Casanova: Avarita #1

Welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading? Our special guest today is Chris Butcher.

Butcher is the manager of The Beguiling in Toronto and founder of The Toronto Comic Arts Festival. He’ll be at the UDON Booth #5037 and The Beguiling Original Art Sales Booth #1629 at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend.

To see what Chris and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below …

*****

Tim O’Shea

Iron Age #2

Iron Age #2: Jen Van Meter writing a 1970s era adventure with Power Man and Iron Fist, color me interested. Drawn by Nick Dragotta? Sold. Added bonus: the second tale sports artist Sal Buscema drawing Iron Man armor with a nose and Johnny Storm in his red costume. I only wish they could have worked in the Spidey Mobile.

Red Robin #25: In the second to last issue of Red Robin, we see he’s developed his own Robincave. Wow that should be an interesting for … one more month. The final days of DC Oldverse are killing me. Particularly given how well writer Fabian Nicieza utilizes Cassandra Cain.

Batgirl #23: See my Red Robin thoughts above. I hate to see this book going away. If DC is foolish enough to not give writer Bryan Q. Miller a monthly assignment, I hope Marvel scoops him up. The Bombshell/Stargirl/Supergirl/Miss Martian team up cameo would have made for a fun all-female team book pitch for Miller if the universe was not ending.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #8: Sorry, but I had to crack up at the blurb quote slapped on this issue: “If you haven’t jumped on yet, now’s the time.” Yes, by all means, jump on board with a month to spare.

Jonah Hex

Jonah Hex #69: Drawn by Jeff Lemire, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray reveal Jonah getting to confront his dear old dad. The story far exceeded my highest expectations. And all it is two men talking for the bulk of the tale, and yet it is much more than that. Glad to see the writers will still get to play with Jonah in the DCNuverse.

Alpha Flight #2: Reading the comments section of my interview this week with miniseries artist Dale Eaglesham, I am bewildered by the folks unwilling to consider the characters acting out of character might be the victim of mind control. Neither Fred Van Lente or Greg Pak are writers known for doing Chuck Austen-scale butchering of characters, so I am waiting to see how things play out. But in general, I am loving what I read and looking forward to more (hopefully this series becomes an ongoing).

Mystery Men #3: Of all the new characters introduced in the five-issue miniseries, this issue features my favorite to date: The Doctor. (The guy takes folks out via scalpel with abandon, a pulp noir Wolverine kind of…). I wish this project was an eight-issue miniseries, so that the storytellers could give more of their back story and (in the case of The Doctor) better explain what tragedies fuel his vigilante justice.

Brigid Alverson

Aki Alliance

I really, really enjoyed Ryan Estrada’s Aki Alliance, which is available to read or download for free at his site. It’s a funny, snarky story about a girl who sets out to make friends with everyone in her fifth-grade class, and it’s simply delightful. Estrada presents a number of different challenges: His heroine, Aki, tries to compete in a Scrabble tournament while coaching a friend in a boxing match, take the middle ground when two girl gangs (both of which claim her as a member) start a turf war, and solve a ridiculous grade-school riddle. Most of the book is done in a cartoony style that mixes in scrapbook elements, but he also plays with other styles—one chapter is done in manga style, another like a sprite comic. He clearly had a lot of fun with it, and in the end, no lessons are learned. Good stuff.

I also enjoyed Mameshiba on the Loose! much more than I thought I would—in fact, it made me laugh out loud. Mameshiba are cute, rounded creatures (the name is a portmanteau of the Japanese words for “bean” and a breed of dog) who were first featured in animated shorts on Japanese TV, popping out of people’s lunches and spouting random bits of trivia. The comic goes way beyond that, really bringing these odd little beans to life with distinct personalities and plenty of cuteness. In the first, and longest, story, the beans team up to rescue a pea who has fallen down the drain and into the sewer—the jokes just write themselves, but writer James Turner doesn’t stop there, and he comes up with a zany set of sewer dwellers for the beans to contend with in equally creative ways. The second story is a trip to outer space, again with plenty of slapstick and random humor. Viz has come up with a great kids’ comic here, and I hope the kids find it.

Chris Butcher

What am I reading? Why, single-issue new comics, surprisingly enough.

I ran TCAF—The Toronto Comic Arts Festival—a few months back, and quite honestly in the lead-up to and the downtime after that fantastic event, I feel like I’ve read fewer comics than ever. I moved houses in there, too, and so all of my TCAF purchases like Paying For It by Chester Brown and Vietnamerica by GB Tran are still in boxes, waiting to find a shelf to call home.

Cross Game

Oh, and I’m going to be on The Best and Worst Manga of 2011 panel Friday night at Comic-Con (6:30pm! Room 26!), and so I’ve been feverishly trying to catch up on my manga reading. While I will save the majority of the surprises for the panel, I want to give a special shout out to Mitsuru Adachi’s Cross Game, an outstanding slice-of-life/baseball manga. It is so good—created at such a high degree of craft from a masterful author who’s been working in the manga industry for 40 years. It possesses so much of what I love about manga, including engaging characters, a surprising story… and the whole thing just breathes. It’s a pleasure to read and spend time with. I actually feel confident recommending it to people who don’t normally like manga at all, or even sports. That’s an accomplishment.

But yeah, if you look at what I last read, it’s just a thick stack of single-issue comics. I thought Jason Aaron’s X-Men Schism #1 was a solid start to that mini, great premise, but I found the change of artists halfway through the issue jarring—it reminds me what I don’t like about most corporate superhero comics. Also on the Marvel tip, Brubaker and McNiven’s Captain America #1 was a really solid start, very clean continuity-wise if you haven’t been following… the last 5-10 years of Marvel comics, actually. Some nice art by McNiven there too, I felt like he was stretching himself a little more than he had been as of late, and that incredible glossy sheen that his work had on Civil War that I felt was missing on Nemesis? Back here with a vengeance. Oh, and props to Brubaker (and Sean Phillips) on another outstanding Criminal miniseries, with Criminal: Last of the Innocents. Another great, tangled noir series, this time with a twist that no comic fan will want to miss.

Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown

Over at DC, I’ve been trying to stay on top of the main Flashpoint series, but I’d missed all of the spin-offs (no time to read, son, we’re selling comics!). I sat down with my friend Jeff Lemire’s Frankenstein #1 and #2 and thought those were fun takes on the characters, with more a few excellent surprises thrown in there for good measure as well. If this is what we’ve got in store for Lemire’s ongoing Frankenstein series in September, I’ll definitely be reading that. Speaking of friends who write comics, I also just caught up with my buddy Jim Zub’s series Skullkickers from Image. I think the most interesting thing, for me, is how much he throws against the wall in every issue. You’re at this dinner party in issue #7, and there’s so much possibility for mayhem as the dwarf and the bad ass (shorty and baldy) rub shoulders with the hoi-polloi. Zub runs through all the jokes in under five pages and then kills everyone except for the leads. Breakneck action comedy, both literally and figuratively, no screwing around. Check it out.

Probably the single issue I’ve most enjoyed in the last little while though? I was fortunate enough to get an advance look at Casanova: Avarita #1 debuting this September from ICON. I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Cass fan from before the first issue came out, so it won’t be any surprise to hear that I liked the new issue… but man, it’s great. Gabriel Ba just killed with the art on this issue, and the story is a harrowing natural progression from the first two arcs. I’m kinda sad that there’s only four issues of this series to come, but elated that it’s going to be this good. Pre-order it with your retailer, pick it up this fall. You won’t regret it.

X-Men: Schism

Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item. We’re coming a little late today due to a power outage in my neck of the woods — due to a blackout, not because I spent the money for the electric bill on Flashpoint or Fear Itself tie-ins.

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

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, I’d make a mad grab for American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #2 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99); I love what Snyder and Murphy are doing here, and anyone who knows me knows how big a fan I am of Murphy’s work. Next up would be the debut of Jonathan Hickman’s Redwing #1 (Image, $3.50); after seeing Hickman blossom at Marvel, it’s great to see him re-invest in creator-owned comics. Third would be Jason Aaron and Carlos Pacheco’s X-Men Schism #1 (Marvel, $4.99); I have a sense Aaron’s the kind of writer to bring his “A” game when it comes to special stories (he did it recently in Scalped #50), so I’m interested to see what he does here. Last up would be Northlanders #42 (DC, $2.99).

If I had $30, I’d double-up on two indie series; Jeff Smith’s RASL#11 ($3.50) and Loose Ends #1 (12 Gauge, $3.99). Then I’d go back to Marvel and get FF #6 (Marvel, $2.99) and Wolverine #12 (Marvel, $3.99).

If I had some money to splurge, I’d get the great Twisted Savage Dragon Funnies trade paperback (Image, $18.99). It has two things I like — weird variations on a long-running character, and an eclectic line-up of creators. It’s almost as if the Popgun crew had a go at Larsen’s Dragon.

Graeme McMillan

Captain America #1

I admit: Thanks to traveling, work overload and just plain busyness, I’ve completely failed to make it to a comic store in the last few weeks, so if/when I hit the store this week, I’ll be less interested in the new releases than I will be just seeing what I’ve missed since mid-June. But if someone were to insist that I spend $15 on books from this week, chances are I’d spend it on Captain America #1 (Marvel, $3.99)–I’m curious to see what Ed Brubaker does with the idea of a new beginning for the character, especially considering the fact that he’s essentially been doing one 70+ issue storyline since the last time he relaunched the series –as well as Superman #713 (DC, $2.99), because I’m curious to see where the Man of Steel goes in my neck of the woods (presuming, of course, he gets there and someone at DC hasn’t taken offense at something else Chris Roberson has written this issue) and, completing an unconscious cycle, DC Comics Presents Gotham Noir (DC, $7.99), reprinting an early collaboration between Brubaker and Sean Philips that promises to be grim yet enjoyable reading.

If I had $30, I’d make a point of adding Ultimate Comics Fallout #1 (Marvel, $3.99), because I hope it’ll include something to make the “Death of Spider-Man” storyline so amazingly emotionally vapid, Green Lantern #67 (DC, $2.99) because I’m curious to see how that whole “War of The Green Lanterns” ended up–My bet? Hal is shown the box office take of the GL movie and has to face real fear for the first time–and X-Men: Schism #1 (Marvel, $4.99) because I am masochistic enough to be curious about how this particular Cyclops/Wolverine clash will differ from the seventy-nine similar clashes in their past.

Splurging this week for me will probably take the form of just buying all the books I’d meant to get for the last three weeks or so, but if I were to look at something from this week’s list, I’d probably take a look at the Bloom County To Mars: The Imagination of Berkeley Breathed catalog from the Cartoon Art Museum’s recent exhibit that IDW is making available in the direct market ($20)…

Chris Mautner

It’s a pretty quiet week for me, so if I had $15, I’d probably just stick with the 11th issue of Jeff Smith’s RASL.

If I had $30, I’d pick up the trade for Incognito: Bad Influences. There’s something about Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ work together that just really accentuates their particular strengths.

As far as Splurge items go, that Bloom County book that Graeme mentioned sounds rather intriguing, so let’s go with that.

Brigid Alverson

If I had $15, I’d spend the whole thing on the fourth volume of Cross Game ($14.99), Misturi Adachi’s charming story of boys and girls and baseball, packaged by Viz in a double-sized volume of almost 400 pages.

If I had $30, I’d take a chance on The Homeland Directive ($14.95), a new thriller out from Top Shelf that looks like it would make good summer reading.

My splurge is pretty modest this week: The third issue of Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors, which would be my first choice if the other books weren’t 15 bucks each. Nothing other than that is calling out to me, so I’ll save the rest of my splurge money for next week.

Michael May

Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #2

If I had $15, I’d load up first on three different series I’m following: Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #2 ($2.99), Alpha Flight #2 ($2.99), and Mystery Men #3 ($2.99). I’ve written about Alpha Flight and Mystery Men here before, so I’ll spare you, but Frankenstein has a great concept and Jeff Lemire did an excellent job on the first issue by drawing me in without making me feel like I needed to buy any other Flashpoint titles to follow his story. Next I’d add Defenders: From the Marvel Vault #1 ($2.99), because I’m curious and excited to see Kurt Busiek write a story over Mark Bagley’s art that was already produced from a Fabian Niceza script. That’s a crazy experiment that I wouldn’t pay money to see many people do, but Busiek…you bet. Finally, if I just had 50 cents more I’d grab the new RASL or BPRD, but I don’t, so I’ll buy All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #9 ($2.99) instead. I’m not a big Hawkman fan, but B:tBatB has consistently been strong enough that it doesn’t have to rely on my affection for its guest-stars.

If I had $30, I’d add Casanova: Gula ($14.99) to see how it’s improved since I read it in single-issues from Image.

My splurge item this week wouldn’t be actual comics. Instead, I’d buy the Triton and Black Manta figurines from Eaglemoss ($14 each) and make them fight each other.

Green Lantern #1, by Dave Johnson

Although it seems like DC’s big relaunch announcement came out an eternity ago, it actually took the publisher less than two weeks to roll out the 52 titles and their creative teams for the big relaunch/reboot/overhaul coming in September. Now that the cats are out of their respective bags, I thought I’d see where various creators and characters will land after the reboot.

So I went back through DC’s August solicitations to see who was writing or drawing what, and tried to map everyone to their post-relaunch project — if they had one. However, looking at DC’s August solicitations, there seem to be several fill-in issues, so where appropriate I tried to map the most recent ongoing creative teams to their new projects (for instance, I consider Gail Simone and Jesus Saiz the regular creative team for Birds of Prey, even if they aren’t doing the last two issues before September hits). Keep in mind that I just went through the ongoing series and skipped over all the miniseries … of which there are a lot, what with Flashpoint winding up in August.

It’s also worth noting that although several creators didn’t appear in the “big 52″ announcements, that doesn’t mean their tenure with DC is necessarily over — some, like Frazer Irving, have said they have future projects that haven’t been announced. So I tried to note where creators have talked publicly about their post-relaunch plans with DC (or lack thereof, as the case may be). The same could probably be said for some of DC’s characters as well. Or, as Gail Simone said on Twitter: “Again, September is NOT THE END. There’s still plans for characters that we haven’t seen yet.”

So let’s get to it ….

Green Lantern titles: There is no Green Lantern title in August. July’s issue, #67, wraps up “War of the Green Lanterns” and is by Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke and Christiam Almy — the same guys working on Green Lantern #1. Green Lantern Corps #63 is by Tony Bedard and Tyler Kirkham, while Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #13 is by Peter J. Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin. The latter creative team takes over Green Lantern Corps in September, while the former moves to Green Lantern: New Guardians. As Sean Collins pointed out last week, not a lot of change here in terms of creative teams, although the GL books do have a new sister book in the previously announced Red Lanterns title by Peter Milligan and Ed Benes.

Booster Gold: Looks like issue #47 is the last one, which ties into Flashpoint. Dan Jurgens is writing Justice League International #1, starring Booster Gold, with artist Aaron Lopresti. And Jurgens is drawing the J.T. Krul-written Green Arrow.

Justice League of America: The book will drop “of America” from the title in September, as Geoff Johns and Jim Lee take over the series from James Robinson and … I guess the last regular artist was Brett Booth? Booth moves to Teen Titans, while James Robinson doesn’t appear anywhere on the big list of 52 titles. Which is … odd.

Between this, GL and Aquaman (with artist Ivan Reis), DC Chief Creative Officer Johns is tied with Teen Titans/Red Hood and the Outlaws/Superboy scribe Scott Lobdell for writing the most titles for DC come September.

Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #1

Superman titles: Lots of changes here … Paul Cornell and Kenneth Rocafort wrap up the “Reign of the Doomsdays” storyline in Action Comics in September. Cornell moves on to Stormwatch and Demon Knights, while Rocafort moves to Red Hood and the Outlaws. The book’s previous artist, Pete Woods, is on Legion Lost. Meanwhile, Grant Morrison and Rags Morales take over Action Comics.

The “Grounded” storyline in Superman ends with August’s issue #714, by J. Michael Straczynski, Chris Roberson, Allan Goldman and Eber Ferreira. Straczynski’s not tapped to write any of the September titles, which isn’t surprising, based on the fact that he stepped away from monthly comics to work on the sequel to Superman: Earth One — another question entirely. In any event, the man they brought on to finish up “Grounded,” Roberson, isn’t on the list either. Roberson tweeted last week, “I’ve laid off alcohol & nicotine after Heroes, but I’m treating myself to a cigarette and beer, marking the end of my brief stay in the DCU.” He’s still writing iZombie for Vertigo. Goldman also isn’t on the list, while the book’s regular artist, Eddy Barrows, moves to Nightwing. George Pérez and Jesus Merino relaunch the the book in September as Superman: The Man of Tomorrow.

Two issues of Superboy arrive in August, by Jeff Lemire and a trio of artists. Lemire moves on from the title and will be writing Frankenstein and Animal Man in September, while Lobdell takes over writing Superboy with artist R.B. Silva. Artist Pier Gallo doesn’t appear to be doing anything for DC in September.

Supergirl‘s final creative team before the reboot, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Chriscross, aren’t working on any of the September books, although DeConnick did note that she was approached to pitch to them.

Most recently Superman/Batman has featured the work of Cullen Bunn and Chriscross, neither of whom appears on the big list o’ 52, with Joshua Hale Fialkov’s three-parter appearing in the final issues this summer. Fialkov will be writing I, Vampire in September.

The Bat-titles: Batman Incorporated goes on hiatus after August, but DC has announced that it will be back as a maxi-series next year. Morrison, as noted above, goes to Action Comics. The Bat titles themselves stay fairly consistent — Tony Daniel will continue to write and draw one of them as he moves from Batman to Detective Comics; writer Scott Snyder moves from Detective Comics to work with former Spawn artist Greg Capullo on Batman; and David Finch will continue to write Batman: The Dark Knight (a series he once drew as well) for artist Jay Fabok, who is slated to take over art chores with July’s pre-relaunch-resolicited issue #4. The only creators from those books pre-relaunch who don’t appear on the big list of 52 books are Jock and Francesco Francavilla, although Jock is apparently still doing Batman-related covers, while Francavilla will do “special fill-ins” for Snyder’s other writing project, Swamp Thing. Daniel has another project as well — The Savage Hawkman, with artist Phillip Tan.

Batman & Robin

Tomasi is also listed as the writer for Batman & Robin, a book he was announced as the regular writer for after Morrison left. However, since then the book has actually been written by several folks, including Judd Winick, David Hine and Cornell. Hine’s name doesn’t appear on the relaunch list. Winick and artist Guillem March, who worked together on B&R, will team up on Catwoman in September. Winick is also writing Batwing with Ben Oliver on art.

The last few issues of Batgirl have been by Bryan Q. Miller and Dustin Nguyen, while Pere Pérez is the artist for the last three issues before the relaunch. None of them are listed as creators on the 52 titles in September. In responding to a question on Twitter, Bryan Q. Miller said: “RT Anything new on the horizon for you at DC? @TreyKrimsin Maybe – but nothing in any way immediate.” The new Batgirl creative team is Gail Simone, Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes, with Barbara Gordon stepping back into the costume.

Red Robin ends in August with an issue that has Tim going after his dad’s killer, Captain Boomerang, since CB is back from the dead. Writer Fabian Niceiza is working on Legion Lost in September. The artist for the last arc, Marcus To, isn’t doing anything in September, while the book’s previous artist, Freddie Williams, is working on Captain Atom with Krul. Red Robin will appear in Teen Titans come September.

The characters from Gotham City Sirens — Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn — seem to have scattered into the wind; Catwoman has her own book in September, while Poison Ivy appears to be in Birds of Prey and Harley Quinn is heading to the Suicide Squad. Creators Peter Calloway and Andres Guinaldo aren’t on any books in September.

Birds of Prey #1

And speaking of Birds of Prey, Simone’s last issue is #13, as the July and August installments are by writer Marc Andreyko and Billy Tucci — neither of whom is working on September’s books. Simone will move on to Batgirl, as noted above, as well as Firestorm, which she’s co-writing with Ethan Van Sciver. Jesus Saiz, who took a break from the book after issue #13, returns to BoP for the relaunch in September.

So what happens to Batman Beyond? Honestly, I’m not sure. It isn’t listed as one of the 52 titles, but CBR’s interview with Adam Beechen last week seemed to indicate the book isn’t going away:

I do know what our next arc is going to be, but I can’t talk about it yet. I’m in the process of plotting it out, and I even know what the next arc after that will be as well as our next “Legends of the Dark Knight” issue. We’re in a pretty good place about what’s ahead of us, and if all goes according to plan, we’re pretty well set for the next bit of time. And we’re going to keep the team intact as long as we can and keep trying to crank out good stuff.

It’s worth noting that there’s also a Superman Beyond #0 in August; it’s listed as a one-shot, but c’mon, a zero issue in August? How can there not be a first issue in its future?

Wonder Woman: The somewhat-controversial “Odyssey” arc, which put Wonder Woman in pants, wraps up in August by Straczynski, Phil Hester, Don Kramer and Wayne Faucher. None of these four is listed as a creator on any of September’s books. Wonder Woman #1 will be by Doctor 13: Architecture & Morality collaborators Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang.

Hester was brought onto the book at the same time Roberson came onto Superman, when Straczynski decided to step away from monthly comics. And while neither of them appears to be doing anything in September, Hester said on Twitter that “there are a lot of moving parts here,” and “So much in motion right now, but it is appreciated” when fans asked about his involvement, or lack thereof.

Adventure Comics and Legion of Super-Heroes: Paul Levitz will continue to chronicle the tales of the Legion, while Fabian Nicieza will write a Legion Lost series. Adventure appears to be gone. As for Adventure artist Phil Jimenez, a DC-exclusive creator, he tweeted, “Hey, comic readers — thanks for all the inquiries! I’m not a part of the big DCU relaunch, but I’ve got a few cool tricks up my sleeve!” followed by “Fun stuff! Hopefully announced by SDCC!” And artist Yildiray Cinar is working on the previously mentioned Firestorm book, as Francis Portela takes over Legion of Super-Heroes.

All-Star Western

Jonah Hex: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey will continue to tell the tales of the ugliest bounty hunter in the west in All-Star Western. They’re joined by artist Moritat.

Green Arrow: J.T. Krul will continue to write Green Arrow, joined by artist Dan Jurgens. Artist Diogenes Neves moves to Demon Knights, written by Cornell.

Secret Six: Simone has confirmed that issue #36 is indeed the last, as the characters Deadshot and King Shark move on to the new Suicide Squad book. Artist J. Calafiore is not listed as working on any of the 52 titles.

Zatanna: According to Paul Dini on his LiveJournal: “A few folks have asked me about the future of the Zatanna book at DC. I don’t know what plans DC has for it after this August, though I can confirm my last issue is the current one, #13.” Issue #13 came out in May. Solicitations for issues #14 and #15 list Dini as the writer, while Beechen is listed as the writer for August’s issue #16. So … I’m not sure what that means.

Responding to a question about the relaunch, Zatanna artist Jamal Igle tweeted, “I wasn’t invited to participate.” The character will appear in Justice League Dark.

Justice Society and Power Girl: I guess this explains why the description for the new Mister Terrific title didn’t reference the Justice Society. Apparently issue #54, by Marc Guggenheim and Jerry Ordway, will be the last. Neither Guggenheim nor Ordway was listed as working on any of the 52 titles, although artist Tom Derenick, who drew the recent issues #51-53, will team with Ivan Brandon on Sgt. Rock and the Men of War.

Power Girl, meanwhile, ends with August’s #27 by Matthew Sturges and Hendry Prasetya, neither of whom is listed as working on any of the 52 titles. The series’ previous writer, Winick, is working on Batwing and Catwoman, as noted above, while artist Sami Basri is working on Voodoo with Ron Marz.

Honestly, I was half-expecting a round of Justice Society titles to be announced at some point — Justice Society, Power Girl, maybe Star Girl or Starman. Maybe they’ll be tapped as mid-season replacements? On the other hand, the description of the Morrison/Morales Action Comics relaunch offered by DC’s The Source blog — “This momentous first issue will set in motion the history of the DC Universe as Superman defends a world that doesn’t trust their first Super Hero” — would appear to preclude the existence of a team full of World War II-era heroes that predates Superman’s generation.

Teen Titans

Teen Titans and Titans: Teen Titans writer J.T. Krul is penning two books come September, Captain Atom and Green Arrow. But I’m not seeing Nicola Scott or Doug Hazlewood on anything, though. That can’t be right; someone at DC get on that, stat.

Titans writer Eric Wallace is working on Mister Terrific; Fabrizio Fiorentino isn’t on anything. Deathstroke gets his own title in September, while Arsenal will join Red Hood and Starfire in Red Hood and the Outlaws.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents: I was kind of wondering about the long-term future of this one even before the reboot. Which is too bad, as it’s also one I really enjoyed. Writer Nick Spencer is exclusive to Marvel now, so his name wouldn’t be on any other DC book, while the regular art team of Cafu and BIT will work on Grifter. Recent issues have featured art by Mike Grell and Nick Dragotta, who aren’t listed on any of September’s books.

Xombi: With John Rozum working on the new Static Shock series, I would have assumed that was it for Xombi. But someone asked about it on his blog, and he responded: “… I still can’t comment one way or another. Check back periodically, but in the meantime, please take a few minutes to write a letter to the powers that be at DC about what you think about Xombi and send it to them via snail mail. It has an impact. It’s what led to the current run of Xombi in the first place.”

At the very least, maybe they’d let Rozum and artist Frazer Irving wrap up the series in the new anthology title. Speaking of Irving, he tweeted: “For all interested parties, I do have a post-relaunch DC gig but it’s a secret at the mo And Gutsville still needs finishing…” More Gutsville is a plus for sure.

Flash: Flash‘s current run ended in May with issue #12 by Johns and Francis Manapul. The title will return in September sans Johns and with Manapul and Brian Buccellato sharing art and writing duties.

So there you have it, DC’s September books through the filter of their previous line-ups … and I still didn’t hit every single book that’ll come out in September. And based on some of the comments from various creators about additional projects beyond the 52, now I’d just really like to see what DC’s October looks like …

In the meantime, what September books are you going to get? Head over to CBR and take the survey!

Marvel’s solicitations for July revealed a new/old project yesterday — Defenders: From the Marvel Vault #1 by Fabian Nicieza, Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley. Fans might remember that Busiek once worked with Erik Larsen on a Defenders title circa 2001. Busiek explains on his blog that the book’s editor, Tom Brevoort, had commissioned Nicieza and Bagley to do a fill-in issue just in case the regular team fell behind, and after Bagley drew it based on Nicieza’s plot, it went into a drawer, unscripted, and wasn’t used.

And when Marvel decided recently they wanted to publish it, Nicieza was unavailable to do it because he’s exclusive to DC. So they recruited Busiek, who wrote the script based on the art without a copy of Nicieza’s original plot (which Nicieza lost in a hard drive crash years ago):

So I have to come up with a story to fit the art. A new story. One that might bear some resemblance to what Fabian intended, at least at the big structural moments, but other than that, it’s wide open.

And as I keep looking through the art, I get an idea. A pretty demented idea, really, based on one cryptic panel late in the book (You’ll know it when you see it. The script for that panel is “HTNN–!”). But it’s an idea that, demented as it is, won’t go away. And actually, I’m thinking, it could be kinda fun…

I tell Fabian the idea, mostly as a joke. But he laughs, and says that it sounds like a hoot, and it might even be better than whatever his original story was.

And I tell Rachel Pinnelas, who’s editing it, and she cracks up, and says “Do it, do it.”

So I do it.

It’s not what Fabian plotted, not by any means. It’s very strange. It has a very old, very dumb joke about a hot dog vendor in it. It has the Hulk building sandcastles. A near-pointless cameo by Empress Lilandra. And I had a blast writing it.

It sounds like it oughta be fun to read for no other reason than to see what Busiek came up with.

Borders

Retailing | Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg reports that Borders Group may file for bankruptcy protection as early as next week. Additionally the struggling book chain, the second-largest in the United States, will likely close at least 150 of its 500 remaining namesake stores. Company stock plunged in the wake of the news. A Borders spokeswoman declined comment, but referred to a Jan. 27 statement from President Mike Edwards in which he raised “the possibility of an in-court restructuring.” [Bloomberg]

Legal | Rich Johnston and retailer news and analysis site ICv2 look at potential trademark issues surrounding Marvel’s “Who Are the Mystery Men?” They note that cartoonist Bob Burden owns the trademark to the one-word “Mysterymen,” while Dark Horse and Universal Pictures control the two-word “Mystery Men” — both relating to the characters created by Burden and the 1999 movie adaptation. Dynamite Entertainment also has laid claim to “Super-Mysterymen” for its Project Superpowers series. “I have not heard from Universal yet, but I’m sure Universal will proceed in an orderly and propitious manner,” Burden said. [Bleeding Cool, ICv2.com]

Archie Comics

Legal | Archie Comics reportedly has reached an out-of-court settlement with the producers of the Indian film Boys Toh Boys Hain, which has been described as “based on the lines of the celebrated [Archie] comic book but set in Delhi instead of Riverdale.” As the result of a legal threat earlier this month, the producers have agreed to give credit to Archie Comics “during promotions in colleges and educational institutions.” [Hindustan Times]

Legal | Japanese publishing giant Kodansha Ltd. has warned Chinese search engine Baidu to remove the company’s manga and novels from its file-sharing service or face legal action. [The Japan Times]

Publishing | Ada Price runs down 2011′s major graphic novel releases. [Publishers Weekly]

Venom, by Tony Moore

Creators | Tony Moore reports that five pages of his original artwork from Marvel’s Venom #1 were stolen in transit to the inker. There are high-resolution scans, so production can continue, but Moore asks that art dealers and collectors keep an eye out for the original pages. [iFanboy]

Creators | Writer Fabian Nicieza is profiled by his local newspaper. [The Princeton Packet]

Creators | Stan Lee chats about his early career and his stint in the Signal Corps writing training films and creating visual training aids. [Under the Radar]

Comics | David Brothers explains why he dedicates every February to writing about black history and comics. Meanwhile, Black Superhero Fan looks at 1957′s Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story, “the comic book that changed a nation.” [Comics Alliance]

Manga | Johanna Draper Carlson has an exclusive preview of NBM Publishing’s The Story of Lee. [Comics Worth Reading]

FunGoPlay

A new “virtual sports theme park” launching later this spring seeks to combine “the most appealing aspects of online gaming with the joys of real world play,” and helping them to do that is Red Robin writer Fabian Nicieza.

FunGoPlay will allow kids to earn medals, points and power-ups in the virtual world by wearing branded sports gear when they play in the real world that apparently keeps track of their activity levels and sends it back to the game.

“Our research shows that kids’ activity levels are determined when they are eight and nine years old. Not coincidentally, this is the time that they are being sucked into the often sedentary lifestyle of video games and surfing online,” said FunGoPlay President David Jacobs in a press release. “We saw an opportunity to combine two leading kid passions—digital entertainment and real world active sports play—so we changed the game by introducing a virtual world that rewards kids for playing and being active in the real world. We see this as a future of online gaming that both parents and children can enjoy.”

Nicieza, the longtime comic scribe who also served as editor-in-chief of the Acclaim’s comic line, is the head of creative for FunGoPlay. He will write all the storylines for the various characters that appear in the game, a spokesperson said. The company also includes David Mauer, former president of Mattel USA and current CEO of EB Brands, and David Jacobs, formerly with Sesame Workshop.

The 99

DC’s The Source blog announced today that the Justice League will meet Teshkeel Comics’ The 99 in an upcoming mini-series. Fabian Nicieza, who is no stranger to either set of heroes, will write the book (CBR spoke with Nicieza about the project back in 2007). The release date and artist will be announced at a later date.

From the Source:

THE 99 team, which debuted in June 2006, was recently identified by Forbes Magazine as one of the “Top 20 Trends Sweeping the Globe.” Not too shabby, huh? In THE 99 — created by Naif Al-Mutawa — are a team of superheroes, including Jabbar the Powerful and Noora the Light who must collect 99 gems encrypted with the wisdom and power of the ancient Dar Al-Hikma library of Baghdad, which are spread across the globe.

They even have their own theme park, and a cartoon is in development.

The announcement comes on the same day that the BBC has posted an open letter from Dr. Naif al-Mutawa, who created The 99, to his sons. In the letter, he explains where the idea for the series came from:

Khalid, you were born in New York City, shortly after 9/11. I had already made a decision that I needed to find a way to take back Islam from its hostage takers, but I did not known how. The answer was staring me in the face. It was a simple, and as difficult, as the multiplication of 9 by 11: 99.

So, at the age of 32, I uncapped my pen to create a concept that could be popular in the East and the West. I would go back to the very sources from which others took violent and hateful messages and offer messages of tolerance and peace in their place. I would give my heroes a Trojan horse in the form of THE 99. Islam was my Helen. I wanted her back.

If you’re interested in seeing more of The 99, previous issues of the series can be downloaded for $1.99 each. There’s also a free preview of each issue if you’d like to try before you buy. There is also a free “origins” issue.

Grumpy Old Fan

Although I wrote quite a lot over the past year about DC’s weekly series Trinity, I kept coming up with questions that went outside the scope of my weekly notes. Fortunately, writer Kurt Busiek was nice enough to participate in the following e-mail interview, conducted after Trinity concluded (and after he returned from a well- deserved vacation).

We discussed the nuts and bolts of producing Trinity, its connections to a couple of Busiek’s other DC projects, a few nitpicky items, and what the year-long series leaves behind.

* * *

TCB: How did the weekly format affect your approach? Did you feel obliged to pace the book so as to satisfy both the weekly audience and the “wait-for-traders?”

kdb: I always feel obligated to make a project satisfying in whatever formats it’s planned for. So yes, we wanted each individual issue to be an enjoyable read, and we wanted each trade paperback volume to be an enjoyable read. Which was a little tricky, since we didn’t know, going into it, whether it would be collected as 4 TPBs (meaning the volumes would end at #13, 26, 39, and 52) or 3 TPBs (meaning #17, #34 or 35, and #52).*

That said, we were aware that with a weekly schedule, it’s only 7 days to the next chapter, so if one week is light on action (or virtually all action), that would likely be balanced out by the next installment. Or maybe even by the story in the co-feature.

TCB: What sorts of decisions went into breaking the series into individual two-story issues? Were there any labor considerations, for example to give the artists time to rest up for the next crowd scene? Did you and Fabian Nicieza write particular second stories for particular art teams?

kdb: We did try to juggle things for the strengths of the various co-feature artists, yes. But we had flexibility there, because we had enough lead time so that we didn’t have to have them in strict rotation. If we needed two chapters in a row from Scott [McDaniel], for instance, we’d just have to make sure we were plotted far enough ahead that while he was working on chapter one of two, Tom [Derenick] and Mike [Norton] had their own chapters to work on. As a result, the co-feature chapters didn’t come in in order, but we had enough time that we didn’t need them to; we could juggle talent and material and match them up right.

As a rough rule of thumb, we started out giving Scott spooky stuff or crime stuff, Tom big superhero action and Mike “people” stories, but varied that around as we got more of a sense of what they could do. Tom turned out to be very good at space stuff, for instance, and Scott far better at “cosmic/trippy” stuff than anyone might have imagined, possibly even him. By the end of it, we were making sure he got the psychedelic stuff, because we knew he’d knock it out of the park, while at the start we were thinking of him for shadows and mood…

TCB: Especially considering the artists’ deadline pressures, I thought Trinity‘s art was consistently good. Among other things, I feel like I’ve been to Thayer’s Notch now that I’ve seen it drawn by Mark Bagley and Art Thibert; and I was very impressed by Scott McDaniel and Andy Owens’ psychedelic Worldsoul/Krona story. Not that you had low expectations for the art, but were there any scenes or sequences which looked better than you’d written them?

kdb: I agree with you on the art being consistently good — credit the artists, of course, but also credit Mike Carlin, for lining up such a good squad of guys and making sure to manage their schedules right.

As for which scenes looked better than I imagined, I’m tempted to say “All of them.” Getting pages in was a treat, because everyone found ways to go a little further, make it a bit bigger, or funnier, or more affecting. From giant battles to big mystery to chapters like that great Norton/Kesel chapter about the Riddler, which was just perfectly paced, it was a pleasure all the way through.

TCB: Mike Carlin edited most of Countdown, and worked on the “weekly” Superman titles of the ’90s. Was he more helpful with regard to the logistics of the book or the creative aspects?

kdb: Mike weighed in on the big-picture stuff, going over the outlines, the big ideas and so on, but when it came to the chapter-by-chapter stuff, Fabian and I had a pretty good sense of how to play it out, and Mike rarely asked for changes. So I’d say that after the big story decisions had been made, he was very supportive creatively, and had to be the scheduling logistics taskmaster more often than anything else. And his experience juggling a large creative team helped out a lot.

TCB: What was it like collaborating with Fabian? How much input did he have into those scripts, and/or the book’s overall direction?

kdb: Fabian was insanely helpful. On the one hand, Fabian and I have worked together in a lot of different situations, going back to when he was a promotions manager at Marvel and I was a sales manager. We get along, we have a similar enough sensibility that we can pretty easily pull in the same direction, and he’s an inventive and professional writer. One of the reasons Mike didn’t need to involve himself all that much in the chapter-by-chapter plotting was that we pretty much had it covered — Fabian was kind of an extra story editor, where I could call him up and bounce ideas off him, and get feedback and suggestions from someone deeply involved in the story, who wasn’t pulled in a million directions at once by other emergencies.

At the same time, Fabian brought tons of creativity and no ego to the process — he knew going in that I’d be basically driving the bus, and his job was to help. I probably trampled all over his stuff dozens of times, replotting co-features, tweaking the dialogue so much that at points it amounted to rewriting rather than co-writing — but it was all in the service of keeping the two pieces of the issue together and working at speed; it’s simply easier, sometimes, to rewrite rather than talk all the details through.

So in the end, the credits are a bit misleading. Fabian’s name doesn’t appear on the lead chapters, but he was essentially a contributing writer on those, a sounding board, a suggestion guy and more. And my name is only listed as co-plotter on the co-features, but I had a lot more input than that. It was very organic — we were on the phone a lot and figured things out together. So I was driving the bus, but Fabian was co-pilot, or something. He had a number of very good suggestions, pushing me to think harder about Gangbuster and Enigma and others, and making sure I didn’t set something up and then let it fade away when it should play a larger role. He’s had a lot more experience with gang-written books than I do, so he saw pitfalls and structural issues sooner than I did, and kept us from falling prey to them.

And then I’d rewrite all his stuff; what an ingrate!

TCB: Appropriately enough, Trinity itself seems to be the third part of a trilogy, wrapping up storylines from JLA/Avengers and JLA‘s “Syndicate Rules.” How much of what became Trinity did you have in mind when you were writing the earlier stories?

kdb: Almost none of it. We put Krona in the Egg at the end of JLA/Avengers because it seemed like a good place to leave him, somewhere that could lead to something rich, but we hadn’t figured out what, yet. And then in “Syndicate Rules,” we didn’t do a lot with the Egg itself, but built up ideas like the Void Hound, or the CSA’s favor- bank rules, knowing that they’d be paid off later, but again, not precisely how. So it’s more a case of putting things into places that feel like a satisfying resolution for the moment, but have a built-in springboard for further explanation. It’s more about knowing that there’s stuff you can do that’ll work than knowing exactly what stuff that’ll be.

TCB: Apart from simply being shorter, do you think Trinity would have been significantly different as, say, an arc in Superman or JLA?

kdb: Oh, it’d have to be. Keep in mind that the JLA doesn’t turn up until #3, and then is erased from reality for the middle third of the story. If it was a JLA story, we’d have gotten tons of complaints from people who thought we were using JLA as a vehicle to ram the Trinity down everyone’s throats, at the expense of the rest of the League, and then that we weren’t even letting the League be part of their own book. So it’d have had to have been a much, much different story.

Same for if it was in Superman – it’s not a straight Superman story; it’s a story that has Superman as one of the main characters. So to build it more fully around him would change a lot. It doesn’t really fit any existing DC book — to properly describe it, it’s either a book about the Trinity, with a whole bunch of guest stars, or a book about the DCU Universe, with a special focus on the Trinity. So if you don’t call it Trinity, you need to call it DCU or DC Nation or something like that. (It was originally pitched, by the way, as “DC Superstars: Starring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman….and The DC Universe!” Which would have fit pretty well, as it worked out.)

TCB: It seemed to me that Trinity shared some of its story structure, at least superficially, with JLA/Avengers. Both stories begin with a quest to gather certain powerful items, which are then used to create an alternate timeline. Although the two stories have their differences, are the similarities just coincidental?

kdb: I think they’re coincidence. The quest-for-power-objects part of JLA/Avengers was there to help make it a travelogue/showcase of the two universes, an excuse to have a lot of fun locations for the fights. In Trinity, it was the villains going after power-objects, and that was to set up the building mystery of the Tarot connections and the personal items that were used in the Trinity spell.

TCB: Another JLA/Avengers question. In JLA/Avengers, I got the feeling you were lamenting the heroes’ various personal tragedies, and saying that no matter how appealing it looked, the combined DC/ Marvel timeline was just a pipe dream. Here, though, the experience of the deified Trinitarians suggests that the characters’ tragedies are inevitable, and perhaps even necessary. What do these stories say about the usefulness of these events?

kdb: In JLA/Avengers, the “tragedies” you’re referring to were things like the Scarlet Witch losing her children, or Hal and Barry being dead — I’d call that the kind of upheaval and calamity that happened to the heroes over the course of their careers, but which they had to accept as their burden to bear to restore the world to what they should be. In Trinity, you mean the legends, with the death of Robin and the Max Lord thing and such, right? I don’t know that we’re saying those are necessary, merely that they were big events that sent the heroes off into directions that isolated them, and they had to overcome those and reconnect with their true missions, rather than obsessing about personal failures.

TCB: Apart from those tragedies, how important generally was it to tell a story about these particular versions of the characters? Was it simply a case of using what had been established and/or what was current? Could you have gotten the same points across with more “timeless” versions?

kdb: I think they were reasonably timeless versions. We didn’t dwell all that hard on minor details — we used recent history in the legend stuff, but we used it in the process of illustrating who the characters are at their core. In another era, with different histories, those legends would have been different, but I’m sure we’d have found ways to say what we needed to say.

TCB: Were there any characters who, for whatever reason, didn’t make the final cut? (Personally, I was a little surprised not to see the “Sword of Atlantis” Aquaman.)

kdb: DC didn’t seem to know what they were going to do with Aquaman, so even though I created that version, I didn’t want to force him into the story. The big loss, to my mind, was Metron — we’d set up that Metron was interested in what would happen to the Cosmic Egg, and then couldn’t use him as we saw it play out because the New Gods were off-limits due to Final Crisis.

And we couldn’t use Madame Xanadu, because of her Vertigo series, but that meant that Charity got to play a role, which spun the story a bit differently, and that was fun.

Overall, though, we got to use most everyone we wanted to.

TCB: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are each inspired by their parents in very different ways. However, Trinity didn’t really concern itself with those differences. Why not?

kdb: It didn’t really come up. We could have made that another aspect of their trinitarianity, if that’s even a word — Superman was raised by loving parents, Batman’s an orphan, Wonder Woman had a single Mom; Superman’s adopted, Batman’s a natural son, Wonder Woman was created…but after a while adding more details starts to feel like you’re just piling them on, not going deeper into the characters.

There certainly stuff there to explore, and maybe someone will do a story about it. But we had enough going on that we didn’t need to add that in, too.

TCB: Here are a couple of really nit-picky questions about the altered timeline. First, why did Hal Jordan become Sky-Knight if John Stewart was still Green Lantern? I take it Hal quit because he couldn’t operate as GL on Earth, leaving John to be the GL of Sector 2814 everywhere but Earth. Also, why did Interceptor wear those goggles?

kdb: Interceptor’s visor has hi-tech sensors in it — it allowed her military bosses to observe what she saw; to see and hear what she did. Part of her being an agent of the government rather than a solo act. Hal Jordan quit being Green Lantern at some point and then built a new identity to keep being a hero, and John became our sector’s GL. Neither of these really came up, but like you say, it’s nit-picky. Given the way comics work, we could see either character again and learn more about them, I suppose. I really got to like Interceptor, and would love to see Supergirl meet her, in a compare/contrast story. Each one would think the other’s life was unbearable; it could be a lot of fun.

TCB: He only popped up briefly here, so where might we see Khyber again?

kdb: Anywhere! He’s out there, but he’s very secretive, so he could pop up anywhere, or stay under the radar for years. He could make a good JLA villain, or get involved with some espionage/intrigue characters, or whatever. We hinted at him in “Syndicate Rules,” by the way, when I was planning him as a JLA villain. But I don’t think anyone noticed.

TCB: The Tarot plays a pretty significant part in the story, especially early on. I imagine that is the kind of thing you want to get right, because you’ll probably have some readers who will know if you got it wrong. Did you have to do a lot of research before you felt comfortable with it? Did you consult any experts?

kdb: Fabian and I got a number of reference books, and used those — I sort of delegated much of that to him, because, well, I was juggling so much stuff I didn’t have the time to be more than cursory about it, and he was willing….

TCB: Trinity works in a lot of Clark’s co-workers from his pre-Crisis days as a TV anchorman. That seemed to me to indicate a fondness for the Cary Bates/Elliott Maggin/Curt Swan era of Superman. Apart from your own work on the Trinitarians, and the ways they’re being handled currently, to whom do you look for inspiration for each of these characters?

kdb: Everyone. I’m not looking to recreate any particular era, and my Superman, for instance, is informed by what Weisinger and his crew did, what Julie [Schwartz]‘s creative staff did, what Byrne and Stern and Jurgens and Ordway and others did…. I like the Bronze Age Superman a lot, especially the Cary Bates issues, but when I write Superman it’s a synthesis of all the stuff I like about Superman over the years. I don’t try to hit particular notes, I simply have a sense of who the character is from reading all those comics, and that guy in my head is the guy I try to get on paper. Same for Batman and Wonder Woman … I’m a big fan of Englehart’s Batman, for instance, but I’m not specifically trying to capture that, it’s just one piece of the mosaic that makes up Batman to me. Wonder Woman’s history is a lot more fragmented, so I suppose I’m more guided by the stuff from what George [Perez] did to what Gail [Simone] is doing today, but there’s certainly parts of the Bronze and Silver Age Wonder Woman in there, stuff that resonates with me and feels appropriate to who she is today.

TCB: Any immediate plans for Trinity‘s supporting cast, including Konvikt, Tarot and Gangbuster, Enigma and Stephie/Void Hound, and Tomorrow Woman?

kdb: I can’t say, at present. I hope we’ll see a lot of them — including the Dreambound — but if there are plans I’m not at liberty to announce them, and if there aren’t I’m too sneaky to admit it.

TCB: Finally, can you share what’s next for the new Earth-Trinity? Should we call it “Earth One,” or was that just a wink to fans of the old Multiverse?

kdb: “Earth One” was a deliberate choice, and done in part at DC’s request. There’s definitely more than a wink going on there.

But again, I can’t say, at present, what it’s leading to…

kdb

+++++++++

* [It turned out to be 3 volumes, with vol. 2 covering issues #18-35 -- TCB]