Thanks to the ever-resourceful Mike Sterling for the find, you don’t have to burrow through Previews to see DC’s finest the way Superman can see them with his x-ray vision. The vision of a green-tinted skull with the superhero domino mask is frightening in itself.

I, for one, fully endorse this trend and hope the line is successful enough to we can see more shirts in the line. Who wouldn’t want to see how Plastic Man’s skeleton looks when it bends?

You can find images of each shirt after the jump.

*****

Justice League America #61

Don’t ask me how I remember this, but it was just about twenty years ago that the first previews of Dan Jurgens’ Justice League began appearing. After five years, the “bwah-ha-ha” era was winding down, and Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis were leaving Justice League America. Giffen was also stepping away from plots and breakdowns for Justice League Europe, with JLE’s scripter Gerard Jones taking over as the book’s only writer; and Brian Augustyn replaced Andy Helfer as both books’ editor.

With a number of the New 52 titles changing creative teams before they’re even a year old, it’s too early to start talking about any long-lived, let alone definitive, runs on a particular book. Still, DC clearly hopes these books will be around for a while, even without the folks who launched ‘em. It got me thinking about past changes of the guard, and how they have followed some well-established interpretations.

* * *

Let’s begin with the Jurgens League, which was a big part of a wider effort to establish the Justice League as a mini-franchise. In the spring of 1992, the League family included JLA and JLE, as well as the oversized anthology Justice League Quarterly. “Breakdowns,” an epic crossover between the two monthly books, left the two teams pretty much disbanded, only to reunite (with some newer, higher-profile members) in the one-shot Justice League Spectacular. Although the overall effect made JLA and JLE less wacky, the changes also tried to give the books more of a high-adventure feel, deliberately trying to evoke the Silver Age team. The covers of JLA #61 and JLE #37 each paid homage to early Justice League of America moments, with JLA’s copying Justice League of America #1 and JLE’s parodying the original team’s origin (from JLofA #9).

Justice League Europe #37

In hindsight, it was part of a cycle which should be familiar to longtime Justice League fans. As a response to the “Detroit League’s” lineup of lesser-knowns, Giffen, DeMatteis, and penciller Kevin Maguire had built Justice League International around veterans from the original team (Batman, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter), familiar characters with no previous League affiliation (Mr. Miracle, Dr. Fate, Captain Marvel), and those newer to the spotlight (Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Guy Gardner, Dr. Light). For years the JLI was successful without the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, or Hal Jordan, mostly because it poked fun at the kind of omnipotent super-team to which they would belong. However, when Jurgens and Jones (and JLE’s new artist Ron Randall) took over, the two Leagues expanded to accommodate exactly those characters. Superman joined Beetle, Booster, Guy, Fire, and Ice in Justice League America, while Power Girl, Flash, Crimson Fox, and Elongated Man welcomed Hal, Aquaman, (eventually) Wonder Woman, and (for the first arc) Batman into Justice League Europe.

Strange as it may sound, this was a big deal at the time. After a few years of post-Crisis On Infinite Earths creative renovations, DC was starting to rediscover the Silver Age. Jurgens’ first villain was Xotar the Weapons Master, not seen since 1960′s Brave and the Bold #29, and his last big storyline involved Doctor Destiny and a twisted version of the Satellite League. Intervening was 1992′s “Death Of Superman” storyline, and since Superman was part of the League, Doomsday got to sideline Booster and put Beetle in a coma. There’s some metatextual hay to be made out of a Silver Age pastiche featuring self-referential post-Crisis characters being decimated by an early-‘90s stunt-plot built around killing one of the world’s most recognizable pop-culture figures, but in the end it was just a big mess. Jurgens’ JLA ended up with Wonder Woman, Guy Gardner, Maxima, the Ray, Black Condor, Agent Liberty, and Bloodwynd, and Jurgens left soon thereafter. When the JL books were reshuffled a year or so later, Gerard Jones was the new writer, and the cycle began anew.

Teen Titans vol. 2 #1

As it happened, Jurgens also ended up taking over the Teen Titans from longtime writer Marv Wolfman. Of course, Wolfman’s association with the Titans went back to the late ‘60s, but he’d really made his mark in 1980, in collaboration with artist George Pérez. Wolfman stayed on New (Teen) Titans for some fifteen years, and by the time Nightwing put the book to bed with issue #130, there didn’t seem to be much more to do with those characters. Accordingly, Jurgens started fresh in Teen Titans #1 (October 1996), with a group of super-powered youngsters sharing a common origin. Leading the group was the Atom, stuck in the body of a 16-year-old following a temporal accident, and helping to mentor them was Mr. Jupiter, a figure from one of the original Titans’ other relaunches. Jurgens’ Titans lasted two years, although issue #12 featured the originals in the start of a four-part storyline and Captain Marvel Jr. joined around issue #17. The book ended with issue #24, but the original Titans reunited in 1998′s JLA/Titans miniseries, and one of Jurgens’ characters (Argent) joined the subsequent Titans title. Argent even appeared in the seminal JLA storyline “Rock Of Ages,” albeit as one of the last superheroes standing after Darkseid’s global conquest. With the Titans’ New-52 history uncertain, who knows when they might pop up; but for the most part, they made it through the past few crossovers relatively unscathed. However, DC hasn’t tried a completely-new Titans book since then (not counting the recent all-villains Titans, that is), and I would say the feature is subject to the same ebb and flow of big-name characters as Justice League is.

Speaking of ex-Titans, The Flash vol. 2 was lucky enough to have only a handful of writers during its twenty-year run. Mark Waid spent some six-and-a-half years writing (or co-writing with Brian Augustyn) Wally West’s adventures, most notably letting Wally come to grips with his place in the Flash legacy. Waid also gave Wally a distinctive, matter-of-fact voice appropriate to a character who’d spent most of his life with super-speed. Accordingly, when Geoff Johns took over Flash, he inherited a well-adjusted protagonist and didn’t try to fix what wasn’t broken. Instead, Johns focused on Wally’s surroundings: breathing life into the blue-collar, hockey-loving Keystone City; offering new perspectives via detectives Chyre and Morillo; and famously focusing on the Flash’s Rogues’ Gallery. Johns stayed on Flash for five years, effectively wrapping it up in time for an Infinite Crisis-related relaunch.

So, can we draw some conclusions from these three disparate examples? I doubt there are any hard-and-fast rules, but I do have some observations. First, despite writing and drawing both, Dan Jurgens was asked to do two different things on Justice League America and Teen Titans. Essentially, JLA picked up where Giffen and DeMatteis left it, except that a) Jurgens tried to fold it into the Superman titles and b) Jurgens wasn’t nearly as funny. (His recent Booster Gold work was a lot better by comparison.) Conversely, Teen Titans was supposed to be something new (if grounded in the familiar DC universe) and turned into something pretty familiar when the new stuff failed to catch on. By contrast, the new stuff in Johns’ Flash was mostly new perspectives on familiar elements, like Keystone City and the Rogues.

We tend to forget it because Gail Simone was associated with the characters for so long, but Chuck Dixon was the original Birds Of Prey writer, guiding Black Canary and Oracle through various one-shots and miniseries before writing the first forty-six issues of the original ongoing series. (Terry Moore and Gilbert Hernandez each wrote a few issues in between Dixon and Simone.) Dixon’s BOP was a distaff version of his other DC work, which at the time included Nightwing, Robin, and Green Arrow. It was hard-nosed, no-nonsense storytelling; and although there were some relationship issues, the series was more action-oriented. Today, naturally, we remember Simone’s BOP for its characters: Babs, Dinah, Helena, Zinda, Charlie, et al. Again, like Johns, Simone took what Dixon left and gave it her own perspective. (I try not to sound like Paula Abdul, but there it is.) Simone ended up writing more issues of Birds Of Prey than Dixon did, and now she surely comes to mind more readily than he does. Still, the fundamentals of the feature didn’t change all that much.

Doctor Fate #25

Of course, other titles underwent more radical changes. When J.M. DeMatteis and Shawn McManus left Dr. Fate after two years, writer William Messner-Loebs and artists Vince Giaranno and Peter Gross changed casts almost completely. Stay with me, because this can get complicated: Dr. Fate was originally Kent Nelson, bearer of a mystic helmet which housed Nabu, an omnipotent Lord of Order. By the time DeMatteis and McManus launched their series, Nelson had died and Nabu was inhabiting his body, and Fate was a guy named Eric Strauss (magically aged to adulthood) and occasionally also Eric’s stepmother Linda. However, thanks to a series of events much too complicated to be summarized, the protagonists for Moore and Gross’s run were Inza Nelson (Kent’s wife) and Kent himself, back from limbo (or someplace effectively similar), with Kent’s original body now the home to a Lord of Chaos named Shat-Ru. Thus, different faces on comparable roles. Both DeMatteis and Messner-Loebs used Dr. Fate to explore broad philosophical questions, although each writer went in a different direction. Where DeMatteis was more concerned with larger issues of creation, destruction, and significance, Messner-Loebs had Inza transform her neighborhood for the better, literally removing evil impulses from her neighbors and behaving like a benevolent deity. It was an engaging run, although it only lasted a little over a year before the book was cancelled.

J.M. DeMatteis got another crack at a nigh-omnipotent superhero when he wrote Hal Jordan as The Spectre. Previous writer John Ostrander cast the Spectre as the embodiment of God’s wrath, but DeMatteis gave him a mission of redemption. DeMatteis’ Spectre series (drawn first by Ryan Sook and then by Norm Breyfogle) lasted a little over two years, and with Hal’s subsequent return as Green Lantern, may end up merely as a forgotten footnote to his backstory.

And speaking of footnotes, I felt compelled to hunt down every issue of Who’s Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes just to understand the references in early issues of the “Five-Years Later” version. Following Paul Levitz’s departure, writers Tom and Mary Bierbaum and artist/plotter Keith Giffen relaunched Legion of Super-Heroes in the fall of 1989, but set it in a universe five years removed from the glittering utopia Legion readers had come to love. (Not being a regular Legion reader, I thought this would be a good jumping-on point, but I ended up jumping into a fast-moving stream without a float.) Ironically, while this version of the Legion was grounded firmly in existing continuity, a big chunk of that continuity had been rewritten to accommodate post-Crisis changes to Superman. Even so, the 5YL Legion survived for five years (appropriately enough), until Zero Hour provided the opportunity for a more complete housecleaning.

Firestorm #56, John Ostrander's first issue

Finally, there’s Firestorm, co-created by Gerry Conway in the mid-‘70s and guided largely by Conway for the next ten years. Firestorm, the fusion of student Ronnie Raymond and scientist Martin Stein, first had his own book, which lasted five issues before being cancelled. Because Conway also wrote Justice League of America, he soon brought Firestorm into the League and wrote the character’s contemporaneous backup series in Flash. Not surprisingly, when the ongoing Fury Of Firestorm debuted in 1982, Conway wrote its first fifty-three issues. Essentially, Firestorm was Conway’s baby until John Ostrander came along — and one of the first things Ostrander did was give Martin Stein cancer. That kicked off a whole slew of twists and turns and brought in a raft of new characters. It took both Ronnie and the Professor out of the picture for long stretches, leaving behind an affectless Firestorm who struggled to find his proper function. In fact, the Ostrander run delved deep into the mechanics of the character, laying the groundwork for how he’s perceived today. Ostrander’s Firestorm (drawn by Joe Brozowski, then Tom Grindberg, then Tom Mandrake) was a sweeping saga of hope, survival, and ultimately, transcendence, which took the character from relatively-mundane superheroics to Swamp Thing-style levels of cosmic responsibility. Firestorm was cancelled with issue #100, so Ostrander was on the book a little less than four years, but that was more than enough time to alter the character irrevocably. (It also made the character somewhat unrecognizable, but subsequent appearances got around that.) The Jason Rusch Firestorm revamp built on many of these ideas, and the current Fury Of Firestorms seems to be playing with them as well.

* * *

Naturally, all of these examples would be more appropriate if we were still playing by all the old rules. (It feels more than a little strange to talk about “the old days” and mean “August,” but that’s about where the New-52 has left us.) There aren’t too many New-52 books with long-established creative teams. Geoff Johns has been writing Green Lantern for about seven years now, Paul Levitz has been back with the Legion for a while, and despite the book’s considerable hiatus I guess you could say there’s only been one set of writers on Resurrection Man. For all intents and purposes, we’re probably in the post-Grant Morrison era of Bat-books as well.

Otherwise, though, I don’t feel comfortable pointing to any given New-52 book and predicting a lengthy tenure for its current creative team. That said, I don’t think any of the Bat-writers are going anywhere, Morrison probably has a good bit to say about Superman in Action Comics, and Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire seem settled-in for the long haul on Swamp Thing and Animal Man. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the New-52 titles got a good couple of years out of their current creative teams — but I wouldn’t be surprised either if the superhero line looked significantly different two years from now. Maybe it’s because we’re only on the first week of Month 4, but the whole thing has a weird sense of impermanence, like it’s just a more normal version of Flashpoint’s altered reality.

Maybe that’s by design: for good or ill, these folks are telling the stories they want to tell, and when they’re done, they’re done — whether that takes six months, one year, or five years. That’s not a bad way to go. It’s basically what happened with Sandman, Hitman, and Starman, each of which is remembered for its singular vision.

However, not every book has that luxury. I wouldn’t want to be the writer following Geoff Johns on Green Lantern. I suppose the examples above are meant for that person, and I guess one of the big takeaways has to do with a book’s fundamentals. If those fundamentals are maintained, and you can offer readers some new insights into familiar elements, you’re probably set for a decent run. That sounds pretty basic, but these days, there’s more freedom to redefine those fundamentals and/or play with readers’ expectations — and that’s assuming the reader has some expectations. In that respect, Dan Jurgens had it easy on JLA: just add Superman to Giffen and DeMatteis’ comedic cast, and let the reactions write themselves.

Today, though, DC is presenting the New 52 largely on its own merits. Readers may have expectations about Justice League, Superman, or Batman, but they’re not necessarily comparing Duane Swierczynski’s work on Birds Of Prey to Gail Simone’s. Indeed, the New-52 isn’t old enough to encourage such comparisons. Rather, if I’m being charitable, the superhero line is still finding itself in these early months, and DC is figuring out what kinds of readers its New-52 books are attracting. We’ll see in a few years whether they’ve settled down with particular creative teams, and then we can apply these examples more accurately.

Wolverine and the X-Men

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

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

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, I’d get one from almost every box–Image’s Invincible #85 ($2.99), DC’s DMZ #71 ($2.99), Marvel’s Wolverine and The X-Men #2 ($3.99) and independent title RASL #12 ($3.50). Not much to say about any of these I haven’t already said, except anytime Cory Walker draws a book I’d pay twice cover price.

If I had $30, I’d sneak out of Thanksgiving preparations to first get a book I was surprised I liked as much as I did, despite the last issue’s ending: Shade #2 (DC, $2.99). One thing I wasn’t amped to see was Deathstroke, but given James Robinson and Cully Hammer’s track record I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Next up would be the epic (in my mind, at least) team-up of Warren Ellis and Michael Lark on Secret Avengers #19 (Marvel, $3.99). Seeing Ellis boil down the concept into “Run the mission. Don’t get seen. Save the world.” Hits me right between the eyes, and this new issue’s preview has be salivating over it. Last up, I’d pay the giant size price tag for Fantastic Four #600 (Marvel, $7.99) although my patience has worn a little thin with ending the series then bringing it back for #600.

For splurging, I’d put it all down on IDW’s Parker: The Martini Edition hardcover ($75). I already have the individual books on my shelf, but getting it all under one roof plus beaucoup process sketches and conversation from Darwyn Cooke makes this a must-have for me. And I can always gift my old individual Parker graphic novels to someone else!

Graeme McMillan

Flash #3

It’s a surprisingly light week for me this week, so if I had $15, I’d go for some books that I know I liked last time around. For example, The Flash #3 (DC, $2.99); Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato are doing a great job on this title based on the first couple of issues, so I’m on board for awhile. Same with Wolverine and The X-Men #2 (Marvel, $3.99); I was surprised by just how much I loved the debut, and bringing back what seems to be Krakatoa only makes me even more gleeful about the sense of humor on display here. Peter Milligan’s Justice League Dark #3 (DC, $2.99) would round out the haul; I liked that the second issue felt much more like Milligan’s Vertigo heyday to me than much of his recent work, and I’ll happily go for more of that, please.

If I had $30, I’d add DC Comics Presents The Life Story of The Flash #1 (DC, $7.99) to my pile; I didn’t read this book in its previous original graphic novel incarnation, but I loved Mark Waid’s original Flash run, so this feels like a lost gem from that incarnation for me. And I might go for Fantastic Four #600 (Marvel, $7.99), too, depending on whether or not I was feeling up for Jonathan Hickman’s style when I got to the store; if nothing else, I’m curious about the Ming Doyle strip therein.

Splurgewise, while I admit I’m tempted by the Parker Martini Edition (IDW, $75), my heart well and truly belongs to Evan Dorkin’s Milk & Cheese: Dairy Products Gone Bad hardcover (Dark Horse, $19.99), collecting all of Dorkin’s hilarious, manic, violent strip from the 1990s; I first discovered it in Deadline way back when, and that led me to find out about Pirate Corp$, Dork! and all of Dorkin’s other stuff. He’s really one of the most underrated cartoonists around, as far as I’m concerned, and I can’t wait to get this book.

Chris Mautner

RASL #12

If I had $15: It would be a toss-up for me between getting the 12th issue of Jeff Smith’s RASL and the ninth volume of NBM’s Smurf line, Gargamel and the Smurfs, and the 29th Little Lulu volume, The Cranky Giant. It would be a tough decision, but I suspect Little Lulu would win out in the end.

If I had $30: Assuming I didn’t get those Smurf and RASL books, I’d face another tough choice between the impressive Milk and Cheese collection from Dark Horse or The New Adventures of Herge, a docudrama/biography of sorts of the famed Tintin author by L’Association co-founder Stanislas and writers Jose-Louis Bocquet and Jean-Luc Fromental. (I’d probably get them discounted online in order to squeak under my budget — sorry local LCS.) Milk and Cheese would likely win out this round, as I love those little homicidal maniacs. Merv Griffin!

Splurge: OK, but all the really cool, must-have books are in the splurge category this week (as usual). In one corner, after years and years of fits and starts and delays and promises galore is the first volume of Fantagraphics Complete Pogo collection, Through the Wild Blue Yonder. In the other corner we have the first volume in Fantagraphics other, other, other big reprint project, Donald Duck, Lost in the Andes, which collects some great stories by the masterful Carl Barks. Then, in our third and final corner, there’s Everything: Blabber Blabber Blabber, the first in a series of big hardcover books collecting everything the also masterful Lynda Barry has ever done. Any of these books would be a pick of the week on their own. All three together? Just forget about your budget this one time. Your bank account will understand.

Michael May

Justice League Dark #3

If I had $15, I’d begin with my usual DC series for the week: Aquaman #3 ($2.99), Superman #3 ($2.99), and Justice League Dark #3 ($2.99). As I think about those though, I realize that I’m reading JLD for the potential of what I think it could be and where I hope it’s going, not because I’m particularly enjoying what it is. That sounds like something I need to stop buying monthly and wait for the collection. I’ll give it this one more month before trimming it out. I’m much more looking forward to Alpha Flight #6 ($2.99), which has been reliably entertaining since it started. I’m heart-broken that there are only three issues left. Finally, since I’ve still got three bucks in my pocket, I’ll pick up another issue from a canceled series, Daken: Dark Wolverine #17 ($2.99), but that’s because it’s got the Runaways in it and I miss those kids.

If I had $30, I’d add All-Star Western #3 ($3.99), the only New 52 title I don’t mind paying four bucks for. With Justice League and Action Comics, I count pages and look at back-up material before wincing that I’m paying that much for a comic. With All-Star Western, I feel like I’m getting four bucks of value in the pages themselves, however many there are. After that, I’d add Super Dinosaur, Volume 1 ($9.99). I read the first issue and it was fantastic. Nine-year-old me was thrilled, and he largely controls my wallet.

It’s easy to pick a splurge item this week. I’ve been wanting to read a good collection of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics for decades and IDW is making that finally possible with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection, Volume 1 ($49.99).

As I continue to wait patiently for word that I can put a Snoopy license plate on my car out here in California, Andy Khouri at ComicsAlliance brings word that Australians in the state of Victoria will soon be able to sport DC Comics heroes on theirs.

The character plates include Superman, Supergirl, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Green Lantern, and for all but the Flash, you can choose a plate that either features the hero or their associated logo. Or, in the case of Supergirl, a pink license plate. As Khouri points out, the plates will sport images taken directly from the DC Comics Style Guide circa 1982, drawn by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Dick Giordano, rather than the recently redesigned “New 52″ versions of the characters. They’ll become available on Nov. 30, along with several Looney Tunes plates.

Check out the plate after the jump, and for more information, visit the Vic Road Custom Plates website.

*****

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Publishing | IDW’s Chief Operating Officer Greg Goldstein attributes a bump in the company’s September sales to several factors, including DC’s big relaunch: “The reality is the DC New 52 brought some people into comic book stores that hadn’t been in comic stores for a while, and we had the opportunity to sell them some of our books as well as the other books that are available to them. But clearly, people who had not been focused on comics came out of the woodwork a bit.” It didn’t hurt that IDW had its own launches of properties familiar to those outside of comics, including the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, an ongoing Star Trek series and the Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes crossover. [ICv2]

Legal | A Belgian judicial adviser has recommended that the nation’s courts reject a four-year-old bid by a Congolese student to have Herge’s 1931 Tintin in the Congo banned, or at least restricted, because of its racist depictions. The recommendation is being viewed as a major setback for the case, as the opinion of the Procureur du Roi (Senior Crown prosecutor) is requested and typically followed by the court. [The Guardian]

Creators | Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato talk about the tone of their new Flash series. “We definitely decided we wanted an optimistic, hopeful, and noble story because that’s who Barry Allen is to us,” Buccellato said. “It was important for us to go in that direction, and not toward the darker or more tortured hero. He’s a guy from the Silver Age who does the right thing because it’s the right thing.” [io9]

Creators | Lee Bermejo discusses his upcoming Gotham-meets-Dickens graphic novel Batman: Noel. [MTV Geek]

Enigma

Creators | Peter Milligan opens up about Red Lanterns, Justice League Dark and the potential for more Enigma: “I was re-reading Enigma. This is the really early, early stages but I’m considering doing a sequel. So much has happened in the world since it came out, in terms of how gays are treated in the West. I’d like to highlight those differences of lives of homosexuals in the West compared to gays in Africa, the Middle East, and lots of developing countries.” [io9]

Creators | A bandana-wearing Nathan Edmondson discusses his work on DC’s Grifter series. [Creative Loafing]

Creators | Scott Snyder talks about Swamp Thing. [USA Today]

Conventions | The Free Press profiles the Coast City Comicon, coming up Nov. 11-13 in Portland, Maine. [Free Press]

Wolverine and the X-Men #1

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

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

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, I’d be a judicious comics buyer and pick the top four out of over 20 titles I’d want this week. DC/Vertigo makes it slightly easier by making the new Brian Azzarello/Eduardo Risso joint Spaceman #1 only $1. This dollar price point for first issues combined with the $9.99 price point they sometimes do for the first volume of comic trade paperbacks surely gets a lot of traction. Next up I’d get Jason Aaron’s new era of the X-Men in Wolverine & X-Men #1 (Marvel, $3.99) with Chris Bachalo. I’d also get my regular pulls of DMZ #70 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99) and The Walking Dead #90 (Image, $2.99) and last–but first in my stack to read-–would be Secret Avengers #18 (Marvel, $3.99). I hear some Ellis guy is writing it, but the big draw for me is artist David Aja. His Iron Fist run is one of my top favs in comics in the past ten years, and he’s a titan in my book.

If I had $30, I’d first grab this week’s Pilot Season: The Beauty (Image/Top Cow, $3.99) despite not knowing what it’s about because I love the Pilot Season concept. Next up would be the finale of Red Wing #4 (Image, $3.50), Butcher Baker, Righteous Maker #7 (Image, $2.99) and Daredevil #5 (Marvel, $2.99). Looking back at my picks so far, it’s an art-heavy week for me with lots of favorites from Risso to Bachalo, Aja, Burchelli, Huddleston and Martin. That means extra-long reading, as I normally do a second and third read just to soak up the artwork page by page, panel by panel.

If I were to splurge, I would gladly plunk down money for The Manara Library Vol. 1 (Dark Horse, $59.99). I applaud Dark Horse for doing the massive undertaking of collecting all of Manara’s work in seven volume. This first volume collects The Paper Man as well as Indian Summer with Hugo Pratt. It’s going to be a good weekend for me, work be damned.

Graeme McMillan

Kirby: Genesis

For a Kirby fan like myself, this is a pretty great week to have $15: More than half of it would immediately go toward the lengthily titled DC Comics Presents: The Jack Kirby Omnibus Sampler #1 (DC, $7.99), which collects 96 pages of 1950s Kirby from the pages of Adventure Comics, House of Secrets, House of Mystery and other anthology titles. Then I’d throw some coin in the direction of Kirby: Genesis #4 (Dynamite, $3.99), the continuation of Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross and the unsung Jack Herbert’s evocation of Kirbyesque scale and imagination, using some of his lesser-known creations. I’ve really been digging this series, and even if I hadn’t already been planning to pick up this issue, that lovely Ross cover probably would’ve convinced me. Look at the Captain Victory pose! Look at the giant egg-headed character at the back! Not-so-Kirby-esque, but a definite must: The Flash #2 (DC, $2.99), which had a surprisingly lovely first issue last month and earned back all the goodwill lost with the previous series.

If I had $30, there’d be even more Kirby-influence going on, because I’d pick up the first issue of two relaunches of Kirby properties: Jason Aaron and Marc Silvestri’s The Incredible Hulk and Aaron (again!) and Chris Bachalo’s Wolverine and the X-Men (Both Marvel, $3.99). The prelude to the Hulk book at the end of Fear Itself #7 was the very definition of underwhelming, and I didn’t think much of Schism, but I’m holding out hope for these two books nonetheless. Also on the to-buy list: DC’s Legion: Secret Origin (The second retelling of the team’s roots in the last two years, both of them written by Paul Levitz; DC, $2.99) and the second issue of Justice League Dark (DC, $2.99), which was fun if not essential in its debut.

Like Chris, if I had the possibility of splurging this week, it’s be The Manara Library Vol. 1 (Dark Hourse, $59.99). The man’s art is just stunning, and I can’t wait to see it in this deluxe presentation.

Brigid Alverson

The Drops of God

If I had $15, I would have just enough for the first volume of Drops of God, the manga about wine tasting that features two willowy men competing for an inheritance based on how well they can identify 12 different wines. It’s a winning manga formula that has not only won the book several awards but also boosted the popularity of the wines involved, and I can’t wait to read it.

If I had $30, I would add Power Lunch, a new all-ages graphic novel from Oni Press. I like the wacky premise‹a kid gains superpowers from the different foods he eats‹and the creative team of Dean Trippe and J. Torres closes the sale for me.

Splurge: The second volume of A Bride’s Story, Kaoru Mori’s beautifully drawn tale of life on the Silk Road in the 19th century. The first volume didn’t have a lot of story–it was more a series of beautifully drawn moments with occasional bursts of action–which puts it in the splurge rather than must-buy category as far as I’m concerned. And since that only sets me back $16.99, expensive for a weekly buy but cheap for a splurge, I’ll toss in Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors #6, which I believe wraps up a story arc, and The Sixth Gun #16, and call it a very good week indeed.

Chris Mautner

Milo Manara Library

If I had $15:It would be a toss-up between The Smurf Apprentice, the eighth (that many already) volume in Papercutz’s ongoing reprint project, because you can never have too many Smurf comics, or the latest volume (that’s No. 10 if you’re counting) of Yotsuba! the cheery little manga about a effervescent green-haried girl. I’d probably end up going with Yotsuba, only because it’s one of my daughter’s favorite comics, and she’d kill me if I didn’t buy it.

If I had $30:I’d probably take a chance on Drops of God, that manga series about wine that seems to be insanely popular in its home country, if only to see what all the fuss was about.

Splurge:A couple people have mentioned the first volume of the Manara Library, and that’s definitely on my Amazon Wish List, but before that I think I’d pick up the second volume of Floyd Gottfredson’s Mickey Mouse. The first volume was a real treat, not just in terms of reintroducing myself to Gottfredson’s stellar work, but also in the sheer amount of incisive historical information about the strip, Gottfredson and his various Disney helpers. I’m sure Vol. 2 will be more of the same.

Michael May

From All-Star Western #2

If I had $15, I’d continue picking up some New 52 series I’m enjoying along with some talking apes. It hurts–oh it hurts–to pay four bucks for All-Star Western #2 ($3.99), but I’ll do it. I loved the detective story in the first issue with Arkham’s trying to figure out Hex in the voice over, and the art was even better. I don’t think I can keep buying it at that price, but I seem to be hooked for the first story anyway. More affordable are Justice League Dark #2 ($2.99) and Superman #2 ($2.99). JLD is starting with a slow build, but I’m attracted by the concept enough to keep checking it out. I was especially pleased by the attention the first issue of Superman gave to Lois Lane, so I’m hoping there’s more of that as the series continues. Finally, I’d grab Planet of the Apes #7 ($3.99), because that’s a fantastic series that I’ve run out of ways to say I love.

If I had $30, I’d get Aquaman #2 ($2.99). I enjoyed the stronger, tougher Aquaman in the first issue; I just hope the tone becomes less defensive, and quickly. I’m a big fan of the character, but (or maybe because of that) I’m already tired of his constantly explaining how cool he is. Next, I’d add some more expensive comics to the stack, like John Martz’ Heaven All Day ($4) about a lonely man who’s building a mysterious contraption and the abandoned robot he encounters in the process. Then there’s Ape’s Western/Kung Fu/Monster mash-up, Helldorado #1 ($3.99) and Warren Ellis’ Secret Avengers #18 ($3.99).

My splurge item would be Flesh: The Dino Files ($25.99) from Rebellion/2000 AD, because it’s a badass version of Terra Nova. Instead of going back in time to live, the future citizens of our depleted planet go back in time to capture dinosaurs for food. That’s a horribly irresponsible plan, but I’m curious to see if that’s addressed too. I hope it is, but even if not, I’m okay with shutting off the environmentalist part of my brain long enough to enjoy some dino-roping cowboys.

JK Parkin

If you buy one comic this week, it’s gotta be Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #19.

Aquaman #1 -- overcompensating, perhaps?

So here we are, the last week of the New 52 rollout, and I must say it’s been a fascinating — sometimes exhausting — ride. It’ll be good to get back to more normal posting next week, but I have enjoyed these marathon stream-of-consciousness reviews. Although DC has said over and over that these books are all part of the same revised universe, there are so many different styles and approaches on display (The early ‘90s! The mid- to late ‘90s!) that the line seems a lot more heterogeneous than it did five weeks ago.

Moreover, the realization that these books are the new status quo is only now starting to sink in. Overall it’s a good feeling, but bittersweet too. After all, I had 25 years to get used to the last line-wide revampings.

SPOILERS FOLLOW, as always.

3

2

1

* * *

To start off, let’s go back just five years. As part of 2006′s “One Year Later” relaunch, the Powers That Be at DC decided that the problem with Hawkman was, well, Hawkman — so they renamed the book Hawkgirl, Walt Simonson wrote it, and Howard Chaykin drew it. Now, on paper that looks like a pretty formidable team. It was enough to get me to try Hawkgirl, and I hadn’t had much interest in any Hawkman title regardless of who’d worked on it. Accordingly, Tony Daniel (writer) and Philip Tan (artist) can take some comfort in knowing that, while The Savage Hawkman #1 really didn’t work for me, the difficulty level has been set pretty high. TSH starts off with Carter Hall shooting (?) and then burning his Hawkman gear — we know not why — but it turns all Venom on him, merging with him somehow so it can pop out again when an extraterrestrial bad guy named Morphicius threatens Carter’s scientist colleagues. In a way, I guess it’s good that this issue ignores just about all of Hawkman’s convoluted continuity, but that deprives Carter of any meaningful motivation which might endear him to a new reader. (Beyond “I don’t like Hawkman either,” that is.) Tan’s work is fine, sporting more of a watercolor style than he’s had previously. His Hawkman redesign is decent, if a bit on the pointy side. In addition to the thin plot, Daniel’s dialogue tends toward being labored. Carter tries to work “death and taxes” into a world-weary quip, and later on a character who should be excited says, flatly, “I am giddy.” That makes one of us.

Blackhawks #1 (written by Mike Costa, layouts by Graham Nolan, finishes by Ken Lashley) begins with a jumbled hostage-rescue sequence, made more confusing by some odd layouts and the use of counterintuitive nicknames. For example, one of the team is listed as “Lady Blackhawk,” but the woman we follow for most of the issue is “Kunoichi.” Things settle down a little after the mission, when a garden-variety bureaucrat from the United Nations arrives at headquarters to a) help explain the book’s premise and b) deliver some bad news. (By the way, between the Blackhawks and Justice League International, the New-52 UN seems to be covering its bets on unconventional teams.) There’s also some bad news for one Blackhawk in particular, and that provides the issue’s cliffhanger. Overall I thought this was a fairly superficial first issue. It tries hard to introduce a handful of major characters and a couple of relationships, it gives some backstory on the first arc’s villain, and it leaves a couple of plot threads dangling. Although it’s put together well for the most part, there’s not much in the way of depth or nuance to any of these characters, and there’s certainly nothing like the ad hoc, multinational-mercenary angle which helped make the original Blackhawks unique. That said, I thought it was good enough to warrant a second issue, in hopes that the players are fleshed out more.

Similarly, Justice League Dark #1 (written by Peter Milligan, drawn by Mikel Janin) is all setup, building a mystery* around a small army of identical blonde women. Many of them appear suddenly in the middle of a busy street, and the resulting two-page spread of carnage made me wonder if this is just another DC comic insensitive to violence against women. Seriously, I found it pretty disturbing, which I suppose is part of the point (but still…). In fact, the issue does a good job setting an ominous mood and showing that the regular Justice League is helpless against an implacable magic force. As for the JLD’s ostensible members, Milligan — who uses an omniscient narrator, to good effect — does best with the vignette introducing Shade, the Changing Man. John Constantine and Deadman pretty much have cameos, and while Zatanna and Madame Xanadu carry more of the plot (and a lot of the exposition), Milligan apparently thinks his readers are already familiar enough with them — and, for that matter, with the Enchantress. I’m not familiar with Mikel Janin’s work, but stylistically it reminded me of a cross between Nicola Scott and cover artist Ryan Sook: clean and detail-oriented, even if some of his characters share the same face. I liked it well enough, and I’ll be back next month.

It was hard not to let Twilight-related prejudices slip into my reading of I, Vampire #1 (written by Joshua Hale Fialkov, drawn by Andrea Sorrentino), but for the first few pages I couldn’t tell whether our hero Andrew was wearing a shirt, and I am tempted to say that pretty well sums it up. Actually, though, IV reads more like the first bookend in one of the old-style summer-Annual crossovers DC and Marvel did in the ‘90s, only this one would follow Andrew and his evil ex-(?) girlfriend Mary around the superhero line as Mary’s vampiric war on humanity escalated. If that’s IV’s premise … well, it’s not Twilight, but it’s not quite the tragic tale of doomed love that Fialkov and Sorrentino also try to establish here. I’m on the fence about this one. The art is fine, appropriately muddy (thanks to colorist Marcelo Maiolo) and heavy with blacks, and like JL Dark, the mood is somber with a slow burn to apocalyptic. I wouldn’t mind seeing a superheroes-vs.-vampires epic, either (even if it didn’t remind me of 1993′s Bloodlines event). I’m just not that invested in Andrew and Mary at this point.

Considering that much of Voodoo #1 (written by Ron Marz, drawn by Sami Basri) takes place in a strip club, with most of its female characters appearing in various states of undress and/or in overtly sexual poses, I wonder if DC scheduled it to come out the week after Catwoman and Red Hood so it would look thoughtful and tame by comparison. What there is of a plot feels like an excuse to linger over the Voodoo club’s array of exotic dancers, and the characters generally are drawn from Central Casting. Naturally, the issue ends on a cliffhanger (a familiar horror-movie one, in fact), but since we don’t know a whole lot about the main characters, it’s hardly clear what the ending means. I did like Basri’s art — I’ve been reading Power Girl paperbacks, and this makes me more eager to pick up his issues — but he doesn’t get to do much beyond (purposefully detached, I suppose) T & A. Honestly, DC, at this point I am flat-out bored with these attempts at exploitation, and I won’t be back for #2.

All Star Western #1 (drawn by Moritat) is written by longtime Jonah Hex chroniclers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, so Hex is front and center in this issue; but primarily as partner to Dr. Amadeus Arkham, himself cast as a Holmesian consulting detective. Indeed, because their case begins with a murder and a foreign word scrawled in blood, it initially recalls “A Study In Scarlet.” The comparison probably ends there, although I did like how Arkham has Watson’s role of narrator, introducing the reader to Hex’s borderline-amoral perspective. I thought this was a strong first issue, even if its Gotham City setting seemed a bit gratuitous at times. Moritat’s work is intricate and expressive, and colorist Gabriel Bautista gives it depth and texture. The book looks great, on par at least with Cliff Chiang’s Wonder Woman art. From what I understand of Gray and Palmiotti’s Jonah Hex series, they tended to go to the dead-prostitute well fairly often, and sadly this is no exception. Still, they keep things moving, using the murders to explore the relationship between the march of progress and the desire to hold onto power. Definitely on board for this one.

Even with George Pérez writing and providing layouts, Superman #1 (finished by Jesús Merino) was going to have a hard time competing with the new Action #1. If Action evokes the late ‘30s, Superman goes straight for the Bronze Age, framing a fairly standalone story with a change in ownership at the Daily Planet. Pérez’s primer on who’s currently who in Metropolis establishes Lois Lane as one of the last honest journalists, producing TV coverage for Galaxy Broadcasting while still reporting for the Planet. Clark Kent is still a crusading reporter, but now he’s working for the Planet and having frank philosophical discussions with Lois. Superman has a shaky relationship with the Metropolis police (and a hazy one with the public) and Jimmy Olsen keeps getting into trouble. This time, Supes has to save Jimmy from an alien fire-creature bent on turning Metropolis into a city-sized torch. It’s a decent start, and it’s enough to keep me coming back, but it does have some rough edges. Pérez’s dialogue can be clunky, and I presume the fire-creature is connected to the hornblower from Stormwatch #1, but that’s not made explicit here. Merino’s work sometimes doesn’t blend that well with Pérez’s layouts, and his characters’ faces tend to look scruffed-up. However, I’m content to see this as a spiritual sibling to Marv Wolfman and Jerry Ordway’s Adventures Of Superman from the ‘86 relaunch — a straightforward superhero soap which is more familiar than it is groundbreaking.

I didn’t like David Finch’s first first issue of Batman: The Dark Knight, and while the second Dark Knight #1 in a year (co-plotted and scripted by Paul Jenkins, co-plotted and pencilled by Finch, inked by Richard Friend) is an improvement, it seems to exist primarily to give DC a Batman title for each of the four regular ship weeks. I mean, there’s another Arkham breakout, there’s Bruce Wayne talking about Gotham’s future, there’s a mention of Batman, Inc., there’s a new girlfriend-in-waiting — all things which remind me of Bat-books I have enjoyed more. It doesn’t help that the yes-we-can! speech Bruce Wayne gives to a presumably-forgiving audience starts out as overwrought Bat-narration about fear, parents, and cannibals (with one of the big applause lines apparently “I’m not cut out to be the parent of a cannibal”…?). Later, we’re told that the Arkham breakout involves 300 inmates and may already have cost 65 policemen’s lives, but for some reason Batman is keyed specifically on Two-Face. While it doesn’t go over as poorly as the new Detective Comics, it’s not as appealing as either Batman and Robin or last week’s Batman, and I can live without it.

The bulk of Aquaman #1 (written by Geoff Johns, pencilled by Ivan Reis, inked by Joe Prado) is aimed squarely at a strawman which holds that Aquaman is the lamest of DC’s main characters. Accordingly, the issue opens and closes with a menace-from-the-depths which presumably only Aquaman can defeat, while in between are scenes of our hero foiling a landlocked getaway, trying to order fish at a favorite childhood restaurant, and reaffirming his mission to the surface world alongside a devoted Mera. Along the way the public marvels at how wrong it’s been. Johns may have figured he didn’t have much choice but to hang a lantern on Aquaman’s perceived inferiority, but the end result is awfully transparent, almost desperate. Although there is “showing,” the “telling” which goes with it actually undercuts it. Too bad, because otherwise it’s a fine first issue, explaining the Sea King’s powers, origin, and heritage fairly economically, and setting up the aforementioned deep-sea threat. Reis and Prado are reliably good, as usual. I’ll be back for issue #2, but I’ll be hoping the self-consciousness is out of Johns’ system.

The plot of The Fury Of Firestorm, The Nuclear Men #1 (written by Ethan van Sciver and Gail Simone, drwan by Yildray Cinar) rests on a giant leap of logic; and no, it’s not the “God particle” underlying Firestorm’s powers. Instead, it involves a decision made prior to the issue’s start by a character who currently isn’t around to explain himself. I’m sure we’ll get more insight as the series unfolds, but for now it seems like a threshold question: if you’re willing to accept that plot point, the rest of the issue should be no problem. See, there are these mercenaries (one of whom, amusingly enough, shares a name with a longtime Firestorm antagonist) brutalizing their way through the lives of innocent people, looking for magnetic bottles which turn out to be Very Important. On a collision course with this group are star quarterback Ronnie Raymond and ace high-school-newspaper reporter Jason Rusch, each struggling with their prejudices about the other. It sounds like I am being overly sarcastic about the issue, but in fact I liked it a lot. Broad as their characterizations may be, Ronnie and Jason have the makings of a good dynamic — in fact, arguably a better one than the pre-relaunch Brightest Day had to work with** — but they need to get past the rough edges and develop some nuance. As for the art, Cinar’s work is quite good, at times reminiscent of George Pérez and (her again!) Nicola Scott. Having been a Firestorm fan since the Flash backups, it sounds a little hollow to say I’m sticking with it, but I’m glad to say I am.

It’s not that it’s hard to reconcile the frenetic Teen Titans #1 (written by Scott Lobdell, pencilled by Brett Booth, inked by Norm Rapmund) with Lobdell’s more meditative Superboy #1. It’s just that Teen Titans moves so quickly, and tries so very hard to be cool, that having the two books dovetail makes this one harder to ignore. The Titans introduced here include Kid Flash (probably Bart Allen, although Wally West wouldn’t be out of the question), with a handmade costume and more brains than smarts; Red Robin (Tim Drake), recast as something of a cyber-activist; and the Dianna Agron lookalike Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark), subject to what is either jarring mood swings or capricious dialogue. It may well be that I am too old for this book’s retro-‘90s style, and in a funny way I’d be okay with that. For now, though, there’s nothing beyond the Superboy connection to entice me back.

I’m not clear on why Green Lantern: New Guardians #1 (written by Tony Bedard, pencilled by Tyler Kirkham, inked by Batt) felt the need to spend its first seven pages — about a third of the issue, mind you — on Kyle Rayner’s origin, because it doesn’t appear to have a lot to do with the balance of the plot. In fact, said plot involves various other Lantern Corpsmen (including one from the Sinestros, one from the Star Sapphires, and a Red Lantern) losing their rings to Kyle. Maybe Kyle’s experience, despite its unique circumstances, is meant to be illustrative? For someone who was already reading the GL books, and (perhaps more importantly) was emotionally invested in either Kyle or the other Lantern Corps, this plot might be intriguing. As a first issue designed to attract new readers, though, it’s just sketchy, and probably confusing. I liked this creative team well enough when they were on the pre-relaunch GL Corps, but they haven’t sold me on this series.

Finally — finally! — there’s The Flash #1 (written by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, drawn by Manapul), a nifty reintroduction to the guy who made all of this possible. Some of the dialogue is a little awkward, including in the opening sequence, but the real attraction is Manapul and Buccellato’s art. Manapul’s style is very light, almost as if it were reproduced directly from his pencils, so Buccellato’s colors help shape and define it, separating Barry/Flash from his backgrounds and helping him race across the pages. Manapul’s layouts are equally expressive, incorporating panel-sized sound effects (as well as the Flash masthead itself), using inset panels to break down the super-speed action or to illustrate a character’s jumbled thoughts, and keeping the plot moving ever forward. This issue never really stops, even when a character is simply standing and thinking. Now that Flashpoint is over, it’s not weighed down by artificially-imposed angst or Speed Force mumbo-jumbo. It’s a simple, straightforward, and effective superhero comic about the Fastest Man Alive, and I look forward to issue #2.

* * *

Recommended: All Star Western, Aquaman, The Flash, The Fury Of Firestorm, Justice League Dark

Could get better: Blackhawks, I, Vampire

Could go either way: Green Lantern: New Guardians, Teen Titans

Sticking with regardless: Superman

No thanks: Batman: The Dark Knight, The Savage Hawkman, Voodoo

* * *

Next week: December solicitations, and probably a bit of September wrap-up.

+++++++++++++

* [That one’s for the Sarah McLachlan fans....]

** [I do miss the dueling-experience aspect of Ronnie and Jason’s pre-relaunch relationship, and especially their mutual affection for Professor Martin Stein, who of course was a big part of the original Firestorm. I was looking forward to each being a backseat-driver for the other, since Jason had the more recent experience -- not to mention helping to “rebuild” Firestorm with Stein’s help -- but Ronnie would naturally assume a senior-leadership role. Moot now, I guess.]

Letitia Lerner loses track of her charge

… Specifically, thank goodness this is the last batch of solicitations before the New-52 lineup. As with the previous two sets of solicits, these exist partly to advertise November’s books, but also to keep consumers excited about September’s. Paradoxically, however, that means I can’t really get excited about them until September’s books arrive, and with them some real context.

As always, though, there are more things in the solicits than the New-52, so at least we can discuss some things substantively.

* * *

NON-SUBSTANTIVE DISCUSSION OF NEW-52 BOOKS

I say the following as someone who has always liked Aquaman, someone who’s read extended stretches of Aquaman comics, and someone who still wonders when the right creative team will unlock the character’s full potential:  the cover of Aquaman #3 wants to bellow “AQUAMAN WILL TOTALLY GUT YOU”; but all I hear is Tim O’Neil’s immortal line “I make stabby.”  (In fact, stabby seems to be one of Aquaman’s defining traits these days, regardless of the timeline….)

Then there’s the breathless (if a little clunky) copy from Flash #3 — “Witness a spectacular sequence of out-of-control cars, trains and even airplanes that must be stopped from destroying the city!” — which is refreshing mostly because it talks about actual superhero-style spectacle.

I was going to make a cheap Limbaugh joke about the villain in Green Arrow #3 being named “Rush,” which, ha ha, GA is an old hippie so he’s gonna give Rush a reason to take more painkillers, amIrite — and then I wondered, will the revised Green Arrow still be a strident left-winger? He’s going to be running Queen Industries as something of a Steve Jobs figure, so will we see him lose his fortune in this (or some other early) arc? Or does he need to be an ex-billionaire at all? Will he be something of an alt-Batman like the Green Arrow from “Smallville?” Funny that Ollie’s social conscience helped define him for forty-plus years, but it might not now be integral to the stories DC wants to tell.

Speaking of which, the solicitation for All-Star Western #3 mentions a “bloodthirsty White Arrow.” I think I speak for many when I say this had better not be some precursor to a grand expansion of the Arrow spectrum across the ages. Green and Red (and sometimes the Blue Bowman) are plenty for me, thanks.

BEGIN SUBSTANCE NOW

The Unwritten goes biweekly, kind of, with the addition of “Point-Five” issues which flesh out the bad guys’ history and personalities. I doubt the Point-Five issues will stand completely on their own, so it might have been a little awkward to make them their own miniseries (like American Vampire: Survival Of The Fittest, currently pursuing a contemporaneous, parallel story arc). Besides, if they’re going to be dependent on the main story, I like the idea of incorporating them into the regular series numbering. Moreover, it probably insures that the Point-Five issues will be incorporated into the collection, perhaps unlike a separate miniseries.

Last week I compared Secret Six to Agents Of Atlas, so perhaps THUNDER Agents will be the next DC title which survives on a series of miniseries and truncated ongoings. The latest revival got by on a few interesting characters, a couple of plot twists, and a good bit of attitude; and that might be enough to sustain a six-issue miniseries as well. If that’s all the new miniseries has to offer, it should still be entertaining; but if it’s going to be a continuation of the old ongoing, it needs to dig a little deeper.

Although I am on the fence about Bruce Jones and Sam Kieth’s Batman: Through The Looking Glass book, I am curious about whether it fits into the New-52 continuity. This isn’t because I want it to “matter” — actually, I figure DC would make that a focus of any solicitation — but because it seems a little odd to do an old-school-style book so early in the relaunch.

Similarly, reprinting the Life Story Of The Flash OGN arguably gives some hope to the fans who are worried that Wally West has been lost in the New-52 shuffle. LSOTF came out in the thick of Mark Waid’s tenure, when Wally was the Flash and Bart was Impulse, and it tried to be a window into both books. Recasting it merely as Iris’ posthumous biography of Barry — by the way, with his pre-Zoom history intact — would be too superficial. Even so, I don’t think that this prefigures Wally’s return to the spotlight anytime soon.

COLLECTIONS

The original “Blink” story was collected in a 96-pager, so I’m not surprised the sequel will be too. Maybe the two of them will be enough for a decent-sized paperback.

Green Lantern Super-Spectacular #3 reprints Green Lantern vol. 2 #76 (the first “Green Lantern/Green Arrow” story), just in case you missed it in the GL Retro-Active ‘70s special.

Seems like lately DC has been choosing some pretty unconventional stories for its 96-page reprint program, and this time they’ve gotten two. The Kents had virtually nothing to do with Superman beyond it being a story about Jonathan Kent’s ancestors. Basically it was a Western with a tenuous hook, kind of like Marvel’s Trouble was a teensploitation story with a Spider-Man tie-in. Still, The Kents was pretty entertaining, and it should read well in big chunks.

Of course, the second surprise was the “long-lost” Elseworlds 80-Page Giant, famously pulped because DC got squeamish about its content at the last minute. Only a handful of copies worldwide survived, but eventually a few selections saw the light of day, including Kyle Baker’s inspired “Letitia Lerner, Superman’s Babysitter” (reprinted in Bizarro Comics) and a Super-Sons story reprinted in the Saga of the Super-Sons collection. That still left dozens of pages’ worth of the loopiest alt-history stories DC could muster circa 1999, and now it comes with twelve years of expectations.

The long-awaited Chase collection is literally more than I would have expected. It looks like it collects every single Cameron Chase story from the late ‘90s, including her introduction in Batman #550 and the various Secret Files shorts which sought to lure readers to the ill-fated series. Ironically, I think I have everything in the collection except the series itself, so this’ll be a very convenient book for me.

I know he’s getting another chance at life (see what I did there?) as part of the New 52, and I know folks speak fondly of Geoff Johns’, James Robinson’s, and Rags Morales’ work; but really — a Hawkman By Geoff Johns Omnibus? Will it complement Savage Hawkman, or is it only for those fans who can distinguish between various Hawk-relaunches? Did I miss the clamor for this collection while I was beating the drum for Chase?

At the other end of the spectrum is the Spirit World hardcover, a book I didn’t know I needed. Not only does it combine Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, and Sergio Aragones, but it’s a look at how DC thought it could enter a more upscale, black-and-white magazine market. (The Kirby Museum’s blog has a good overview of Spirit World’s brief existence.)

The two Vertigo Resurrected 96-pagers, Sgt. Rock: Between Hell And A Hard Place and My Faith In Frankie, both seem like fine choices for reprints. I’ve not read the Sgt. Rock story, but Brian Azzarello and Joe Kubert are a good combination (and of course you can’t go wrong with Kubert drawing Easy Company). However, because the well-received My Faith In Frankie is readily available (for not a lot of money) in black-and-white digest form, reprinting it as a 96-page color floppy actually makes readers choose between a more sturdy binding, or a format more like its original presentation. Apparently the smaller digest reads just as well, so it may just come down to individual tastes.

AND FINALLY

Although I don’t talk frequently about the statues, I do keep up with them, mostly to see what my old friend Sam Greenwell has produced. This month’s Ame-Comi Raven is a great example of Sam’s work; and as someone who’s not really into the Ame-Comi aesthetic, I think it captures Raven’s internal struggle very well. I’m more partial to the white costume, but the black one is certainly scarier….

* * *

Well, that’s what jumped out at me this month. What looks good to you?

Fear Itself #5

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

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

Graeme McMillan

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

*****

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

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

Brigid Alverson

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

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

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

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

Chris Mautner

Bad Island

If I had $15:

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

If I had $30:

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

Splurge:

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

Michael May

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

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

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

Daredevil #1

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.

Graeme McMillan

Because I’m not doing San Diego this year, some kind of crazy comic karma has decided that this week will be filled with comics I want to read. For example, if I had $15, I’d run to grab Daredevil #1 (Marvel, $3.99), which I’ve been looking forward to for some time — Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera *and* Marcos Martin? How can anyone refuse? — before scooting back to the DC aisle to pick up both DC Retroactive: The Flash – The ’70s #1 and DC Retroactive: Wonder Woman – The ’70s #1 (Both DC, $4.99), because I am such a sucker for old-school DC that even this weird “slight return” of the same seems exciting to me.

If I had $30, I’d probably pick up both last month’s #1 and this month’s #2 of Image’s Witch Doctor mini, after getting recommendations from friends (Both $2.99), before wandering grabbing Locke & Key: Clockworks #1 (IDW, $3.99) and then rounding it out with Batman: Gates of Gotham #3 (DC, $2.99), which is turning into an enjoyable little Batfamily series.

To splurge or not to splurge? Well, there *is* that Thor: The Black Galaxy Saga trade (Marvel, $19.99), and I really *do* like my Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz Thor, so that might have to be coming home with me…

Chris Mautner

Butcher Baker, Candlestickmaker

If I had $15:

Unlike Graeme, this is another quiet week for me, with my initial purchase being the first issue of The Boys: Butcher Baker, Candlestickmaker, the latest (and, I believe, final) spin-off of the Boys franchise, this time delving into the origins of the group’s leader Billy Butcher. I’ve been a bit down on the comic lately, disappointed with the heavy info dumps and not really digging John McCrea’s art, but this issue features the return of co-creator Darick Robertson, so I’m hopeful.

If I had $30:

I’d either grab Neptune, a charming all-ages book by Aron Nels Steinke about a girl and her dog, courtesy of Sparkplug Books, or I’d nab La Quinta Camera: The Fifth Room, a new manga series from Natsume Ono. I haven’t been exactly wow’d by Ono’s work, but this book seems to adopt a cartoonier style and, like I said, it’s a slow week.

Splurge:

The sixth volume of Fumi Yoshinaga’s Ooku is out this week. I’ve only read the first volume so far, so for my splurge I’d get Vol. 6 and the other four books to catch up.

Michael May

Deadlands

If I had $15, I’d start with a couple of Weird Western comics: Deadlands: Massacre at Red Wing ($2.99) and Zeke Deadwood: Zombie Lawman #2 ($3.50). The Deadlands one-shot is by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, who know a thing or two about the genre and Zeke just looks and sounds fun. Next I’d add Criminal Macabre/The Goon: When Freaks Collide ($3.99) because Cal McDonald and the Goon are a match made somewhere very far away from heaven. Finally, I’d add Daredevil #1 ($3.99), not just because Mark Waid fills me with confidence about every Marvel or DC series he writes, but I’m just happy to see a superhero smiling again on that cover.

If I had $30, I’d add a few more single issues. The top of this part of the list is Marineman #6 ($4.99), the double-sized wrap-up to the first story in Ian Churchill’s excellent underwater superhero series. Besides the price, the only thing keeping this out of my $15 list is knowing that the collected version is coming out next month and I’m going to want that anyway. After that I’d add the redundantly titled Sergio Aragones Funnies #1 ($3.50) and Rocketeer Adventures #3 ($3.99).

My splurge item for the week is Ray Fawkes’ One Soul graphic novel ($24.99) that Brigid’s written about a few times. I saw a preview of it at C2E2 and was so impressed that this really isn’t a splurge item. I’d find money for it regardless of my budget.

Chris Arrant

DMZ #67

If I had $15, I’d dial into DMZ #67 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99) by Wood and Burchielli; although this book has entered the marketing doldrums the way 100 Bullets and Preacher did during it’s last year of release, the book’s reaching a high point quality-wise. After that I’d pick up Rocketeer Adventures #3 (IDW, $3.99), which has been non-stop hit and thanks in no small part to editor Scott Dunbier. After those two, I’d settle in for the next Walking Dead #87 (Image, $2.99) and then try the new Daredevil #1. For the latter, I’ll borrow a phrase from Tom Spurgeon and feel like I’ve read all I need to read on Daredevil… but the creative team on this has given me second thoughts enough to try this out.

And since this is Food or Comics, with my $1 left over I’d get an Icee from Burger King.

If I had $30, I’d drink my Icee and put my money all in at Marvel with Uncanny X-Men #541 ($3.99), Invincible Iron Man #506 ($3.99), Avengers #15 ($3.99) and Generation Hope #9 ($2.99).

For my splurge this week, I’d write a check to Misters Ross and Edwards for the Turf hardcover (Image, $39.99). Tommy’s art here is more than worth the cover price even though I bought the single issues, especially for the extra features promised.

Elric: The Balance Lost

Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading? Today our special guest is Kelson Vibber, Flash fan and proprietor of the Speed Force blog. To see what Kelson and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below.

*****

Carla Hoffman

Iron Age #1

I read …. uhm. Well, despite what the covers may tell you, I read Iron Age #1. Yeah, it may look like Avengers or Captain Britain, and you might have bought both covers by accident, but yeah. The red banner at the top is what is supposed to clue you in that this is Iron Age #1. I also re-read Iron Age Alpha to make sure this was an Iron Man story that’s just going to take us on a little tour of the Marvel Universe through time travel and yep, that it is. Strangely, it’s kind of an anthology from what I can tell: Alpha sets us up for the bomb: an old man who once went by the name The Phantom (this one) wants to take one last potshot at Tony Stark. He gets one of Doctor Doom’s time platforms, dials up a strange assortment of 70′s era Marvel heroes and then… well, he pulls the Dark Phoenix out of the time stream and then she blows up the Earth. Oh, villains. So the next issue is Tony Stark traveling through time to talk to a couple people on the Phantom’s list and kind of doing some eighth step work with them. He helps Hank Pym and Captain Britain work through some of their issues, as well as his own, and they are an interesting set of vignettes that should be some old school fun as well as quiet character development. Still, boo on you Marvel for making those covers rather misleading. Boo.

I also read Fear Itself #4, where Tony’s alcoholism is a symbolic sacrifice to the All-Father. I know some people are burnt out on event books, and I know the Distinguished Competition has so much stuff going on right now that just reading comics can be a chore, but if you can’t find the joy in Captain America coming to the rescue in a big red-white-and-blue colored parachute, or the quiet heartbreak of Black Widow in the background as she’s consoled by Nick Fury, or just the awesomeness of the Hulk-Thing-Thor fight to come, then I simply have no idea what to tell you. Yeah, I know you have so many books to read and yeah, you’re still not caught up on issue #2 or yeah, I know you hate event books and they are so confusing, but let me tell you: you are missing out.

To make sure I was being fair, I also read Flashpoint #3. I fully admit that my Distinguished Colleague is a far better man to sort all this info out, but this book is sadly not for casual reader. You gotta be in it to win it with Flashpoint, which is sad because I thought the ‘Project Superman Revealed!’ part of the story was fantastic. A lot of emotion and thought came through on those pages, and I might have to go hunt down the tie-in Project Superman issues if they’re anything like this. Andy Kubert’s artwork is phenomenal and while highly stylized, I’d say he’s selling this book as much as Geoff John’s ever-winding story-writing is. It doesn’t work well as something to pick up, and I’m still kind of lost in the great milieu, but there are moments that break free of The Big Event banner and remain entertaining and thoughtful regardless of trappings. Good job, comics.

Brigid Alverson

Luz

I just got an advance copy of a truly remarkable nonfiction graphic novel: The Next Day, which tells the story of four people who survived suicide attempts. It’s illustrated by John Porcellino in a very simple, almost childlike style. The four stories are told in parallel, starting with the suicide attempts and then flashing back to their earlier lives. The last part of the book, which tells of their lives after their rescues, is the most interesting but also the shortest. Porcellino and the writers, Paul Peterson and Jason Gilmore, pack a lot of story into this slim volume, but I wish they had included more details about each person’s life after the attempt. Still, it’s a very moving and thoughtful book.

Another advance copy is Luz Sees the Light, a children’s graphic novel that conveys a serious message—we need to start preparing now for the energy shortages of the future—in a lighthearted way. It would be easy for Claudia Dávila to get all preachy, but she keeps it at a kid’s level and never gets too apocalyptic—in fact, one of the characters is a survivalist who comes off as a bit nutty. Luz is 12 years old and a pretty normal kid; she loves ice cream and lusts after an expensive pair of designer sneakers, insisting that her mother drive her to the mall to see if they are in yet. But peak oil impinges on her life in a number of ways, from blackouts (which turn into block parties) to high prices for imported food that force her family to change their diet—and eat rabbit, to the horror of her vegetarian neighbor who has a pet bunny of his own. This book started out as a webcomic, which is still up at Transmission X, but Dávila has really reworked it and developed both the characters and the story.

Chris Mautner

Favorites

I was honored recently to be asked to take part in Favorites, a zine edited by Craig Fischer of the Panelists blog and featuring a host of respected critics and writers talking about their favorite comics. The zine is an offshot of Team Cul de Sac, an art project designed to help raise money to fight Parkinson’s disease (which Cul de Sac creator Richard Thompson suffers from). Brigid wrote a bit about the Favorites project here.

Anyway, I finally got my contributors copy the other week and wanted to take a moment to say what a great read it is. There’s a number of smart, well-written, short essays by folks like Jeet Heer, Joe McCulloch, Abhay Khosla, Johanna Draper Carlson, Andrew Farago, Jim Rugg, Tom Spurgeon, Caroline Small and many, many more. It’s not available for sale quite yet — Fischer’s selling copies at various cons and should have information on how to order a copy on the Team Cul de Sac blog soon — but I urge anyone interested in good writing about comics and/or helping to make a difference to pick up a copy once they become available.

JK Parkin

Batman: Knight of Vengeance

Carla mentions above that she might want to check out the Project: Superman Flashpoint spinoff, but if I was going to recommend one Flashpoint mini to pick up to Carla or, well, anyone, it would have to be Flashpoint: Batman Knight of Vengeance. I read the first two issues this week, which see the 100 Bullets crew getting back together — writer Brian Azzarello, artist Eduardo Risso, colorist Patricia Mulvihill and letterer Clem Robins. And they are fantastic; I’d even recommend them to someone who wasn’t interested in the rest of the Flashpoint event. All of these creators are fairly awesome on their own, but when they get together — wow. Now I think I need to go dig out my 100 Bullet trades again …

Kelson Vibber

I read the first issue of Elric: The Balance Lost this week. When I first heard that BOOM! was going to be launching an Elric series, I was somewhat interested, but not certain I’d pick it up. It wasn’t written by Michael Moorcock himself, and besides I hadn’t enjoyed his most recent Elric novel nearly as much as his earlier works. But then I read the preview they released for Free Comic Book Day, and I was hooked.

The story spans at least four worlds in Moorcock’s multiverse, and four incarnations of the Eternal Champion: Elric, last ruler of a dead empire, who wields the black sword Stormbringer and absorbs the souls of those he kills so that he can live; Hawkmoon, champion of a distant future Earth who defeated the conquering empire of Granbretan; Corum, last of a dead race who fought to protect the humans who inherited his world; and Eric Beck, a game developer living in a world not unlike our own. The first issue establishes all four characters and the worlds they come from, so that new readers unfamiliar with Moorcock’s work will understand the basics, and shows each world threatened by the tipping balance. Elric finds himself in a world overrun by chaos, while Eric Beck’s more familiar world is beginning to shift too far toward order. By the end of the issue, Eric finds himself drawn into the adventure. It’s one of the most effective first issues I’ve read in a while, managing to mix exposition and action and end on a hook that makes me feel like the next issue will jump straight into the story.

The Unwritten

The Unwritten continues to hold the spot as my favorite ongoing series. The latest issue is essentially a caper, with Tom, Lizzie and Savoy trying to infiltrate the auction of author Wilson Taylor’s estate. It’s got all the twists and turns in terms of allegiances, who has the upper hand, and who *thinks* they have the upper hand, that you’d expect, and in the end it manages to both answer some questions about Tom Taylor’s origins and call into question some of what we thought we knew, all while setting things up for the next phase of the story. I’ve always been a sucker for stories about stories, which I’m sure is why Sandman resonated so well with me when I finally started reading it, but The Unwritten tackles the concept from an entirely different angle, focusing on the way stories — whether history, fiction, propaganda, or the stories we tell ourselves to justify our actions — shape the world.

Of course, as a DC reader and a Flash fan, it would be virtually impossible to avoid Flashpoint. I’m reading the main series and six of the tie-in miniseries. Of those, the ones I’m enjoying the most are Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown, Kid Flash Lost, and Citizen Cold. The first issue of Frankenstein is crazy World-War II action featuring the Frankenstein monster and lawyer-friendly versions of Dracula, the Wolfman, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and features Frankenstein personally killing Adolf Hitler with a sword. It’s hard to go wrong with that. Citizen Cold feels like a return to the glory days of the Geoff Johns/Scott Kolins run on The Flash, only with everything shifted around to make Captain Cold the protagonist. It’s interesting to see how little has changed in Central/Keystone City when the rest of the world is vastly different. Kid Flash Lost feels more like a continuation of The Flash Vol.3 than Flashpoint does, except better. It’s faster paced, despite the fact that the main character has lost his speed for the duration. It manages to justify some of the odd choices from “The Road to Flashpoint” that just came out of nowhere. Most importantly, Sterling Gates really understands Bart Allen’s personality in a way that I never really saw in Geoff Johns’ Teen Titans or Flash runs (though there were glimpses of him in Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds).

Flashpoint #3

As for Flashpoint itself, it continues to remind me a lot of Geoff Johns’ first Flash story, Wonderland. The first two issues didn’t really grab me, but things are picking up with the third as it moves beyond exposition and into rising action. Maybe it’s just me, but in a five-issue miniseries, shouldn’t you be done with setup in the first issue, not half-way through the third?

Other comics I’ve read recently: Farscape is moving toward the conclusion of its year-long story about the invasion of the Uncharted Territories. It still feels a bit too much like New Jedi Order, with the arrival of an unbeatable enemy and the wholesale demolition of large chunks the universe that had been built up by four years of the TV series, but it’s continuing to hold my interest. And Tiny Titans #41, the All-Flash issue, was a welcome counterpart to the grimness of Flashpoint: Legion of Doom and Grodd of War.

Captain Marvel Junior, takin' care of business in a flash

This is our fourth summer in Memphis, but we hadn’t taken the Graceland tour until this weekend. It helped that twenty-odd relatives came into town for a big reunion, and one of them had been jonesing especially hard for an Elvis fix.

As for me, not so much. I have always been curious about the King, mostly as an historical figure; and as my musical tastes have developed, I’ve learned to appreciate the profound effect his life had on the culture at large. Many years ago I read Peter Guralnick’s exhaustive two-volume biography, and I have a couple of greatest-hits CDs and the “Aloha From Hawaii” concert. (I was, however, somewhat disappointed not to hear Captain Marvel’s costume and/or Captain Marvel Jr. mentioned in the tour’s discussions of Elvis’ infamous caped jumpsuits.)

Anyway, the house itself was a pleasant surprise. Phrases like “Jungle Room” and “three televisions” can conjure some wild mental pictures, and I was glad to see the relatively-sedate reality. Graceland is basically a big house done up in mid-1970s style by a family that had maybe a little too much money and/or too few people urging moderation. The Jungle Room does have a waterfall, green shag carpet on the floor and ceiling, and a big barrel-shaped chair that looks like it came from the other side of Gilligan’s Island; but it also has wide picture windows which offer a generous view of the manicured back yard. Likewise, the “TV room’s” bright blues and yellows are suited more for a kid than a pop star approaching middle age, even if the TVs are perpetually tuned to “The Tonight Show” and Doctor Strangelove.

Of course, Graceland exists primarily to evoke an era which died with its owner in the summer of 1977. You don’t need to take the tour to see the continuing devotion of Elvis fans who decorate Graceland’s street-level stone fence with their names and messages. If I understood a gift-shop cashier correctly, every year before August’s “Elvis Week,” that fence is whitewashed, because the previous twelve months have seen just about every inch of it covered with affectionate graffiti. My dad (who did not take the tour) observed that my generation will be the last to remember Elvis as a living human being, not as some transformative, transcendent figure. From there he wondered whether Elvis’ popularity would diminish over time, as those fans are themselves (you’ll forgive me) returned to sender.

* * *

As I pondered these weighty matters myself, naturally my thoughts turned to DC’s venerable characters. No matter who owns them, the vast majority of DC’s super-folk have been entrusted to writers, artists, and editors who did not create them, and who may be several steps removed from those who did. What, then, is DC’s responsibility to such a piece of intellectual property? For that matter, what is DC’s responsibility to the larger shared universe these characters ostensibly inhabit?

With regard to the first question, DC has basically three options. It can leave the character alone, whether that means retirement (a la the Jack Knight Starman) or just not changing the character in any meaningful way. Naturally, the other two options involve those meaningful changes. Some are secondary, or in the nature of updates, like expanding on the Justice Society’s post-Golden Age lives. (Revealing that Alan Scott has two children doesn’t necessarily change anything about his Green Lantern career, but it’s still a significant addition to his history.) Some, however, are more in the nature of wholesale revamps.

In fact, the Marvel Family has been through all three options. When new owner DC reintroduced them in February 1973′s Shazam! #1, readers learned that ever since the mid-‘50s (when Fawcett stopped publishing their books), the Marvels and virtually all of their supporting cast had been frozen in the age-arresting element Suspendium. Not only did this take them out of circulation, it allowed their original adventures to be preserved practically inviolate. Needless to say, all this happened on the parallel world of Earth-S, so it didn’t bother the everyday continuity of the main superhero line. This was fine as long as Earth-S lasted, but when Crisis On Infinite Earths reordered DC’s cosmology, the Shazam! The New Beginning miniseries (by Roy Thomas and Tom Mandrake) pared the extended Marvel Family down to Captain Marvel and just a few other characters. This didn’t get much traction, so it was superseded in 1994 by Jerry Ordway’s retro-styled Power Of Shazam! graphic novel and ongoing series. However, the more recent Trials Of Shazam! miniseries has since put Freddy Freeman in the lead, with Billy and Mary Batson out of the picture.

No matter what is done to a character, however, the central question should be whether it is true to the creator’s original work. At its heart, the Captain Marvel concept is about an adolescent boy who transforms into a super-powered adult for light-hearted adventures. This makes it tonally inconsistent with much of the rest of the DC Universe. Accordingly, I believe that if the Marvels are going to be integrated into the larger superhero line, they need their own Brigadoon-esque setting, where Billy doesn’t have to worry about growing old too quickly, and where grim ‘n’ gritty is banished with extreme prejudice. Otherwise, Cap (or Shazam now, I guess) and company lose much of what makes them special, if they don’t get swallowed whole by more grown-up concerns.

We don’t have time today to cover too many more characters, but we’ll examine the big ones pretty quickly. Superman fans are well aware of the extent to which his mythology has developed since 1938, and I won’t go over all that again. However, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s original work should always guide the Man of Steel, regardless of power set. Although William Moulton Marston’s lifestyle gets a lot of attention, much the same could be said for Wonder Woman’s original mission of social justice.

Ironically, much of what we associate with Batman didn’t come from Bob Kane. Bill Finger changed Kane’s original design — a red costume with wings and a simple Zorro-style mask — into today’s familiar gray-and-black batsuit. Indeed, much of the “Sci-Fi” period, in which Batman and Robin got pretty far from grim ‘n’ gritty, came out under Kane’s stylized signature (even though artists like Dick Sprang, Sheldon Moldoff, and Lew Sayre Schwartz contributed mightily to its unique look). Not many fans would argue that Bob Kane’s stamp of approval on those stories made them equal to that first year in Detective Comics. However, when Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams went “back to basics” in 1969, they — and practically every Bat-team since — looked to that fairly short period of Batman history, rejecting decades’ worth of subsequent stories. Unlike his fellow Trinitarians, Batman’s character has been defined by his style: dark and mysterious, with room only for a select few relationships. We may say that Superman is driven by compassion and Wonder Woman by a desire for equality, but (outside of a general devotion to “justice”), Batman is more of a storytelling vehicle.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s made Batman wildly successful in multiple media for decades. However, it points up the need to adapt while still staying somewhat true to a creator’s original vision. Along those lines, both the “Sci-Fi Batman” and the O’Neil/Adams Batman may be seen as equally valid interpretations of the character, with the former reflecting the lightening-up of the feature which began with Robin’s 1940 introduction. (It didn’t get light too quickly, considering that the Joker was introduced not long after Robin.) Now, unless Grant Morrison’s influence leads to a wholesale revival of Sci-Fi Batman, which then lasts at least for a good ten years, the “Darknight Detective” reinvention which has ruled since 1969 won’t be challenged anytime soon. Still, in the early ‘70s, it was a radical departure from the Batman of just a few years before.

Because I’ve spent too much time on Batman (as usual), I’ll be brief about the Silver Age revamps. Although the Flash and Green Lantern had entirely new looks, new origins, and new identities under the masks, essentially they were still the same concepts: guy runs real fast, guy gets magic wishing ring. I suppose we could argue — as fans, not so much as legal experts — that they were different enough from their predecessors that the original creators’ intent wasn’t as controlling. Similar analyses would then apply to fairly-close relaunches like Hawkman and name-only relaunches like the Atom. Again, I’m no intellectual-property-law whiz, but the amount and kind of these differences may also make it easier for DC to do what it wants with the characters. Essentially, the “legacy” framework which grew out of the Silver Age not only lets fans speculate on What It Means To Be Hourman/Starman/Doctor Fate, it allows DC to have a certain amount of distance from the people responsible for those characters.

Of course, at some point or another, all of these characters were new; and that’s an area DC really hasn’t cultivated in several years. While there have been any number of new legacy characters, a creation which can stand on its own has become increasingly more scarce. Without getting into particular characters, though, let’s consider generally the relationship between DC’s shared universe and the features which populate it. In the late ‘60s, Steve Ditko created Hawk and Dove and the Creeper, each to tell distinctly different kinds of stories, but each able to interact with better-established peers. Not surprisingly, then, Hawk and Dove joined the Teen Titans, and the Creeper ran into the Justice League. In the ‘70s, the prolific Gerry Conway created Firestorm (with Al Milgrom) and the World War II-era Steel (with Don Heck); and Firestorm eventually joined the JLA, while Steel joined the All-Star Squadron. Just after COIE, Dan Jurgens introduced Booster Gold, a new Metropolis hero who acted like a counterpoint to Superman (and who soon joined … oh, you know). Earlier in the ‘80s, Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn, and Ernie Colón produced Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld, who started out in her own little corner of DC-dom, but who was eventually brought into the larger DC fold via Doctor Fate.

We can see by the disparate genres these characters represent that it’s hard to define a “DC sensibility,” at least not in terms like Marvel’s “world outside your window.” Not that there’s not such a sensibility; but that it is less restrictive. The early Marvel Universe had its share of different genres — cosmic adventure, street-level superheroics, mythology, techno-flavored espionage — but everyone had some kind of personal problem. Spider-Man was an outcast, the Thing and the Hulk were monsters, Thor pined after Jane Foster, and Iron Man worried about his heart. Even the Golden Age transplants, Captain America and the Sub-Mariner, reawakened under tragic circumstances. Not so with DC, where exploding planets, murdered parents, dying aliens, and deadly thunderstorms were just means to ends. Again, not that DC didn’t eventually mine those events — and tragedy in general — but certainly its history hasn’t relied so consistently on angst.

Instead, DC’s main line of comics has been a loose confederation of science-heroes, urban crimefighters, sci-fi- and mythology-flavored adventurers, Western heroes (and anti-heroes), war stories, and outright fantasy, often butting against each other to good effect. Rather than trying to harmonize these eclectic influences into homogeneity, for many years DC’s creative folk left each largely to its own devices (although it did let Batman team up with everyone from Sgt. Rock to the Legion of Super-Heroes). It is this give-and-take between the characters and the larger patchwork of the DC universe which ends up affecting both. Ultimately, that may be the key to the DCU’s sustainability: defining certain core values in the superhero line, developing characters which reflect those values, and making exceptions where creatively appropriate.

* * *

I told my dad that I expected Elvis to endure mainly thanks to his place in history. While part of Elvis’ appeal — and a big part of Graceland’s appeal — is nostalgia, we certainly can’t discount the continued popularity of Elvis’ music, his style, and his eternal youth. Although he died ignominiously, and after a period where he’d let his health slide, he died young enough that the “Fat Elvis” couldn’t overshadow the earlier, leaner swagger. In fact, his death came in the midst of a summer concert tour, which had followed a successful Vegas career, which in turn had been sparked by the famous 1968 TV special. In that respect, Graceland freezes time, allowing fans (and the merely curious) to speculate about what might have been.

By contrast, the characters of DC’s superhero line may never be retired. Their future may paradoxically contain both eternal youth and perpetual change, as they adapt to a readership which is steadily aging and/or occasionally renewing. As their custodians, the people of DC Comics are charged with ensuring their continued viability. At the same time, though, DC has a moral responsibility to honor the values which originally informed those characters. It’s more than nostalgia — it’s recognizing the core which has kept readers coming back. The publisher can’t simply freeze these characters in time, but neither can it make them unrecognizable.

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!

Wonder Woman by Cliff Chiang

Following their announcement that they were starting everything over and relaunching all their titles with new first issues this fall, DC Comics today announced the creative teams for ten of the titles.

And while Tom may have other thoughts on his mind this week, here are some of my quick thoughts on those announcements:

Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang on Wonder Woman: Now all we need to know is whether she’s forming a rock band or not … but seriously, art wise, in my eyes, perfect choice. I’m a huge fan of Chiang’s, so I was just hoping we’d see him on any regular title. And Wonder Woman seems like a great fit. Azzarello, meanwhile, probably isn’t the first name I would have thought of when thinking about Wonder Woman, but the more I think about it, the more I like the idea. Of the creative teams revealed so far, this is probably becoming my favorite, or is at least tied with …

Ethan Van Sciver, Gail Simone and Yildiray Cinar on Firestorm: Back at WonderCon in 2010, Simone and Van Sciver teased that they were working together on something. Could they have been talking about Firestorm? Maybe; Simone also said on Twitter that she and Van Sciver have another as-yet-unannounced project they’re working on, so it could have been something else. I like the fact that Van Sciver is co-writing the book (rather than drawing it), and it’s getting a bit of a reboot. “Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond are two high school students, worlds apart – and now they’re drawn into a conspiracy of super science that bonds them forever in a way they can’t explain or control.” So you have two writers with very different worldviews writing a character composed of two other characters with wildly different worldviews. That’s actually pretty cool. Yildiray Cinar, meanwhile, has been killing it on Legion, so he’s a plus to a team I was already liking.

Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti on Justice League International: Fans of Justice League: Generation Lost probably weren’t surprised to see this one, since it was teased in the last issue of the miniseries. I think what surprised and disappointed me about it, though, was the lack of Judd Winick, who did an awesome job with these characters. I can’t imagine we won’t see his name somewhere among the 52 titles, but I would have loved to have seen it on this one.

Tony Daniel and Phillip Tan on The Savage Hawkman: Wait, what happened to James Robinson?

Francis Manapul on Flash: Francis Manapul on art is always plus, and like a lot of artists at DC (like Daniel and Dave Finch) he’s making the jump to writing as well.

Mister Terrific

Eric Wallace and Roger Robinson on Mister Terrific: Besides the Ink miniseries that followed Final Crisis, I don’t think I’ve read anything Wallace has done. That being said, I like that DC is giving one of their more interesting team characters, The Justice Society’s Mister Terrific, his own series, so I’ll at least check out the first issue.

Also announced, but I don’t have anything to say about them: Green Arrow by JT Krul and Dan Jurgens, Captain Atom by JT Krul and Freddie Williams III and DC Universe Presents, an anthology title that’ll kick off with a Deadman story by Paul Jenkins and Bernard Chang. And of course Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis on Aquaman, which we already had confirmed.

Overall thoughts: I can’t say anything here really surprised me, in terms of the creators who are involved. Thinking back to Crisis on Infinite Earths and the reboot that came after it, DC made several big announcements and bold moves– John Byrne on Superman, Frank Miller on Batman, Mike Grell doing Green Arrow: Longbow Hunters, even Tim Truman on Hawkworld. Granted this is only the first wave of titles, so we still have plenty of room for some big surprises in the next 40 or so titles they have to announce, but so far the only ones that really came across as potential wild cards were finding out Ethan Van Sciver and Francis Manapul would be writing instead of drawing, and the pairing of Azzarello with Wonder Woman. That being said, none of these really came across as particularly bad movies, either, although whether you agree or not will likely vary based on your own comic preferences.

Of course there’s a long list of names we haven’t seen yet who are currently working for DC and who I’d expect to see in upcoming announcements — Robinson and Winick, of course, as well as Grant Morrison, Paul Dini, Marc Guggenheim, Palmiotti and Gray, Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire, just to name a few writers. And while it’s probably not very likely we’ll see Brian Michael Bendis writing Batman or Jeff Smith taking over Superman, are there some unusual suspects who might pop up? Darwyn Cooke hinted he was up to something with DC. I’m sure there are plenty of other potential wild cards out there — who would you like to see on a DC title?

Alpha Flight

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

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

Michael May

Even if I didn’t have any money at all, I’d stand on the street corner and beg until I collected three bucks to buy Alpha Flight #0.1 ($2.99). I’ve never not bought an issue of Alpha Flight and I’m not breaking that streak this week. Fortunately I have $15 and can afford to get not only that, but also Rocketeer Adventures #1 ($3.99), which I’m only slightly less excited about. And since I’ve still got some money I’d add Drums #1 ($2.99) – because it’s been a while since I’ve read a voodoo story and this looks like a good one – and Snake Eyes #1 ($3.99). I’m not a GI Joe fan, but ninjas are cool and expect that I’d be entertained by a comic about one who fights an evil spy organization.

If I had $30, I’d trade-wait Drums and Snake Eyes and grab Courtney Crumrin Tales #2: The League of Ordinary Gentlemen ($5.99) because Ted Naifeh. Then I’d add Batgirl: The Flood ($14.99), because Batgirl has come up in a couple of recent conversations about modern comics that are sort of quietly fun and appropriate for younger readers without being “kids comics.” I want to check that out.

I’ve got a couple of splurge items this week. I’ve been catching up on The Adventures of Dr. McNinja online and it’s hilariously fantastic. I definitely want to support that by buying The Adventures of Dr. McNinja: Night Powers ($19.99). But I’m also extremely interested in Winshluss’ darkly beautiful and wordless take on Pinocchio ($26.95) from Last Gasp.

Chris Arrant

Courtney Crumrin Tales #2: League of Ordinary Gentlemen

If I had $15, the belle of my comics buyin’ ball would be Ted Naifeh’s Courtney Crumrin Tales #2: League of Ordinary Gentlemen (Oni, $5.99). Naifeh continues to amaze me, and although he might be overshadowed at Oni by Bryan Lee O’Malley he does amazing work. I love this prequel story of Courtney’s ward, Aloysius. Second up would be DMZ #65 (DC/Vertigo, $3.99), which writer Brian Wood said is the first ending for the series –- with the finale coming later this year. Third and final would be Avengers #13 (Marvel, $3.99) for Chris Bachalo’s amazing work; in fact, the previews for this push me even more to buy it than his name alone. I still think him and Bendis could do a great, and great-selling, Dr. Strange series.

If I had $30, I’d double back and pick up the new Rocketeer Adventures #1 (IDW, $3.99) and then spend the rest of my money on Ross Campbell’s Shadoweyes In Love (SLG, $12.95). Seriously, why isn’t Ross Campbell more appreciated than he is?

For my splurge, I’d spend my hard-earned money on Chester Brown’s Paying For it (D&Q, $24.95). I’m buying this based on Brown’s name and previous work, as well as the review Tom Spurgeon gave it a couple days ago.

Chris Mautner

Paying for It

If I had $15: This is a mostly “already own, but let me recommend” type of week. The main exception would be Liar’s Kiss ($14.95), Eric Skillman and Jhomar Soriano’s noirish detective story about a detective who’s surveillance case takes a turn for the gruesome. Skillman is best known as the top designer over at the Criterion Collection, and he’s done a couple of crime-themed comics titled Egg. I have a strong suspicion this is going to be very good.

If I had $30: Paying for It ($24.95) is clearly the book of the week, and surely one of the most anticipated and talked-about books of the year to date. I offered my own thoughts on it here. To sum up: It deals with a touchy subject, prostitution, in a rather forthright and honest way, which may make some uncomfortable. It also makes some proposals about the nature of romantic love and relationships that may irk others. On the other hand, it’s by one of the finest cartoonists alive today and offers a fascinating, at times even funny, look at a world rarely viewed in broad daylight.

If all that hits your “ick” button too much however, let me suggest Eye of the Majestic Creature ($18.99), a lovely little collection of comics by relative newcomer Leslie Stein, mainly concerning a young girl named Larrybear (basically a stand-in for Stein) and her adventures with her best friend, an anthropomorphic guitar. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked this up, but Stein quickly won me over with her charm and good humor.

Splurge: If you’re looking for a great book to splurge on, look no further than French cartoonist Winshluss’ rather loose adaptation of Pinocchio ($29.95). I picked this up at MoCCA this year and it was easily one of the best purchases I made, a tour-de-force that reimagines the little wooden boy as a metal machine housing some nasty weapons of destruction, Jimminy Cricket as a slacker, stoned cockroach and more. Yes it’s a puerile and “oh so naughty” take on a classic fairy tale, (think classic-era underground comics) but masterfully done, full of sharp, knife-edge humor and wonderful art. Highly recommended.

Graeme McMillan

IDW’s Rocketeer Adventures #1

If I had $15 this week, I’d probably blow more than half of it immediately on DC Comics Presents Batman: Dark City (DC, $7.99), a collection of a little-remembered three-part Peter Milligan-written story from the 1990s that accidentally served as the basis for a lot of the Gotham mythology in Grant Morrison’s The Return Of Bruce Wayne arc (It’s been a long time since I read it, but I remember the Kieron Dwyer art being pretty great, as well). I also wouldn’t be able to resist IDW’s Rocketeer Adventures #1 ($3.99), the start of a new anthology series about Dave Stevens’ famous character with work by Kurt Busiek, Mike Allred and Mike Mignola, amongst many others. With the $3 left to me, I’d give in again to nostalgia and pick up Alpha Flight #0.1 (Marvel, $2.99); I read the original John Byrne stories when I was ten years old, in the back of Marvel UK’s Secret Wars reprint title, and remember them far more fondly than they deserve… It’ll be a depressing but necessary sight to see what they’ve become today, I think.

If I had $30, I’d continue my Batman fix with the first issue of Scott Snyder’s Batman: Gates of Gotham (DC, $2.99), before picking up regular purchases like Justice League of America #57 (DC, $2.99), Legion of Super-Heroes #13 (DC, $2.99) and recent addition (at least until Cullen Bunn leaves), Superman/Batman #84 (DC, $2.99).

I’m torn when it comes to splurging. I mean, the superhero fan in me is very, very tempted by The Flash Omnibus By Geoff Johns Vol. 1 (DC, $75), especially as I’ve not read the majority of those stories before, but I have to admit, I think Paying For It (Drawn & Quarterly, $24.95), Chester Brown’s book about prostitution that, from the sounds of it, is part admission memoir and part polemic, would be more bang for my buck. So to speak.

Flashpoint #5

Flashpoint #5. Because that’s the only DC Comic coming out that day.

Here’s what the solicitation text, released today by DC on their Source blog, says:”The war between the Amazons and the Atlantians has arrived. The battles between Diana of Themsycira and Emperor Aquaman will tear this world apart – unless The Flash can fix it! IMPORTANT NOTE: Because of its impact on the DC Universe, FLASHPOINT #5 is the only title that DC Comics is currently soliciting to arrive in stores on August 31.”

I plan to be reading it, as the first issue really hooked me in what was probably the first Barry Allen story I ever really cared about, except for maybe the Crisis on Infinite Earths issue where he died. I’ll talk some more about it in our What Are You Reading? feature this weekend, but this particular first issue was a winner in my book.

But I wonder what could possibly happen in the final issue that has DC pushing everything else off the schedule?

Flashpoint #1

Even at 34 pages, the first issue of Flashpoint feels like it’s missing something.

This is not exactly a surprise. The very premise of Flashpoint is that lots of things are missing, including Superman, the Justice League, and a generally-peaceful world. Mainly, the world of Flashpoint is short on hope — and so is issue #1.

To be sure, while the story itself is fairly bleak, it’s told in compelling fashion by writer Geoff Johns, penciller Andy Kubert, inker Sandra Hope, and colorist Alex Sinclair. Barry Allen wakes up in a world that would have made George Bailey jump off that bridge without a second thought, and by the end of Flashpoint #1 he has little reason to think his old life will ever return. Nevertheless, under Geoff Johns, Barry has literally become an avatar of hope, unironically intoning the Blue Lantern motto “all will be well.” Never mind the reset button implied in most alternate-reality scenarios — by itself, Johns’ history with the character all but promises Barry’s ultimate triumph. If Flashpoint lives up to that promise, and subsequent issues have as much excitement as this first issue has nihilism, it could be one of the great big-event miniseries.

That’s a big “if,” though. The first issue necessarily comes with a good bit of exposition, and Flashpoint risks its readers being lost in a myriad of apocalyptic scenarios and changed characters. Flashpoint might also become nothing more than a framework for all those tie-in miniseries and one-shots. However, Johns wisely keeps the focus on Barry and just a couple of significant allies. Maintaining that focus is the key to this miniseries, and it’ll be the measure of Flashpoint’s success.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

5

4

3

2

1

Flashpoint’s premise gives it two immediate advantages: Johns doesn’t have to spend a lot of time introducing characters who readers might already know; and the aforementioned reset button gives him a good bit of leeway in terms of story possibilities. Issue #1 uses the latter to good effect: in the war between Aquaman and Wonder Woman, Western Europe is 200 miles underwater, and Great Britain has become New Themyscira.

As for introducing characters, Johns limits himself largely to Barry, Batman, and Cyborg. Oh sure, there are a number of bit players, including Barry’s police colleagues, his mom, and the weird assortment of superheroes Cyborg tries to lead, but they’re there (at least for now) as local color. Even the Reverse-Flash, whose fingerprints are (perhaps literally) all over this altered timeline, only merits a cameo.

Compare this to the first issues of Johns’ previous big-event series. Brightest Day pared down its cast pretty quickly, but still had a lot of characters and subplots to juggle. Blackest Night #1 started with four Green Lanterns and went on a survey of the superhero landscape. Infinite Crisis #1 picked up plot threads from various disparate miniseries, “broke up” the Trinitarians, and ended on a callback to Crisis On Infinite Earths. Here, though, the plot is simple: a powerless Barry Allen has to fix the timeline. You don’t even have to have read Flash #12 — which, by the way, helps make Professor Zoom even more hissable — to appreciate how hard that’s going to be. This may shock you, but I have no complaints about Flashpoint’s accessibility. (And given those voluminous tie-ins, I hope that continues, at least for the core miniseries….)

A big part of that accessibility is Johns, Kubert, and Hope’s portrayal of Barry as an ordinary guy who happens to be a superhero. Waking up at the crime lab, hugging his mom, or realizing his super-speed is gone, he’s wide-eyed, stepping into the reader’s place, trying to process what’s happened. When he realizes he can (or, more accurately, should) do something about it, his eyes narrow, his mouth tightens, and the reader can share his confidence. Again, we know (albeit from Blackest Night) that Barry doesn’t lack for hope; but that suits him ideally for the “all will be well” mindset triggered by his horrific surroundings.

Before going too much farther, I want to praise Kubert, Hope, and Sinclair more generally, for their polished work bringing the world of Flashpoint to life. Much of Flashpoint #1 features characters talking and/or reacting, and Kubert sells those sequences fairly well. He frames the mother-and-child reunion with an arched window, decorates a glamour-shot of the Flash with a dumpy fisherman and a well-attended ice-cream cart, populates a crowded newsroom, and peppers the issue with expressive closeups. Hope’s inks are tight and careful, polishing Kubert’s pencils and helping to darken the issue’s mood as its plot moves along. Sinclair’s colors are most noticeable in the Gotham City sequences, giving the alt-Gotham a garish orange-and-blue glow; and they contrast nicely with the warmer Central City scenes. Probably the most effective sequence is the issue’s last.  It starts with a lonely, wordless traffic jam and ends with Barry trudging through a dilapidated Wayne Manor into one of the more dismal Batcaves readers are likely to see. The combination of odd angles, stark blacks, and a muted palette makes Barry’s final-page discovery particularly shocking.

That brings me to Batman, the character who — in a very weird way — was a pleasant surprise. From what I could tell from the hype, Flashpoint’s Batman looked fairly similar to Regular Batman: rich guy, spooky outfit, antisocial, etc. Much of issue #1 is devoted to Batman (both of its action sequences feature him), and for most of that time, Flashpoint is content mostly to give this Batman a harder edge. Again, nothing particularly new. However, I was not prepared for the last-page reveal of this Batman as … Thomas Wayne, who apparently saw his wife and son murdered before his eyes, and who has spent the last few decades — which would make him about 80, but I guess that’ll be addressed — dishing out bat-flavored, glowing-red-eyed punishment. That kinda blew my mind; and while I’d have liked Flashpoint to take a few more steps towards restoring Barry’s speed, “[y]ou’re Thomas Wayne” is a pretty good cliffhanger. (It helps that the way Kubert frames Batman’s face, it’s slightly obscuring Dr. Wayne’s part of the family photo. If I weren’t sure who Thomas Wayne was in relation to Batman, that would’ve been a big clue.)

It also provides a nice counterpoint to Barry’s situation with his own parents. Prior to 2009′s Flash: Rebirth, Henry and Nora Allen lived to see their son marry Iris West and fight crime as the Flash. However, Rebirth revealed that Professor Zoom went back in time to kill Nora and frame Henry for her murder. Aside from altering the details of some of Barry’s adventures, Nora’s death (Flashpoint reminds us) preyed on Barry’s mind for years. Eventually he dealt with it, but learning that Zoom was behind it reawakened all those old negative impulses.

Thus, Flashpoint gives Barry a few options. One supposes that, at the appropriately-dramatic moment, Barry will need to choose between his mother’s life and the fate of the world. (Note that, at such moment, Barry may well be able to save both.) One supposes further that, likely as part of said choice, Barry will be able to defeat Zoom in a way which gives him closure over his mother’s death. This can either be in a good way (she lives and Henry’s good name is restored) or in a bittersweet way (she dies, and Barry can deal with it in a stoic-Geoff-Johns-hero manner).

Batman’s fate seems a lot more clear: he’s got to sacrifice himself (even if it’s through the loss of this timeline) so that his death can facilitate his son’s Bat-career in the restored timeline. Presumably, Flashpoint will contain at least one “I would die for my son/I would die for my mom” scene, perhaps followed by “I die for my son’s sake, and so you can live with your mom.” Before that happens, though, I imagine we’ll get to see some ultra-grim Thomas Wayne moments. Let’s face it: we all know that Regular Batman kept a good bit of his marbles through his relationships with happier people — Alfred, Leslie, the sidekicks, the JLA, et al. Thomas Wayne has had none of that, and Wayne Manor is a dump, and he’s stuck running casinos as a day job. If Flashpoint has a strong buddy-movie component, I think I will like contrasting Barry’s optimism with Batman’s fatalism.

Finally, there’s Cyborg, the odd man out in more ways than one. Throughout the runup to Flashpoint, I have tried to figure why Johns chose Cyborg to fill Superman’s ideal-hero role. I mean, I’ve liked Cyborg since 1980′s New Teen Titans preview in DC Comics Presents #26, but it seems like he got the job because no one else was available. What’s more, Victor Stone was Wally West’s friend and colleague (first when Wally was Kid Flash, and later when he succeeded Barry) — so there’s a second-degree relationship with Barry, and maybe not much of that. Still, Cyborg arguably personifies Earth-Flashpoint: put back together after a catastrophe, and heavily armed. Like Barry, too, he represents hope; or at least he did, back when Victor Stone learned to master the possibilities of his new life.

In the rapidly-deteriorating world of Flashpoint, though, such acceptance is unlikely. What I thought was missing from Flashpoint #1 was a sense of progress, and specifically (as mentioned above) the satisfaction of seeing Barry’s powers return. That would have given the issue more momentum, as opposed to Batman’s devastating reveal. Certainly, Flashpoint’s actual cliffhanger makes me want to read issue #2, but partly to see if it does what issue #1 didn’t.

Nevertheless, as a first issue, Flashpoint #1 laid out an intriguing (if relentlessly grim) scenario, plopped our hero in the middle of it with little chance of success, and subverted this reader’s expectations about a key player. Alternate takes on Captain Marvel, Captain Cold, and Green Lantern may also make Flashpoint more entertaining. Flashpoint has a lot of potential, and right now it’s off to the best start of any of Geoff Johns’ recent big-event miniseries. Here’s hoping it gets even better.

Flashpoint #1

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

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

Graeme McMillan

If I had $15 this week, I’d immediately go for Flashpoint #1 (DC Comics, $3.99) – I am very, very unsure about the number of tie-ins DC are pushing out for the new crossover event, but with Geoff Johns in charge, I’m suspecting that the main book will be worth a look at least. I’d also grab the relaunched GI Joe #1 (IDW, $3.99), if only to follow up on the “Cobra Civil War” storyline that I admit has completely caught my attention unexpectedly. Curiosity would also get me to pick up both Moriarty #1 (Image, $2.99) and Total Recall #1 (Dynamite, $1.99), two new launches that will hopefully take familiar ideas and characters in directions I wouldn’t expect…

If I had $30, then I’d be adding DC Comics Presents: The Flash #1 (DC, $7.99) to my list, because I’m a sucker for silver age Flash, and for well-done time travel stories. Add to that, regular purchase Batman Incorporated #6 (DC, $2.99) and New Mutants #25 (Marvel, $3.99), the latter because I have fond memories of the original run and also quite like new ongoing writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, who take over with this issue, and I’ve already hit my spending limit. Jeez: Comic
books can be expensive.

To Splurge or Not To Splurge? DC has the edge this week for me, with Deadman Vol. 1 ($19.99) reprinting the original appearances of Boston Brand and two separate Joe Kubert books, Jew Gangster ($14.99) and Yossel ($14.99), being reprinted as well. Just how much am I allowed to splurge again…?

Chris Arrant

Northlanders #40

If I had $15, my first pick would be Northlanders #40 (Vertigo, $2.99) by Brian Wood and guest artist Matthew Woodson. I’ve been following Woodson’s work for about eight years now, and after several abortive attempts at comics he’s finally coming due with this issue. Woodson is a massive talent that I hope gets the right breaks in comics to show what he can do. Second up would be FF #3 (Marvel, $2.99); Hickman and Epting aren’t listening to the hype but focusing on the story and the development of the FF side of the Marvel U. Third would be Flashpoint #1 (DC, $3.99), a given for anyone writing about mainstream superhero comics but also as a fan it could be something special; I have a lot of faith in Geoff Johns’ abilities, but this will surely be a test for him. Finally, I would get New Avengers #12 (Marvel, $3.99); I applaud their risky decision to put Chaykin and Deodato in the same book, and I look forward to them doing more of this when the time is right.

If I had $30, I’d get the second piece in the Flashpoint puzzle — Flash #12 (DC, $2.99). I’m a huge fan of Francis Manapul, and this series has given me that in spades. Unfortunately, DC is canceling the series with this issue — so I guess there will never be another Flash title… ever.

My other picks would start with Astonishing X-Men #37 ($3.99), which while I love Jason Pearson I might be bailing on this if he’s dropping off the series. Second would be Undying Love #2 (Image, $2.99), as I love Tomm Coker’s art. Third would be Hellboy: Being Human (Dark Horse, $3.50); I love the team-up of Mignola and Corben, and that luchadore comic they did with Hellboy awhile back was a favorite of mine.

Splurge: For splurging, I’d pick up the reprint of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s Fighting American ($19.99). I have a soft spot for patriotic heroes, and I hope this is something special akin to what Alan Moore did with Supreme.

Chris Mautner

Little Lulu Vol. 27

If I had $15: A new Little Lulu volume from Dark Horse is always a must-buy for me, so volume 27, The Treasure Map ($14.99), is pretty much a given for me at the $15 mark.

If I had $30: For me, the book of the week is clearly Garden, the latest manga from the ever avant-garde Yuichi Yokoyama, courtesy of Picturebox ($24.95). It’s an extended exploration of Yokoyama’s usual interests — discovery, motion, machinery, artificial “nature” and guys with weird things on their heads. In this book, a large group of people explore a large garden, with ever more surreal and stranger the deeper they progress. I hope to have a review of the book up either this week or next, but suffice it to say I really, really liked this book a lot and strongly recommend it.

Splurge: Nothing really that splurge-worthy for me this week, so I’ll use that money to help me pay for both books at once.

Brigid Alverson

Mega Man

If I had $15: I’d pick up the first issue of Archie’s new Mega Man series ($2.99), just to see what’s up with that. And then I’d add the seventh volume of Twin Spica ($10.95), a really great manga about a girl who wants to be an astronaut in Japan’s space program.

If I had $30: I’m having a rough week, so I’d load up with some lighthearted comics: Donald Duck #366 ($3.99), from BOOM! Studios, because it features a classic pirate tale and I’m a pushover for classic pirate tales; Love and Capes Ever After #4 ($3.99); and The Smurfs and the Howlibird ($5.99 for the paperback).

Splurge: It’s going to be Yoichi Yokoyama’s Garden ($24.99), although I had mixed feelings about his Travel: I really loved the experience of reading the book, but I didn’t like the mask-like faces he put on the humans. The non-human elements, and the sense that he gave of a real train journey (I take a lot of trains—he nailed it) is what made the book so great, but the figures were distracting. So I’ll give Garden a try, but in a way, I feel like it’s a book that I should read rather than a book I’ll enjoy curling up with.

Michael May

Moriarty #1

If I had $15, I’d start with Viper’s Missing Linx graphic novel ($7.95) about Bigfoot, Sasquatch, the Skunk Ape, and the Yeti teaming up to fight a mad scientist. Then I’d go for Moriarty #1 ($2.99) because connecting your book to Sherlock Holmes is an easy way to get my money. And I’d finish off with Veronica #206 ($2.99), which kicks off a two-part crossover with next month’s Betty in which the girls resume their careers as groovy super spies.

If I had $30, I’d add the Hellboy: Being Human one-shot ($3.50) because it’s Hellboy, but also Hellboy and Roger. I miss Roger. I’d also grab Joe Lansdale and Sam Kieth’s 30 Days of Night: Night Again #1 ($3.99). I’m cautious about 30 Days of Night stories that aren’t by either Steve Niles or Ben Templesmith, but I’d buy a Lansdale/Keith book no matter what it was about. Then – thanks to Brigid’s pointing it out – I’d also add Donald Duck #366 ($3.99) for the pirates and the nostalgia. And finally, because I’ve got some money to burn, I’d grab Flashpoint #1 ($3.99). I’m far more interested in some of the side-series (Frankenstein, Lois Lane, and the stuff with Wonder Woman for example) than in the main story though.

Splurge: Geez, DC. Birds of Prey #12 comes out this week and you’re just now releasing the hardcover collection of the first six issues? I’ve been waiting for it, so I’m grabbing Birds of Prey, Volume 1: Endrun ($22.99) to finally see Gail Simone’s return to Black Canary and the girls, but can you please speed that process up some?

Flashpoint: Reverse-Flash #1

While it might not be much, Saturday’s Free Comic Book Day will bring our first real glimpse at the world of Flashpoint. I’ve been looking at the looming alternate-universe epic as little more than a fun way to spend the summer — which would be fine, by the way — but apparently that is just crazy talk. Everything will change, as it always does; as it did with Brightest Day and Blackest Night and Final Crisis, etc., etc.

Naturally, there are different degrees of “change,” from wholesale reorganization to continuity tweaks. 1985′s Crisis On Infinite Earths gave DC carte blanche to rework characters from the ground up. 1994′s Zero Hour, 2005-06′s Infinite Crisis and 52, and 2008-09′s Final Crisis also allowed DC to tinker with the timeline, mostly on a small scale. More esoteric devices like Hypertime, Super-punches, and plot-specific time travel have produced and/or explained certain changes.

However, in practical terms, the post-COIE changes haven’t upset too many apple carts.  Oh, Zero Hour tried to clean up Hawkman’s history, and it also facilitated a new Legion of Super-Heroes timeline, both of which were big deals.  More recently, though, Infinite Crisis gave Clark Kent a “secret Superboy” career and restored certain aspects of Batman’s and Wonder Woman’s histories, but those developments stayed in the background. Accordingly, a change that doesn’t affect a title’s regular storytelling practice doesn’t seem like much of a change.

And therein lies the real puzzle of Flashpoint: what room is there, across DC’s superhero line, for the kind of change which excites more than it frustrates?  Of the 55 DCU/superhero-line titles DC will publish in July (as the big event reaches its midpoint), 17 are part of Flashpoint, and many of the rest are dealing with their own ongoing arcs. Today we’ll look at who might be flexible, and speculate a little on what might happen.

* * *

THEY GAVE AT THE OFFICE

Counting the Gates Of Gotham miniseries, Batman Beyond, and an extra issue of Detective Comics, July’s Bat-books account for 11 of the 38 non-Flashpoint titles — and they look pretty booked already, thanks to a combination of the Batman line’s perpetual popularity and the current “Batman Incorporated” umbrella. Although Dick’s been a full-time Batman for over two years, Bruce is barely six months back in the saddle, and Batman Incorporated hasn’t finished its first big arc. Ancillary titles like Gotham City Sirens, Batgirl, and Red Robin are doubly secure, both because of their Bat-connections and because they don’t have that much history to tweak.* Similarly, Batman Beyond is apparently doing well enough that there are rumors of Justice League and Superman spinoffs. (Never mind that BB may also be on a different Earth entirely.) I’m not even factoring David Finch’s The Dark Knight into this analysis, since it has its own problems just getting published.

Don’t feel bad, Flashpoint, because the Bat-cast has historically been resistant to continuity changes. I can only remember a handful of significant alterations: Jason Todd’s revised origins, Barbara Gordon as Jim’s niece (and, later, adopted daughter), Leslie Thompkins’ expanded role, and Alfred as the Wayne family butler (as opposed to being hired well after Bruce became Batman). Most of these happened in the late 1980s, right after Crisis On Infinite Earths, although Infinite Crisis made small-time crook Joe Chill the Waynes’ killer once again. Considering Grant Morrison’s “everything happened” dictum for Batman’s history, it’s funny that Bruce/Batman himself has changed so little over the years, while Alfred’s and Gordon’s backstories have been extensively rewritten.

Anyway, the second big franchise which looks Flashpoint-proof is Geoff Johns’ own Green Lantern. The current “War of the Green Lanterns” storyline is set to wrap up next month, with the two-part Aftermath miniseries ending in August. If Flashpoint ends on time in September, it would give the GL books some room to prepare for any post-Flashpoint changes. Regardless, that may be asking a little too much of GL readers, who have been through a constant cycle of epic storylines: “Sinestro Corps,” Blackest Night (and the months-long buildup thereto), “New Guardians,” and now “War of the Green Lanterns.” I just can’t see introducing more changes on top of all that, unless they’re designed to bring the Corps back to normality.

I do note that Greater Flashpoint includes a handful of Batman and GL-related miniseries (Knight Of Vengeance, Deadman and the Flying Graysons, Abin Sur, and Hal Jordan), but I imagine those are there to get people to buy Batman and Green Lantern-related books, not because Flashpoint has some larger post-event plans for them. Profession (and lack of sidekicks) aside, Flashpoint’s Batman doesn’t seem much different from the regular version, and I bet FP’s Hal will get the power ring before too long.

NOT IN THEIR WHEELHOUSE

A few DC books fall within the general orbit of the superhero line without being particularly affected by its twists and turns. These include the two Legion titles (Adventure Comics and Legion of Super-Heroes), the loosely-connected-to-the-main-line Superman/Batman, and the Western Jonah Hex. As with Batman Beyond, the Legion books and Hex are so far removed from the main superhero line that I can’t see Flashpoint’s ripples reaching their time periods. Superman/Batman just does its own thing, often telling stories which predate current events,** so it might not end up referencing Flashpoint for a while.

REPLY HAZY, ASK AGAIN LATER

The relative flexibility of Justice League of America, Justice Society of America, Teen Titans, and Titans each depends, to a certain extent, on the team’s roster. The JSA and the Teen Titans both look relatively stable in that regard. However, the Justice League is perpetually recruiting, and the current evil-Titans setup can’t last forever. If it weren’t for July’s Titans Annual kicking off a new storyline, I’d say Titans was ripe for a Flashpoint makeover. What’s more, with a new Justice League International series on the way, and a number of old-school Justice Leaguers available to join a team, Flashpoint may give the JLA an opening to shuffle its lineup(s?) yet again.

BRIGHTEST DAY ALUMNI

As discussed last week, there are a handful of characters retooled through Brightest Day who are no doubt preparing for their next moments in the spotlight. Aquaman and Deadman are both fairly prominent in Flashpoint’s altered timeline, but not so much for Hawkman, Firestorm, Swamp Thing, or the Martian Manhunter. Because none of these characters have ongoing series for Flashpoint to affect, it makes me think that their post-Flashpoint appearances won’t be overly dependent on whatever roles they play in the altered timeline. Aquaman will probably be the exception to that rule, since Johns will be writing his ongoing series and no doubt linking FP’s Sea King to the unadulterated version.

As for July’s two BD-related titles, I don’t see the Search For Swamp Thing miniseries being overly affected by Flashpoint; although Green Arrow may be ready for a new direction now that BD is over.

(While I am curious to see if any of the series cancelled to make room for Flashpoint (Doom Patrol, Freedom Fighters, REBELS, Outsiders, and JSA All-Stars) might come back once the event has ended, the chances of that are slim at best. Instead, I imagine a few of those series’ slots will be filled by Aquaman and other Brightest Day stars.)

THE FIELD

I have learned not to try and predict anything about Secret Six, because it does what Gail Simone wants and it tends to work just fine. If the Sixers come out of Flashpoint with Bane leading a troop of Girl Scouts, I’m sure it’ll all be to the good.

However, Ms. Simone’s other title, Birds of Prey, gives Flashpoint a potential opening. Because Lady Blackhawk landed in the present via time anomaly, it’s entirely possible that the time-twisting required to undo FP’s changes could affect her as well.

Also not exactly from the main DC universe is Power Girl, a character I’m eager to see in Flashpoint for the simple fact that she comes from a parallel world which no longer exists. In fact, that may make it fairly hard for Zoom to remove her from the timeline — and even if he changes her history so that she’s no longer a threat to him, she’s been through that kind of thing before. In Infinite Crisis (written by Johns, of course), the Superman of the original Earth-Two reawakened her memories of their adopted home. The question is, who on the Flashpoint Earth would have that kind of connection to her? (Booster Gold?)

A few low-selling DC titles might benefit from a brush with Flashpoint; namely THUNDER Agents, Xombi, and Zatanna. While none of them really need revision (particularly the just-launched Xombi), more exposure via Flashpoint — even to an alternate-universe version — couldn’t hurt.

TWO OUT OF THREE AIN’T BAD

I have held off talking about Superman and Wonder Woman because I think they (and the ancillary Super-books) are well-positioned to take advantage of Flashpoint’s manipulations. Both will be coming off of year-long JMS-influenced arcs, and readers expect Wonder Woman in particular to be revamped (re-revamped? Retrovamped?), at least as far as it takes to restore her familiar status quo. Supergirl also seems to be waiting for a regular creative team to give it a fresh direction.

It bears repeating that Superman and Wonder Woman could both use some attention to their post-Infinite Crisis backstories. The Johns-written Superman: Secret Origin filled in some gaps, mostly with regard to the Superboy issue and early relations with Luthor and the military, but it wasn’t concerned with being comprehensive. Moreover, Johns didn’t try to either reconcile Secret Origin with, or distinguish it from, the original 1986 revamp Man of Steel or the 2004 revision Superman: Birthright. If Flashpoint facilitates a reordered Superman history, a nice byproduct would be a step-by-step account of the Man of Steel’s early life and career: Krypton looked like this, these things happened in Smallville, this is what brought Clark to Metropolis, here’s his Superman debut, etc. While fans might greet such a story with yawns, it could set the tone for future stories by emphasizing how these various events continue to affect our hero. How is a Clark who was Superboy different from one who wasn’t? What did New Krypton teach us about Krypton-that-was, and vice versa? Does Luthor’s hatred of Superman still come from a singular humiliation?

A similar treatment would also help Wonder Woman’s newly-complicated history, which now includes a nebulous multi-year span — from her first appearance in Patriarch’s World through her participation in 1986-87′s Legends. However, given her prominence in Flashpoint and the potential fallout from the current “Odyssey” alt-timeline, I wonder if DC doesn’t have something more sweeping in mind. Flashpoint could open the door to a wholesale revision of Wonder Woman’s history, making her debut not at the beginning of the Silver Age but all the way back to her World War II origins. Since she’s practically immortal, it would be easy for her to join both the Justice Society and the Justice League. In a nice bit of historical irony, she could even be Superman’s in-universe inspiration! She’s had different supporting casts in different eras (and Steve Trevor has died and come back a couple of times), so that wouldn’t be much of a problem — and there’s something of a precedent for that too, when the Lynda Carter TV show explained that Modern Steve was WWII Steve’s son. Mind you, I’m not saying this is a flawless idea, or even a good one; but surely it lives up to the mantra “everything is going to change.”

THE HEADLINERS

That leaves us with Flash (represented by Flashpoint, of course) and Booster Gold, the two titles most intimately involved with this event. Since Booster is something of a continuity-cop these days, he’s both ideal for commenting on Flashpoint and relatively insulated from its effects. Indeed, in 52 #52, Booster and Rip Hunter saw firsthand how Mr. Mind pruned the worlds of the current Multiverse into an array of distinctly alternate timelines. Therefore, I don’t quite know how FP could change his basic setup (well, I have an idea, but that’s for later). As mentioned above, though, I would like to see how/if he interacts with Power Girl in FP’s altered timeline.

Finally, there is the Flash, Barry Allen, herald of DC’s Silver Age of Comics, metatextual symbol, and all-around nice guy. The seed of Flashpoint was planted in Flash: Rebirth with the revelation that Professor Zoom manipulated Barry’s history, framing Barry’s father for the murder of Barry’s mother. Rebirth explained that the power to change time without consequences was unique to Zoom, and was specifically off-limits to Barry. Nevertheless, one expects that in Flashpoint, Barry and/or his allies will find a way to undo Zoom’s changes — or at least undo enough of them.

The more I think about this, however, the more I am convinced that Barry’s actions will themselves have significant consequences for him personally. In short, I expect Flashpoint to give Barry the choice of saving either his parents or himself; and naturally I expect Barry to choose his parents. Part of me even thinks that Barry’s sacrifice will somehow affect DC’s cosmological underpinnings (again) — perhaps creating a new Earth-DC out of his memories,*** and infused with his spirit; or perhaps recreating the infinite Multiverse itself. I like the second option better, not just because it would be cruel to cut short Barry’s second career after a year and change, but because Barry could then be lost in said Multiverse for however long it took to establish Wally and Bart in their own titles. (Hey, it worked for Dick and Damian….) An infinitely-expanded Multiverse could also widen the scope of Booster and Rip’s jurisdiction, and/or turn the book into an Exiles-like trek across parallel worlds.

Pardon the digression, but another Multiverse-related idea occurs to me. It arises from the confluence of time travel, Crisis On Infinite Earths, and the relative absence of the Green Lantern Corps. When I was reviewing DC’s various historical rewrites to prepare for this post, I remembered that none of the Corps went back to the Dawn of Time with the rest of the superheroes in COIE #10. Later, in Zero Hour, Hal Jordan/Parallax tried to shape history to suit his tastes (specifically, to save Coast City from destruction), but he had already destroyed the Corps by that point. These things interest me because Krona, the Oan exiled for observing Creation, is back in “War of the Green Lanterns”; and the Anti-Monitor got a couple of scenes in Brightest Day. Now, Anti-M**** wasn’t expressly set up as a Green Lantern villain, but he is tied pretty closely to GL Corps mythology. Just as his positive-matter twin, the Monitor, was born on Oa’s moon, so he was born (in the Anti-Matter Universe) on Qward’s. Early in COIE, Anti-M put the zap on the Guardians of the Universe and cut off the Corps’ power; and when they recovered, they had their own problems. While the other superheroes were at the Dawn of Time, the Corps was in the Anti-Matter Universe, fighting an army of bad guys for control of Anti-M’s power source on Qward’s moon. Thus, Anti-M never faced the Corps directly until the Sinestro Corps War, and has since shown up since in Blackest Night and Brightest Day.

I mention all of this to note that if Professor Zoom is going to shape the timeline like a topiary, he’ll need to account for the big cosmic events too. It’s one thing to divert Kal-El’s rocket; it’s another to put the Anti-Monitor in a box. I for one would like to see Anti-M out of that box and hopping mad at the yellow-clad speedster who put him there. Besides, forcing Zoom to assume Barry’s role in Flashpoint’s version of COIE would certainly be poetic justice; and Barry recruiting the Green Lanterns to make sure things don’t get out of hand (and/or to help remake the infinite Earths) seems eminently appropriate.

* * *

Ultimately, if Flashpoint does leave a lasting mark on the superhero books, I suspect it will be more of an expansion of storytelling possibilities — again, like the infinite Earths returning, or (more likely) a troop of new-to-new-ish characters — than an array (no matter how sweeping) of detail-oriented changes. I’ve mentioned a couple of blow-it-up-and-start-over possibilities, but that’s all they are. While Flashpoint has the potential to shake up the regular DC timeline in radically new ways, especially with a few of its key characters, the practicalities of a shared superhero universe don’t leave it much room to operate.

+++++++++++++

* [Restoring Catwoman’s history as an amnesiac flight attendant might be fun, though.]

** [It did have a Blackest Night tie-in, but that looked like an exception to the book’s normal practice.]

*** [That idea came from Graeme McMillan, and I like it because it’s a nice counterpoint to Barry’s buddy Hal trying to do the same thing in a more misguided way.]

**** [A great nickname, coined by the venerable Amazing Heroes critic R.A. Jones back around 1986.]

Gingerbread Girl

Hello and welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading? Our special guest today is Emily Stackhouse, creator of the award-winning minicomic Brazilianoir and her latest, Miner’s Mutiny.

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

*****

Tom Bondurant

Showcase Presents Green Lantern

Back at the end of the year, I got all superior about DC’s solicitation of Showcase Presents Green Lantern Volume 5, because apparently it didn’t include all the GL backup stories from The Flash, back when Green Lantern itself had been canceled (gasp!) following the Denny O’Neil/Neal Adams run. Therefore, when SCPGL #5 came out this week, I was pleasantly surprised to see those backups finally collected. So thanks, DC, for that!

I’d read those short stories before, but I’d forgotten that they start out with Hal Jordan unemployed and literally living out of his car. Talk about your “trek across America” — he’s sleeping in the woods, cooking Green Arrow’s chili recipe over a campfire and fighting aliens almost on the side. In fact, one story (“The Powerless Power Ring,” by O’Neil and Adams) finds Hal’s ring going goofy, apparently because he put the wrong mushrooms into the chili. Another, “Yellow Is A Dirty Little Color” (by O’Neil and Dick Giordano) loses a certain plot point in the black-and-white reprint, but it’s still a lightweight little puzzle which alert readers will probably figure out before Hal does. Eventually, the backups will shift to an extended outer-space serial, Mike Grell will come aboard as penciller, and the groundwork will be laid for 1976′s Green Lantern revival — but for now, it’s nice to see Hal in a more offbeat setting.

Some of the best superhero-comics news I’ve read in a while came at the end of Justice League: Generation Lost #24 (written by Judd Winick, penciled by Aaron Lopresti, inked by Matt Ryan), when the follow-up ongoing series was announced. JL:GL has been tremendously entertaining pretty much since it started, but I really
did not expect these characters to continue as a team after this miniseries. JL:GL sets up the conflict between the new JLI and its familiar enemy pretty well, too, with the bad guys essentially adopting a concern-troll posture. That should give the ongoing series a nice political/satirical edge (not that DC needs any more political edge these days…). Even with this dangling plot thread, and with a big nod to Wonder Woman‘s altered timeline, JL:GL worked nicely as a standalone superhero adventure. Winick and his rotating roster of artists did a great job keeping the stakes high and bringing the characters to life, and I hope that spirit continues into the regular series.

Tim O’Shea

FF #2

FF #2: Worth the read for a scene where Invisible Woman steps between Doom and Thing, in a manner of speaking. It’s crazy that Dragon Man is actually becoming my favorite supporting cast member. Sidebar: Have we just forgotten that whole “Ben can become human” plot element now that it got Johnny killed?

Action Comics #900: Positives: Cornell’s use of the character of Death in this issue. Negatives: snippets of Gary Frank drawing his version of Superman (or as I like to call it “constipated Christopher Reeve”; seriously why do people like Frank’s version of Superman, it creeps the hell out of me). In general, though, I have never enjoyed the Doomsday character and I long for a day the character is forgotten. While the Lex Luthor aspect of the story was a satisfying conclusion, the rest of the milestone issue smacked of useless filler, especially the Richard Donner co-written piece.

Secret Avengers #12 and #12.1: This book has seem to lost its way to a certain extent, and it appears that Brubaker has no interest himself in seeing the story to its end, given that he’s leaving the book. Brubaker wrote 12, then Nick Spencer wrote 12.1–and if 12.1 is a harbinger of what’s ahead for the book, I actually consider this a good jumping off point. I will revisit the book when Warren Ellis takes over the book.

The Incredible Hulks #627: I think I would enjoy an ongoing series with Bruce Banner as a James Bond-type hero, as shown in this issue. It’s interesting to see writer Greg Pak focus on the “inventive genius” aspect of the lead character.

Captain America #617: An interesting issue that reminded me of the old Marvel Triple Action reprints that were done back in the 1970s, given that you’re given a Winter Soldier narrative, a Black Widow/Sharon Carter team-up and a focus on Steve Rogers (guest starring Henry Gyrich). Bonus points to Marvel for getting Chris Samnee to draw the Steve Rogers leg of the issue.

Brigid Alverson

Literature! Unsuccessfully Competing Against TV Since 1953

I took the opportunity to download Dave Kellett’s Literature! Unsuccessfully Competing Against TV Since 1953, a compilation of strips from his webcomic Sheldon, after he offered it for free download to encourage Eisner voters to read it. It’s up for Best Humor Publication, and it certainly is a worthy contender. Sheldon is one of the most consistently funny gag comics on the web, and it’s funny in a smart, often sarcastic way without ever being mean. This e-book is particularly funny, and I laughed out loud, literally, at a number of the strips. My one complaint is that there seem to be a lot of Lord of the Rings jokes, but I suppose the fault is really mine for not having read it. And this is the only place outside of my immediate family circle where I have seen anyone poke fun at T.S. Eliot. (Let alone bring the Hulk into it.) If I were an Eisner judge, I’d give it the nod based on that alone.

I have been slowly catching up on all the awesome comics I picked up at MoCCA, and this week I settled down with a slim, self-published volume titled The Hookah Girl and Other Stories by Marguerite Dabaie. It’s a memoir of growing up as a Palestinian Christian, within the immigrant community in the U.S., as well as a meditation on all the contradictions and labels that come with that identity. Dabaie starts the first volume with a set of paper dolls that embody each of those stereotypes‹Muslim girl in full hijab, suicide bomber with vest full of explosives, I-Dream-of-Jeannie seductress, starving artist. The stories touch on things that are familiar to immigrants in general — scary relatives, peculiar customs, native foods‹but there is also an interesting comic about Leila Khaled that presents her as an interestingly complex individual. This book left me wanting to see more, and I hope there is a full-length graphic novel in the works. If there isn’t, there should be.

Emily Stackhouse

For the last, longer than I care to mention, I’ve been reading the Marion Zimmer Bradley Arthurian novel The Mists of Avalon. Started out great, but boy, is it dragging on! This is all very disconcerting because I just got back from Portland’s Stumptown Comics Fest and came home with quite a loot! I’ve only just barely been able to crack into the overwhelming stack of comics on my nightstand. Here’s what I HAVE been able to squeeze in and thoroughly enjoyed…

The Yellow Zine

Yellow Zine by Roman Muradov
This guy is definitely one to watch out for. This is a small collection of his current (beautifully drawn) strips. This little book is everything I love about a zine-style book. Honest, heartfelt, disturbing and endearing. I love when a self published work is able to speak great big truths while simultaneously saying, but don’t take any of this TOO seriously.

Glamazonia The Uncanny Super-Tranny by Justin Hall
I LOVE Glam! This is a book I picked up from Stumptown and only now was able to sink my teeth into. This is a collection of Glamzonia’s outlandish stories written by Justin Hall and drawn by a handful of Bay Area artists. I love how San Francisco this book is. I love how absurd and raunchy it is. I love the pink interior pages. I love the underlining social message of it all. Yes, it is time for a Tranny Super heroine! Fabulous.

Mister Wonderful by Daniel Clowes
In terms of Dan Clowes recent work, I enjoyed Ice Haven and Wilson more than Mr. Wonderful. Which isn’t to say I did not enjoy it, I did, very much. However, it seemed very straight forward and reality based as opposed to some of my favorites of his (Like a Velvet Glove..) which tend to be very meandering and odd, to say the least. Mister Wonderful is odd though in its earnestness. Truthfully, I’m a bit disarmed by it.

GingerbreadGirl by Colleen Coover and Paul Tobin
I was lucky enough to booth right next to these two at Stumptown. This book was truly the star of the entire convention. I’m pretty sure they sold out all their stock and for good reason! This book is fantastic. It’s the kind of book any comic fan would pick up and have to buy simply for the design alone. The story is bizarre, the artwork is gorgeous, I cannot wait to continue reading this book!

Martian Confederacy vol. 2 From Mars With Love by Jason McNamara and Paige Braddock
These two have done it again. This is such a great follow up to the fun and adventurous vol. 1. Jason McNamara’s storytelling is always an inspiration, and Paige Braddock’s artwork is the kind of seemingly effortless style that drive artists mad with frustration. It’s a sci-fi love story, so I’m happy with that, but it’s also a totally engrossing page turner. Fun and excitement on every page!