Fever promo

Mark Kardwell shares with us an "idea sketch for a 'Coming Soon" type of advert" for Fever, the upcoming Dr. Strange/Spider-Man miniseries written and drawn by Brendan McCarthy. This Marvel Knights series is due in April, McCarthy told Kaldwell.

Doctor Strange: The Oath

No doubt inspired by his arrival to Comic-Con, Tom Spurgeon has made up a list of what he feels are 10 properties that should be fast-tracked into movies or TV shows. No. 1 on the list is Dr. Strange, and Tom has an interesting suggestion as to who should don the Eye of Agamotto:

While some folks reading that original post thought I was hinting at Johnny Depp being best suited for the role, the actor I was thinking of was actually Leonardo DiCaprio. A number of you probably just vomited, but DiCaprio is already 34, he can act, he's as believable as Downey Jr. -- albeit in a different way -- as someone who once had a glamorous career, lost it and has seen tough times since, he's a major motion picture star, he has considerable onscreen charisma it's fun to see him embrace rather than flee and he's adept at playing romance. But so many actors would do.

Go check out the whole list. There are some interesting and eclectic choices found there.

Kurosagi Delivery Service Vol. 9

Is it Sunday again already? Time for another What Are You Reading then. Our guest this week is blogger and Bleach fanatic John Jakala. Has John been reading Bleach this week? Click on the link to find out. Oh, and don't forget to tell us what you are reading in the comments section below.

Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps

Tom Bondurant: Boy, that Prince Valiant hardcover looked great, didn't it?  The color is just stunning.  The stories (what I've read so far, at least) are fun as well, with a nice mix of realism and fantasy.  I'm looking forward to future volumes, both to see how Hal Foster's style and Val's character develop over the years.

I liked Blackest Night:  Tales of the Corps #1 more than I thought I would.  The lead story (written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jerry Ordway) was a somewhat odd duck, like "The Twilight Zone" meets the Old Testament.  It's the origin of Saint Walker, leader of the Blue Lanterns, and I suppose it's a superhero-ish take on the Book of Job, except without all the smack-talk from God.  The second story is about the early years of today's Mongul, leader of the Sinestro Corps. (Remember, his dad was the Mongul of "For The Man Who Has Everything," the Superman-in-space storyline, etc.)  Written by Peter Tomasi and drawn by Chris Samnee, it shows Kid Mongul emulating his dad by making a group of marooned extraterrestrials his conquered subjects.  Dad shows up at the end, leaving Junior with a fairly ironic life lesson. It's disturbing in a darkly funny way -- more EC sci-fi than "Twilight Zone."  The last story introduces the Indigo Tribe, an inscrutable quasi-Lantern-Corps who speak in an untranslatable language and who do some mysterious things to a mortally wounded Green Lantern and his similarly-situated Sinestro Corpsman foe.  Overall, I thought the issue was entertaining, and it will probably provide some relevant insight into the various rival Corps.  (Well, the Mongul story not so much -- I suspect we could have figured that out about him on our own.)

Seems like there must have been some behind-the-scenes shenanigans surrounding Steve Englehart's departure from the '70s Doctor Strange, because finishing up Essential Dr. Strange Vol. 3 felt like jumping through a series of corrective hoops.  First Englehart wrote two issues of "The Occult History Of America" before that arc was completed by editor Marv Wolfman.  Wolfman then introduced the Creators and the Quadriverse as another challenge to Strange's (and the reader's) understanding of reality.  Then, Jim Starlin came aboard for a few issues, and finally Roger Stern wrapped it all up with the In-Betweener, who apparently was related to Adam Warlock, Thanos, and a recent Avengers storyline.  Thus, over about ten issues, the book went from Englehart's quirky take to a more mainstream, shared-universe-friendly status quo.  Not that Stern's story was bad -- it seemed more reasonable than both Wolfman's and Starlin's take -- but it purported to show what was "really" going on.

I've started reading the new Madame Xanadu paperback, written by Matt Wagner with art by Amy Reeder Hadley.  After two issues I like it quite a bit, especially Hadley's art. The cameos from various magical DC characters (and the one artifact) are fun too.  On deck are Showcase Presents Bat Lash and a couple of '70s Marvel series in Essential form.

Wednesday Comics #1

Tim O'Shea: Last week, I had one minor beef with Wednesday Comics -- and that was the Simonson & Stelfreeze credits with the Catwoman/Demon story. Did I mention it was a minor quibble? Well, minor or not, I was pleasantly surprised to get an email from WALT Simonson last weekend -- explaining quite simply why the credits are the way they are. "Sorry. Didn't want to screw up the symmetry of Simonson/Stelfreeze." Makes sense to me. Thanks for the explanation, Walt.

Now on to this week -- and Wednesday Comics again. Karl Kerschl's framing of two "strips" (Iris West/The Flash) in one with Flash Comics is delightful. It would have been my top story of the Wednesday Comics collection this week, were it not for Kyle Baker. Kyle Baker gave readers a scene with Hawkman, a child and a smile. Four simple panels in the midst of a frenetic adventure that reminds me yet again why Baker is one part artist/one part cinematographer in his storytelling.

Mark Waid finishes up the first major arc with The Incredibles this week. My son is loving the book and so am I, but for different reasons. For me, I'm loving it for the comedic moments that Waid works in, almost as asides it seems (and that's a compliment). My favorite bit in The Incredibles 4 is the "heights" that Violet's boyfriend goes to get in a good cell zone to call her.

Any week I get to type the name Gene Colan is good for me. Go get Captain America 601, sure it's a filler issue to a certain extent, but it's Gene Colan.

Finally I greatly appreciated Jess Nevins' analysis of Fu Manchu in the back of Incognito 5. Kudos to Brubaker for working in content like this into his Icon series.

Batman & Robin #2

Matt Maxwell: Light comics week reading this week.  (Mostly books from last week anyways).

WEDNESDAY COMICS #1
There's some great pieces here, but Ben Caldwell's WONDER WOMAN is the standout.  Okay, SUPERGIRL is a standout too.  And Risso...well, it's  Risso. I mean, you can't pass that up.  Oh, and Garcia-Lopez on METAL MEN. Everything he does is a master class in storytelling.

But Caldwell's take on WONDER WOMAN is a real gem that actually does something intriguing with the space he's been given.  Don't get me  wrong. The others are nicely done.  But they don't jump out as really exceptional.

I'll probably buy all of these as they come out, but I would be lying  if I said that I didn't want to read all the stories collected instead of  anthology style.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #2
Morrison and Quitely make this seem like it's so easy.  Like it's a  breezy little jaunt through the back alleys of Gotham City and it all just came off  the tops of their heads.  But it didn't.  There's a real weight and substance and insight at play.  Instead of working with the ultra grim "I must become a bat" school, Morrison and Quitely instead play up "I'm an actor playing a role" angle.  And giving the role of Robin to Damian allows him to be a  great foil for Dick Grayson's Batman.  It's a far better book than I thought it would be and I figured it'd be pretty good (and I lost interest in Morrison's run on Batman when it became BATMAN RIP).  But this book is something else entirely.  I don't want Bruce Wayne back as Batman.  Let him vacation
for awhile.  He's certainly earned it.

AGENTS OF ATLAS #7
At least I think it's #7.  I'm not used to keeping track of numbers in the comics I'm reading, since I switched over to mostly trades.  You know why I like this book so much?  Because it's not about characters that I was reading thirty years ago.  This is uncharted territory in the Marvel U.  And who better to set course for it than Jeff Parker, who has a sense of history, but isn't enslaved by it (as well as a sense of adventure but isn't interested in breaking toys just to break them.)

Research reading?  Who has time for that?  I've got kids out of school and they need entertainment, dammit!  HERE WE ARE, DAD ENTERTAIN US.

The Ice Wanderer

Brigid Alverson: I always loved classic comic strips as a kid, so I was delighted to see NBM’s collection of Frederick Opper’s Happy Hooligan strips from the early 1900s. The book is beautifully produced, with an essay summarizing Opper’s professional work and very nice reproductions of the strips themselves—not an easy feat when you’re talking about yellowing newspaper comics. They probably look a lot better on these pages than in the original. Every strip turns on the same device: Happy, a well-meaning hobo, tries to help someone, is misunderstood, causes all sorts of chaos, and winds up being hauled off by a truncheon-wielding policeman in the final panel. Opper tells each of these stories in six panels with an ascending degree of mayhem and lots of side comments. The similarity of the storylines make this a book that’s better to dip into than to read cover to cover, but it’s a great summer diversion.

Speaking of summer, it’s finally getting hot and sticky here on the East Coast, so I’m escaping with Jiro Taniguchi’s The Ice Wanderer, which comprises six short stories that all share a certain sensibility with the works of Jack London. The first story is a ghost story that is old as the hills, but Taniguchi makes it fresh and ties it so tightly to the place, it’s hard to believe he isn’t from the North himself. His art is crisp and clear, with little of the stylization people usually associate with manga; this is a good example of manga that an indy comics lover can enjoy.

Finally, Alan’s Letters is not a comic but an illustrated nonfiction book, the story of Alan W. Lowell, a World War II soldier who died in combat in 1944. The book, by his niece Nancy Rial, collects his letters starting with basic training and presents them alongside photos of army equipment, vintage postcards and flyers, and modern photos of the sites in France where Alan fought. It all adds up to a very complete and moving picture of army life, as seen through the eyes of an earnest young man.

Crime!

Chris Mautner: I recently finished Darwyn Cooke's adaptation of The Hunter and will have a full review up next week.

I'm also reading a couple of books for The Comics Journal, including the latest (and presumably final) For Better or for Worse collection, Just a Simple Wedding. I have a love/hate affair with creator Lynn Johnston. I think she's one of the most talented cartoonists working in newspapers today, but she lays on the sentimentalism with a trowel. And don't get me started on Anthony.

One book I just started was Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Modern World Part II: From the Bastille to Baghdad. The book's not out until October, but HarperCollins sent me an advance review copy to read. I've been a big fan of this series since it started waaaaaaay back when, and am eager to read this final volume, if a little sad that it's finally ending.

Bleach Vol. 27

John Jakala: I'm perpetually behind in my comic reading, but this past week I actually managed to read several books that have been sitting near my bedside for weeks.

Bleach 27: The latest installment of one of my favorite shonen manga series. It's mainly a series of downtime vignettes before the next multi-volume fight scene kicks off, but there are some satisfying moments for long-time Bleach fans. I loved finally seeing Urahara in action, especially when he frustrated his opponent by finishing his sentences. It was great to see Chad and Uryū get some screen time hopefully they'll be able to pull their weight and not merely serve as punching bags before Ichigo steps in to save the day. And although Orihime's abduction by the Arrancars reeks of the same damsel-in-distress syndrome that befell Rukia in the never-ending Soul Society arc, I'm hopeful that Orihime will be a more active protagonist than Rukia was because Kubo is upping her powers in interesting ways.

Slam Dunk volumes 3 & 4: I'd already read the material in these volumes back when Gutsoon published the series (first in the Raijin Comics anthology and then in the TPB collections) but I still bought the Viz editions because (1) I want to support the series and (2) I find the differences in translation fascinating.

Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service 9: KCDS is the series that received my vote for best ongoing series of 2009, and this volume is a great example why:  In addition to the usual ghastly and gruesome scenarios the gang finds themselves in, we also learn a bit more about the tragic personal backgrounds of two members of the Delivery Service. Combining pathos with horror makes for a surprisingly rich reading experience.

Pluto 3: There is so much I love about this book. I've been enjoying the series, Naoki Urasawa's reworking of Osamu Tezuka's classic Astro Boy storyline "The World's Strongest Robot", since the beginning, but this volume is where things really started to click for me.  Come the end of 2009, I have a feeling this series is going to be sweeping a lot of critics' "Best Of" lists.  In fact, this single volume alone could pretty much lock up all the "Best Of" categories as far as I'm concerned:  Best (and Most Adorable) Character:  Uran; Best (and Most Sympathetic) Villain (TIE): Adolf Haas, Pluto; Best Social Commentary; Best Visualizaiton of Futuristic Society; Best World-Building; Best Remix of Older Material; and Best (and Most Surprising) Use of Limited Color
Printing in a B&W Book.  In fact, one of the only awards that Pluto wouldn't win would be "Best Series Title" because that would go to...

Little Fluffy Gigolo Pelu:  Again, this has got to be one of the best book titles ever.  Coming next month from Last Gasp, Little Fluffy Gigolo Pelu is the latest surreal, psychedleic manga from off-beat artist Junko Mizuno and it details the exploits of Pelu, a strange, cottonball-shaped alien who escapes to Earth in search of a mate so he can fulfill his dream of making a baby.  (Pelu himself is kind of a sentient space sperm ripped from the womb before he could copulate with his egg-like wombmate to produce an alien baby, so he's feeling a bit lost, alone, and incomplete on Earth.)  The book is filled with bizarre, disturbing, but utterly engaging adventures, like the chapter where Pelu's friend the Space Hippo arrives on Earth, eats too many unfamiliar foods, and ends up vomitting an acid-like substance all over the town's local poodle ranch.  The "Vol. 1" in the title makes me hope we'll see more imaginative tales featuring Pelu and his quest for love (or at least reproduction) in the near future.

Otto Porfiri: Drama on the Cliff and Red Moon: These two books were entries in Dark Horse's short-lived Venture ... venture, where DH worked with Strip Art Features to release European GNs in the US several years back. I picked up these two books for 80% off during one of TFAW's big Nick-and-Dent sales almost a year ago and am just now finally getting around to reading them. These stories of a portly private eye bumbling through one bizarre case after another are short, self-contained, and a little thin, but they're saved by artist Franco Saudelli's wonderful art, which alternatively reminds me of the styles of José Luis García-López and Steve Pugh.

Finally, I've been slowly picking away at the mammoth Luba for the past couple weeks. I keep feeling like I should go back and re-read Palomar to reacquaint myself with the characters and settings from the Gilbert-o-verse, but I know that if I do that I'll never get around to actually reading Luba.  It is interesting to go back and see how Gilbert Hernandez's art style has evolved over the years, though.

Longbox

This past weekend Philadelphia welcomed Wizard World, while Charlotte hosted HeroesCon. Two East Coast conventions, separated by more than 500 miles and a couple of states. If you were away from your computer, then you may have missed some of the announcements that sprang from both venues:

• For years people have been asking for an "iTunes for comics." Well, it looks like we might actually get one. Rantz Hoseley's Longbox will be a free download available later this year for PC, Macs and Linux. Comics can be download for a suggested price point of $.99 per issue, with the potential for block and subscription pricing. BOOM! and Top Cow have already signed on.

• Marvel had a lot of announcements at the show. Spinning out of the Uncanny X-Men/Dark Avengers crossover that kicks off any day now will be a series of one-shots that fall under the heading of Dark Reign: The List. Basically Norman Osbourn starts making a list of everyone standing in his way who he needs to do dirty, nasty things to.

The eight one shots and the creators working on them are:

Dark Reign: The List – Daredevil by Andy Diggle and Billy Tan
Dark Reign: The List – Wolverine by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic
Dark Reign: The List – Hulk by Greg Pak and Ben Oliver
Dark Reign: The List – Amazing Spider-Man by Dan Slott and Adam Kubert
Dark Reign: The List – Avengers by Brian Bendis and Marko Djurdjevic
Dark Reign: The List – Uncanny X-Men by Matt Fraction and Alan Davis
Dark Reign: The List – Secret Warriors by Jonathan Hickman and Ed McGuiness
Dark Reign: The List – Punisher by Rick Remender and John Romita Jr.

The project was announced at around the same time both in Philadelphia and in Charlotte. For more info, check out CBR's interviews with Bendis, Fraction and Remender, as well as Pak, Hickman and Aaron. Also, Aaron talks a little bit about his Wolverine one-shot on his blog; it will feature both Marvel Boy and Fantomex, as well as a new Weapon XVI.

• Several of Spider-Man's classic villains, like Electro, Rhino and Mysterio, are returning in a storyline called "The Gauntlet." It also looks like the Black Cat is back for some Spidey lovin'.

Astonishing X-Men

• Creative team shuffles ... Andy Diggle and Roberto De La Torre are the new creative team on Daredevil with issue #501. Rick Remender and Mahmud S. Asrar are doing a guest issue of Thunderbolts, which will feature Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Phil Jimenez is the new artist on Astonishing X-Men, joining Warren Ellis as of issue #31. And apparently Sean McKeever's exclusive contract with DC is up, as he's working on a new series for Marvel called Nomad: Girl Without a World, starring the Bucky from the Heroes Reborn comics.

• The new Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Voodoo, gets his own series in October written by Rick Remender, while the old Sorcerer Supreme gets a mini-series by Mark Waid.

• Marvel is launching another Moon Knight ongoing series by crime novelist and Punisher writer Gregg Hurwitz, with art by Jerome Opeña.

• Daniel Way and Richard Corben are working on a Starr the Slayer mini-series for Marvel MAX.

• Psylocke will star in a mini-series written by Christopher Yost. "The mandate on this series was 'Tell us a story that reminds everyone of why she's so kick ass,'" Yost told Kiel Phegley.

• Kieron Gillen and Cary Nord are working on an Ares mini-series.

• Gregg Schigiel and Jacob Chabot are doing an X-Babies mini-series that will feature the return of several Star Comics characters.

• There's more Marvel Zombies coming.

• DC Comics used both conventions to show off their new Wednesday Comics title. Check out this picture from HeroesCon:

Wednesday Comics

That's editor Ian Sattler, showing off a copy.

• In Philadelphia, Dan DiDio announced a new Jonah Hex hardcover by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Tony DeZuniga. He also announced a new Doc Savage series by Brian Azarello and Rags Morales set in an alternate universe where he'll interact with the Spirit and the Blackhawks.

• Andy Runton's Owly, published by Top Shelf, is now available on the Kindle.

• Jeff Katz revealed the first four titles for his American Original company.

• Former Wizard employee Steven Hoveke, who now runs Square 1 Press and has published convention sketchbooks by both Walt Simonson and Howard Chaykin, was barred from re-entering Wizard World Philadelphia on Saturday. He tells the story of what happened on his company's blog and posted on Twitter that he was barred because of his affiliation with the Long Beach Comic Con. (Via Bleeding Cool)

• Artist Michael Cho was upset to find out someone was walking around HeroesCon wearing a shirt featuring his art. (Via the Comics Reporter)

New Avengers #51

I always knew it would take a Brian Bendis story (do I use his middle name anymore? It's like John Cougar, isn't it?) to really get me back in the fight again.

Okay, New Avengers #51 has put a battered Stephen Strange at our feet and in that last image, I had the sinking feeling that he was asking for OUR help. A character who had sadly been taken to the sidelines and given the worst possible albatross-title of 'Deux ex Machina,' Doctor Strange literally sat out Civil War and was shoehorned into the

New Avengers as Swiss Army Knife and Guy Who's Place We Hang Out At, and this is where the problem started. Using such an amazing character to house the Avengers and toss out a couple illusions was a waste and started a habit of looking at the Sorcerer Supreme as a disposable entity. Who doesn't have a holo-emitter in the MU? Plus, Iron Fist buying them a new home after Strange takes off makes the Sanctum Sanctorum and mastering the mystic arts kinda... meh.

The very issue we find out he got the boot from being Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen Strange tells a young Billy Kaplan that the job of the Sorcerer Supreme is to see the forest for the trees, the greater, grander picture that all these alien invasions and crises fit into. It's not that these Big Tent Events get in the way of someone who's Mystic Arts Inclined, it's that they are only drops of water in a ginormus pond mere mortals can't fathom. It's why everyone with a mask doesn't act as protector of our plane of existence and why that job solely remains with the Big Sorcerer Cheese. In the back of Stan Lee Meets Doctor Strange (hey, work with me here), there's a reprint of Marvel Premiere #3 and what caught my eye (aside from the stellar Barry Windsor-Smith art) is that in this story, Strange feels something out of tune with the universe. He goes through the story, crossing dimensions, pouring through mystical energies, looking under rocks, and not only does he not find it, but I AM SO ENTHRALLED BY THIS HUNT. What kind of story just says "Well... something's weird" and then entertains you for pages on end? A tale of a man who's entire sphere of influence is just incomprehensible. Where seeing the world through his eyes is a treat for the imagination.

Doctor Strange: The Oath

At the same time Strange was having Avengers sleepovers at the Sanctum Sanctorum (oh ha, it's disguised as a coming Starbucks), Brian K. Vaughn was discovering the true beauty of handling a character with phenomenal mystical powers in Doctor Strange: The Oath. Joe Quesada himself has complained that having Strange in the Marvel U makes trouble too easy to thwart. Where's the challenge if you can just wave your hand and make it all disappear? Vaughn proves how utterly wrong that idea is by taking all that power and more and putting it to test under the most human of motivations. The power to cure all of mankind's diseases... or save Wong's life. How does someone cope when the problem is taken from the large and unfathomable to something more desperate and personable?

Doctor Strange is not going to handle your problems. He's not going to wave his hand and make the Civil War stop (though really, I'm starting to get the ugly feeling that he did). Helping you personally is a moral challenge for him. Just look at the Defenders! The Defenders consist of four people who SHOULD NEVER WORK WITH ANYONE IN THE HISTORY OF EVER. Keith Giffen tried to bwah-ha-ha'edly tell us this in his mini with DeMatteis and really, just look at the roster. All of these people are incredibly powerful in their own right and even they can't make it together as a team.

This is how Real Ultimate Power is handled, not by defining it and putting down rules and regulations, but by making the difficulty something beyond guys robbing banks or even invading alien nations. Just as the Sorcerer Supreme's job encompasses where humans fear to tread, so should the stories. The idea of replacing Stephen Strange as Sorcerer Supreme hits me where it hurts, just as losing Bruce Banner as a viable character in the Hulk book did. Both are cases of lining up new entertainment when what has come before is just as relevant today. All of the tools to tell great stories are all there within what's come before. LEGOS are awesome, you don't need Duplo blocks.

Don't get me wrong, Mr. Bendis does adore his curveballs and he's put one over on us before. This Battle for the... the... Sanctum? (if a Cowl could be a House of Incredible Magical Power and All the Goodies Therein) could just lead us back to the beginning with a Stephen Strange whose not only won his rightful title back, but the hearts of fans as well, but who am I kidding? History has shown us that, love it or hate it, "new" sells comics (it's why they keep tacking it onto book titles). While no one wants to hamper anyone's creativity when it comes to character development, I just wish we didn't have to completely dismantle characters in order to catch people's attention. It happened to the Avengers, to Spider-Woman, and now Strange is next.

"My Spider-Man/Dr Strange story is now at the half way point. It's a three issue mini-series that will appear under the Marvel Knights banner, probably in the early summer. It's been great fun drawing and writing the series, and Marvel seem to love what I'm creating so far. I'm coloring the book with Steve Cook, who designed the SWIMINI PURPOSE book for me a few years ago.

If Fantagraphics can't have Dr. Strange, as Eric Reynolds suggested in August, this is equally as awesome.

McCarthy says he can't show any art from the book yet, but he does share this piece, proclaiming he's from the lineage of Ditko:

by Brendan McCarthy