more specifically, the secret details of an Avengers Membership card (a homing beacon strong enough to carry over “approximately 2000 miles”, a debit card function that will let Avengers draw “up to $2,500 against the Avengers account”, that it’s a key card not just to the locks inside top secret sections of the mansion, but the key to a lot of Avengers vehicles as well, that it has a calculator function, etc.). I love old maps and technical stats the from the Old OHotMU days, so this annual was a special treat.

I also re-read Avengers #72 to be exact, but more importantly refreshed myself on the Search for She-Hulk storyline, written before Geoff Johns had settled in with the Distinguished Competition. This issue is just 28 issues away from Disassembled and there are moments that feel like you’re in the Twilight Zone (Sterling style, not Pattinson). A rather complicated and in-depth plot explained quickly: Jennifer Walters has been forced into her puny form and is terrified for the first time in a long while. She heads out into the middle of nowhere to find her on-the-run cousin, Bruce, wracked with self-doubt. The Avengers catch up with her and the Scarlet Witch confesses to the de-powered Jen the following about her powers “Sometimes, I feel like all of this negative energy sends my head spinning, too. Sometimes, I feel that sometimes I can do nothing but perpetuate the unnatural.” But there’s a strong and immediate bright side to this instability: the Avengers. “But the Avengers are there to ground me. To help me bring order to my life. They are good friends, Jennifer.” Sometimes, reading old comics just makes you miss those friends, We’re still pulling for you, Wanda.

Sean T. Collins

Spotting Deer

Self-published comics and YA genre fiction were my stock in trade this week. Click the links for full reviews!

Snake Oil #6: The Ground Is Soft by Chuck Forsman: Weeks after I first read it, I’m still thinking about this bleakly funny, innovatively structured look at a dysfunctional family struggling against the strictures of their just-this-side-of-a-fantasy-world society.

Studygroup12 #4 by various artists, edited by Zack Soto (self-published): Lovingly printed and stunningly colored, this anthology makes for a fine catalog of art from a mostly Left Coast, Portland-centered group of altcomix artists, but it left me hungry for more substantial comics content.

Spotting Deer and SM by Michael DeForge (Koyama Press/self-published): Two visually inventive, narratively twisty, entertainingly unpleasant horror comics from one of the brightest young talents in alternative comics today.

Finally, I also wrote about a batch of young-adult fantastic-fiction books I’ve read in recent weeks: Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising Sequence, Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles, and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games. The job of books like these is first and foremost to succeed as exciting reads, and that they do, but it’s even more fun to pick at their underlying moral themes, and see just how different they can be.

Jay Hosler

The first few weeks of the year are always a good time because I get to read all of the stuff I got over the holidays.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

The only novel on my list is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. What a terrific book. The fanboy elements added to the fun, although given the number of references I missed, I’m worried my geek quotient isn’t as high as it used to be.

In the graphic novel/collection category I recently received a copy of GB Trans Vietnamerica. Whoa. Be-A-utiful book. I had the pleasure to sit by GB at the last SPX and he is not only a great artists and writer but a really nice guy. Everyone should buy this book. I got my monthly Tezuka fix with Ayako, Blackjack (vol 11) and The Art of Osamu Tezuka by Helen McCarthy. The latter contains drawings from Tezuka’s childhood including hand painted insect guides that are gorgeous. He loved beetles. That’s my kinda cartoonist. I also had a chance to read Aya: The Secrets Come Out by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie (I hope there is a fourth volume coming out soon) and the first two Parker books by Darwyn Cooke. They are an interesting contrast; Aya’s airy, colorful Ivory Coast versus the monochormatic, mean streets of Parker. My son’s got The Saga of Rex by Michel Gagne and they were kind enough to share it with me after they were done pouring over the lush illustrations.

I still pick up my monthly does of adventure comics from The Comic Swap in State College, PA. One of my all-time favorites is Usagi Yojimbo. Stan Sakai’s ability to deliver funny, exciting, touching stories every month is astounding. I want to be just like him some day. I started picking up Ed Brubaker’s Captain America when Steve Rogers was shot. It was topical and I was teaching a course called Comics and Culture at the time and the stories hooked me. I am also trying Hulk by Jeff Parker because I think Jeff Parker is the mega cool. I loved the fun of Agents of Atlas and decided to give Hulk a go. I was pretty certain I wouldn’t stick with it because the character doesn’t really interest me much, but Parker’s imagination for writing science fiction (emphasis on the science) has sucked me in. Finally, I started picking Thor: The Mighty Avenger because Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee are an exciting creative team. I’m sad to see that book go.

Of course, I can’t forget the books I read aloud with my sons, Max and Jack. We finished The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan and The Wainscott Weasel written by Tor Seidler and illustrated by Fred Marcellino (such pretty picture). Both were a blast to read aloud. We are currently reading the Minpins by Roald Dahl. And that brings us to the non-fiction part of the show.

I am making my way through Storyteller, Donald Sturrock’s autobiography of Roald Dahl and finding it very interesting. I recently finished Proofiness (Charles Seife’s exploration of our cultures growing innumeracy and how it is effecting democracy) and I’m also picking my way through Adventures Among Ants by Mark W. Moffet and Sensing the Past: Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, Tasting, and Touching in History by Mark J. Smith.

Good times.

The Sixth Gun

Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading? Today’s special guest is Jim Zubkavich, writer of the Image Comics series Skullkickers and a project manager at UDON Entertainment.

To see what Jim and the Robot 6 crew are reading, click the link below.

*****

Sean T. Collins

A Game of Thrones

This is a bit of cheat, because I didn’t read the books in question over the past week; instead I polished off one YA fantasy favorite, Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising Sequence, and started revisiting another, Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles. But with the HBO adaptation Game of Thrones on the way and some of my friends asking what the fuss is all about, I penned a spoiler-free run-down of why you should read George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series — fantasy books I think just about anyone will find enthralling. If you’ve heard of the books but aren’t sure if they’re worth taking the plunge, give the post a read and see what you think.

And oh yeah, comics — click the links for full reviews!

A Drunken Dream and Other Stories by Moto Hagio (Fantagraphics): This long-awaited collection of stories from shoujo manga pioneer Hagio is a thing of unearthly beauty and surprising guts.

FUC* **U, *SS**LE by Johnny Ryan (Fantagraphics): The fourth and final Blecky Yuckerella gag-strip collection by the cartoonist now best known as the force behind the action-horror sensation Prison Pit makes me regret there won’t ever be a fifth.

Monster, edited by Paul Lyons (available through PictureBox): The big Fort Thunder reunion anthology looks great — with contributions by Brian Chippendale and Mat Brinkman and a killer cover by editor Paul Lyons, how could it not — but it’s not necessarily a document of how vital the legendary underground comics collective’s work, and that of their Providence peers and heirs, can be.

Carla Hoffman

"Do you think this 'A' on my head stands for 'AVAILABLE FOR $2.99'?!?"

I read Ultimate Captain America #1 and I just want to go cook outdoors and change a tire. Maybe even spit. Jason Aaron writes these amazingly gritty, masculine books that brook no quarter and punch you in the face. Here, Captain America is a blatant American special forces operative facing down a man in a mask and international terrorism! I didn’t want to read another Captain America book because Brubaker’s been the gold standard and, let’s face it, the Ultimates line hasn’t been a smash hit like they used to. So that’s why I’m only getting to it now… and now I have to read the whole thing. There’s just something about the way Aaron presents a story that is so realistic, but yet not too real. Like a Tarantino film without all the artsy hoopla, maybe? I don’t know, but he’s certainly in a class all his own.

I also read Tiny Titans #36 because that’s how I roll. I may be a Marvel Zombie, but boy howdy do I love the Tiny Titans. Normally, it’s the first book I read the week it comes out and keeps me in giggles the whole month through. In this issue, people eat hot dogs and there’s a girl dinosaur. YEAH! Man, it is so refreshing, fun and unique that it makes reading books where people get their throats slit open enjoyable again. You can’t eat meat and potatoes all the time, sometimes you need a little candy.

Lastly but certainly not least..ly, I read Thor #619 slowly and lovingly. Every page was basked in and dialogue bubbles were read out loud in as big and booming a voice I could muster. And if I couldn’t do it, I’d get the Mister to read aloud some dialogue because this is the kind of story you have to narrate. Or at least share it with someone. I know Mr. Fraction’s new run may not be for everyone and with Journey Into Mystery coming up, this might seem like a vote of no confidence in his run. Personally, I don’t care. I don’t care if the internet hates this book and wants to form an angry mob about it. Sometimes, a book is written just for me. Sure, I do love sharing comics I like with as many people as possible (BLOODCOLOSSUS!!), but Pasqual Ferry’s art is so beautiful, dreamy and wide-scope and Matt Fraction’s voice for the Norse gods is so booming and mythic, I honestly don’t care if people don’t enjoy it anymore. I’m enjoying it enough for the whole Nine Worlds.

Chris Mautner

Dawn Land

Will Davis’ Dawn Land is an odd, interesting graphic novel that deals with a topic and culture rarely covered in comics. Adapted from a novel by Joseph Bruchac, it’s a story set in North America long before the Europeans’ arrival, about a young hunter — literally called Young Hunter — who goes on a lengthy quest to stop a tribe of giants that have been ravaging the countryside (and also happened to kill his parents) armed only with a super-special secret weapon that I wouldn’t dream of revealing. Obviously there’s a good deal of archetypical mythmaking on display here, enough to give the book a familiar air, despite being set in an unfamiliar (to me anyway) time and place. The book is at its best when it delves into the specifics of early Native American culture and mythos. Davis’ black and white, charcoal washes keep the story moving at a decent clip, but also give the book a subdued quality that I’m not sure jibes with the material that well. For all that’s at stake for the Young Hunter, Dawn Land feels like a strangely quiet and overly calm book. Still, for those who have an interest in or are curious about the subject matter, it’s worth checking out.

Tom Bondurant

Somehow I missed seeing that Chris Roberson and Jesus Merino’s Superman/Batman arc was only two issues. Not only was I expecting it to go past this week’s issue #80, I was hoping it would too. Call me a slave to nostalgia, but setting the bulk of the issue in the early ’80s, when Robin/Dick was still leading the pre-”Judas Contract” Teen Titans and Batman hadn’t quite gotten so scowly, really pushed a lot of familiar buttons. The climax, featuring World’s Finest teams from across the millennia, was similarly effective.

Amazing Spider-Man #652

I’ve also been picking up the “Big Time” issues of Amazing Spider-Man, in part because I like Dan Slott and because the book seems to have gotten past all of that “diabolical annulment” baggage. This week’s issue #652 kicked off a new arc (featuring the Spider-Slayer) with a new artist (Stefano Caselli). I like the fact that Slott has filled out the supporting cast with a lot of appealing characters, but this time the issue felt a little crowded. For example, I didn’t recognize Glory Grant until much later than I probably should have. Anyway, I do like the balance the book has struck between character moments and superheroics, and I thought the climactic scenes of Spidey trying to save John Jameson were very well-executed.

Finally, I was quite impressed with the debut of Supergirl‘s new creative team in this week’s issue #60. I know this was co-writer Nick Spencer’s only issue, but I’m optimistic that co-writer James Peaty is up to handling the book by himself. New artist Bernard Chang turned in a typically good issue, managing character elements (mostly
involving the new villain) and action sequences equally well. I thought Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle did a great job of “normalizing” Supergirl, after years of the book trying to figure out what it was going to be, and I’m hopeful that Peaty and Chang can build on that. This issue was a very promising start; and if it’s any indication, Supergirl‘s future could be very bright.

Brigid Alverson

Jacques Tardi’s It Was the War of the Trenches is pretty brutal. Almost everyone in the book dies, but before they die, Tardi gives you just enough of their story to make them seem human. Then boom, they get blown away right before your eyes. His clear-eyed view of the cruelties of war is also brutal, from the discomfort and indignity of life in the trenches to the truly grotesque, such as a man falling elbow-deep into the entrails of a corpse, to the morally repugnant, such as an officer killing his own men because they fail to do the impossible. It’s one thing to read about the brutality of trench warfare, another entirely to experience it in the way Tardi details it here. This wasn’t an easy read‹I alternated between anger and horror the whole time — but it was a good one.

Much easier, and ironically, less grim, is The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics. Despite the cheesy sounding title, this book really delivers the goods, and the fact that the publisher kept the price down by printing the whole thing in black and white doesn’t hurt it a bit. Editor Paul Gravett really knows his comics, and he provides a bit of context for each of the 25 short stories in this book. Many of the stories are classics — there’s a Will Eisner Spirit story, a tightly written con-artist story by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, and one of the original Secret Agent X-9 stories by Dashiell Hammett and Alex Raymond. And he includes a nice selection of comics from other countries as well, including one illustrated by Tardi. I picked up this book on a whim at Barnes & Noble and just a quick flip through it convinced me that I was going to like it — and I do. At $17.95 for 480 pages, it’s as easy on the wallet as it is on the eyes.

Jim Zubkavich

I just finished reading the newly released first volume of The Sixth Gun by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt. This supernatural Western odyssey is fresh and exciting with a richly textured mythology all its own. With each chapter you can see the synergy between writer and artist getting stronger as they build up an impressive cast of rogues and wild west freaks. I’m excited to see where the story progresses from here and am glad that Oni Press is continuing to broaden their offerings across so many genres and styles.

My good friend Jim Demonakos just sent me the advance proof for The Silence of Our Friends, a graphic novel he co-wrote with Mark Long that’s illustrated by Nate Powell. It’s coming out early 2012 from First Second and I was thrilled to get an advance look at it. Let me be first out of the gate to say that this book is going to knock people out with its quality and emotion. It’s a reflection on race in America during the late 60’s that grips you from start to finish. Even with the natural biases that come from looking at work from a friend I could not have been more pleased with it. I foresee this book getting quite a bit of mainstream attention and praise.

Absolute Sandman

Although I’d purchased them quite a while ago, I finally had a chance to sit down and read Absolute Sandman. Having the series remastered in such a fantastic archival format is a real treat. It’s not like anyone needs my recommendation to check it out, but it really is a tent post of quality and depth in this industry. Anyone who considers themselves a comic fan that hasn’t read Sandman has a hole in their understanding of the medium about as big as these books.

Back on the Image home front, Chris Yost and Scott Wegener’s Killer of Demons landed in my read pile over the holidays. It has one of those high concepts that’s easy to pitch yet still has layers worth of depth underneath it – an office drone has visions of demons and may be a slayer of evil destined to save us all, or he’s just a delusional psychotic justifying mass murder. As ugly and morbid as that sounds, Scott’s wonderfully expressive artwork and Chris’ snappy sarcastic script keep it rolling with black-hearted humour. Given the right exposure I could easily see it being another Chew or Preacher.

Axel Alonso, by Skottie Young

The news broke yesterday that Axel Alonso will take over as editor-in-chief of Marvel Entertainment, following Joe Quesada’s shift in focus to Marvel’s multimedia initiatives. Here’s a few reactions over the last couple days from various folks around the industry:

Tom Spurgeon: “I don’t know Alonso at all, not even a little bit, but he strikes me as a comics-first guy in a period in comics history where Marvel as a publishing company could use every bit of close attention that comes with having a savvy, comics-first guy in that position. That’s not in any way implied commentary on Joe Quesada, I swear. I’m comparing Alonso to other people that might hold that position in this day and age, not to his predecessor. Quesada’s run would have to be termed a big success. Moreover, he leaves that historical position I believe still generally well-liked and certainly widely admired, which is sort of astonishing given the decisions that job calls for over time.”

Tom Brevoort: “This is Axel’s moment. He shouldn’t have to share the spotlight. He well deserves it.”

Jason Aaron: “My bold prediction: the Axel Alonso era at Marvel will be just as exciting and groundbreaking as the Joe Q one, only with more cursing.”

Dan Slott: “Huge congrats to @axelalonsomarv and @TomBrevoort on their promotions. And world’s biggest THANKS to @JoeQuesada for all of his support! ”

Matt Fraction: “Now DC looks like precognitive geniuses for republishing all that Axel-edited Vertigo work last month.”

Erik Larsen: “So, wait–Marvel is promoting the guy who took the X-Men from being their #1 franchise to being titles with no heat whatsoever? Seriously?”

Newsarama has more reactions from creators, while Bleeding Cool lists five changes the new regime could mean. Also, a blast from the recent past: Alonso celebrated his 10th anniversary with Marvel last September, and the Sept. 24 T&A column on CBR collected responses from pros on the occasion.

In a thread called “How long do you expect Dan Slott to be the lead/ sole writer of Amazing Spider-Man?”, lejayjay posted a comment seemingly deriding Slott as a fair-weather comics writer who would likely depart for a more lucrative field. Though the comment eventually spun off into facetiously hyperbolic territory, it began by directly attacking Slott’s motives for writing ASM at all:

It is jus a paycheck for Slott anyway. He’s not a real fan.

Those two sentences prompted the following response from Slott, who expressed his displeasure in no uncertain terms:

As a guy who turned down a side job this year for a paycheck that would’ve been over a third of his yearly income– BECAUSE it would’ve meant cutting back on his not-so-lucrative comic book writing career– and get in the way of working on his Spider-Man dream job…

…and the guy who slept less than 12 hours over the course of 4 days this week working on a script while he was sick… a guy who finally had to be ORDERED off it by his editor to go see a doctor… and is still in a good deal of pain today…

…this is the first time I think I’ve ever said this to somebody over a comic book message board:

Go fuck yourself.

Seriously.

Go. Fuck. Yourself.

lejayjay apologized almost immediately, wishing Slott well and characterizing the initial post as “schtick.” But the exchange still strikes me as a revealing one, for several reasons.

First, it shows — as if there were any question at all — that even some of the biggest names in comics, well paid by massive entertainment corporations for writing the superhero genre’s most popular characters, read and take very seriously the anonymous and semi-anonymous criticism and insults of people on the Internet. Whether that’s good, bad or indifferent for the creators, the companies, the comics or the consumers is up for debate, but it’s a very real phenomenon.

Second, it shows the folly of ascribing specific, and in fact unknowable, motives to creators whose work you dislike when a direct critique of that work itself would more than suffice. If you feel that (say) Dan Slott’s Spider-Man work lacks heart or is poorly told or runs counter to what you value in Spider-Man comics, there are countless ways to address this by discussing the actual work — pointing out specific shortcomings in plotting or dialogue or characterization; comparing it to other, better work by different creators; even comparing it to past, stronger work from the creator in question — rather than concocting theories about their personal feelings toward the characters or how they’re only in it for a paycheck or whatever. You don’t know that; unless they come out and say it, you can’t know it. Acting as if you do wastes everyone’s time.

Third, it shows that large segments of fandom expect creators to follow rules of decorum they in no way apply to themselves. Both in the original thread and on other sites where the exchange has been brought up, like this post and comment thread at Spider-Man Crawlspace or this question on Tom Brevoort’s formspring account, many fans responded to the exchange not by getting upset at the original, insulting post (joke though it turned out to have been) and empathizing with Slott as a person whose integrity and creativity had been questioned, but by getting miffed at Slott for forcefully responding. Wanna insult a person who works in the arts by saying the most derogatory and baseless things you can? Go ahead! Work in the arts and want to respond by cussing the insult-thrower out? Why, that’s no way for a grown-up and professional to behave! Break out the fainting couch, I’ve got the vapors! HOW DARE YOU, SIR!

Again, we can question the wisdom of popular professional creators engaging with message-board and comment-thread name-calling, but to act as though one side of the exchange can do basically whatever they want while the recipient of the abuse should never respond in kind is an absurd double standard. Moreover it evinces a profound sense of entitlement: a demand to be able to treat others however poorly you want while reserving total immunity for yourself, and a reduction of the artist to a glorified conveyor belt that must silently transport your preferred art-product to you and to whom you have no behavioral or ethical or moral obligations. It’s the same mindset that leads readers to insult creators who express contrary opinions about how their work is made available digitally, or attack people with legal and moral claims to the proceeds from a certain work if those claims are deemed to provide even the slightest impediment to the way those readers are accustomed to consuming that work. For better or worse, we the readers really do have some power thanks to the Internet. And you know what they say about power.

Anyhow, Thanksgiving has come and gone and hopefully instilled we celebrators with a sense of family, community and  unity.  Whether you spent it with the family, your football watching buddies or at a local shelter making sure people had a hot meal on a holiday, Thanksgiving is not just about the thanks, but the giving.  Mix the two and suddenly you got yourself a season!  This of course, makes me think of the Avengers.  Most things make me think of the Avengers, but let’s not dwell on that.

In any case, the original continuity created for Thanksgiving (before the retcons and corrected histories) was that some Pilgrims couldn’t farm, some Native Americans could, they got together and shared and then had a big old dinner to celebrate.  I know!  It’s like Stan and Jack cribbed notes for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!  Incredible.  These days, what with every flavor of five or so guys standing together calling themselves ‘Avengers’, it might be hard to see this.  Plus, the general nature of the super-hero rarely allows for such simple ideas of community.  What if the Pilgrims and Indians had to slog through a three-issue misunderstanding fight before they combined their efforts against their true enemy, corn?  Add to this the never-ending villainy that our heroes battle, the in0fighting that naturally occurs when people of strong personalities get together in one room, court-martials, break-ups, Disassembling…

This year, I’m thankful for Dan Slott.  Mr. Slott has taken the Mighty Avengers and really made them Marvel’s premiere team book in my humble opinion (I know!  Bendis even stuffed the ballot!).  He acknowledges all of the above problems (maybe not the corn threat) and yet, for all the difficulty there is in assembling, we are still given a united front of heroes, bound together to stop a titanic threat to the Earth, who will succeed through perseverance, teamwork, intelligence and maybe a little luck for kicks.

They’re even led by Pym!  Who on Earth let this man in charge!?  For the past eight years or so (hrmm), all we’ve seen of Hank Pym is a wife-beating loose cannon, an also-ran not as good as the people he supposedly towered over.  The original Ant-Man was shrunk down amongst his peers and had to be slowly built back up;  the architects of the post-Civil War American makeover, with the Registration Act and the infamous “List of Things to Fix About Everything” kept in the Baxter Building’s Basement, all had a long road to redemption.  Tony Stark had to break himself down to a vegetative state, Reed Richards has to look at an infinite reflection of himself and find his family missing and Pym?  Well, Pym had to just get up and do something about it all.  At the beginning of the year, he took his dead wife’s codename and, while a little creepy and a lot sad, I’m rather surprised he’s really lived up to it all.  A founding Avenger, he’s really founded this new crew, creating an infinite Mansion to hold them all, creating plans on the fly and holding the weight of responsibility better than I think even he expected.  Add to this his fancy new title of Scientist Supreme and well, that’s an article for another time.

With him is a motley little crew of adventurers and heroes, sometimes a little of one more than the other.  USAgent has kind of been this guy everyone wants to do something with but can’t figure it out long enough to make anything stick.  He was on Omega Flight for a time and you have to be pretty lost in editorial to be the American on a Candian super-team.  Here, with the rest of the Mighty Avengers, he’s essential:  he’s their heaping helping of brutal honesty.  Sure, he’s no criminal but he’s as close to Hawkeye as the Avengers can afford right now: the guy who’s got the guts to challenge authority and punch evil in the face while the science-types do their thing.  Speaking of science types, Amadeus Cho brings the youthful enthusiasm that Janet Van Dyne used to bring to the team back in the olden days.  Sure, he’s a little cocky about it but he’s a great backup for Pym’s ideas on the fly and there’s no shame in being a sidekick.  Just as Rick Jones.  Quicksilver needs this job more than anything as, no matter what team he’s found himself associated with, the Avengers are the only people to ever give him a chance and put some faith in the former Evil Mutant.  Stature believes so much in what her father did in his time as an Avenger, I think both she and Vision should probably stay to not only do right by those who came before them, but to learn a little about who’s costumes they’re assuming.

And of course, no Avengers group is really an Avengers group without Jarvis.  Sure, they’re Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, but they’re human as well, even the gods.  Having Jarvis supporting the team in his own, taking care of all the little things you don’t think about when aliens are invading or the world is in peril, keeps the characters grounded and keeps them real.  These are Earth’s Mightiest, after all, and on Earth they stay.  Jarvis reminds us all that heroes still need to eat, have their laundry done and maybe talk to someone on the outside from time to time.  He’s a secret keeper, a shoulder to lean on, a fantastic cook and the human element needed in the realm of the fantastic.

Marvel’s entering their ‘Heroic Age’ or so some teaser posters tell me and focused on the front of those posters are Captain America, Iron Man and Thor.  And these are indeed Avengers, no doubt about it.  These are the men who helped make the Avengers who they are today, who kicked it up a notch and made that tagline of ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ a label you could believe in.  What the poster doesn’t show you and what we Marvel fans already know is that behind these men come a tradition of heroes, men and women inspired by these three who follow in their footsteps and lead others to do the same.  No one hero is honored above the others for, as Avengers, together we are mighty.

July 17

Multiple cities | Watchmen returns to theaters with additional footage for a limited run in Los Angeles, New York City, Dallas and Minneapolis. Details can be found here.

July 18

Baltimore | Geppi’s Entertainment Museum hosts Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology editor Keith Chow, art director Jerry Ma, artist Alex Tarampi and writer Larry Hama from noon to 4p.m. for a presentation, discussion and signing.

Portland | Cosmic Monkey Comics hosts a 24-hour zine challenge beginning at 10 a.m. and ending, naturally, at 10 a.m. the next day.

Jeffrey Brown's Hulk

Puyallup, Wash. | Comic Evolution will host a March of Dimes benefit that includes a silent auction and several artists doing sketches for donations, including Paul Gulacy, Clayton Crain and many more.

San Francisco | Isotope Comics hosts a signing and party for Geoff Johns, writer of Blackest Night, Green Lantern and various other titles. They’ll have free buttons and a selection of Lantern Corps. cocktails. The signing begins at 4 p.m. and the 21+ party begins at 7 p.m.

July 19

San Francisco | Comix Experience hosts Neil Gaiman for a signing, Q&A and reading. This is a ticketed event.

July 21

New York | The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art hosts a Scarlett Takes Manhattan book release event with Molly Crabapple and John Leavitt, starting at 7 p.m.

July 22

New York | Celebrating the 600th issue of Amazing Spider-Man, Dan Slott signs at Jim Hanley’s Universe, 4 West 33rd St. starting at 6 p.m.

San Francisco | The Comic Outpost hosts a Spider-Man #600 exhibit where they will display all 600 issues of the title. They’ll also host a raffle that benefits the Hero Initiative.

July 23

Brooklyn, N.Y. | Paul Karasik and Dan Nadel will be at Desert Island from 7 to 9 p.m.for the book launch of You Shall Die by Your Own Evil Creation!

San Diego | The Chuck Jones Gallery at 232 Fifth Avenue will kick off a Jim Lee art exhibit with a visit from Lee from 7 to 9 p.m. RSVP required.

July 22-26

San Diego | The sold out 2009 Comic-Con International returns to the San Diego Convention Center. Keep an eye out on Robot 6 and CBR for coverage of the con.

More in July

July 28 | Stuart Moore at the Comic Book Club in New York

More in August

Aug. 1 | WASFEn Con 3 in Wausau, Wisconsin

Aug. 8 | Jeff Smith in Toronto

***

If you’d like to submit an event for inclusion, please email them directly to JK Parkin. Please include the venue, city and state, start time, event details and any related websites where we can send folks for more information. Virtual events, like online creator chats, are also welcome. The next ComicsLive will likely be delayed a few days due to the San Diego Comic Con, but it will run … so please send in your submission!

And really, what’s wrong with that? Pick up a Marvel book at the start of the alphabet and you can get an incredible snapshot of the entire Universe in your own favorite flavor! Want to know what’s going on with the cool kids? Read New Avengers and get headliners and raucous rebels. Want to know what villainy is afoot? Go for an issue of Dark Avengers and watch the current status quo come alive in various shades of sinister. I’m looking for a book about the foundations of a team and focused character development, so I read Mighty Avengers and find myself satisfied. But are you, dear reader? Are we really getting what we paid for? After all, that’s what the cover is there for: to judge the book. So are these Avengers stories or something more?

Before you frown sternly at your computer monitor, let it be said that each book has a taste of the others in its particular line. After all, two of them are being written by the same guy; you find yourself with a much more compelling story if you’ve been stalwart enough to follow both of Bendis’s Avenger titles. Ever since Avengers: Disassembled, the man’s been driving a crazy train through the premiere team of heroes and reshaping them towards something new: the continuity book. To understand why Janet Van Dyne had to … well, whatever it is she did at the end of Secret Invasion (explode? get sent away by Thor’s hammer? turn into purple energy?), you had to have read Mighty Avengers #15 at least to see the flashback on how Skrull-Pym passed on to her a ‘stronger’ form of Pym particles that she would eventually take and cause her downfall. The seeds of the Invasion itself were sewn in the first pages of Bendis’s New Avengers and the best view of Civil War came in its aftermath with Avengers: The Initiative.

Even outside the hand of Bendis (Bendis: Hands of Fate!), the Avengers have styled themselves to tell a particular form of story rather than showcase an Adventurer’s Club. Avengers: the Initiative has shown us a variety of new heroes, something we normally just got out of a batch of freshmen mutants every generation or so, plus the book has served as the best backstage peek at several events that have driven by. They had a very solid World War Hulk tie-in as well as giving us a very organized and exciting front in Secret Invasion. If the Adjective ‘Young’ wasn’t already in use, it might very well fit the Initiative team as these are primarily new heroes trained by older ones to serve our country when the next crazy event story crops up. Then again, the Young Avengers are entirely different view of the young hero than what you get in Avengers: the Initiative. Reluctant trainees as part of a government sanctioned program as opposed to inspired teens taking on the mantles of respected heroes.

Mighty Avengers, since Dan Slott took over the helm, is the Classic Coke of the Avengers soda line. Founding characters, high adventure missions facing classic foes (and no one’s head gets ripped off!), the signature of the book so far seems to be bringing back a sense of trust and teamwork to sidelined heroes reesablishing themselves. The Avengers started out as established heroes uniting under a common banner. Slott’s Mighty Avengers have similar earmarks, but have been tooled to run concurrently with the rest of the Avengers line. Rather masterfully done, I think this just might be the book that your average fan would think of when wanting an ‘Avengers’ story and it seems to be the little black duck of the Avengers line.

So why are New, Young, Dark and the Initiative running the Avengers headline? Do they need to be Avengers books or has modern storytelling moved past that? Could Marvel really find a way to brand this better? Just a Dark Reign book that isn’t a mini-series, but more of a prequel book to whatever next big thing Bendis has up his sleeve. This would probably work best as bi-weekly title, probably at a higher price, but it would solidify New and Dark Avengers into the long-spanning tale we all know they’re going to turn out to be. Avengers: the Initiative could take the Avengers out of their name too, maybe just run with The Initiative since Nick Fury’s agents can be sold as the Secret Warriors. Perhaps it’s out of fear that the stories wouldn’t stand on their own that the Avengers label is given, propping them up from being lost amongst the rest of the books.

Anyway you look at it, the Avengers have become less a title starring heroes facing unsurmountable odds and more a way to designate stories that take place in the overarching goals of a united storyline. The Avengers are banner titles, the security of the team symbol getting it in the reader’s hands while long term followers have a hefty list to see the multi-faceted diamond that is the Marvel Universe.

Continuing with the “show must go on” theme of the last few weeks, The Hero Initiative’s Jim McLauchlin interviews writer Dan Slott over at MySpace, talking to him about Mighty Avengers, Spider-Man, Ren & Stimpy, continuity and taking the “fun” out of comics:

JM: So I guess you wanna start off by talking about “the F-word.”

DS: Yeah, the F-word. Before any interview or any panel, someone’s always there to remind me not to say the F-word. And by the F-word, I mean “FUN.” With any project, any concept, anything we’re promoting…you’re never supposed to say that it’s “fun”. Take it out. Because somehow “fun” has come to mean “juvenile” or “stupid.” Which is really not the case.

JM: So why does it seem to be the case? Why do you think “fun” is poison?

DS: I don’t know! ’Cause comics should be fun! They are fun! And I’m not talking about “bwah-ha-ha” fun. But if you’re buying a comic, I’ll bet you’re getting some element of fun out of it. Otherwise, why are you doing it? You can read a cosmic book like Guardians of the Galaxy—a very cool book by the way—and to you, that’s fun.

Or some really sadistic stuff like Punisher from the MAX line, and if you’re enjoying it, for you, that’s fun. To me, comics should have that essential spark. No matter what we do—or how we do it—adventure, action, super heroes, kung fu, Kirby monsters, street level, thunder gods—we do it to entertain you. And entertainment is fun.

He also talks about continuity and “personal continuities” — the “If I didn’t read it, it didn’t happen” mentality that some fans adopt. If I dare say it, it’s a fun interview, just like the one with Matt Fraction last week.