One of the reasons that the digital comics distributor comiXology has done so well is that it syncs well across a number of platforms, including iOS, Android and the web. Their web store is convenient for those who prefer browsing and buying on their computer, but the Flash-based interface is a bit buggy—it never scrolled properly in my Safari browser, for instance—so I was happy to hear that they have relaunched the web store using HTML5 for the browsing and buying interface.

They also redesigned it, which is a relief; if I have one complaint about comiXology, it’s their tendency to throw a bewildering array of comics onto the screen all at once. The original webstore put a ton of comics on the front page (a page that didn’t scroll properly, remember), while this new one mirrors the design of their iPad app, with a smaller selection and tabs to allow the reader to go deeper. Navigation is pretty straightforward—the site is a little slow, but it is still in beta. The comics reader is still in Flash for now.

ComiXology CEO David Steinberger has more details at the comiXology blog, and I spoke to him about the new storefront yesterday. While the iOS app remains the most popular channel, he said, “More and more people actually use our website, once they discover it, to shop and buy, and I hope with the HTML5 release, more will do that.” One of the new features of the web store is that users can gift a cart, rather than just a single comic. “Right now we are going to finish releasing all of Bone, so you will be able to add the whole Bone series to your card and gift it to somebody,” Steinberger said. “We have Sandman at a very competitive price to the paperback. Comics people create more comics people by getting in tune with their friends and gifting them comics.”

Also, if you pay full price at comiXology, you’re not paying attention; they run different sales all week long, and at the moment they have three different holiday sales going on: A Batman 201 sale, a Marvel Major Players sale, and a Holiday Sale featuring indy publishers Oni Press, BOOM! Studios, Image, Dynamite, and IDW. Lots of good stuff here: The Sixth Gun, Robert Kirkman’s Super Dinosaur, Doctor Who, Mark Waid’s Irredeemable, and one of my favorite comics of the year, Spontaneous (the first issue is free, so you can now pick up the whole five-issue arc for four bucks).

“We had a record amount of entries from publishers this year with more than forty-five different titles” said FCBD spokesperson Leslie Jackson. “Retailers on the committee had a tough time deciding on which titles to choose for Gold sponsorship, but we’re sure fans will be pleased with the line-up for next year.”

While the choices may have been difficult, it’s hard to imagine that someone couldn’t come up with something more enticing than what Image has to offer: “An anthology featuring all-new stories with a mix of Image’s old and new best loved characters!” Could you possibly get any vaguer than that? They don’t even have a cover design. If my comic got bumped for that, I’d be steaming. On the other hand, Archaia’s 48-page hardcover, featuring new material (not reprints or bits of something to come) looks mighty sweet, all the more so because they name names: A Mouse Guard story from David Petersen, a Jim Henson’s Labyrinth story by Ted Naifeh and Cory Godbey, a side story from Royden Lepp’s new graphic novel Rust, a Cursed Pirate Girl story from Jeremy Bastian, a Cow Boy story by Chris Eliopoulos and Nate Crosby, and a Dapper Men tale from Jim McCann and Janet Lee. There’s this year’s wow factor.

The line-up actually seemed pretty obvious to me, so I went back and looked at the Gold Sponsors for the past five years. Sure enough, six of the publishers are there every year: Archie, Dark Horse, DC, IDW, Image, Marvel. Since five of these are also Diamond’s premier publishers, and Archie is a newsstand juggernaut, there’s no surprise there. BOOM! Studios has been a Gold Sponsor for the past four years and Archaia for the past three. The other slots vary: Ape Entertainment was a Gold Sponsor in 2011 and 2010 but is missing this year, and Bongo and Oni are back after a two-year absence. Others who have popped up once or twice in the past five years: NBM/Papercutz (2011), Drawn & Quarterly (2010), Viz (2008 and 2009), Dynamite (2008), Virgin (2008), Gemstone (2007), and Tokyopop (2007).

There’s more to come: The Silver Sponsors will be announced next week.

Quick, pop quiz: Who is the only publisher to be releasing monthly material from both Garth Ennis and Kurt Busiek right now? Clue: It’s also the only publisher to be putting out regular work from Alex Ross, Scott Beatty and Phil Hester. So why aren’t more people paying attention to Dynamite?

This isn’t me arguing for Dynamite as a publishing line, because I’ve (a) done that before, and (b) come to realize that a lot of people seem to have made up their minds about Dynamite a long time ago, based on the publisher’s earliest offerings, and not come back to check anything out since. I admit, I get comps from Dynamite, so it’s very easy for me to pay attention to their line, and I’m not going to pretend that I’m a fan of all of it. Things like the former Dabel Bros. books aren’t my kind of thing, and I still struggle with the T&A content of books like Warlord of Mars, Vampirella or the Red Sonja books, but there are some great books that I suspect are completely overlooked coming out from them, what with Kirby Genesis, the recent (much better than it had any right to be, and very 2000AD-ish) Robocop Vs. Teminator: Kill Human, and the not-so-recent-but-I-just-got-around-to-reading-it Sherlock Holmes: Year One series, to name but a few (One of the things about getting the comps, I’ve discovered, is that I sometimes miss a month or two, and then end up waiting to read a storyline once it’s been completed, in one big chunk. Strange but true). But, no, what I’m really talking about is the talent base that Dynamite has quietly grown up over the last few years.

With both Marvel and DC having settled into what is becoming a more and more insular talent pool in terms of writers (DC is, admittedly, seeming to branch out more with the second wave of New 52 hires, but Marvel still feels like it’s based on a variant of the old boys network, for better or worse) there’s something refreshing about seeing writers like Busiek or Hester or Ande Parks and Eric Trautmann–really good, reliable writers who just may not be in favor for whatever reason with the Big Two (Although I remain convinced that Hester should’ve been given his pick of New 52 books after the work he did rescuing Wonder Woman, same as Chris Roberson)–putting out work that’s enjoyable, solid and not entirely dissimilar in tone to “mainstream” comics (which is to say, action/adventure/occasional comedy) month after month. I’m not sure if it’s by design or accident, but Dynamite has also ended up with a (growing) family of writers, all of whom have shown a willingness to juggle series, genre and scale as needs be without breaking a sweat.

And Dynamite’s artists … well, Tim wasn’t entirely wrong when dissing Johnny Desjardins in his CBR column last week, because his David Finch stylings are limited, at best. But there’s a wealth of artistic talent at Dynamite that really does deserve to be seen. After all, Francesco Francavilla and Paul Renauld both made their U.S. debuts with the company, and other cover artists producing regular work for the publisher include the aforementioned Ross, Joe Jusko, Ryan Sook and Mark Buckingham. The interior artists may be less familiar, but there are some great people working there, including Aaron Campbell, Daniel Lindro, Jack Herbert and my pick for the “I can’t believe he’s not been stolen away by DC for a Justice League International book yet” award, Carlos Rafael.

It’s an odd thing to applaud, I guess; the idea that Dynamite has this team of great creators doing really good work that not enough people are paying attention to. But it’s true; I get that not every book is going to appeal to everyone, and I get that the publisher has a lot of baggage purely from publishing so many licensed titles that people have preconceived notions of. But look past whatever prejudices and preconceptions you have in place, and Dynamite puts out work by a lot of people whose work is not only ready for prime time, but way better than what’s already being pushed as the Next Big Thing in mainstream comics.

I’m kind of fascinated by Ardden Co-President Brendan Deneen’s comments at Comic Book Resources about sharing the Flash Gordon license with Dynamite Entertainment, if only because I’ve been wondering about “shared” licenses for a while.

For those who haven’t seen Deneen’s comments, he told CBR’s Kiel Phegley, “[T]o have someone else come along and start publishing the same character while we’re in the middle of our run … yeah, it stings. It kind of feels like someone stabbing you in the back. Sure, they’re technically ‘allowed’ to do this but that doesn’t make it any less lame on their part.” And … well, I can kind of see his point, on one hand; to have a recognizable brand as your central book is kind of a big deal for any publisher, nevermind a smaller one, and to see that enticement to readers go from being an exclusive thing to something being shared with a larger publisher … Well, that’s really got to suck.

Thing is, Dynamite should be very sympathetic to Deneen’s situation, seeing as Dynamite has seen John Carter of Mars suddenly become a Marvel property now that Disney is starting to put its promotional weight behind their Carter movie next year, even though there are currently three Carter series available from Dynamite. Of course, Dynamite isn’t the only publisher to share John with Marvel; I was surprised to see this in Marvel’s most recent round of solicitations:

JOHN CARTER, WARLORD OF MARS OMNIBUS HC
Written by MARV WOLFMAN, CHRIS CLAREMONT, PETER B. GILLIS, BILL MANTLO & ALAN WEISS
Penciled by GIL KANE, DAVE COCKRUM, CARMINE INFANTINO, WALTER SIMONSON, ROSS ANDRU, ERNIE COLON, FRANK MILLER, MIKE VOSBURG, LARRY HAMA, SAL BUSCEMA, ERNIE CHAN & ALAN WEISS
Covers by ALAN DAVIS & GIL KANE
Marvel’s top talents of the 1970s take on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ savage swordsman of Barsoom! John Carter, a hunted soldier on the Western frontier, is transported to an alien world filled with six-armed aliens, sinister super-science and the love of his life, the incomparable Dejah Thoris! A must-have science-fiction epic in the Mighty Marvel Manner! Collecting JOHN CARTER, WARLORD OF MARS #1-28 and ANNUAL #1-3.

Why was I surprised? Because this is exactly the same material as a collection Dark Horse put out this past February. The differences are in terms of format; Marvel’s is a full-color oversize hardcover for $99.99, Dark Horse’s is an “Essentials”-style black and white paperback for $29.99 (Hint: Save yourself the 70 bucks and get the DH version; the color probably isn’t that good).

Thing is, though, I’m not sure whether or not sharing franchises is necessarily a bad thing. Yes, I know that brand loyalty definitely affects initial purchasing, perhaps, but what’s to say that someone buying Dynamite’s Flash Gordon isn’t going to decide that they want to read more about the character and jump over onto the Ardden books? Or, for that matter, that fans of Flash, Carter (or The Phantom, which Dynamite shared with Moonstone for awhile, as far as I remember? The golden age superheroes featured in Project Superpowers, Terra Obscura and Savage Dragon, as well) would even care – or notice? – which publisher the stories came from, as long as they were good.

In a weird way, sharing licenses forces publishers to up their game: It’s not enough to only rely on name recognition, now you also have to do the best books out there featuring those characters. When you look at it like that, you almost end up wishing that even more characters and licenses could be shared between publishers…

I’ve been thinking lately about the whole “The Big Guy versus The Little Guy” thing, when it comes to comic publishers. Specifically, when it comes to Marvel and other people’s comics, and the way that the former really doesn’t seem to be looking too good in that area recently.

Weirdly enough, I didn’t initially put together the announcement of Marvel’s Warlord of Mars comics with their recent release of Mystery Men – a comic that shares its name with Bob Burden’s Flaming Carrot, with a trademark that may or may not have been swiped on the very day that Universal Movies – The studio that adapted Burden’s comic into a movie, back in 1999 – lost its hold on the name, which is… suspicious, to say the least (Marvel deny sniping the trademark to the name, saying that the TM was available when they looked into the matter). After all, they’re pretty much unrelated, right? One is just announcing a new licensed book, and the other is just expanding a franchise with a questionably named title…

…Except, of course, Marvel’s Warlord of Mars book will come in direct competition with Dynamite Entertainment’s already-existant Warlord of Mars comics, a fact that’s completely ignored in Marvel’s official PR for A Princess of Mars, which instead talked about “bring[ing the Edgar Rice Burroughs] novels to comics for a new generation,” as if someone isn’t already doing that very thing (The books are public domain, so this is less about copyright, and more about simply ignoring content that’s already out there). It’s possible that such PR-speak is ignorant, as opposed to malicious (Although Dynamite’s Warlord of Mars books have been out for, what, eight or nine months now, and have covers by Alex Ross and Art Adams, both of whom have done work for Marvel during that time, so… You’d think they’d know, right?), but when noticed next to the cavalier attitude towards Bob Burden’s ownership of Mysterymen as a title, it seems a little worrying.

It’s probably too much to think that Marvel just doesn’t care about reusing other people’s ideas, because… well, as creators/caretakers of their own intellectual property, they clearly understand the value of ownership of ideas and titles and the whole shebang. But these two moves, happening so closely together, suggest an attitude of “We’re what’s happening!” that ignores or overwrites other people’s effort in favor of making their own seem more impressive or original. That would be disturbing at the best of times, but when you factor in that whole “history is written by the winners” thing, and look at Marvel’s market share in the direct market, there’s something oddly depressing about the whole thing. I’d like to think that Marvel can’t just run roughshod over other people’s work, but… they’re Marvel, and these days, that means Disney. Who’s going to stop them?

Digital comics distributor comiXology announced this week that DC Comics, Image, BOOM!, Dynamite and a number of other publishers have signed on with their Digital Storefront Affiliate program.

The program allows retailers to add a comiXology-run store and comics reader to their websites. Without seeing the numbers, it’s hard to see how good a deal this is for retailers in terms of how much they make on each book. However, it is a more elegant solution to the digital dilemma than Diamond’s digital distribution plan, in which shoppers who are already in the store can buy a download code for a digital comic, and it points to one way that brick-and-mortar retailers can prosper in a changing market: By using their skills and knowledge to sell comics digitally to customers who would never darken the door of a physical comics store.

David Brothers neatly outlines the current digital dilemma in his latest think-piece on digital comics: Publishers (especially DC and Marvel) are deliberately doing a bad job with digital comics so as not to undercut retailers, regarding digital comics as both a threat to the traditional comics infrastructure and too insignificant to bother doing well.

Digital comics are something different. They aren’t a threat. Will they eat away at some of the sales for comics shops? Sure! Some people go to comic shops and don’t particularly enjoy the experience. That doesn’t mean that you should hamstring them, just in case something might happen. No market stays the same for decades. Comics, and the people who buy them, should evolve over time.

Digital comics are a great solution for people who don’t live near a comics store, who don’t like their LCS, or who don’t know what a “comics store” is but have heard about Batman or The Walking Dead, and want to check it out. Savvy retailers could really make this work in their favor. There is, as I pointed out a while ago, no Google for the iPad. Suppose you want to buy a Batman comic. Most people don’t know who publishes what comic, and you can’t just go to the Apple Store and search for it. But if you do what the rest of the world does and Google it, and if one of the top hits is a site where you can buy it digitally, and if, furthermore, when you go to that site it is well curated and presents the comics in such a way that you know pretty quickly which Batman comic you would like, then that retailer gets to make a sale that would never have been made otherwise. That customer would never have jumped through all the hoops necessary to buy the comic in a brick and mortar store or on the iPad.

This solution expands the market. It brings in new customers by bridging the divide between the web and digital comics. People have tried this in different ways—comiXology already has a web app, as does Graphic.ly, and DriveThruComics will sell you a PDF to view on your computer or iPad, no special comics reader needed. But these guys throw up a huge stack of comics every week. They are really just distributors. The retailer can sort through this for the user, set up sections for different cohorts (hard-core superhero or indy-only), and make recommendations based on previous purchases. In other words, they can do what retailers do now in stores, but by doing it on the web, they can serve a much larger audience. The bottom line is that this could grow the comics market, if smart retailers seize the opportunity. The Diamond program is designed to sell more things to existing customers; comiXology’s is designed to bring in more customers.

Right now, it looks like DC and Marvel are trying to lock the customers into the store, by delaying the digital release of comics and pricing them too high once they are released. The comiXology program goes the opposite route, bringing in new customers by offering what retailers do best—recommend, suggest, curate—while eliminating the inconvenience of physical stores. It’s not the only way, and it may have flaws of its own, but it does suggest a constructive direction for the direct market, a way it can survive in the digital age by playing to retailers’ strengths, rather than trying to ignore their weaknesses. And if the direct market gets comfortable with digital, maybe they will start demanding day-and-date releases and lower prices—in other words, a digital marketplace that is designed to actually sell comics, not scare customers away.

Jack Kirby

Legal | New York federal judge Colleen McMahon made several decisions last week in the case of Jack Kirby’s heirs attempting to terminate Marvel’s copyright of his works. The judge agreed with Marvel that it would be premature to make an accounting of how much money is at stake, but rejected a bid by Marvel to throw out the Kirby estate’s main counterclaim. She also ruled that the Kirby estate’s attempt to reclaim original art is barred by the statute of limitations, counterclaims of breach-of-contract and violation of the Lanham Act were tossed, and Disney will be part of the case, even though Marvel said it shouldn’t be.

“In sum, the judge has narrowed the case to its most crucial issue. Both sides disagree about Kirby’s working environment in the 1950s and 1960s when he, along with Stan Lee, conceived many of Marvel’s most popular characters. The judge will soon be tasked with looking at Kirby’s work history and some of the loose contracts and oral agreements that guided his efforts in those years,” wrote Eriq Gardner. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Creators | Artist, letterer and colorist John D’Agostino died Nov. 29. D’Agostino started his career as a colorist for Timely Comics and was head of their coloring department for several years. He also worked for Archie Comics, Charlton Comics and Marvel Comics, and lettered the first few issues of Amazing Spider-Man in the 1960s. Tom Spurgeon offers an obituary. [Mark Evanier]

Michael George

Legal | A new judge will preside over the second trial of comics retailer Michael George, as the original judge, Macomb County Circuit Judge James Biernat, is set to retire Dec. 31. George, 50, was found guilty in March 2008 of first-degree murder in the death of Barbara George, who was shot in the head at the comic store they owned in Clinton Township, Mich. He was sentenced to life in prison in June 2008, but less than three months later Biernat set aside the verdict, citing prosecutorial misconduct and the release of new evidence that could lead the jury to believe another person was responsible for the murder. A second trial is set for Feb. 8. [The Tribune Democrat]

Publishers | Don MacPherson looks into an eBay listing for a “HUGE collection of proofs, color separation & color key printing cells, art copy, original artwork, comic books, graphic novels, posters and advertising items” from “the founder of Comico Comic Book Company.” He discovers the listing was made by the owner of the warehouse where the collection has been stored since the company went under, and he speaks with former Comico editor-in-chief Diana Schutz about the listing. “If any of the original art up for sale on eBay is part of the stuff that ‘disappeared’ when Comico folded in 1990, then that art was not Comico’s, legally, to sell. That art was in Comico’s hands for reproduction purposes only, and should have been returned to the rightful owners — the artists, that is — at the time of bankruptcy,” Schutz said. [Eye on Comics]

WonderCon

Conventions | Registration for the 25th annual WonderCon in San Francisco opens tomorrow, Dec. 1. The 2011 show will run April 1–3 at the Moscone Center South in San Francisco, with special guests Joe Quesada, Jason Aaron, Robert Kirkman, Paul Levitz, Frank Quitely, Seth and many more. [press release]

Digital | David Brothers explains why the recently announced “Marvel Comics App Vault,” which would “retire” comics from their digital comics application for an unspecified amount of time, is a bad idea. [ComicsAlliance]

Publishing | Rich Johnston wonders why Dynamite’s Bring the Thunder #1, by Alex Ross, Jai Nitz and Wilson Tortosa, is the second-lowest ordered Dynamite book of all time, and how this might affect its value in the speculator market. “So there is uncomfortable reality that this book does feature a lead African American character, and promoted as such. And that such reduced preorders may be as a result that some believe that such books automatically sell lower.” [Bleeding Cool]

Creators | Matt McGloin talks to writer Christos Gage about the Marvel mini-series Invaders Now! [Cosmic Book News]

Creators | At a time when the Transportation Security Administration can’t seem to catch a break, it doesn’t hurt to find out that some of them are comics fans. [Van Jensen]

Comics | J. Caleb Mozzocco looks at Marvel and DC Comics titles that sell less issues than the recently canceled Thor: The Mighty Avenger. [Every Day is Like Wednesday]

Comics | Comics critic Matt Seneca defends the artwork of Rob Liefeld. “A Liefeld may not move you along through the story like a Toth or Miller does, but every panel hits so hard and nasty that the giddy guilt-free mayhem of superhero comics ends up better served by it than anything considered or elegant. Is it individual expression? Liefeld never bends to the world as it is, whether in reality or even in the comics that came before him. He pulls from inside himself and draws what comes. And for my money, that’s what ‘good comics art’ is.” [Death to the Universe]

Batman & Robin #15

If it’s Tuesday, it must be time for Food or Comics?, where every week some of the Robot 6 crew talk about what comics we’d buy if we were subject to certain spending limits — $15 and $30, as well as if we had extra money to spend on what we call our “Splurge” item. Check out Diamond’s release list to see what arrives in comic shops this week,then play along in our comments section.

Chris Mautner

If I had $15:

I’d get Batman & Robin #15 ($2.99), the final chapter in the “Batman Must Die” arc, which, I think we can all agree, as been one of the best runs in the series so far, thanks largely to the stellar work of artist Frazer Irving. I’d also get Highland Laddie #3 ($3.99), the latest issue in the Boys spin-off mini-series. I haven’t been as impressed with this one as I was with the current storyline in Boys, but I remain ever hopeful that it will come together in some fashion by the end.

If I had $30:

I’d chuck those comics aside like so many election mail flyers and nab Picture This ($29.95), the latest book by Lynda Barry and a sequel to her stellar What It Is. As with that book, this uses collage, comics, autobiography and more to provide an inspirational, thoughtful examination of drawing and the artistic process. I can’t wait to sit down with a copy. If it’s half as good as its predecessor, it will be fantastic.

Splurge:

If this doesn’t count as a splurge item I don’t know what does: 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective is a $100, slipcased volume dedicated to one of the more influential (and certainly controversial — I still get complaints from newspaper readers about this strip at my day job) comic strips of the latter half of the 20th century. It’s not a complete retrospective of the past 40 years, but it comes pretty close, according to the PR. The strip’s certainly been up and down in terms of quality during its lifetime, but when it’s on, it has few equals.

There’s also (as long as we’re splurging) The Horror! The Horror! ($29.95), a collection of pre-code horror comics from Abrams, with commentary by Jim Trombetta and an introduction by R.L. Stine. The interesting thing here is an included DVD that contains Confidential File, a 1955 show that detailed the evils of comic books on poor, unsuspecting kids.

Brigid Alverson

The Sixth Gun #5

If I had $15…

I’d buy some floppies for a change. Let’s start with Sixth Gun #5 ($3.99), from Oni Press; I have fallen a bit behind on this nifty little supernatural tale but it seems appropriate to pick it up again as Halloween draws near. I don’t want to miss CBGB #4 ($3.99), from BOOM! Studios. I missed out on the first issue of Skullkickers, but I’ll pick up Skullkickers #2 ($2.99) on the strength of the solicit text—why yes, I do like Hellboy, and I would be interested in a quest for a famous corpse—and if I like it I’ll scrounge for #1. That leaves just enough for me to pick up Murder of King Tut #5 from IDW for the sole reason that the cover is by Darwyn Cooke; again, if I like it, I’ll find the rest. That cover is just lovely all on its own.

If I had $30…

I would add in vol. 11 of Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys ($12.99). Nobody spins a tale like Urasawa.

Splurge

It has to be X’ed Out, Charles Burns’s new graphic novel. I picked up a black-and-white galley of this at the American Library Association meeting in June, and I found it intriguing, if incomplete (I believe there is another volume to come). It’s the sort of book you can read over and over, and each time it will be slightly different, so I don’t mind shelling out $19.95 for such a slim volume.

It seems like Horror: The Horror Comic Books the Government Didn’t Want You to Read ($29.95) would be the perfect companion volume; everything Burns represses is right out in the open in those pre-code comics, and it would certainly be instructive to read the two books side by side.

JK Parkin

Soldier Zero

If I had $15 to spend …

I’d start with Stan Lee’s Soldier Zero #1 ($3.99), written by Paul Cornell, which is kind of all I need to know. Like Chris, I’d also grab Batman & Robin #15 ($2.99) as I agree it is the best run on the series so far. All the ads I keep seeing during Mad Men have me jonesin’ for more Walking Dead, so let’s add issue #78 to the pile ($2.99). And finally, Chaos War #2 ($3.99), as the first issue was excellent and Carla might beat me up if I don’t list it here.

That puts me roughly at $14.

If I had $30 to spend …

I’d add Vertigo Resurrected #1 ($7.99), which brings the Hellblazer tale “Shoot” by Warren Ellis and Phil Jimenez into print. On top of that, there’s also the third issue of Morning Glories ($3.50) and a new Sixth Gun ($3.99).

Splurge

I’m going to go with Team Brigid and pick the new Charles Burns graphic novel, X’ed Out ($29.99).

Michael May

Dragon Puncher

If I had $15:

I’d pick up James Kochalka’s Dragon Puncher ($9.95), because who doesn’t want a book about a kitty in a robot-suit who punches dragons? And just because it’s burning a hole in my pocket, I’d probably blow the rest on the DCU Halloween Special ($4.99). DC’s holiday anthologies are always a risky proposition, but there are occasionally some fun stories in there.

If I had $30:

I’d add the Marvel Her-Oes collection ($14.99). The title still makes me cringe, but not the concept – the high school shenanigans of various Marvel heroines – and certainly not Craig Rousseau’s art.

Splurge:

I’ve been curious about Dynamite’s Zorro comics and Zorro: Matanzas ($14.99) seems like a good way to try them out.

House of Mystery Halloween Annual #2

If it’s Tuesday, it must be time for Food or Comics?, where every week some of the Robot 6 crew talk about what comics we’d buy if we were subject to certain spending limits — $15 and $30, as well as if we had extra money to spend on what we call our “Splurge” item. Check out Diamond’s release list to see what arrives in comic shops this week,then play along in our comments section.

JK Parkin

If I had $15 to spend:

Strange Tales 2 #1 ($4.99)
House of Mystery Halloween Annual #2 ($4.99)

Two $5 anthologies that should be well worth the asking price. Strange Tales II, the sequel to Marvel’s indie cartoonist anthology from last year, features new stories by Rafael Grampa, Kate Beaton, Frank Santoro, Dash Shaw, Jeff Lemire, Kevin Huizenga, Jhonen Vasquez and many more. House of Mystery Halloween Annual #2, meanwhile, features stories by folks like Mike Kaluta, Jill Thompson, Chris Roberson, Mike Allred, Matthew Sturges and Peter Milligan. Most notably, it has a new “Lucifer” story by Mike Carey and Peter Gross, which is the big draw for me personally.

Update: I received an advanced copy of this in the mail tonight, and saw that the Madame Xanadu story isn’t actually by Mike Kaluta and Jill Thompson, as was noted in the above-linked CBR story. No, the Madame Xanadu story is actually by Matt Wagner and Brandon Graham. And it is pretty awesome.

Warlord of Mars #1 ($1)

Dynamite offers a cheap introductory issue to their new series about Edward Rice Burroughs’ character John Carter, the Confederate soldier who ended up on Mars. The book is by Arvid Nelson and Stephen Sadowski, and you can’t go wrong with the cover price.

Thor #616 ($3.99)

The second issue of Matt Fraction’s run; this is the comic a lot of people have been waiting for him to tackle for quite awhile, myself included, and his first issue didn’t disappoint.

If I had $30

I had a hard time deciding on my second round this week, as there were several new comics I’d want to check out — Superior, Knight & Squire — but I decided to go with the trade paperback of Guerrillas ($14.99). Originally published by Image, Oni collects the series by Brahm Revel about a group of simian soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War. It’s not the kind of concept I’d typically be drawn to or, honestly, expect to be any good, but the series is pretty excellent. I’m glad to see Oni pick it up and allow Revel to finish it up.

Splurge

I’m about halfway through Sickness in the Family ($19.99), the latest Vertigo Crime book, and so far I’m really enjoying it. So I’d make it my splurge item this week, with a tip of the hat to the Celadore trade paper back ($14.99), which collects the Zuda series.

Chris Mautner

Strange Tales, Volume 2

If I had $15:

There’s a number of good comics coming out this week, including the fourth issue of Casanova ($3.99), the fifth issue of Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne ($3.99) and the first issue of Strange Tales II ($4.99). I’m a bit tempted to wait until for the trade collection with Strange Tales, but I know in my heart I won’t be able to wait to see what folks like Kate Beaton, Frank Santoro, Dash Shaw and others do with Marvel’s classic cast of characters.

If I had $30:

I already own a copy, but if you’re looking for just one good book to buy, let me point you toward Make Me A Woman, a delightful collection of comics by the wonderful Vanessa Davis. She writes and draws with charm and good humor about her life and times, particularly as it pertains to her Jewish heritage and upbringing. If you need further persuasion, you can read an interview I did with Davis here.

Another recommendation is Peter Bagge’s Everybody is Stupid Except for Me & Other Astute Observations, which Fantagraphics is re-releasing. I reviewed the book when it first came out here.

Splurge:

IDW has been doing a bang-up job with their Bloom County collections, so I’ll be sure to add Vol. 3 ($39.99) to my Amazon wish list. I’m also eager to check out Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein ($21.99), also from IDW, but this time focusing on a lesser known artist, one beloved by serious Golden Age collectors, but few others. I haven’t read much Briefer and I’m curious to see what his work reads like in bulk.

Michael May

Knight & Squire #1

If I had $15:

I don’t know if it’s DC’s announcement about cheaper comics coming, but I’m suddenly interested in single issues again and I’d blow my $15 on those. Knight & Squire #1 ($2.99) sure looks like fun, as does Tiny Titans/Little Archie #1 ($2.99). I’m a Tiny Titans fan now and loved Little Archie in younger days, so this could be the coolest thing since Archie vs. The Punisher. Rounding out my bag would be Marvel’s Strange Tales 2 #1 ($4.99) and Dynamite’s Warlord of Mars #1 ($1.00). I’m a big John Carter fan.

If I had $30:

I’d add Dark Horse’s Turok: Son of Stone #1 ($3.50) to the pile. It would be the first Turok comic I’ve ever bought, because I was obviously stupid in younger days. Also, I’ve been wanting to try Campfire’s comics adaptations of classic lit and Invisible Man ($9.99) seems like a good place to start.

Splurge:

I don’t know if I’d keep it for myself or generously give it to my dad, but Bloom County Complete Library, Volume 3 ($39.99) would go home with me from the store. As would Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein ($21.99), but that one’s definitely staying at my house. I’ve been wanting to read those stories for a few years now.

Parker: The Outfit

Welcome to another installment of “Food or Comics?” Every week we set certain hypothetical spending limits on ourselves and go through the agony of trying to determine what comes home and what stays on the shelves. So join Brigid Alverson, Michael May and Chris Mautner as they run down what comics they’d buy if they only had $15 and $30 to spend, as well as what they’d get if they had some “mad” money to splurge with.

Check out Diamond’s full release list if you’d like to play along in our comments section.

Chris Mautner

If I had $15:

The latest issue of The Boys is on my pull-list for this week ($3.99) and I’m anxious to see how Hughie reacts after discovering Annie’s big, horrible secret last ish. (sounds like I’m talking about a daytime soap, doesn’t it? If daytime soaps had more vomiting, cuss words and dismemberment.)

I’ll also likely pick up the fifth issue of James Stokoe’s Orc Stain ($2.99). I’m coming into the series a little bit late, but based on raves it’s been garnering across the Interwebs, I tried a random issue and dang if I wasn’t tickled with it’s wit and dense world-building sensibilities. Now I’m trying to track down the other issues I’ve missed.

If I had $30:

There’s a lot of good stuff this week, but (assuming I put aside my two previous purchases for a later date) what would easily top my list (and that of my fellow Robot Sixers I’m sure) is Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit, the second book in Darwyn Cooke’s ongoing adaptation of Donald Westlake’s (writing under the Stark nom de plume) series of hard boiled crime novels. I hadn’t been a Cooke fan previously, but the first book, The Hunter, made me a believer and the recent mini/prologue that IDW released earlier this year, The Man With the Getaway Face, sealed the deal. I’m very much looking forward to reading this.

But! There’s every chance once I’m in the store my eye might stray. For example, D&Q has the latest volume of Seth’s Palookaville out right now for a mere $19.95. And it’s the new, lengthier, hardcover version too. I already picked up a copy at SPX but I wanted to note it’s arrival since, if your tastes run more toward Peter Arno than Alex Toth, that’s what you’re going to be clutching at the cash register.

At the risk of weakening this weekly exercise even further, let me take a second to point out that D&Q also has the first trade collection of Doug Wright’s Nipper ($16.96), a charming, funny, warm and wordless strip that was big up in Canada back in the day but never really made any inroads here in the U.S. The strip evokes both Peanuts and Gasoline Alley in its attention to craft, observational slice-of-life humor and sweet but sharp wit regarding two rambunctious boys and the continual headaches they give their mother and father. Any parent will recognize the goings-on here with a smile and perhaps the occasional wince.

Splurge:

Back before it hit senior-citizen age, before Mr. Dithers and Daisy the dog were introduced, Chic Young’s Blondie was a slapstick soap about a lively, smart alec flapper, her uber-rich beau Dagwood and his snobbish parents, who continually fainted at the mere thought of their son marrying such a hussy. What’s more, back then, the strip was actually rather funny! Want proof? IDW has collected the first two-plus years in their ongoing attempt to convince modern Americans that strips that are utter crap today were really great long ago. Long, long, long ago. ($49.99)

Brigid Alverson

If I had $15:

Fish N Chips

It’s a tough week, and I’m going to have to stretch the budget a bit. I want to pick up the second issue of Scratch 9 ($3.95), by Rob Worley and Jason Kruse (with covers by Mike Kunkel), a fast-paced and funny comic about a cat who comes face to face with the rest of his nine lives. Then I’m going to have to steal two bucks so I can also pick up Steve Hamaker’s Fish N Chips ($12.95), another wacky-animals kids’ graphic novel that looks like it’s done in a similar spirit. To pay for it, I’ll just skip dinner and have a Happy Meal instead.

If I had $30:

I’d hold off on Fish N Chips for this week and go for some more adult fare: Darwyn Cooke’s The Outfit ($24.99), the second of his Parker graphic novels. The Hunter blew me away, as did The Man with the Getaway Face, which was the prequel to this book. These books aren’t just set in the 1950s, they practically embody it, with Cooke’s slick magazine-style art and a sensibility that comes straight out of pulp novels. This may be the best graphic novel of 2010.

Splurge: I read some of Vanessa Davis’s comics online a while ago and really liked them. Her memoir comics are good stories backed with a memorable cast of characters and a willingness to laugh at herself as well as others, and I’m looking forward to reading her new graphic novel, Make Me a Woman ($24.99).

But the true splurge this month would be the first volume of IDW’s Blondie collection ($49.99). I’m a complete pushover for books like this—I love classic newspaper comics, and IDW has been doing a really nice job with their collections. What’s more, this book promises to show the hidden history of Blondie—when it started out, it was more a soap opera than a gag strip, with Dagwood as a rich playboy who horrifies his upper-crust family by falling for carefree flapper Blondie. I’m dying to see this story and would cheerfully trade in all my week’s comics just to see Dagwood go on a hunger strike.

Michael May

If I had $15:

Frankie Stein

I’d pick up Frankie Stein ($14.99) from Image. I like Steven Seagle’s writing, I especially like children’s books, and I love Frankenstein. Seagle’s book about the trials of a green-skinned, bolt-headed kid encountering the world outside his castle for the first time sounds wonderful.

If I had $30:

I’d buy Fish N Chips, Volume 1 ($12.95). My son and I love the Fish N Chips stories from the Flight anthologies (David even made up a song about them) and are looking forward to a longer adventure. Then, because I’m a man with the compulsive need to spend every last cent of his budget, I’d grab Image Firsts: Haunt ($1.00) just for curiosity’s sake. I can’t imagine its being my thing, but it’s only a buck. That leaves me with a dollar for a candy bar or something.

Splurge:

There are a couple of collections I’ve been looking forward to. I bought Perhapanauts, Volume 1 a long time ago, but stopped reading it when I realized it wasn’t really the first volume. The long-awaited Perhapanauts, Volume 00: Dark Days ($17.99) is. I’m looking forward to finally digging into that series. Also, Phil Hester’s Anchor, Volume 2 ($16.99). I’m sad that it was canceled, but that’s not going to stop me from reading as much of it as exists.

Here’s the thing: The core books, the actual Green Hornet ones (Which I define as The Green Hornet, The Green Hornet: Year One and The Green Hornet Strikes!; your mileage may vary) are actually pretty good, to varying degrees. My favorite by far is probably Matt Wagner’s Year One, which hits the right pulpy notes without going overboard or seeming too cliche in its recreation of an era that’s been worked over and overworked plenty of times in the last decade or so, but both the Kevin Smith Hornet – which, if nothing else, is more coherent and less filled with urinating superheroes than his current Bat work – and contemporary/dystopic Strikes! have things going for them, as well.

One of the negatives they also have, though, is that they seem contradictory; does Year One lead into Kevin Smith’s run? Does Strikes! take place after it? Apparently not, and that’s more than a little confusing to me; putting aside any concerns about expanding a line too quickly, it’d only make sense to make sure that the line is coherent and, well, a line, instead of a scattered franchise of multiple versions of the same character that don’t fit together. Considering each series seems to take place in a different time period and both Smith’s title and Strikes accept that there have been previous Hornets, why there couldn’t have been one consistent continuity, I have no idea.

Also in the “I have no idea” camp: Holy crap, there are so many spin-offs. Too many, in fact, for Dynamite’s own website to keep track of properly (The book listed as Kevin Smith’s Kato: Origins is, in fact, a spin-off from Year One and has nothing to do with Smith’s series), which should probably be taken as some kind of sign, as should the fact that each of the spin-offs feel, at best, like extras to the other books, instead of something that stands on their own. But, even if the point of these books from a publishing perspective is to increase the amount of Green Hornet material out there for movie audiences, the stories in these books don’t feel strong enough to exist separate from their “source” books, worth the additional cost. They just exist to… I don’t know. Muddy the brand, and also just make the good books seem less interesting or worthwhile by association.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not expecting the movie to be such a massive smash that, suddenly, it’ll seem like a great idea to have so many Green Hornet books available – In fact, I think the movie is likely going to flop, and so perhaps it’ll be a case of Dynamite getting the most out of their license while they can. But that’s the problem, either way; instead of planning long-term to make the most out of the franchise and the license with quality books (Dynamite can do great licensed material; I love their Lone Ranger and Buck Rogers books, both of which were rolled out very slowly and deliberately), the Green Hornet books may end up becoming a model of how not to handle a multimedia franchise in future. And that’s kind of a shame.

Baltimore: The Plague Ships

If it’s Tuesday, it’s time for Food or Comics? Every week we talk about what comics we’d buy if we only had $15 to spend, if we only had $30 to spend and if we had extra money to spend on what we’re calling a “Splurge” item.

So join Brigid Alverson, Chris Mautner and me as we run down what we’d buy this week, and check out Diamond’s release list to play along in our comments section.

Brigid Alverson

If I had $15…

I’d start with the first issue of Baltimore: The Plague Ships ($3.50), because it’s written by Mike Mignola and it has Europe flooded with vampires. Looks like fun. And then, because I can’t get enough Mignola, I’ll take issue 2 of Hellboy: The Storm ($2.99).

Dark Horse is launching its updated Magnus: Robot Fighter series, written by Jim Shooter, this week. Issue #1 looks pretty sweet, and it’s 56 pages for $3.50 (including the original Magnus story from 1963), so I’ll give that a try.

And then I’ll bring it to a gory finish with the final issue of Kill Shakespeare ($3.99), which has been a bloody but exciting ride.

That’s $13.98, so I’m a little under.

If I had $30…

Brain Camp

I’d add Brain Camp, the new graphic novel from First Second, written by Susan Kim and Lawrence Klavan, illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks. It’s about a bunch of underachiever kids who are sent to a weird camp that is supposed to turn them into geniuses—but they soon find a more mysterious and sinister side to it. That seems like a great summer read, a group of buddies exploring a mystery at a camp, and I really enjoy Hicks’s art. At $16.99, it puts me a bit over the limit, but maybe I can get a deal on Amazon or something.

And my splurge would be Fogtown ($19.99), which looks really interesting—it’s a hard-boiled detective story with a private eye who is deep in the closet, set in San Francisco in the 1950s. That’s an interesting premise and I’d love to see what writer Andersen Gabrych and artist Brad Rader do with it.

Chris Mautner

If I had $15 …

Starstruck #12 ($3.99)
Casanova #2 (3.99)
Boys #45 ($3.99)

… these would likely be my pamphlet — I’m sorry, I mean my floppy — purchases of the week. There’s not much to say about these three series that I haven’t said before, except to note that this is the penultimate issue of Starstruck before it wraps up, at least for the nonce, which I suppose will be good news to those anxiously awaiting the trade collection.

Deadpool #1000

I’d probably also pick up a copy of Deadpool #1000, not because I’m a huge fan of the character but because this “anniversary” issue features contributions from such indie stalwarts as Peter Bagge, Michael Kupperman, Howard Chaykin, David Lapham and Dean Haspiel.

That puts me over budget at $16.96, but I’m sure I can bum the extra $1.96 difference from a generous friend or family member.

If I had $30 …

I’d put those pamphlets (sorry, floppies) aside and plunk the whole $30 on a copy of Nancy Vol. 2, part of Drawn and Quarterly’s ongoing John Stanley Library ($29.95). The Nancy stories aren’t quite as good as some of the other Stanley material D&Q has released — she feels a bit like Little Lulu redux at times — but I do love the freewheeling mania of the tales involving Nancy’s creepy friend Oona Goosepimple and besides, even mediocre Stanley is better than just about anything else out there at the moment.

Splurge:

It’s not a high ticket item, but if I didn’t have to worry about money this week I’d quickly snatch up all of the comics French publisher Humanoids is releasing this week, particularly Metabarons Vol. 4: Aghora & the Last Metabaron ($19.99), the conclusion to Alejandro Jodorowsky and Juan Giménez’s epic, grim and violent space opera. It’s a bit hard to describe — a trippy, involved saga about a family of warriors that only becomes more battle-scarred and sociopathic as the generations go by (it’s also a spin off of Mobieus/Jodorowsky’s classic Incal series). If you’re new to the series and/or curious, the good news is that Humanoids is also re-releasing Vol. 1 (also $19.95).

JK Parkin

If I had $15, I’d get …

Secret Six #24 ($2.99)
Daredevil: Black and White #1 ($3.99)
SHIELD #3 ($2.99)
Murderland #1 ($2.99)

Daredevil: Black and White #1

The preview for Secret Six #24 that DC posted on the Source blog earlier today looks pretty killer. And Daredevil: Black and White features another Ann Nocenti story, following the one from issue 500. So that’s a must buy. Murderland sports David Hahn artwork and an intriguing premise. Add in some Jonathan Hickman goodness/weirdness in the form of SHIELD, and that brings me to $12.96. A little less than I’d normally spend on this first tier, but there’s a method to my madness.

If I had $30, I’d also get …

I’ll need those extra bucks to get Brain Camp ($16.99), the new graphic novel from First Second by Susan Kim, Lawrence Klavan and Faith Erin Hicks. Brigid already described it above, but I’ll add that Hicks is the big draw for me here, even if she isn’t writing it. That brings me to $29.95 for the week.

And finally, for my splurge item, I’d get Indoor Voice ($19.99) by Jillian Tamaki, who drew the award-winning graphic novel Skim. It’s a collection of short comics, sketches and the like by a very talented artist. It may not be for everyone, as the artist notes on her blog: “It can be hard to sum up a book like this, but I had some practice talking about it at Comic-con: I think this book is a snapshot of a year or two in a creative life and is probably best enjoyed by others who live or aspire to a creative life as well.”

Let us know what you’re planning to get this week in the comments section below.

Batman & Robin #13

With the cost of comics seemingly always on the rise, we’ve revamped our old Can’t Wait for Wednesday columns around cover price. Hence, welcome to our second Food or Comics? column, as we look at comics that’ll be in shops tomorrow.

Every week we’ll tell you what comics we’d buy if we had $15 to spend, if we had $30 to spend and if we had some “mad money” (like a gift card) to blow on what we’re calling a “Splurge” item. This week Chris Mautner and Brigid Alverson join Kevin Melrose and myself in our trip to the hypothetical comic shop, following our trip to the imaginary ATM machine.

You can play along as well in our comments section; check out Diamond’s shipping list for tomorrow to see what will be in shops.

Chris Mautner

If I had $15, I’d buy …

Batman & Robin #13 ($2.99)
Starstruck #11 ($3.99)
Godland #32 ($3.99)
Boys #44 ($3.99)

These are just about all the comics I’m currently reading in floppy form, minus a title or two. In fact, I’m relatively certain my LCS will be holding copies of these for me when I stop by this weekend. Three involve superheroes. One is a knotty sci-fi saga. One will almost certainly involve someone’s blood being sprayed across a room. That, or a bathroom joke.

If I had $30, I’d also get …

Smurfs #1 Smurfnapper

Smurfs #1 Smurfnapper ($1)

I’m honestly really excited about NBM’s rerelease of Peyo’s great, classic Smurf comics — my memories of being enthralled by King Smurf at age 12 remain rather strong — so I’m happy to nab this little preview comic to whet my appetite. Besides, since it’s only a dollar, that let’s me stay well within my budget. (Papercutz)

Casanova #1 ($3.99)

I already own the two-color Image version of this, but I’ll probably pick up the new full-color, Icon version anyway. Why? Because, quite frankly, this is the best thing Matt Fraction has done and it deserves as much attention as it can get. Judging by some recent interviews with Fraction, the series wasn’t exactly a money-maker for him, so I’d like to support it as much as I can. (Marvel/Icon)

That puts me just shy of $20, which is where I’d have to stop, as everything else I’d like to purchase would put me way over budget.

Splurge item:

Originally I was looking at that nice Absolute Planetary Vol. 1 ($75) that’s being re-released this week, as friends tell me it’s a good series (at least in the beginning), but instead I think I’m going to go with Last Gasp’s re-release of Tintin in the Congo ($24.95). I have a color French version of Herge’s infamous second Tintin tale, rampant with imperialism, colonialism and just plain racism. But I don’t have this book from Last Gasp, which collects the original serialized, black and white version. If anything, it’s even more offensive and politically incorrect, but for Tintinologists like myself, it’s kind of a must own. Besides, it’s not like Little, Brown is going to release the official color version in English anytime soon.

Brigid Alverson

If I had $15, I’d buy…

Twin Spica, vol. 2

Twin Spica, vol. 2 ($10.95)

I loved the first volume of Kou Yaginuma’s story of a young girl who wants to be an astronaut, and now, with the back story taken care of and the heroine firmly established as sweet but independent-minded, I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next. (Vertical)

Hellboy: The Storm #1 ($2.99)

I’m a recent convert to the Hellboy franchise, which is actually a good thing, as it means I have a lot of reading ahead of me. I read the previous arc of this series, Hellboy: The Wild Hunt, on the train on my way home from C2E2, and there’s no way I’m missing this. Plus the preview looks pretty sweet. (Dark Horse)

That’s $13.94, a little under budget, which is where I like to be.

If I had $30, I would add…

Ghostopolis ($12.99)

Doug TenNapel has put together an interesting cast and concept here: Frank Gallows, a ghost wrangler whose job is to catch ghosts and deport them back to the afterlife, accidentally send Garth, a dying boy, prematurely to the other side. That sets off a chain reaction that becomes more than just Garth trying to get back home. TenNapel’s style is unusually jagged and dark for an all-ages book, but it’s just right for this kind of story. Include me in! (Scholastic)

Kill Shakespeare

Kill Shakespeare #3 ($3.99)

Bloody but literate, this series brings Shakespeare’s characters to life in a different context than we are used to—it’s the bad guys (Iago, Richard III, Lady Macbeth) versus the good guys (Romeo and Juliet, Othello, even Puck) in a race to find the elusive wizard, William Shakespeare. (IDW)

So now I’m at $30.88, which means I have to check under the car seats for change.

But if it’s a binge week, I have one more on my list:

Troublemaker, $17.99

This is Janet Evanovich’s first graphic novel, written with her daughter Alex and illustrated by Joelle Jones, one of my favorite artists—she did the art for Token, one of the better Minx novels, and the flashback sequences in Spell Checkers. I love mysteries and I have enjoyed a couple of Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels, so although this is a different series, I think it’s well worth checking out. (Dark Horse)

… and that brings me to $48.87 for the week, not bad for an armload of books and comics.

JK Parkin

If I had $15 to spend …

Young Allies #2

As I went through the Diamond listings for this week deciding what to get, I think I hit $30 before getting past the DC section. But no one said this would be easy, so let’s get to it …

Batman and Robin #13 ($2.99)
Secret Six #23 ($2.99)
Demo #6 ($2.99)
King City #10 ($2.99)
Young Allies #2 ($2.99)

Since there’s a lot coming out this week that I wanted to buy, I decided to make things easy on myself in this first tier and just go with books that cost $3. That way I could maximize the number of books I take home. I also figured I’d go with known quantities, i.e. no first issues. So what I have here are four books I know I will enjoy reading, plus the second issue of a book whose first issue I really enjoyed; I’m hoping Young Allies turns out to be as cool as its spiritual predecessor, New Warriors, over the long haul.

I’m at $14.95. Nice.

If I had $30 to spend, I’d also get …

Irredeemable #15 ($3.99)
The Boys #44 ($3.99)
Sweet Tooth #11 ($2.99)

The Boys #44

These are three more “must buy” titles for me. I wavered a little bit on The Boys, since Darick Robertson isn’t drawing it, but ultimately I couldn’t put it back on the shelf. I still have about $4 left, so let’s grab something new …

Scarlet #1 ($3.95)

Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev, together again on a brand new title. I was a big fan of their work on Daredevil, so I’m intrigued to see what this new title is about. (Marvel/Icon)

That means I’m spending $29.87, and I’m leaving several books on the shelf that I’d otherwise get, such as Avengers: Children’s Crusade and Steve Rogers Super-Soldier. But there’s always the eventual trade, right?

Splurge

Ghostopolis ($12.99 for the softcover or $24.99 for the hardcover)

I’m a big fan of Doug TenNapel’s previous books, with Creature Tech, Earthboy Jacobus and Monster Zoo being the standouts in my mind. As Brigid noted above, this one involves a ghostbuster of sorts who accidentally sends a kid across the veil before his time. Since this is my splurge item, I’ll take the hardcover, but in reality I’d probably be fine with the softcover. (Scholastic)

Kevin Melrose

If I had $15, I’d buy …

Hellboy: The Storm #1

Hellboy: The Storm #1 ($2.99)

Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo reunite for a three-issue miniseries that concludes the saga they began in 2007 with Hellboy: Darkness Calls and continued in 2008 with Hellboy: The Wild Hunt. Mignola has described The Storm as “an ending of everything we’ve read about Hellboy up until now.” It involves a terrible storm, bodies missing from tombs and a “final bloody showdown.” That’s more than enough to earn my three bucks. (Dark Horse)

Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #1 ($3.99)

After nearly four years, co-creators Allan Heinberg and Jimmy Cheung return to the Young Avengers for a nine-issue bimonthly miniseries detailing Wiccan’s quest to find his mother, the Scarlet Witch. (Marvel)

Scarlet #1 ($3.95)

It’s a week for creator reunions. This time it’s the reunion of the Daredevil and Spider-Woman team of Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev, who debut their creator-owned series about a woman who fights back against a broken world and ends up sparking a revolution. I’m curious enough to at least check out the first issue. (Marvel/Icon)

Thor: The Mighty Avenger #1

Thor: The Mighty Avenger #1 ($2.99)

I’ve been looking forward to this title since it was announced in April at C2E2. I mean, how can you not get excited about an all-ages Thor title written by Roger Langridge and penciled by Chris Samnee? If I could buy only one comic this week, Thor: The Mighty Avenger #1 would be it. (Marvel)

The Smurfs #1: Smurfnapper ($1)

Despite my childhood love for the 1980s Smurfs animated series, I’ve never read any of Peyo’s popular comics on which it was based. Now here’s my chance, courtesy of a $1 teaser for Papercutz’s new line of graphic novels. “The Smurfnapper” marks the first appearance of the villainous, if somewhat inept, sorcerer Gargamel, who seeks to create the philosopher’s stone. Naturally, he discovers one of the ingredients is a Smurf. (Papercutz)

I squeak by at $14.92.

If I had $30 to spend, I’d also grab …

The Weird World of Jack Staff #3 ($3.50)

Paul Grist continues his untold origin of Jack Staff as Professor Fate seizes the Sword of Devastation. Meanwhile, in the present, John Smith discovers who wiped his memories of being a superhero. (Image)

Shadowland #1

Shadowland #1 ($3.99)

I don’t know how interested I am by “the battle for the soul of Daredevil” premise, but I like the focus on Marvel’s “street-level” heroes. Plus, writer Andy Diggle rarely disappoints. (Marvel)

Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier #1 ($3.99)

Speaking of writers who rarely disappoint: Ed Brubaker teaming with artist Dale Eaglesham for a Steve Rogers miniseries can’t be a bad thing. (Marvel)

Thor and the Warriors Four #4 ($2.99)

Huh. This turned out to be a Marvel-heavy week for me — one capped off my the final issue of the latest Power Pack miniseries, Thor and the Warriors Four. If you don’t think the li’l Asgardians in this preview are just about the cutest thing ever, then … your heart is made of stone and darkness. (Marvel)

I slipped in under the bar at $29.39. I’m getting good!

Splurge

B.P.R.D., Vol. 13: 1947 ($17.99)

I had to cut back on my comics budget last summer, so I didn’t buy this miniseries as it was released. Now’s my chance to get all five issues, plus a short story from MySpace Dark Horse Presents. By Mike Mignola, Joshua Dysart, Gabriel Bá, Fábio Moon and Dave Stewart, 1947 is a sequel (naturally enough) to 1946, and centers on Prof. Trevor Bruttenholm’s investigation into a trainload of Nazi soldiers drained of blood. (Dark Horse)

So why is there some kind of stigma against licensed comics these days?

Part of it could be the whole idea of “selling out,” as if there’s something less worthwhile about working on a toy comic than, say, Justice League of America, I guess; it’s not an argument that really holds water (Creators neither own nor control either type of book, after all), but there’s certainly that attitude that exists – Maybe the problem is that it’s rare to see top-selling creators at the height of their powers work on licensed comics, beyond the occasional cover? Gone are the days of Walt Simonson and Tom Palmer doing Star Wars (Or, going back further, Simonson and Archie Goodwin doing Alien for Heavy Metal), with very few exceptions. Or, simply, it could be that licensed comics are seen as lesser because they’re not the primary medium for the characters, and that kind of thing is important for comic fans (See also: Why comic fans are so suspicious of adaptations of their favorite comics ahead of time)?

(Some commenter has already decided to say that it’s because licensed comics suck, but that’s not really true; personally, I’d hold recent issues of Buffy, the Star Wars books, Bill Willingham’s Angel or especially GI Joe: Cobra up against most Marvel or DC books in terms of quality. I think there are some great licensed comics out there, certainly enough to balance the not-so-great ones.)

I feel like I completely get why publishers like IDW, Dynamite and Dark Horse put out so many licensed books, from a business standpoint: There’s an immediate audience there for them, as well as a buy-in to a brand recognition that could help grow the publisher’s audience in one fell swoop (or even the comics audience in general – You can’t tell me that new readers didn’t come into the medium for Buffy‘s eight season or IDW’s upcoming True Blood, which is being sold via HBO’s website as you read these very words, bypassing any traditional “New readers won’t know where to find them” complaint, for example). And, clearly, they must be selling well enough to continue appearing. I just wish that they didn’t always seem like second class comics citizens, is all.

• A hardcover collection of the first chapter of Karl Kerschl’s Eisner-nominated webcomic The Abominable Charles Christopher is now available for pre-order. “Wrapped in an embossed, faux suede cover, this 144-page tome collects all of the comics from the first two years of the series, along with many additional illustrations and a gorgeous 40″ gatefold at the end of the book, featuring a dramatic pencil rendering of the key players, all in one scene,” the description reads.
• Artist Mike Hawthorne shows off some nice pages from an as-yet-unrevealed Vertigo title.
• Avatar Comics is launching a new imprint called Boundless Comics. The first comic they’ll publish is Lady Death, penned by her creator Brian Pulido and co-writer Mike Wolfer. They also plan to publish a series of trades that’ll collect older Lady Death material.
• Image Comics will publish a new miniseries by Ben McCool (Choker) and Nikki Cook (DMZ) called Memoir.
• Pat Lee will return to comics with Widow Warriors, a new book that’ll be published by Dynamite.
]]> http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/04/thin-wallets-fat-bookshelves-a-roundup-of-publishing-news/feed/ 2 http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/12/dc-comics-takes-seven-spots-in-novembers-top-10/ http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/12/dc-comics-takes-seven-spots-in-novembers-top-10/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:40:55 +0000 Kevin Melrose http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/?p=28390

Blackest Night #5

It turns out that DC Comics’ domination of the Diamond Top 10 in October may have been more than simply an anomaly made possible by a competitor’s schedule drift: The just-released list for November shows the publisher taking seven of the 10 slots, one better than the previous month.

As chart-watcher John Jackson Miller points out, only the appearance at No. 3 of Marvel’s Captain America Reborn #4 prevented DC from repeating its once-in-four-decades claim to the six best-selling comics.

Marvel continued to lead in unit share and dollar share.

DC’s November achievement was again aided by Blackest Night, whose fifth issue was the top-selling comic to the direct market. Four of the company’s six other Top 10 titles were tied to the crossover; only Batman and Robin #6 (at No. 4) and The Flash: Rebirth #5 (at No. 9) were unrelated to the miniseries.

The 10 best-selling comics were evenly split between $3.99 and $2.99.

Perhaps almost as interesting is the list of Top 10 graphic novels, which is led by the first collection of Image Comics’ surprise hit Chew, followed by the fifth volume of Dynamite’s The Boys.

]]> http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/12/dc-comics-takes-seven-spots-in-novembers-top-10/feed/ 6 http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/09/send-us-your-shelf-porn-35/ http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/09/send-us-your-shelf-porn-35/#comments Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:00:29 +0000 Chris Mautner http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/?p=21344

Welcome once again to Send Us Your Shelf Porn. Our guest this week is Marc Mason, newly established PR guru for NBM and proprieter of the Comics Waiting Room Web site.

Remember, you too can be a featured Shelf Porn guest. All you need do is take some photos of your burgeoning comics collection and send them to me at cmautnerATcomcastDOTnet. Feel free to include as much or as little info about yourself and your collection as you like.

And now here’s Marc …

I enjoy this feature very much and thought I’d give it a shot. At this point in my life, I now have over 2000 graphic novels (not to mention plenty of regular comics). Thanks to being a reviewer, my shelves are overflowing! While plenty of these books weren’t review items, many were books I got in trade for comics I no longer wanted or needed. Not sure how this works, but I’ll try to hit some high points…



I don’t own too many action figures, but it just makes sense to have Steel guarding the S-Z shelf. Included here: all of the TRANSMETROPOLITAN, Y THE LAST MAN, STRANGERS IN PARADISE, and SHE-HULK volumes. This bookcase probably has more “mainstream” material than any of my others.



The front part of the alphabet for regular trade paperbacks. Things here include all of the JOHN BYRNE FF VISIONARIES, all the MADMAN trades, each of the volumes of FLIGHT… as you can see, I’m stacking right now because I have no room to add anything new. This problem is only growing as the months pass.



Hardcover land starts here. Plus, over-sized trades, some digest-sized collections and more. In the lower right, you’ll see a ton of minicomics as well. I also have all of the Minx line sitting here. And if that isn’t cool enough? How about statues of Merv Pumpkinhead and the Black Widow? I contain multitudes!



Top row, over-sized hardcovers. I’ll come back to those later. The regular shelves contain 6×9 and smaller books. This is easily the most eclectic bookcase in my collection. Lots of stuff from Oni, Fantagraphics, First Second, NBM, and Top Shelf to be found here. Bottom left you’ll see all the books I have from Lewis Trondheim’s DUNGEON series. I worship Trondheim. Massively. Upper right: statues of Spider Jerusalem (my personal hero) and Harley Quinn. Again- expecting consistency from me isn’t a good idea. J



Couple hundred manga volumes, anyone? Apparently I need to shelve that NOBLE CAUSES book- no idea why that’s sitting there.



The Marvel Essential is probably my favorite format running right now. Plus, it allows me to get the comics I had (and loved) as a kid back into my hands at a cheap price. Also living here: some of the COMPLETE PEANUTS volumes, as well as the complete BUFFY and ANGEL series on DVD.



I’m missing a couple of CEREBUS volumes. The guy I traded with to get 13, 15, and 16 didn’t have the others. Drat.



Top shelf here: the Grant Morrison NEW X-MEN omnibus hardcover. I am certain this is the heaviest book I own. Bright side: potential murder weapon (should I need one).



Back to the over-sized hardcovers. One of the things I love about comics (and my collection in turn) is the eclectic nature of what I enjoy. In a row here I have: the COMPLETE FAR SIDE, the ABSOLUTE edition of Warren Ellis’ AUTHORITY, Fantagraphics’ first POPEYE reprint, and a Chris Ware book. Fun!



Further down this shelf, THE PRO shares space with STRAY BULLETS, THE BOYS, COMIC BOOK TATTOO, and THE PHOTOGRAPHER. Anyone ever tells you that comics don’t have something for everyone, they’re lying. Or ignorant. Set ‘em straight!



A closer look at over-sized trades and the minicomics. Still waiting on one more volume of COMPLETE OMAHA. As for minicomics… they rock. The purest form of comics out there. Anyone can fold a piece of paper in half, write and doodle, hit Kinkos and put their work in front of people. How can you not love that? Even when they suck, you have to respect the effort.



Over-sized manga and the smaller omnibus format Dark Horse and IDW are using. Have I mentioned how much I love omnibus-type books?



Smaller hardcovers. The Ted McKeever books from Image came out really nicely.

So yeah, I have a lot of graphic novels. And running Comics Waiting Room, along with being the p.r. guy for NBM Publishing, means the collection is only going to grow larger. But I don’t see it as a burden- I’m really fortunate to have been able to read and own so many wonderful books. I wish the same for everybody out there reading!

]]> http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/09/send-us-your-shelf-porn-35/feed/ 8 http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/08/what-are-you-reading-31/ http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/08/what-are-you-reading-31/#comments Sun, 02 Aug 2009 18:45:49 +0000 Chris Mautner http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/?p=17634


Sequence from 'EmiTown'

Welcome to What Are You Reading, where we talk about all the wonderful comics and other stuff we’re currently engaged with and hopefully point you toward some quality material. Our guest this week is Jamie S. Rich, author of the new graphic novel You Have Killed Me and, of course, our guest-blogger for the week.

A bad case of pinkeye kept me from doing to do much reading this week, but thankfully the rest of the Robot 6 team seems to have made up for my lapse. See what they’ve been reading by clicking on the link below …



Superman #690

Tim O’Shea: I bought Superman 690 looking forward to Steel versus Atlas  (At the end of the day, I think it’s clear I am Robot 6′s Basic Superhero Fanboy Rep — sue me). What I read was a little of that, some Zatara and the rest of it was marketing pieces for Superman: Secret Files 2009; Justice League of America and Superman Annual 14. I try to only write about books I enjoy, but this issue annoyed me so much I had to single it out. As Greg McElhatton’s review so effectively points out, this is not the first time DC has so bluntly and poorly teased other stories, but I’m hoping the feedback is heard by DC editorial and they don’t do it again.

I’ve been ignoring Gail Simone’s run on Wonder Woman and I am ready to admit that was an oversight on my part. Any issue that has Wonder Woman and Black Canary doing undercover work (as it happens it issue 34) allows Simone to exercise her top-notch comedy muscles.

From last week, I doubt either creator would have the time, but after seeing the five-page Mark Waid and Colleen Doran Uncle Ben/Young Peter story in Amazing Spider-Man 600, I would love to see these two collaborate again. This and the mid-1990s Valor is not enough of Waid and Doran for me. Steve Wacker is my favorite Marvel editor for the effort he puts into Spider-Man. To commemorate the 600th issue, he wrote a great essay about Spider-Man–acknowledging the early work of Steve Ditko — even going to the trouble of listing the writers for the first letter column in Amazing Spider-Man. Wacker’s attention to quirk details is appreciated by me.

Also, in terms of last week, I am so sad that as much as critics loved Captain Britain and MI13, the sales never matched that love. Last week’s issue 15 was a nice swansong for the book — I really hope this creative team meets with greater, well-deserved sales success in their next effort.

Finally, I may be the last person to get around to reading it, but my local library just added Lynda Barry’s What It Is to its collection. I love how my tax dollars are spent.



The Eternal City

Brigid Alverson: It’s all digital comics in one form or another this week. I spent most of yesterday, when I should have been doing other things, reading Punch and Pie, by Aerie and Chris Daily. It’s a relationship comic about two twentysomething women who aren’t really where they want to be in life — one works in a toy store, and when that closes she moves on to a chain bookstore. The other is going to school and working in a zoo, doing hair braiding for kids. At the start of the comic they are in what seems like the perfect relationship, and then it falls apart and they go their separate ways. The art style is loose, the characters seem very real, and the writing is dead-on. Really worth a look.

Then I’m reading The Eternal City by Sergio Carrera, on my iPod Touch. Again, not the most original concept — the main character escorts people who have just died to the other side — but very well executed. The art is very dramatic, black and white with no toning, and it reminds me a bit of Frederic Boilet — it has that same almost photographic look and a real sense of place. In this case, the setting is Buenos Aires, and I particularly like the sections at the end where the artist shows photos that he used for his backgrounds. The story is a series of short vignettes, each about a death—they are touching but not depressing—and I think that format works well for a handheld comic. Also, the comic is neatly divided and easy to read panel by panel. The only problem I had with it, and the editors warned me about this, is that there’s a bug in the app that makes it hard to turn the pages. A fix is in the works.

And I bought comiXology’s Comics app for the iPod/iPhone, which allows me to buy comics within the app. It costs 99 cents but you get a ton of free comics, which makes it a good deal. To try it out, I read the Ayn Rand issue of Action Philosophers, which I enjoyed immensely. I remember reading The Fountainhead when I was about 16 and thinking it was very deep and life-changing — yeah, I was 16 — so it was really interesting to see her life story. I’ll definitely be checking out more of these.

Tom Bondurant: Wait a minute, Tim — you are Robot 6′s Basic Superhero Fanboy Rep?!? What does that make me — Sidney Mellon?



Showcase: Bat Lash

This week I read Showcase Presents Bat Lash, a slim volume of black-and-white reprints which covers the seven issues of Bat’s solo series, a DC Special story, and a 3-part story which ran as a backup in Jonah Hex.  Nick Cardy was Bat’s original artist, and his work here delves a lot more into caricature.  It’s the visual equivalent of Eli Wallach in the Man With No Name movies — exaggerated expressions and anatomy — although Bat and his romantic entanglements tend not to get the same treatment.  The series’ main joke is that while Bat abhors violence, he’s pretty good at it.  From my limited exposure to the character, and the period when he was introduced, I thought this would be some sort of “hippie/surfer in the Old West” series, but that’s not really accurate.  Instead, Bat favors flowers (more often than not wearing one in his hatband) because they remind him of the good things the West still can’t destroy.  As written by various combinations of Sergio Aragones, Denny O’Neil, and Len Wein, Bat’s adventures are certainly more light-hearted than, say, Jonah Hex’s, but nevertheless they have a comparable capacity for tragedy.  There is no over-arching storyline tying these issues together, and they are probably best experienced as single issues.  Overall, though, this was an entertaining collection, and (regardless of various discounts) certainly an economical spotlight on Nick Cardy.

In other black-and-white-reprint news, my assault on ’70s Marvel continues with another look at Essential Spider-Woman Volume 1.  I’m over the hump of the Marvel Two-In-One arc which followed the character’s introduction (in Marvel Premiere), but already I feel like Spider-Woman’s backstory can compete with Hawkman’s or Wonder Girl’s in terms of convolution.  I mean, grown by the High Evolutionary, brainwashed by HYDRA, maybe she was human but maybe she wasn’t — and now we’re getting into an Arthurian connection too?  Sheesh!

As for this week’s comics, I wonder if R. Lee Ermey knows his likeness has been appropriated for Blackest Night:  Tales of the Corps #3. That wouldn’t be quite so bad if Kilowog’s mannered dialogue hadn’t reminded me of David Hyde Pierce.  By the end of the story, though, I was reminded of Sgt. Hulka from Stripes.  If only Kilowog had adopted a Bill Murray-like approach to training his recruits….

I too liked Wonder Woman #34 quite a bit, but when did Black Canary start talking like Marge Gundersen?  I read a good bit of Gail Simone’s Birds Of Prey and don’t remember Dinah using phrases like “pish tosh b’gosh” and “rumpus magoo.”  That’s a very minor complaint, though, considering that Aaron Lopresti dresses our heroines in some ultra-glam cage-fighting togs.  These are the kinds of clothes which would make Quentin Tarantino blush; which makes them perfect for this new arc.  After the ultra-grim “Rise of the Olympian” storyline, a good dose of fun is just what this title needed.

Finally, I have just started the new Fletcher Hanks collection, You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation!, and am happy to see it is just as insane as the first one.

Tim O’Shea: Tom, I’m the fanboy, you’re the Basic Superhero Scholar (a much higher level than me).



The Athiest

Michael May: I’ve just started Phil Hester’s The Atheist. I’ll probably go over it in in detail for Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs because it’s Phil Hester and that means that there’ll be plenty to talk about. I’m only a quarter of the way through it and already my mind is buzzing with questions and possible answers.

Also reading Jimmy Gownley’s first Amelia Rules! collection. I read a couple of the single issues as they came out and remember liking them more than I’m enjoying it this time around. I do really like the character of Amelia and the stories can be very moving when they’re touching on her broken family life and how she’s dealing with it. There’s not enough of that though in what I’ve read so far. Hopefully that’ll change as I get further in, but for now it’s mostly cute, nostalgic stories about school, bullies, quirky friends, and wacky teachers.



The Wind Raider

Matt Maxwell: WIND RAIDER v.1
Written by Richard Finney and Dean Loftis, art by Gabriel Hardman
The only reason I know about this book is that I’m a fan of Gabriel Hardman’s (you’ve seen his work in AGENTS OF ATLAS, right?) and was meeting him at the Ape Entertainment booth at SDCC.  I haven’t seen a single bit of advertising or coverage for it, but then I tend to breeze through sites like CBR and Newsarama and don’t have time to dig deeply. So maybe I just missed it.  At any rate, this is a solid post-apocalyptic adventure in a world/setting that’s struck a balance between unique and familiar (aka “too weird” and “already-seen-it”).  Not necessarily an easy thing to do.  Storywise, it’s got roots in adventure tales from many generations and (mostly) satisfies.  I say (mostly) because it’s not a complete story.  I could easily see this going for at least another trade or more, not sure what the team’s plans for it are, though.  Recommended for Michael May and folks who like the same kinds of things he does.

RED MOON (preview) “The Rising”
By David McAdoo, published by Cossack Comics.  Dude.  Cossacks.  That rules.  This is a preview book for an upcoming OGN that’s due to hit early next year, called RED MOON.  Two dogs and a sinister flock of crows (not to mention some badass bluejays) along with an unnamed menace.  Since it’s just a preview, it’s tough to get a sense of the whole story, but my guess is that this book could easily find an audience among younger readers and people looking for an animal-based fantasy/adventure.  The art is the standout here, and while sometimes the texturing and crosshatching gets in the way of the rawer storytelling elements, McAdoo has a definite and strong style that conjures up some of the force of the early Image artists, but is far more aggressive in his panel layouts.  Well worth a look.

X FORCE: DOOP/WOLVERINE
I found these for two bucks in a bargain bin.  Not the biggest fan of either character, but I do like Peter Milligan and Darwyn Cooke’s art (with J. Bone inking and Laura Martin on colors).  Is it the greatest story ever?  Not really.  Is it a lot of fun?  Sure thing it is.  Which reminds me that I really need to pick up some of those X-FORCE reprints.  When you have an artist like Darwyn Cooke, it can be tricky to find a story that stands up to the art.  But that’s not Milligan’s game here.  He’s more on the whimsical side, more mercurial, which is a fine contrast to the strong blacks and vivid colors at play on the page.  I shoulda picked this up awhile ago.

WEIRD WESTERN TALES
Various
Why didn’t I know about this Vertigo series from the early 2000s?  It’s probably best that I’ve done the lion’s share of writing for my own weird western anthology so I don’t unconsciously crib too much from these.  There’s a great short from Paul Pope (not the first name to come to mind when I think of Westerns) and lovely art from a host of others.  Only halfway through the series as yet, so I’ll probably drag this out to next week’s entry.  As with any anthology, uneven-ness is the enemy, but the good stuff is pretty darn good.  And hey, look!  Darwyn Cooke on the cover of issue #1.  He really should draw more westerns (and I think he’s doing something else for JONAH HEX now that I think about it.)

YOU SHALL DIE BY YOUR OWN EVIL CREATION
Fletcher Hanks
Nobody else’s comics read like these.  They’re savage and brutal but have moments of eerie and unexpected beauty.  All the same, they’re also hard to read in a big chunk.  And don’t read this stuff right before bed: strange dreams are a documented side-effect.

Jamie S. Rich: I am actually a couple of weeks behind on my comics, since I usually pick them up on Friday, so the big haul that came out the week of Comic Con has yet to be devoured. I also have been reading my Comic Con grabs, which include the two-volume Rose & Isabel by Ted Mathot. I wanted to pick up these books at the show ever since, funnily enough, I spotted Ted’s blog in the recommended feed by Google Reader put up for me. The first duo in a series of books, it follows a pair of sisters during the American Civil War who dress as men to sneak through the battlefields in search of their missing brothers. Mathot juggles various timelines, including childhood experiences and lessons about ancient female warriors that inform Rose and Isabel’s mission. Mathot is a Pixar artist, part of the same crew that includes Scott Morse and Ronnie Del Carmen, both of whom have pin-ups in separate volumes. His style is similar to theirs, but a little rougher, he likes a more jagged line. Sometimes the story is equally jagged, maybe a little too like storyboards in how it gets from one panel to the next, but overall, a solid adventure story and totally unique.



Battlefield: Tankies

Sticking with a fighting theme, the latest of Garth Ennis’ war comics, Battlefields: Tankies finished up this week with its third issues. Of Garth’s Dynamite material, I prefer the soft humanism and the female perspective of the first two in this go-around, The Nightwitches and Dear Billy, but I still liked Tankies a whole hell of a lot and it ended the triptych on a lighter note. I’ll admit Garth’s harsher stuff is no longer what I am looking for, so I love seeing him show this more serious side of his talent. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves for this sort of thing. I’m definitely wanting that hardcover collecting all three series in one he promises at the end of the book. Carlos Ezquerra’s art this issue is also appropriately dirty with details. It’s a shame this stuff hasn’t been getting more notice.

In terms of older comics, I’ve been digging through the 1980s series ‘Mazing Man by Stephen DeStefano, Bob Rozakis, and Karl Kesel. It was originally going to be my “Collect This Now” feature before I went with something more crime-oriented. This much beloved but criminally underappreciated DC series is about a comics writer with the face of a dog, his various neighbors, and his roommate, ‘Mazing Man, who dresses up like a superhero, complete with cape, helmet, and bloomers, and goes about Queens committing small good deeds in the name of justice. A lot of it probably went over my head when I read it the first time around, back in my early teens, but I am finding it really charming after all these years. In addition to the sweet humanity, the creators are questioning the lines between imagination and delusion. Who are we to say this little guy was not a true hero? Plus, Stephen DeStefano is a grand wizard of cartooning. His early stuff is rough, but you can really see him grow over the 14 issues. In some kind of synergy, he illustrated the latest issue of Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!, which came out this week. His fill-in on #6 is simply, well, marvelous. His cartooning is so masterful, and it’s full of clever touches. A gesture, a panel shape, the background action–it’s the kind of comic you read once, and stare at a second time, or maybe vice versa.

My favorite part of ‘Mazing Man, however, may be looking at the old ads and reading editorials like Dick Giordano’s 1985 piece about how these personal computer things just might catch on!

Finally, in the wold of printed comics, Madame Xanadu has been a top-of-the-stack must-read from the word go, and this current “Exodus Noir” arc drawn by Michael Wm. Kaluta is no exception. #13 is the midway point, and there is a great mystery brewing. I couldn’t be more giddy that Matt Wagner has tied this stroy cycle into Sandman Mystery Theatre, one of the greatest comics series of all time, as far as I’m concerned, and a great teaching manual in terms of writing You Have Killed Me. And since I just squeezed in a shameless plug: my pal Joëlle Jones is going to be a featured artist in the next story arc, doing two issues, #19 and #20. One of my mentors teams with my closest collaborator? It’s like I’ve won a prize!

My new “when will you update? Please, please?” webcomic is “EmiTown” by Emi Lenox. It’s a freeform daily diary that at first may seem a little too scattered, but the more you read it, patterns emerge, a rhythm develops, and it’s highly addictive. It goes from the mundane struggles Emi has over a breakfast burrito addiction to more surreal and impressionistic tales of black hearts and a heroine named Ocean Girl. Emi can also draw like nobody’s business, her style is fabulous. I just wish I’d be important enough to show up in her comics. Every time I run into Emi, she leaves me out in favor of chuckleheads like Craig Thompson.

]]> http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/08/what-are-you-reading-31/feed/ 2 http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/04/gorillas-riding-dinosaurs-what-looks-good-for-june/ http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/04/gorillas-riding-dinosaurs-what-looks-good-for-june/#comments Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:03:30 +0000 Michael May http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/?p=7576

Johnny Hiro

First of all, I need to apologize for my no-column-having self last week. My computer died suddenly on Tuesday and I just wasn’t able to get anything going for the next day. It’s still dead (and will be for a couple of weeks, most likely), but I’m able to borrow a PC for this week’s column and here we are.

As usual, our monthly look through the Previews catalog for awesome is heavily focused on graphic novels, collections, and first issues.

AdHouse

Johnny Hiro, Volume 1 – I’ve been aching a loooong time for this one. Giant lizards, lobster-quests, and opera-going ronin are hard to wait for.



Frankenstein's Womb

Avatar

Anna Mercury 2 #1 – I just finished the collection of Volume 1 a week or so ago and loved it. I’ll save the review for another column, but the short version is that it got me looking forward to a sequel.

Frankenstein’s Womb - If there’s anything I like better than untold tales of secret histories, it’s untold tales of secret histories about Frankenstein with the Monster in them. Thanks, Warren Ellis!

Dark Horse

Gigantic, Volume 1 - Yay! Rick Remender and Eric Nguyen’s giant monster comic is finally collected! I’ve had a difficult time passing this up in single issues.



Zorro: Trail of the Fox

Dynamite

Zorro, Volume One: Trail of the Fox – So much patient waiting is paying off this month. Matt Wagner, Francesco Francavilla, and Zorro. How can this be anything less than classic?

Eureka

Graphic Classics, Volume 17: Science Fiction Classics - Speaking of classics, I’m a big fan of Graphic Classics and I’m looking forward to seeing their takes on War of the Worlds and an Arthur Conan Doyle story about Professor Challenger from The Lost World.

Image

Firebreather, Volume 1 - This isn’t technically new; it’s just a new printing. But I haven’t read it yet despite all it has going for it: Phil Hester, Andy Kuhn, and a giant monster. So it’s new to me.



Mice Templar: The Prophecy

Mice Templar, Volume 1 – Has this collection been released before too? Seems like I already made a note a while back that I wanted to pick it up. Whatever… I loves me some Michael Oeming and warrior mice and I don’t have it yet, so I’m getting it now. (Oh, wait. It was the hardcover that came out a while ago. Which is also why the Zorro collection sounded familiar. I’m a paperback guy.)

Marvel

Sentry: The Age of the Sentry - While I have no interest in the Sentry as a character, I’ve got loads of interest in anything Jeff Parker and Paul Tobin write. Still, I was willing to let the character keep me away from this until I started reading reviews by People Who Love Awesome. I’m convinced. Gimme.

Oni

Salt Water Taffy, Volume 3: The Truth About Dr. True - I’d love it for the title even if I didn’t know what it was about. But hey, I’ll take ghosts and murder by the sea too.



Captain Blood: Odyssey

SLG

Captain Blood: Odyssey#1 – I almost called this the greatest pirate story of all time, but then I remembered Treasure Island at the last minute and realized that might be a bit much. But Captain Blood is right up there with it and I suspect that SLG will do an awesome job adapting it.

Villard

Flight, Volume 6 - Really, if you aren’t already giddy that there’s a new Flight volume coming out, I’m not sure how to convince you that you should be. The volumes only get better and more joyful as they continue to appear.

That’s what I found. Did I miss anything?

]]> http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/04/gorillas-riding-dinosaurs-what-looks-good-for-june/feed/ 2 http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/04/2009-joe-shuster-award-nominees-announced/ http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/04/2009-joe-shuster-award-nominees-announced/#comments Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:10:45 +0000 JK Parkin http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/?p=7231 The nominees for the 2009 Joe Shuster Awards, which honor Canadian comics creators, were announced today. The five-year-old awards program is named after Joe Shuster, co-creator of Superman. The list of nominees this year includes Darwyn Cooke, J. Torres, Karl Kerschl, Dave Sim, Kathryn & Stuart Immonen, Faith Erin Hicks and Seth, among many others.

Check out the full list of nominees in the press release after the jump.

*****

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2009 JOE SHUSTER AWARDS

Toronto, Canada — April 2, 2009. From coast to coast, Canada is home to many of the comic book industry’s top talents. The JOE SHUSTER AWARDS are a way of recognizing and celebrating the achievements of these Canadian creators – past, present and future. Since their establishment in 2004, the JOE SHUSTER CANADIAN COMIC BOOK CREATOR AWARDS have been Canada’s national awards program for recognizing the outstanding achievements of Canadian comic book creators, publishers and retailers. The awards are named after pioneering Toronto-born artist Joe Shuster who, along with writer Jerry Siegel, created the iconic super-powered hero, Superman.

Between January and March 2009, the Nominees were selected from master lists of eligible works originally published in English and/or French in 2008. Canadian citizens living at home or abroad, as well as permanent residents were eligible for consideration. Now that the list of nominees has been finalized, nominated creators will have their work reviewed by a jury, who will ultimately decide the winners. Winners will be announced at a public ceremony in Toronto on June 27th, 2009.

JOE SHUSTER AWARDS 2009 NOMINEES for Work Published in 2008

Artist/Dessinateur

• Marc Delafontaine – Les Nombrils, Tome 3 : Les liens de l’amitié (Dupuis)
• Dale Eaglesham – Justice Society of America #12, 14-15, 18-22 (DC Comics)
• David Finch – Ultimatum #1-2 (Marvel Comics)
• Karl Kerschl & Serge LaPointe – Teen Titans: Year One #1-6 (DC Comics)
• Jacques Lamontagne – Les Druides, Tome 4 : La Ronde des Géants (Soleil Productions)
• Steve McNiven – Amazing Spider-Man #546-548, Wolverine #66-70 (Marvel Comics)
• Steve Rolston – Emiko Superstar (DC/Minx), “Familiar” – House of Mystery #4 (DC/Vertigo), You Ain’t No Dancer #3 (New Reliable Press)
• Stephen Sadowski – Avengers/Invaders #1-7 (Marvel Comics/Dynamite Entertainment), Superpowers #0 (Dynamite Entertainment), Jack the Lantern: Ghosts #2 (Castle Rain Entertainment)

Cartoonist/Créateur

• Grégoire Bouchard – Vers les Mondes Lointains (Paquet)
• Darwyn Cooke – “Chapter X: The Greater Good” Justice League: The New Frontier Special #1, The Spirit #12 (DC Comics)
• Francis Descharnais – Burquette (Les 400 coups)
• Jean-Paul Eid – Des tondeuses et des hommes (La Pastèque)
• Michel Gagne – “The Saga of Rex” Chapter 4 – Flight Vol. 5 (Ballantyne Books)
• Faith Erin Hicks – The War at Ellsmere (Slave Labor Graphics)
• Jeff Lemire – Essex County Vol. 3: The Country Nurse (Top Shelf)
• Seth – “Thoreau MacDonald” Kramer’s Ergot 7 (Buenaventura Press)
• Dave Sim – Glamourpuss #1-4, Judenhaas (Aardvark-Vanaheim)

Colourist/Dessinateur Couleur

• Jean-Francois Beaulieu – G.I. Joe: America’s Elite 31-36, Voltron: A Legend Forged 1 (Devil’s Due), Marvel Zombies 3 #1-3, Wonderful Wizard of OZ #1, X-Men: Divided We Stand #1, X-Men Legacy #215 (Marvel Comics)
• Blond – Team 14 #1 (Digital Webbing), Freshman: Summer Vacation Special #1, Magdalena/Daredevil #1, True Blood: The Great Revelation NN, Witchblade: Takeru Manga #11-12 (image/Top Cow), Ultimate Fantastic Four #50-59 (Marvel Comics), Beyond Wonderland #4, Grimm Fairy Tales 2008 Annual (Zenoscope)
• Chris Chuckry – Brave and the Bold #17-18, Countdown to Mystery #4-8, Simon Dark #4-7, Two Face: Year One #1-2 (DC Comics), Air 1-5 (DC/Vertigo), G.I. Joe #0 (Devil’s Due), Comic Book Tattoo (image), Amazing Spider-Man #546, 565-567, newuniversal: Shockfront #1-2, The Twelve #1-8 (Marvel Comics)
• Maryse Dubuc – Les Nombrils, Tome 3 : Les liens de l’amitié (Dupuis)
• Nathan Fairbairn – Fear Agent 21 (Dark Horse), Pilot Season: The Core #1 (image/Top Cow), Civil War: House of M #3, Guardians of the Galaxy #1-3, Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust? NN, Wolverine: Origins #31, X-Men: Divided We Stand #2, X-Men: Kingbreaker #1, X-Men Legacy #217, X-Men: Manifest Destiny #1, 3, Young Avengers Presents #1 (Marvel Comics), Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen #3 (Oni Press)
• Lovern Kindzierski – Sandman: The Dream Hunters #1-2 (DC Comics), The Worlds of Dungeons & Dragons #1-2Coraline (HarperCollins), Giant-Size Incredible Hulk #1 (Marvel Comics) (Devil’s Due),
• François Lapierre – “Gédéon et la bête du lac” Contes et légendes du Québec (Glénat Québec), Magasin général 4 (Casterman)
• Dave McCaig – Star Wars: Dark Times #11-12 (Dark Horse), Action Comics #861-863, Final Crisis: Rogue’s Revenge #1-3. Joker’s Asylum: The Penguin #1, JSA Classified #35-37 (DC Comics), Family Dynamic #1-2 House of Mystery #4, Northlanders #2-8, 11-2 (DC/Vertigo), Broken Trinity: Angelus #1, First Born: Aftermath #1, Pilot Season: The Core #1 (image/Top Cow), Fantastic Four Cosmic Size Special #1, Secret Invasion X-Men #1-4, Ultimate Iron Man II #3-5 (Marvel Comics), Stephen Colbert’s Tek Jansen #2 (Oni Press) (DC/Johnny DC),

Writer/Écrivain

• Ian Boothby – Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror #14, Bongo Comics Free-For-All 2008, Futurama #35-39, Simpsons Comics #136, 141, 148, Simpsons Summer Shindig #1, Simpsons Super Spectacular #7 (Bongo Comics)
• Cecil Castellucci – Janes in Love (DC/Minx)
• Darwyn Cooke – “Dragster Riot starring Robin the Boy Wonder”, “Wonder Woman and Black Canary” Justice League: The New Frontier Special #1, Superman Confidential 11 (DC Comics)
• Maryse Dubuc – Les Nombrils, Tome 3 : Les liens de l’amitié (Dupuis)
• Ray Fawkes – The Apocalipstix (Oni Press)
• François Lapierre – “Gédéon et la bête du lac” Contes et légendes du Québec (Glénat Québec)
• Mariko Tamaki – Emiko Superstar (DC/Minx), Skim (Groundwood Books)
• J. Torres – The Family Dynamic #1-3, Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #11, 13, 17-19, Teen Titans Go! #51-55 (DC/Johnny DC), Wonder Girl #5-6 (DC Comics)

Cover/Couverture

• Adrian Alphona – Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane Season Two #1 Variant (Marvel Comics)
• Darwyn Cooke – The Spirit #12 (DC Comics)
• Marc Delafontaine – Les Nombrils, Tome 3 : Les liens de l’amitié (Dupuis)
• Dale Eaglesham – Justice Society of America #14 Variant (DC Comics)
• David Finch -Amazing Spider-Man #572 Variant (Marvel Comics)
• Philippe Girard – Les Ravins (Mécanique Générale)
• Niko Henrichon – Hostile Tome 1 (Dupuis)
• Steve McNiven – Kick-Ass #1 Variant (Marvel Comics)
• Dean Motter – Mister X: The Condemned #1 (Dark Horse)
• David Sim – Glamourpuss #4 Zombie Variant (Aardvark-Vanaheim)

Webcomics/Bandes Dessinées Web

• Kate Beaton – Hark! A Vagrant
• Michael Cho – Papercut
• Lar De Souza & Ryan Sohmer – Least I Could Do / Looking for Group
• Kathryn & Stuart Immonen – Moving Pictures
• Karl Kerschl – The Abominable Charles Christopher
• Gisele Lagace – Menage A 3
• Ramón K. Pérez– Kukuburi / Butternut Squash (w/Robert Coughler)
• Cameron Stewart – Sin Titulo

Publisher/Éditeur

• Aardvark-Vanaheim
• Arcana Studio
• Conundrum Press
• Drawn & Quarterly
• La Pastèque
• Les 400 Coups/Mécanique Générale
• Red 5 Comics
• Udon Entertainment

Artist, Cartoonist, Colourist & Writer Nominees selected by: Jay Bardyla (Happy Harbor Comics), Éric Bouchard (Librarie Monet), Laurent Boutin (Librarie Planète BD), Ty Buttars (blogger and collector), Martin Dubé (Librarie Fichtre!), Rachelle Goguen (Strange Adventures, Living Between Wednesdays), Francis Hervieux (journalist and collector), Jonathan Kuehlein (The Toronto Star), Robin McConnell (Inkstuds podcast), Shawna Roe (Happy Harbor Comics) and the Vincent Massey College Comic Book Club (Montreal) under the direction of Mr. Steven Bakos. Coordinators: Kevin A. Boyd (English publications) and Francis Hervieux (French publications).

Cover Nominees selected by Éric Bouchard (Librarie Monet), Laurent Boutin (Librarie Planète BD), Kevin A. Boyd, Martin Dubé (Librarie Fichtre!), Peter Fisico (All New Comics), Robert Haines, Francis Hervieux (journalist and collector), Jason Truong and James Waley. Additional input provided by Ty Buttars (blogger and collector), and Rachelle Goguen (Strange Adventures, Living Between Wednesdays). Coordinators: Kevin A. Boyd (English publications) and Francis Hervieux (French publications).

Webcomics Nominees selected by the CCBCAA Executive. Coordinators: Kevin A. Boyd and Scott Townsend.

Publisher Nominees selected by Éric Bouchard (Librarie Monet), Laurent Boutin (Librarie Planète BD), Kevin A. Boyd, Allison Covey, Martin Dubé (Librarie Fichtre!), Peter Fisico (All New Comics), Francis Hervieux (journalist and collector), Jason Truong and James Waley. Coordinators: Kevin A. Boyd (English publications) and Francis Hervieux (French publications).

Comics for Kids / Bandes Dessinées pour Enfants

Nominees will be announced in early May 2009.

Gene Day Award for Canadian Self-Publishers / Le Prix Gene Day pour Éditeurs Direct Canadian de Bandes Dessinées

Submissions from self-publishers will be accepted until May 18, 2009. Please visit http://joeshusterawards.com/2009-awards-sat-june-27/gene-day-award-for-canadian-self-publishers/ for full details. The winner of the Gene Day Award also receives a $500 Bursary.

The Harry Kremer Award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Retailer /Le Prix Harry Kremer pour Détaillant Exceptionnel Canadien de Bandes Dessinées

Nominations from retailers and the general public will be accepted until May 18, 2009.

Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame / Temple de la renommée Créateur Canadien de Bandes Dessinées

Four inductees will be announced in early May 2009.

Congratulations to all of the nominees and all of the eligible creators for another memorable year of great comics, both in print and online!

About Joe Shuster (1914 – 1992)
With the permission of his estate, the Joe Shuster Awards are named in honor of the great artist, JOE SHUSTER (1914-1992), whose clear, dynamic style and inventive visual flourishes set the standard for graphic storytelling during the infancy of the North American comic book industry. It was Superman, a co-creation of Shuster and Siegel, which electrified the industry 71 years ago and, almost overnight, transformed comic books into an enormous pop-cultural phenomenon that endures to this day.

About The Joe Shuster Awards
The Joe Shuster Awards are Canada’s first national achievement awards for Canadians working on comic books, graphic novels and webcomics and the only awards without restrictions on language, content and/or genre. The Joe Shuster Awards honour the people who create comics, publish comics and sell comics. Creator nominees are nominated for their BODY OF WORK during the previous calendar year, not just for one specific work (except for cover art).

The Hall of Fame, Harry Kremer Retailer Award and the new Gene Day Award for self-publishers are selected by individual committees after a review and discussion of eligible and/or submitted candidates. Four Hall of Fame candidates will be initiated into the Canadian Comic Book Creator Hall of Fame in 2009. Aside from the retailer and self-publisher award committee, active creators can only act as advisors so as not to influence a bias in any of the creative awards categories.

The Joe Shuster Awards are run by the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association (CCBCAA), a not-for-profit organization that relies on sponsorship, eBay and convention sales of art donations, prints and memorabilia as well as private donations. 2009 sponsors include: Certified Guaranty Company (CGC), Sipps Publishing, Diamond Distributors, Quebecor World, and comicspriceguide.com and all of the artists that donated pieces to last year’s Visions of an Icon: Superman art show and sale.

For more information please contact info@joeshusterawards.com or visit www.joeshusterawards.com

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