The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen

Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading? This week’s special guest is Simon Monk, an artist whose “Secret Identity” paintings we featured here on Robot 6 not too long ago. Monk is actually selling limited edition prints of his paintings on his website now, so go check them out.

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

*****

Michael May

Habibi

I finally finished Habibi (it wouldn’t have taken me so long if I wasn’t reading four other books at the same time. #WhenWillILearn?). As others have noted, it sticks with you long after you finish it. The sheer amount of time that I spent with Dodola and Zam means that I can’t just put them away and move on now that I’ve finished the story. Especially not after everything I watched them go through. It’s a manipulative book, and my natural reaction to noticing I’m being manipulated is to resist it, but Craig Thompson pushes through my defenses with the overbearing weight (in emotional terms as well as page volume) of his book. That sounds like a bad thing when I write it, but I suppose the important part is that it works. I felt strongly for these two characters and became invested in seeing how they turned out, even though I could see what Thompson was doing to make me feel that way.

I also read Howard Lovecraft and the Ice Kingdom. A friend of mine wrote the sequel, so I wanted to catch up on this before I check out his. There’s probably a way to turn HP Lovecraft’s C’thulhu mythos into an all-ages comic, but this wasn’t it. The tone is uneven, zipping back and forth wildly between disturbing horror and children’s cartoon. Ice Kingdom wants us to take its threats seriously (and is at its best when presenting disturbing monsters and their effects on young Lovecraft’s now-insane father), but it’s hard to do that when the boy adopts C’thulhu himself as a pet and insists on calling him Spot. On the other hand, I also could have bought into a fun lark through a tame version of C’thulhu’s world without the references to human sacrifices and child-eating elder gods. Ice Kingdom tries to have it both ways and doesn’t work.

Tom Bondurant

This week I caught up with one book about which I’d been morbidly curious, and another about which I just learned but knew I had to have.

Justice

The first was Justice, the 12-issue bimonthly miniseries from plotter/finisher Alex Ross, scripter Jim Krueger, and penciller Dougie Braithwaite. I read the first issue when it came out (back in 2006); and despite a somewhat compelling end-of-the-world teaser, it never quite grabbed me. Still, at worst I figured it would satisfy whatever desire I might have to see Ross’s take on the ’70s DC of my youth. First I waited for DC to collect the whole thing in one book, and then I waited a while longer for an acceptable discount. And it’s not a bad story, as far as semi-gritty evocations of “Challenge of the Super Friends” go — it’s just that whatever good story there is, is buried under Ross’s watercolor sentimentality. The plot involves Luthor, Brainiac, and a Legion-of-Doom-ish array of super villains turning to the good side (or are they?) in order to cast the Justice League as an insensitive pantheon who’d rather keep humanity down than solve the world’s problems. Much of the book involves the villains incapacitating our heroes and their friends and allies, including an extended subplot about Brainiac’s experiments on Aquaman. (Apparently, if you ever thought “Super Friends” needed more surgical torture, this book is for you.) Because the cast expands geometrically as the book goes on, it all gets busier and busier; and between double-page layouts which don’t initially read that way and finishes which literally blur away critical distinctions, Justice can be hard to read. There are also some sequences which just don’t pass the smell test, like Solomon Grundy (apparently, since it’s off-panel) taking out both Robin and Kid Flash. However, Green Lantern’s “imprisonment” pays off, despite looking at first like an indulgent foreshadowing of “Emerald Twilight,” and there are a few other odds and ends which make me want to give it another chance. Nevertheless, there’s a lot of fan service here for those in the know, like extended homages to the ’60s “Batman” show and gratuitous attempts to “prove” that Plastic Man is eternally superior to Elongated Man. To paraphrase another cartoon from my youth, of all the Alex Ross books in the world, this one may be the Alex Rossiest.

The second book was Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson’s adaptation of Alien for Heavy Metal, a graphic novel called Alien: The Illustrated Story (lettered by John Workman and I suppose colored by Simonson). At 61 pages, it tracks the movie pretty faithfully, but it neither adds to nor subtracts from the movie’s essential beats. Instead, it translates them almost effortlessly to the printed page, capturing everything from the sterile opening sequence to the eerie ancient spacecraft and the xenomorph’s brutality. Simonson also does a great job with likenesses, which seems trivial but really helps with something like this. Perhaps because of the format, or even the painted color palette, this comes across as entirely separate from Simonson’s other licensed work on Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars. This adaptation boils Alien down to its visceral horror-story core, and makes it something which could easily have appeared in a sci-fi anthology like Heavy Metal.

Oh, and I read Winter Soldier #1 (by Ed Brubaker and Butch Guice), which was as good as I was expecting from the team responsible for making Bucky’s revival both believable and sustainable. And yes, that means I was (once again) totally wrong about the predictive value of any similarities its promotional materials may or may not have had to a certain Stephen J. Cannell/Lorenzo Lamas syndicated TV series, and I am not just saying that because a guy named “Bonderant” (one letter off, but still) gets the crap kicked out of him halfway through the issue. In short, I’m on board for issue #2, okay? Okay?!?? (Sheesh!)

Tim O’Shea

Finally read the final issue of the Alpha Flight miniseries/ongoing/nope, miniseries. It’s a shame to see a creative team firing on all cylinders (as Greg Pak/Fred Van Lente and Dale Eaglesham were on this project) and for the sales not to follow in response. The writing team’s approach toward Puck is one aspect I will miss the most.

Fatale #1

This week two colorists really floored me with their work. First up is Dave Stewart bringing an outstanding cinematic sheen to the second issue of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ Fatale series (Image). Sidenote: I am bewildered at the thin paper stock that Image is using for the covers of this series. But that is a minor complaint. It does not take away from the overall unique noir look to the series. I say unique in that Stewart is using a diverse (and sometimes vibrant) color palette that surprisingly works in the noir setting (which is typically rather dark by nature).

The other colorist is someone I’ve raved about before–Bettie Breitweiser. On the first issue of Brubaker’s Winter Soldier, she works wonders with Butch Guice’s amazing art. There is one scene where James Barnes is videoconferencing with Jasper Sitwell. The layers of floating red video screens countered with the cool blue tones of James’ panels are just astounding. One panel had me just sitting there and wondering how Breitweiser did it. I appreciate when art gives me reason to pause. In terms of characters, Black Widow is as much a star of this series as James, which is a welcome approach for my money,

Hulk #48. May I officially beg writer Jeff Parker to keep Machine Man as a member of the Hulk cast? In this issue, Parker has Aaron thank someone, in the heat of battle, when they hand his cut-off arm back to him. Heh.

One question to the readers: The countdown banner to AvX–is anybody else reminded of the Toys R Us Shopping Spree banner (among other banners) in the 1980 Marvel Comics?

Brigid Alverson

The Unwritten

I jumped right in to Mike Carey and Peter Gross’s The Unwritten with the first volume of the collected edition, and I loved it from the start. It’s the story of Tom Taylor whose father used him as the lead character in a Harry Potter-like fantasy series. His father disappeared under mysterious circumstances when Tom was still a child, but his whole past is coming back to haunt him. The creators do a really nice job of weaving the Tommy Taylor stories in with their ongoing plot, and they bring in all sorts of other literary allusions as well. The first volume ends with a side story about Rudyard Kipling that is simply stunning. Unfortunately, as I near the end of the second volume, I’m starting to wonder how tight the plot really is. The stories are becoming episodic, but there are also a lot of questions left unanswered, and I’m not sure the authors know the answers. I certainly hate it when a character in a book refuses to share information with the hero for no good reason, as is happening here. Still, even as a series of episodes, Tom Taylor’s adventures are good fun and full of interesting literary trivia, so I’m in this for the long haul.

I spent some time in the Mignolaverse as well this week, with B.P.R.D.:Being Human and Hellboy: House of the Living Dead. The B.P.R.D. book is a collection of short stories, each focusing on different characters, and it’s actually a good first B.P.R.D. book as it touches on a number of origin stories. The first, and longest, story features Liz Sherman as a sulky teenager dragged along by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm to help out with the exorcism of a house and forest where a witch was hanged during the Salem witch trials. The Salem witch trials are a bit overdone as a topic, but I like the way the story showcases the young Liz in all her awkwardness. In the other stories, an older Liz and Abe Sapien discuss the ethics of killing their enemies, Roger the Homunculus and Hellboy do a little zombie-fighting in the Deep South, and we see the origin story of the Ectoplasmic Man. There’s plenty of horror and action in these stories, but the creators do a good job of mixing in the human side of the characters as well.

Hellboy: House of the Living Dead takes Hellboy south of the border and turns him into a luchador who is compelled to fight a latter-day Frankenstein’s monster. At only 56 pages, this story is short and pretty straightforward, but it’s well done and an interesting take on the Frankenstein story.

Simon Monk

Supergods

I recently read Grant Morrison’s book Supergods in which he sets out clearly his ideas about life, the universe and everything. Although I tend to be more attracted to street-level narratives such as Daredevil and The Spirit, I have always enjoyed Morrison’s work for its exuberance and extremity. Reading Supergods encouraged me to reread some of his classic stuff such as Zenith and Animal Man, but the biggest surprise turned out to be The Invisibles. On its initial publication I gave up on it about half way through its run so I had never read it as a single entity. It was far more coherent and exciting than I remembered it, despite fizzling a bit at the conclusion. I was struck at how Kirbyesque it seemed, thematically it is very Fourth World and the team/family interaction felt like a twisted version of the FF.

I love autobiographical comics such as Eddie Campbell’s Alec, and I recently discovered a self-published gem titled Many Happy Returns by Jan Wheatley. It turns out that Jan is the same age as me and had a very similar upbringing just 10 miles away from my home town. These coincidences gave the two issues published so far an incredible personal resonance for me, adding up to a pretty moving reading experience. Jan Wheatley is definitely a creator whose development I shall enjoy following.

I have a six-year-old son called William, and we tend to read a lot of comics together. I love testing out new stuff on him to see how he responds. Big hits so far include early Fantastic Four (started when he was three!), Bone, Jack Cole Plastic Man, ’50s and ’60s World’s Finest and Chip Kidd’s Bat-Manga book. Perhaps surprisingly the trade collection he can never get enough of is The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen featuring Elastic Lad, Human Flame-thrower, et al. Some of these crazy silver age tales have been read in bed on a Sunday morning a dozen times or more. He is a big fan of the Batman: The Brave and the Bold cartoon so I tried a few of the ’70s Bob Haney and Jim Aparo issues on him. Not a great response from William but I was surprised at how gritty they were: some of them read like a ‘Kojak’ episode with superheroes added.

Peanuts #1

Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading?, where every week we recap what comics have been on our nightstands recently. To see what the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below.

Tim O’Shea

Sweet Tooth #29

Sweet Tooth #29: Am I the only one to feel like this is the first issue to have any narrative forward progress in a long while? It just seemed to be spinning its wheels for awhile, but definitely not this issue. And I love the surprises that Lemire threw in this issue.

Secret Avengers #20: For readers, writers and editors wondering what is the great appeal of the done in one comics? Look no further than this issue. Writer Warren Ellis loves pushing storytelling boundaries in his work, but this is a stretch even for him. I’m not sure who had the hardest job in this one-shot time travel story. The writer, artist Alex Maleev or the editorial team of John Denning and Lauran Sankovitch. I have never been a fan of Maleev’s work—until the middle of the tale—when he pulls off a page and a half of Black Widow daily comic strips. (Extra points to Mayela Gutierrez for her production work on those pages). Even if Ellis had not written this issue, I would have bought it for the Steranko-esque cover by John Cassady and Paul Mounts.

Peanuts #1: As I said in my intro to this week’s Paige Braddock interview: “ Anytime an all ages title like this new release from the KABOOM! gang (in partnership with Peanuts Worldwide) comes out, I want to shout it from the rooftops.” The appeal of this new series is captured best by Braddock herself: ‘There hasn’t been a Peanuts comic book series since Dell published comics back in the 1960s. As a fan of both comic books and Peanuts, I’m glad that comic shops will once again have Peanuts on their shelves. As a comic reader, I think Peanuts will be a breath of fresh air in terms of material that’s suitable for all ages.”

Captain America #6: Not sure which I enjoyed more, Alan Davis drawing an Ed Brubaker Captain America tale or the fact that Brubaker worked in some quality Hawkeye/Cap time in the tale. I gotta add though, I hate the new Hawkeye costume that he’s sporting to match the upcoming film.

X-Club #2: OK, Simon Spurrier makes me laugh. I think he is a writer I should keep my eye on. Not sure why Dr. Nemesis chose to kept the empathic starfish on his head, but it made for some incredible comedy in this issue.

Villains for Hire #2: Amidst the cancelled series and aborted miniseries in the Marvel universe, I am pleasantly surprised at how Marvel editorial is enabling writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning to keep telling the struggles of Misty Knight, initially through the ongoing Heroes for Hire, now with this Villains for Hire miniseries.

Thunderbolts #168: Jeff Parker teams with artist Matthew Southworth for a quirky examination of Luke Cage’s fears. The story itself (mostly a mental battle thanks to this issue’s villain) allows Southworth to do some quirky and intoxicating layouts. Kudos to Frank Martin Jr. for his ability to strongly color the art.

Hulk #47: OK, I am starting to accept the fact that Gabriel Hardman is not going to be drawing Hulk anymore (moving on to assignments like Secret Avengers). Not sure if Marvel editorial is auditioning different artists for the book, but if Elena Casagrande is in the running for a permanent assignment (she has done previous arcs on the book), I would be happy. Parker continues to allow a simmering flirtation between Annie and Ross. Also loved the moment where Ross comically gave a brief on Zero/One to Machine Man (who he has taken to calling Aaron, another element of Parker having the hero view these partially mechanical entities as his trusted friends).

Brigid Alverson

Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly’s The New York Five replicates the feeling of being young and in New York so well that one scene, the entrance to a subway station, triggered a flashback to my own New York days. It’s not just the visuals, although they work very well, it’s the story–four young women sharing an apartment, each dealing with their own issues, all of it magnified by the fact that they are in New York. Wood and Kelly cram love, death, betrayal, and loyalty into this slim volume, mixing the big issues skillfully with the minutiae of daily life. Like New York itself, it’s crowded and bustling, with multiple plot threads and panels that are crammed full of details, broken up with little travel-guide vignettes that introduce changes of scene. This was a followup to The New York Four, which Wood and Kelly created for DC’s Minx line, but it’s anything but a teen book–I would think adults like me, who have been through some of what the girls experience, would enjoy it a lot more.

I got an advance look at Best Shot in the West: The Adventures of Nat Love, a YA graphic novel based on the autobiography of the most famous black cowboy of the 19th century. Known in rodeo circles as Deadwood Dick, Nat Love was born a slave in Tennessee and headed west as a teenager. He turned out to have a knack with horses and with guns, at least according to his autobiography, and the book moves rapidly through a series of thrilling adventures involving cattle rustlers, runaway horses, and hostile Indians, as well as personal encounters with Buffalo Bill Cody, Bat Masterson and Billy the Kid. The art is lively and very attractive, done in a painterly style with a palette that shifts as the story moves from one setting to another. My one quibble would be that the faces are extremely inconsistent, to the point where characters can look totally different from one panel to the next. That aside, it’s a great book; Love sure could tell a story, and the creative team has done a great job of bringing his words to life.

Chris Mautner

Studygroup Magazine

After paying for my copy but leaving it at the booth, Zack Soto was kind enough to to mail me a copy of Studygroup Magazine, the new biannual mag he is putting together with former Comics Journal editor Milo George. And I’m so glad he did because Studygroup is fantastic–a smart vibrant amalgamation of TCJ-like critical essays and interviews and comics anthology featuring work by some of the more interesting people laboring in the trenches these days. This issue, for instance, not only features a lengthy talk by Craig Thompson that’s heavy on process (inking, lettering, which paper is best, etc.) and a nice essay on Brecht Evens by Greice Schneider, but also contains some stellar comics from people like Michael DeForge, Johnny Negron, Aidan Koch and T. Alixopulos. Really, it’s a fantastic package that I can’t recommend enough.

It’s not comics, but I also read–or at least gazed at–Rivers Forgotten by Jeremy Kai from Koyama Press. This is basically a slim photo book of the sewer system underneath the city of Toronto. That descriptions sounds dull or gross (or both) but Kai manages to capture some astoundingly breathtaking images of vast, immense tunnels and other structures. Kai’s work shines a literal light on the hidden world that lies underneath much of our urban world and I was surprisingly grateful for the tour.

BLAMMO #6

Season’s Greetings and welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what we’ve been reading lately. Today our special guests are Geoffrey Golden and Amanda Meadows, editors of Devastator: The Quarterly Comedy Magazine for Humans. Their latest issue has a video game theme, with contributions from James Kochalka, Corey Lewis, Danny Hellman and many more. And if you head over to their website between now through Dec. 16, the code ROBOT6 gets you 20 percent off single issues.

To see what Amanda, Geoffrey and the Robot 6 crew have been reading lately, click below.

*****

Michael May

Amulet

I’ve been wanting to read Kazu Kibuishi’s Amulet for a while now and have finally gotten to the first volume. It begins a lot like so many other fantasy stories for young people: with a single parent taking her children to an old, secluded, family property because lack of money has driven them away from the city. There, the family’s dark history and a magic item or two involve the kids in an adventure to save their parent and possibly the world. It’s an old premise, but a powerful one. Every kid longs to discover that there’s something cool and powerful in their family history that will change their lives.

What separates the good versions of this story from the bad are the details and what happens once the secret is uncovered and the young heroes are engaged. In this case, Kibuishi unleashes his considerable imagination to plop his protagonists into a world of magic, robots, dark elves, and cephalopod monsters. It’s an exciting, visually impressive story with a great deal of heart.

Chris Mautner

Things I read recently:

Feynman

Feynman by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick — As the title suggests, this is a basic biography of the famed physicist and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman. Ottaviani attempts to mimic the scientist’s wayward, anecdotal manner of speaking, which can take a bit of getting used to, but once you do, it’s a pretty smooth ride. Myrick’s loose, wobbly style fits Feynman’s loose, haphazard manner rather well. This is a pretty basic biography, aimed clearly at readers who may have heard Feynman’s name, but are unfamiliar with his life and work. In other words, it’s a starting point, and not for someone whose already read one of the many biographies about the man. This graphic novel won’t replace any of those books, either, but as a “basic intro” guide, it suits rather well.

The Adventures of Herge by Bocquet, Fromental and Stanislas — Another biography, this time about the famous cartoonist George Remi, i.e. Herge, the creator of Tintin. Rather than attempt to completely chronicle the artist’s life, the authors instead aim for a “significant snapshots” approach, dramatizing every two pages or so a particular event in artist’s development. A picture does emerge of the artist as a conflicted, driven, relatively genial fellow, but it remains a rather cursory glance in the Herge’s life. The book is really best suited for Tintin fans or fans of Stanislas’ art, which is lovely.

Carla Hoffman

Defenders

I don’t know, man. I just don’t know. Defenders #1 has all the elements a gal like me should love: Matt Fraction (FRACTION 3:16), slick and stylish artwork, Doctor Strange and an assortment of quality characters who deserve a place in a book of their own, rather than a guest star role in an event tie-in. Betty Banner is here (kind of), Danny Rand is back, and oh my Lord there are tiny out-of-frame comments on nearly every page!

And then… we have two awkward hook-ups from guys who should be above making such freshman choices (okay, maybe not Danny Rand), the continual “I hate myself and want to die” theme from people who seem to be wallowing in it, the Silver Surfer seems to have powers that contradict his appearances in Thor (Fraction should talk to the writer of that book and get things straight!) … I don’t know. I’ll give it three issues, but it seems to me like (yet another) Doctor Strange mini-series might have been a better idea.

X-Club #1 is a better first issue, strangely enough, probably because I am not expecting it to blow my tiny little brain. It’s giving me what I want, the same quality of faux-Ellis techno-sarcasm I got from the past “X-Club” outings from Simon Spurrier, the snickering humor and delightful dance of characters that normally just bring exposition in the regular X-titles. A shady corporation builds a sky elevator with the help of Utopia and then monsters. This won’t be Sandman, but it will be funny, and that’s a rare quality in comics.

Which is why I continue to buy Deadpool MAX. It also confuses me as it makes me laugh, bringing an uncomfortable humor that makes me wonder if I’m a terrible person for finding any of it funny. Remember reading a MAD Magazine as a kid and finding it so unlike anything else normally marketed for kids that there was almost a thrill to getting an issue? Yeah, it’s a little like that. Grab a copy of the Deadpool MAX X-Mas Special and hide it in a copy of Grant Morrison’s Supergods.

Brigid Alverson

Habibi

I’m sort of all over the place this week. I read Craig Thompson’s Habibi yesterday–I picked it up thinking I’ll just attack it in small bits and ended up reading the whole thing in two sittings. I can’t do it justice here, except to say that after all the discussions I was expecting it to be all literary and boring, and it wasn’t. There were things I liked and things I didn’t like, but the story kept pulling me along.

Everything else was on the light side, though. I picked up BOOM! Studios’ Peanuts graphic novel, Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown, and while it’s very attractive, the opening sequence is basically a bunch of one-page gag strips, mostly about Linus and his blanket. I’m pretty sure some of them are old, because the gags seem very familiar, but at any rate, the structure makes for some disconnected storytelling. I’m hoping we get something closer to a linear story as the book goes on.

I’m also reading volume 17 of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack. I’m always reading Black Jack, because Vertical puts out a volume every two months, and it’s one of my favorite comics to just relax and enjoy–I don’t feel like I have to analyze Black Jack or find a deeper meaning, it’s just short stories about a bad ass surgeon. He starts this volume by doing surgery on himself, which is a pretty tough act to follow, but this is the last volume that Vertical is putting out. It does include a nice extra: A list of every Black Jack story, in chronological order, along with the volume of the Vertical edition it appeared in. That makes for a nice project for obsessive Black Jack fans–to read all the stories in order–except that there are a few that, on Tezuka’s orders, were never collected in English or Japanese.

Tom Bondurant

Manhunter

I started picking up Marc Andreyko’s Manhunter only after its first cancellation, so this week I finally started from the beginning. Maybe it’s the collected-edition effect, but I am through the first two paperbacks and didn’t want to put either one down. Andreyko and penciller Jesus Saiz tell Kate Spencer’s story in compelling fashion, with snappy dialogue and expressive artwork, making her transition from prosecutor to vigilante seem natural and seamless. What’s more, these stories take place on the margins of Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis, but Andreyko integrates those events into his narrative pretty well too. The same goes for various references to DC history, like Hawkman’s past with the Shadow-Thief, Cameron Chase’s knowledge of Checkmate, and Superman’s relationship with the (then-late) Firestorm. I thought Manhunter was good already, but I didn’t know it was this good.

Mr. Mautner will be delighted to hear that I also got a chance to watch the “Ultimate Cut” of 2009′s Watchmen movie. This is the one which incorporates the “Black Freighter” sequences, and some other previously-deleted scenes as well. Anyway, it turned out to be more of the same: faithful to a fault, except when it’s cranked-up with Zack Snyder attitude. I still didn’t hate it, though. I just think it’s ironic that it tried too hard to be a big-budget Superhero Movie! instead of the more subdued work the comics depicted. Snyder’s Watchmen is like Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings–enough of an effort that you hope someone gets it right later on.

Tim O’Shea

Action Comics #4

Action Comics #4: Not sure which annoys me more: writer Grant Morrison having Superman enemy Sam Lane ask Superman to save his daughter, or the fact that this storyline is delayed until issue #7. On the first point, a case could be made that the guy who was holding Superman prisoner in issue #2, is a pragmatic military man who will use whatever resources he has (even an alien he does not trust) to save his beloved daughter. But still, the shift in Lane’s demeanor (going after Superman to seeking Superman’s aid) was made more jarring by the fact I swear that’s Lane’s only speaking line (and second appearance [the first is him running alongside Luthor in a panic) in all of issue #4. As for the delay of story, I am unsure if I am interested enough (yes, I know it’s Lord Grant Morrison and all, but still) to come back with issue #7.

Stormwatch #4: I bought Stormwatch because Paul Cornell was writing it. Am the only one annoyed that after settling in for a nice long run, I just found out he is leaving with issue #6? I do not know all of the behind the scenes machinations, Cornell may have taken the assignment to help out DC editorial as a favor, never intending to write past issue 6. Maybe he barely had anything he wanted to say after issue #6 and if he stayed on the book, issue #7 would have sucked. I kind of doubt it. Cornell is a good writer. So as much as I enjoyed this latest installment (what I loved about old Authority stories? The team’s ability to pull a victory or at least gain an upper hand in the midst of chaos, but typically a worldscale chaos, even)—this issue reminded me of the best of the Authority in that regard. The lack of leadership in the team is an intriguing aspect that gets some major play (and allows Cornell to do some great character bits) in this issue. Before I forget, artist Miguel Sepulveda continues to impress me.

X-Club

X-Club #1: I almost did not buy the first issue of this X-Men miniseries because I thought it was a rave book (I am only 90 percent kidding on that point). I have never read writer Simon Spurrier before–and know next to nothing about the characters, but there was a humor amidst the action (particularly with Dr. Nemesis) that I enjoyed the issue. I am not reading all of the X books, but I am starting to see a pattern of Cyclops (jackass) and Wolverine (golden boy). Not sure if it’s that way across the board, but I wonder how many longtime Cyclops fans are feeling alienated by this approach (more informed X-Men readers, feel free to chime in in the comments with any counterpoints/info you may have).

The Amazing Spider-Man #675: I generally opted out of Spider-Island, no matter how much fun people said the event was gonna be, the folks turning into monsters did not look like fun to me. So I was glad to get back to Spidey fighting garden variety crooks (or in this case the seeming murder of crooks). What really hooked me to buy this two-parter (which wrapped in this issue) was the art of Giuseppe Camuncoli, inked by the great Klaus Janson. Many of the current Spider-Man artists seemed to have a sketchy quirky style to drawing the lead character. In the case of Camuncoli and Janson though, I get an element of Jim Mooney or Gil Kane. What I always loved about 1970s Spidey comics was when Spidey leapt into action, some artists would draw the progression of his movement from point A to point B, and that’s another element that Camuncoli works into a few scenes. Did I mention Spidey even uses a new and improved Spidey signal light in this issue? Yeah, I am a kid comic reader at heart sometimes.

Hulk #45: Writer Jeff Parker continues to give me an enjoyable supporting cast with this comic. In this issue, Machine Man uses his head to fight a foe. No really, literally just his head. Some might accuse this issue of being light on action, as Parker tries to connect the dots of the plot to position more action in the next issue. And yet, artist Patrick Zircher’s layouts are so dynamic there’s an energy to them that made me not care that a great deal of the story was flashback/background info. In fact, if you had told me I would be dazzled by a two-page spread of a microcosm, I would have doubted you… until I read Hulk #45. Zircher is enjoying himself on this arc, no doubt. Folks that bailed this title in the Jeph Loeb era should revisit this book ASAP, as it’s a different and better title under Parker and company.

Geoffrey Golden and Amanda Meadows

Hark! A Vagrant

Hark! A Vagrant – Kate Beaton signed her exquisite Drawn and Quarterly collection for us at a signing at Skylight Books in Los Angeles, and this week we’re revisiting all our favorite entries in her beloved webcomic. 80s Business Woman, Mystery Solving Teens, and of course, several AP classes’ worth of mocked historical figures, with equally funny margin notes accompanying the strips. Fun fact: every single guy we know wants to marry Miss Beaton. Good luck, gents!

BLAMMO #6 – First of all, it’s hard to argue against purchasing any comic with the title BLAMMO. Amanda found the latest comics collection from Denver cartoonist Noah Van Sciver at this year’s APE and it was a stand-out purchase from our yearly haul. Amanda liked the honest dialogue, artfully crude illustrations and realistic characters in the autobiographical strips. Geoffrey liked the comic called “Punks vs. Lizards,” in which a gang of 1980s British street punks murder a bunch of giant lizards and say things like, “anarchy and shit!” Van Sciver’s humor is versatile, offering something for everyone.

Club Wolverine #14 – Logan and his nightclub’s all-mutant staff continue to experience prejudice and pure ecstasy in mid-70s New York City. We love that writer Mort Bendis (not related to Brian Michael, though he keeps claiming otherwise) finally takes us into appropriately seedy territory as Mojo holds the club hostage for a swingin’ orgy, in honor of Dazzler’s new disco album, Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop, Oh My. Wolverine, warning Mojo that the club doesn’t have a proper orgy license, says our favorite line yet in the series: “time to do the hustle on outta here, bub.”

Buffalo Speedway #3 – Admittedly, we picked up the first Buffalo Speedway book at Meltdown Comics on a whim because Geoffrey’s from Buffalo, New York and we thought a graphic novel series about a pizza delivery boy sounded like fun. Though the characters are actually from Texas, this series by Yehudi Mercado “delivers” the goods (Mmm… pizza puns). Charming characters, snappy dialogue and a fun story involving the busiest day ever in pizza delivery history — the day of O.J. Simpson’s Bronco chase — the final volume was satisfying to the last bite. (Mmm… additional pizza puns.)

Pogo

Pogo Vol. 1: Through The Wild Blue Wonder – Geoffrey has been eagerly anticipating this collection for years, making it the perfect early Christmas gift! Walt Kelly’s classic comic Pogo was an inspiration for many brilliant cartoonists like Berkeley Breathed and Jeff Smith, in addition to a comedy magazine called The Devastator, which we’ve never heard of. Kelly’s illustrations are masterful, with expressive characters who are warm and friendly. Pogo‘s deft social satire makes this collection about Pogo Possum and friends a must own for humor comics fans and people who just like good things in general. “We have met the enemy,” and he is not getting this for Christmas.

Drunk Elephant Comics

Welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading?, your weekly look into our reading piles. Today we’re joined by special guest Jacquelene Cohen, director of publicity and promotions for Fantagraphics Books.

To see what Jacq and the Robot 6 crew have been reading lately, read on …

*****

Chris Mautner

Nuts

Nuts by Gahan Wilson — I’ve written at length about this strip before, but it’s worth reiterating I think just how goddamn wonderful this comic is, and how great it is to have a decent collection available after lying fallow for so long. Wilson captures the anxieties and traumas of childhood as few cartoonists have before or since. Never one to grow nostalgic, Wilson understood perfectly well what an utter hell childhood could be and he sets about reminding readers just what it was like to experience your first death, or to be really sick, or to have to deal with that rich kid in your class who always got better stuff than you did and rubbed your face in it. My only complaint about the book is that some of the strips seem to be out of narrative order, but it’s a small quibble. I’m just happy to see these comics back in print.

Pure Pajamas by Marc Bell — This is a collection of early strips and comic stories Bell did for various publications back in the 1990s though, except for one or two segments — it bears a pretty close resemblance to the sort of work he’s doing now. Bell’s comics always take place in a big-footed, anthropomorphic universe, where everything — pills, the broccoli on your plate, a pair of pajamas — seems capable of suddenly coming to life and doing a little song and dance. It’s a vibrant, cartoony impeccably detailed world to be sure, but not one devoid of darkness. The broccoli could easily end up being cut to pieces and served on a plate of rice, cute little drunks can get crushed to death by speedy security wagons, you could be a piece of toast looking for advice from a psychiatrist only to end up as his breakfast. There’s a bit of danger and savagery in Bell’s world, which gives the stories in Pajamas a nice bit of tension and keep the whimsical nature of his universe from getting too precious.

Tim O’Shea

Animal Man #3

Animal Man #3: The second issue had sold out at my local shop, so this week I caught up reading both issue #2 and #3. This is a title that I bet would have been a great success for Vertigo in the old DCU. But in the new DCU, I wonder if it will have sales levels that will make the bean counters happy. Had it been a Vertigo book, the lower numbers (that I speculate will greet this book eventually) would be fine. Anyways, as for the series itself, it really has turned Buddy Baker’s origin inside out (literally and figuratively), while still keeping the Baker family as a focal point (much like my favorite era of the character, when written by Grant Morrison). As much as writer Jeff Lemire is boring me on Sweet Tooth these days (though the latest installment of the Matt Kindt arc was substantially more interesting to me than the first part), he is delivering a strong script on this book. Meanwhile, I imagine that Travel Foreman’s art is earning him a plethora of new fans. The reason the art is so striking is the distinctive coloring efforts of Lovern Kindzierski.

Stormwatch #3: Again, issue #2 had sold out so this week found me catching up on two issues of the new Paul Cornell incarnation of the former Wildstorm property. Cornell approaches this title with his Doctor Who series writing sensibilities—and it works. There’s a solid balance of adventure and whimsy to the overall narrative. And artist Miguel Sepulveda is the ideal match for Cornell, as exemplified in the opening scene of the latest issue, where Jack Hawksmoor grabs a cup of tea (or is it coffee) mentally with the cities of Metropolis (a meter maid?), Paris and Gotham (a gargoyle). When I read that scene, the series most definitely clicked with me (unlike Cornell’s Demon Knights, I might add, which has failed to spark my interest to any substantial degree).

Batwing

Batwing #3: I cannot believe that Judd Winick is writing such an incredibly engaging title as this. I can only speculate part of the credit goes to him being properly edited, so kudos to Mike Marts. I hope that the series eventually builds a supporting cast beyond one or two folks. Unfortunately, so far, the mortality rate on folks that have appeared so far is fairly high.

Hulk #44: Damn you, Jeff Parker, for making Machine Man the perfect sidekick for Hulk. This comic never disappoints me.

Villains for Hire #0.1: Reflecting upon the strengths of the former Heroes for Hire series, the series had a good sense of humor amidst the characters, thanks to writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning . That sense of humor carries on in the initial installment of the new incarnation of the series. For example, the whole Stilt Woman going with the Stilt Man name was a great bit that worked for me.

Captain America and Bucky #623

Captain America and Bucky #623: Smarter Cap scholars than me will remember past issues where the topic of the WWII concentration camps were addressed (though I just recalled Chris Claremont/Roger McKenzie’s introduction of Anna Kapplebaum in Captain America #237). I have to give writers Ed Brubaker and Marc Andreyko credit for conveying the impact it would have on Marvel heroes (in this case Bucky and Toro) in realizing the full scale of the horrors of the camp. The strength of those scenes only works however, due to the effective collaboration between artist Chris Samnee and colorist Bettie Breitweiser.

Brigid Alverson

I read Jimmy Gownley’s latest Amelia Rules book, The Meaning of Life and Other Stuff, and I’m not ashamed to say it made me tear up a bit at the end. This is the seventh book in his series about Amelia McBride, who moves from New York to a small town after her parents divorce, and while the first books were all about adjusting and making friends, in this one, Amelia is seeing the new reality crumble a bit. Amelia is surrounded by warm, loving people, except for her bully of a principal, but that doesn’t mean there is no tension and emotion in this story; Gownley is a perceptive observer of the small moments and gestures that can strengthen or strain a friendship. He is also one of the best cartoonists around, and he stretches the medium in interesting ways, but only in the service of the story. The Meaning of Life is about kids, and kids generally like the Amelia books, but it’s a very satisfying read for a grownup as well.

Feynman

I’m about halfway through Jim Ottoviani and Leland Myrick’s Feynman. This is a book that is close to my heart: My father, a theoretical physicist, gave me a copy of the Feynman Lectures when I started college, and my husband, an experimental physicist, actually had Feynman as a professor at Caltech. The graphic novel does a nice job of balancing Feynman’s life and work, presenting him as the interesting, quirky guy that he was as well as explaining his work in simple terms (including summing up quantum electrodynamics in a single sentence). Feynman’s ego comes through as well, but subtly. Overall, it’s an enjoyable story, and Myrick’s wobbly line is well suited to the subject matter, keeping the many scenes of people sitting around talking or writing from becoming too static.

Jacquelene Cohen

My “to read” pile is totally bigger than my “currently reading” pile.  But, what would life be without an impending stack of books on your nightstand next to your bed, ready to crush your head if there was an earthquake? Lately I’ve been really digging dark humor comix.  My pal, Jason Miles, distributes a bunch of really rad mini comix and zines with Profanity Hill, and I’ve found a treasure trove of reading material there. Also, I have my webcomics that I read religiously.  All those have been taking up much of my non-Fantagraphics reading time. I could go on and on about Fanta books, but I figure that I’ll just ask Chris Mautner and Sean T. Collins to write about those books for Robot 6. They do a mighty fine job on that front.

A Matter of Life and Death

My current publicity intern, Tom Van Deusen, is a killer cartoonist. He self-published his first book titled A Matter Of Life And Death. It’s one of those “laugh so hard you peed a little” type of comics. It’s a book that’ll earn you strange glances from the people sitting next to you on the bus. Basically it’s a book about a really self-absorbed gross dude who is completely unaware of his disgustingness. Even though it’s presented as a comedy, the book actually deals with pretty heavy stuff. The main character goes into Planned Parenthood to get tested for HIV.  He encounters protesters on his way in and then unknowingly makes very uncomfortable conversation with everyone he talks to in the waiting room and doctor’s office. There is a grotesque level of consciousness that makes you feel for the guy.  The strength of the story really comes from the writing.

A cartoonist that I’ve been drooling over the past few months is Max Clotfelter. Many of his characters have a monster-like Woodringesque form, though Max’s strength is in his cross hatching. Seriously, this guy must spend hours hunched over a drafting table making millions of thin over-secting lines.  His comics have a demented logic that only makes sense when you read them.  I don’t even have the words to explain the contents of his stuff, but his style is visually explosive.  This guy really knows how to balance out a page.  There is always a lot going on, but never too much that you can’t enjoy the composition of each panel.  Max contributes to a lot of anthology zines, but the real pay off is in his mini comix.  Rough Grocery is the latest thing I read from him.  It made me feel like I just threw back two shots of well whiskey.  Burns when it goes down and makes your head swim.  I really like a comic that can make me feel dizzy.

Part of my daily routine is checking up on my favorite webcomics.  As of now, my two favorites are Nedroid and Drunk Elephant Comics.

Beartato and the Secret of the Mystery

Nedroid is a long-running gag comic about an anthropomorphic bird and his bear/potato hybrid buddy, Beartato. It’s funny and totally bizarre. The two main characters have crazy adventures that range from playing video games on their sofa to gallivanting around space.  There is a topical humor that exposes the intelligence behind the comic, and a cuteness that gives the satire a bit more of a bite.  The cartoonist, Anthony Clark, had been doing this comic for years.  I first encountered Nedroid at SPX 2010.  My friend Laura Hudson kept raving about Anthony’s book, Beartato and the Secret of the Mystery. I bought it and read it on the plane home.  I literally laughed out loud.  I overheard the jerks in the row in front of me get all annoyed and loudly exclaim, “Nothing she’s reading could be that funny!”  But it is that funny!  When I got home, I spent an entire Sunday reading through the archive.

I’ve been reading Drunk Elephant Comics since the beginning.  I love watching the style of the comic evolve and change as cartoonist Max Riffner grows as an artist.  The line work is fluid and each gag strip works both on its own and as part of the larger story.  I can tell this guy read a lot of Peanuts when he was a kid.  The story is centered around an alcoholic elephant, his best bud Marty and their bartender Kacy.  There is an extended “seeing pink elephants” metaphor that makes light of the rather dire situations most of the characters get themselves into. Reading this webcomic reminds me of the old Loony Tune shorts that featured the tiny elephant.  This comic is also kinda like the show Cheers.  The characters become your friend and it really does feel like you’re a regular at a bar and “everybody knows your name.”

B.P.R.D Hell On Earth: Russia #1

Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading? This week our special guest is Dark Horse assistant editor Jim Gibbons, who I spoke to about his new job on Friday.

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

*****

Brigid Alverson

Snarked

Top of my stack this week was the first issue of Roger Langridge’s Snarked! His remained Walrus and Carpenter are con men with hearts of gold, and while neither of them is too bright, the Walrus has a certain practical ability to get things done. So when Princess Scarlett and her baby brother, Prince Rusty, are in danger because of scheming by the palace advisers, none other than the Cheshire Cat himself points her toward the rascally pair. It’s good, old-fashioned comedy with a familiar storyline and gentle humor that both children and adults can relate to.

I also enjoyed the second issue of B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Russia. I feel like this is a very muscular story that sort of grabs you and drags you in. Kate Corrigan and Johann Strauss are in Russia investigating some sort of icky problem, and the plot moves along briskly in this issue with a bit of exposition and a nasty case of possession. There seem to be several strands to the story, and it will be interesting to see how Mike Mignola and co. tie them all up.

With the third volume of their Archie Archives, Dark Horse has found their formula — minimal front matter (this one features an introduction by Archie Comics president Mike Pellerito but no other historical information) followed by a solid collection of vintage comics. Volume 3 features comics from 1943 and 1944, and in addition to the odd look of the characters — Archie has prominent buck teeth, Jughead looks like one of the Dead End Kids and seldom opens his eyes‹there’s the strangeness of wartime Riverdale, where goats run freely and people worry about ration points. A bit of background on these comics would have been nice; a number were inked by Janice Valleau, whom David Hajdu highlighted in the opening pages of The Ten Cent Plague as an established comics artist who left the field during the dark days of the 1950s.

Tim O’Shea

Sweet Tooth

Sweet Tooth #26: I hate to agree with my pal Dugan Trodglen, but I suspect he is right when he feared writer Jeff Lemire’s involvement in the new DC52 would negatively impact the quality of this book. I am a huge fan of guest artist Matt Kindt, but this first installment of a three-issue arc bored me immensely, no matter how effectively Kindt drew and painted the story, Lemire’s script was heavy on narration and less engaging than what I come to expect on Sweet Tooth.

Huntress #1: Remember the whole new DC52 and how everything is starting from square one (unless you were connected to Batman [and were not Barbara Gordon])? Well Paul Levitz was writing Huntress in the late 1970s (albeit Helena Wayne back then) and Levitz is writing her again more than 30 years later. Way to shake it up, DC. I bought
this book against my better judgment because I have enjoyed artist Marcus To so much in the past. Huntress going against Italian organized crime…again. Yippie. Won’t be back for issue #2.

Action Comics #2: So Rags Morales and Brent Anderson split up art duties on writer Grant Morrison’s second issue. Anderson’s Lois Lane is distinctive (in a good way). Just wondering, am I the only person that tires of Kryptonian dialogue that no one understands? Small quibble, I promise. The book continues to be a fairly interesting read, though clearly rehashing the same Superman ground we’ve seen before. A great deal of the new DC52 smacks of high-end Elseworlds so far, but for now it’s selling quite well of course.

Thunderbolts #164: Modern day pseudo-Thunderbolts trapped in 1943 Austria along with the Invaders provides for some hilarious faux wholesome period dialogue (Boomerang saying “Aw, shucks” for example) from writer Jeff Parker. Artist Kev Walker looks immensely stronger on art (unlike last week’s complaint) when inked by Terry Pallot. Really hoping next week I will not have to stare at another Marvel house ad touting an Avengers Solo book launching October 2010 (really nice attention to detail, gang).

Hulk #42: Wonder what happens when Thunderbolt Ross starts dabbling in foreign policy as the Red Hulk? Nothing that makes Steve Rogers happy, but it does make me content (as well as set up the foundation for some interesting guest stars) in the first installment of the “Hulk of Arabia” arc. With the series increased publishing schedule, there’s no way that artist Gabriel Hardman can draw every issue. So I was pleased to see that Patrick Zircher’s artistic style (while not exactly like Hardman’s) in this issue is not a jarring transition to a style that clashes with Hardman.

JK Parkin

Ready Player One

I was traveling for the past couple weeks, visiting family and friends in Texas, which meant I had some down time to catch up on some reading — mostly on my iPad. Considering it’s setting and subject matter, I think Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One was written specifically for me. Dystopian future (check), virtual reality (check), a street-smart teenager (check) and more ’80s references than you could roll a 20-sided dice at (huh?). The story is set in a future where the real world is something everyone wants to escape from, but luckily there’s a virtual reality world, OASIS, that’s filled with various planets, quests and avatars of all kinds for someone like our hero, Wade, to dive into. Wade’s a poor kid in Oklahoma looking for a break, and when the creator of the virtual reality world Wade pretty much lives in dies, the kid goes on a quest to solve the riddle the guy left in his will. Fans of the old Atari game Adventure will remember the three castles you had to find the keys for; James Halliday set up a similar quest in the OASIS, and whoever can find the three keys, open the gates and solve the puzzles within will not only get the guy’s enormous fortune, but also control of the OASIS. Halliday was raised in the ’80s on John Hughes movies, TV sitcoms, video games, comic books, Dungeons & Dragons and Rush songs, and all of that comes into play as Wade tries to solve the puzzle before anyone else — including a shady corporation who wants control of the OASIS. Just following along to see what references Cline would throw in next was fun, but what really made the book was the main character, an underdog you can’t help but cheer for.

On the comic front, I downloaded a few on the road, including the first two chapters of the new Ultimate Spider-Man and the last two chapters of X-Men Schism. I haven’t read any USM since maybe the second or third story arc; I was always good with the first Peter Parker and never felt the need to follow the second, despite the fact that the book was well crafted. But I was curious enough about Miles Morales to see how they’d introduce him, and after reading the first two issues I can say I’m hooked, at least for a few more issues.

As for Schism, while the series read like a prologue to the upcoming X-Men relaunch, i.e. it didn’t feel very self-contained and didn’t introduce a lot of surprises, I dug some of the elements of it. One the new Hellfire Club, and second, Jason Aaron’s Wolverine. I never read his take on the regular Wolverine series, but I think I see some trades in my future. And I’ll at least be checking out the first few issues of Wolverine and the X-Men later this year.

Jim Gibbons

The majority of what I end up reading is directly related to my work as an assistant editor, but here are a few things I’ve been enjoying in my spare time…

The Coffin

Mike Huddleston’s work on Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s The Strain has been consistently blowing me away, so I’ve been checking out a bunch of Mike’s other work. I recently read the Phil Hester penned The Coffin after hearing Guillermo del Toro give it a personal recommendation at Comic-Con—that’s a pretty good pedigree as far as I’m concerned. It’s a very enjoyable and really great looking read about keeping souls on earth after death in robot “coffins.” Up next, I’ll be delving into Huddleston’s The Homeland Directive written by Robert Vendetti. I’ve flipped through it and the art looks phenomenal. I’m psyched to jump into that one.

B.P.R.D Hell On Earth: Russia #1 was an amazing first issue. Tyler Crook is really hitting his stride and I’m super excited to see how the Bureau interacts with their Russian counterpart. Given, B.P.R.D. is one of my favorite comic series of all time, so… not a hard sell for me there regardless.

Based on what little I’ve read, Green River Killer is shaping up to be one of the best graphic novels of the year.

In the realm of superheroes, I’ve been enjoying Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force. It’s much preferable take on the X-Men’s wetworks team than some comics in recent years, as far as I’m concerned—a lot less angsty and a lot more fun. Plus, the Age of Apocalypse nostalgia they’ve been throwing in there seems directed specifically at readers like me who grew up thinking AoA was one of the best things to ever happen in comics.

I’m always working my way through a few massive archival books. Right now I’ve got bookmarks in Marvel’s gigantic Howard the Duck Omnibus and the Jack Kirby’s Eternals Omnibus. And if I do things right, I’ve always got unread Stan Sakai comics around. Right now, I’m trucking through Space Usagi and starting up Fantagraphics’ beautiful Usagi Yojimbo omnibus. Sakai’s an absolute master, so I always aim to have some of his work on hand.

Legal

Legal | Authorities in Clinton Township, Michigan, tracked down two men mentioned in police reports by comics retailer Michael George after his wife’s 1990 murder who were never questioned. The judge gave police 48 hours to locate and question them. One of the men passed away, while the other, John Fox, will be questioned Friday about a family car that is similar to one seen near the comic book store where Barbara George was killed. [Detroit Free Press]

Digital comics | Heidi MacDonald talks to SLG Publisher Dan Vado about plans to release the company’s serialized comics digitally rather than in print. Vado reveals SLG’s popular Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez will be released in digital format. [The Beat]

Comics | Lisa Fortuner notes that this week’s Green Lantern Corps #1 story shares a title with a Nazi propaganda film: “That’s a beheading, followed by cutting a woman in half, followed by the loss of a finger, followed by a reference to an infamous Leni Riefenstahl film. For those of you who are new to the Internet and it’s population of history snobs, Leni Riefenstahl was an early 20th Century pioneer who made inroads for women in the field of Evil. She did a Nazi propaganda film called ‘Triumph of the Will’ which to this day is still inspiring horror of authoritarian power in film classes and museums. It is probably not the best choice of titles for a book where the main heroes are fueled by willpower.” [Written World]

Green Lantern #1

Comics | David Uzumeri highlights the continuity changes made to DC’s relaunched comics in their second week of release, from the total reboot of Deathstroke to Green Lantern #1: “This is Green Lantern #68,” he writes. [ComicsAlliance]

Publishing | Jim Shooter shares the complete contract he received from Marvel circa 2001for a story that was never published. [Jim Shooter]

Digital comics | King City creator Brandon Graham comments on comics piracy and the reaction of creators to it: “It always gets my ire up when I see creators and publishers saying shit like ‘If you’re illegally downloading our comics, you’re stealing from us’ –I don’t think it’s a good idea to try to shame readers into paying for books. Someone yelling at me for being a crook doesn’t make me want to give them money. I feel like part of this job is to get people excited about what you’re putting out and making something for them to read that’s worth being excited about. Granted I do think that ideally the people putting the stuff out should have a say in how it’s presented but The harsh cold reality is that downloading comics is free, easy and without consequences. I feel like the trick is to make a book that is something worth owning in print. I think about Head shops carrying underground comix next to weed pipes or EC comics being accused of corrupting the youth or Mad magazine or Heavy metal full of nudity from the future. Selling cool to the kids– don’t let your mom see these comics! I have faith in my own work,and the comics that I’m excited about I feel like if enough people saw them they would want to own them on paper. When I find some amazing comic online one of my first reactions is always –Where can I find a copy of this.? for me I can only understand how comics sell by thinking about what I would buy. I think one of the strengths of comics on this internet is that we can show comics to such a huge audience outside of just who goes into comic shops. You can be their dealer instead of some scolding school principal.” [Royal Boiler (NSFW)]

Daredevil #1

Creators | Mark Waid is interviewed for the blog of Gallivan, White & Boyd, P.A., “one of the Southeast’s leading litigation and business law firms,” about his work on Daredevil, Matt Murdock’s law career and the problems he’s facing now that folks know he’s a masked vigilante: “The real problem for Matt gets back to the idea that a good attorney needs to be fairly invisible when it comes to the facts of the case. The moment the attorney becomes more of the focus of the trials and the evidence or the clients, you’ve got a problem. So then, it’s all about personality, and as we saw in issue one, it doesn’t always do the client any favors. So Matt’s now in a position where he loves trial law. It’s the thing he’s best at. He’s really good at it – [but] what can he do to use that knowledge to help others?” [Abnormal Use]

Creators | Allan Heinberg discusses Marvel’s Avengers: The Children’s Crusade, and the family dramas at the core of The Avengers and the X-Men: “”The emotional appeal of these teams for me has always been that they’re essentially large, dysfunctional families of outsiders who are desperately trying to find a place where they belong in a violent and terrifying world.” [USA Today]

Creators | Tom Batiuk talks about his work on Funky Winkerbean and Crankshaft, and whether he’d ever consider doing a graphic novel: “Yeah, I think about that. It’s just that the time constraints are just too much to deal with. Between doing the two strips, and then this year I also was working on a big book collection — and between trying to juggle all those projects, there’s really no time to get involved with something like that. I think it’s an intriguing idea, and it would certainly allow you to just finally make that last break and go totally cinematic with it. I liken it to… I started out doing stand-up, just telling jokes, and then I evolved to sort of a sitcom where situations would kind of carry the narrative for a while. And now I’m kind of making movies.” [The Trades]

Evelyn Evelyn

Creators | Singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer chats about her comic debut with Evelyn Evelyn, a new Dark Horse graphic novel about conjoined twin sisters Eva and Lynn Neville. [USA Today]

Creators | Gene Luen Yang talks about his work on the new Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novel and working in a collaborative situation for the first time: “A comic can express a single, unified vision a lot better than any other visual storytelling medium. When you’re working on a franchise, however, things just aren’t like that. You don’t have nearly as much control. But the flip side is that you get to mix your ideas with other people’s. You get to an up-close look at other people’s creative processes. And often, the results are bigger, and better, than what you could’ve pulled off on your own.” [Racebending.com]

Creators | Angelica Brenner is conducting a survey “for women who create, publish, sell, report on, or otherwise produce and promote comics.” [Hey, Women! Comics!]

Conventions | This weekend’s Detroit Fanfare, “the first comic book convention to be held in Detroit proper since 1975,” is profiled. [Press & Guide]

Comics | Ben Morse looks at several Hulk stories set in space. [Cool Kids Table]

Creativity | Sam Carbaugh sits in on a class by Rhymes With Orange cartoonist Hilary Price, who shares her secrets for coming up with ideas and making sure they are funny. [CCS Visiting Artist Blog]

Craft | Cartoonist Tom Pappalardo complains that Steve Jobs has made his job a lot harder by transforming all of technology into sleek rectangles—and robbing telephones, televisions, even newspapers. of their visual signatures. [tompappalardo.com]

Fantastic Four #51 is titled “This Man… This Monster.”  It’s one of those inspiring cover blurbs like “Spider-Man No More!” and “This Issue: Everybody Dies!”  Phrases which catch the eye and demand you read the book.  “This Man…This Monster!” is about the struggle of man… versus also man; our darker parts or outer appearance versus who we really are, inside.  You’ll notice there is nothing between the man and the monster, just an ellipsis.  It’s not “This Man AND This Monster,” which would suggest two different people, nor is it “This Man, This Monster” suggesting they are one and the same.  Three little dots almost let the reader decide as to what exactly the inner struggle is.  And that’s kinda what I’ve been doing with the Incredible Hulk throughout my adoration of the book.

No matter who he fought, the internal battle is key.  It’s tortured scientist Bruce Banner versus his raging alter-ego in a never-ending stalemate over who gets to be human.  I can’t say this is always the thrust of an issue or storyline, but it IS the thrust of the really good ones. The ones that make you think, and linger with you long after you’ve put the book away.  We come for the “Hulk smash,” but stay for the “Hulk think.”  And then Incredible Hulks #635 came along and blew my freakin’ mind.

Because after six years, the struggle is over. (A few SPOILERS after the jump!)

*****

Greg Pak’s six-part story “Heart of the Monster” gets absolutely outrageous at times.  When you watch Fin Fang Foom cram gamma bombs into his mouth and threaten to take out… well, I don’t even know how much that would take out, but it would be a lot. When everyone is gamma-enhanced and explodes off the page with bulging muscles and radiating green power, when there’s magic and science and everyone and possibly their mother shows up, things get a little messy.  The whole crux of the story is based on a mystical wishing well.  Get to it, wish for something, and it will appear.  As always, there is a catch: the wishing well doesn’t exactly give you what you want, just an idea of it that has been kinda soured.  Wish for an apple, get a rotten apple, etc.  It doesn’t solve your problems, but could possibly make them worse.  So there are monsters and villains and family and explosions.  Doctor Strange shows up, the aforementioned Mister Foom, it’s just madness and the story does not stop until the epilogue of the very last issue; it’s loud, it’s violent, it’s exciting, and it all hinges on a very simple answer to the wishing wackiness.

In the end, Bruce uses the wishing well to give everyone what they wanted: all the monsters are defeated, Rick, Jen, and Betty all have control over their alter egos, and can become A-Bomb, She-Hulk and Red She-Hulk at will.  So, in a way, he wished for control: for his family and his foes to have control of their situation.  Control, of course, not meaning that everyone wins, but everyone gets some sort of stability.  Even the outrageous peril they had gotten themselves into had vanished into dust because really, escalation of that type was going to destroy everything.  Tyrannus might have told everyone he could rule from the ashes, but hey.  Magical wishing well, pal and you don’t always get what you want.

But here was Bruce Banner, a man who for years and for one selfless act, has been saddled with this terrible, destructive, shoot-you-into-space-because-you’re-a-danger-to-yourself-and-others, mind fracturing, loved-one-distancing, uncontrollable monster that, you would think, if you could get one wish it’d be to be free of that.

Yeah, it’s an evil wishing well.  So your wish to be free of it might still have some dangerous effects.  But you think it would cross his mind when Red She-Hulk (side note: please change this name!  The Red She-Hulk is ridiculous to say, ridiculous to type, and so derivative it makes me cross-eyed.  If they are serious about keeping her a gamma-powered creature, then let’s get the woman a serious name.) uses the last of the wishing power because she “.. wanted Bruce to get what he wanted.  Not the Hulk.”  You would think this would mean some sort of peace, stability of his own, at least some ice cream?  Something positive to come from all of this madness, smashing, and tragedy.

But that’s not the case.  Bruce DID wish for what he wanted.  Another selfless act from a selfless man.  The Hulk had nothing to do with it because he and the Hulk, while fractured, while at odds, while locked in tragedy, are merely facets of the same person.  There is truly an ellipsis between Bruce Banner and the Hulk; sometimes they are separate, sometimes they are together, but in the end it is for the reader to decide.  Greg Pak has given us six incredible years of Hulk stories.  This is the final issue of his run, and this isn’t a revelation he has come to lightly: that Bruce and the Hulk are really interchangeable.  From “Planet Hulk,” the physical absence of Bruce Banner on Sakaar should have been our first warning.  In World War Hulk, when the Hulk tells Reed that “I will never forgive you and will hate you forever. Almost as much as I hate myself,” that should have been our second clue.  This whole time, during Greg Pak’s story, he has been easing us into the new epiphany that Bruce and the Hulk, while still at odds, are no more different than you and I in our own frustrations.

"But we all deal with it. Just like you."

Because that is the Marvel way.  Ordinary people with extraordinary problems.  And while you can’t always get what you want, when you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need.

Wolverine: Debt of Death

Colorist Elizabeth Breitweiser‘s work can be seen in any number of Marvel comics these days. In fact this week sees the release of writer David Lapham and artist David Aja’s Wolverine: Debt of Death one-shot, featuring Breitweiser as colorist (Be sure to enjoy CBR’s preview of the one-shot). Regular readers of What Are You Reading? know how much of an unabashed Jeff Parker/Gabriel Hardman’s Hulk booster that I am–and it is that series where I really started to appreciate Breitweiser as a colorist. This email interview was an effort to discuss her work mostly in general terms, so admittedly I did not discuss the Wolverine one-shot, but focus on some of her ongoing series work. My thanks to Breitweiser (who can also be found on Twitter) for taking the time for this discussion, despite her continually heavy workload. I am also deeply appreciative, that when our conversation led to her discussion of recent specific work, she was kind enough to provide examples of the pages for us to use.

Tim O’Shea: What are the biggest misconceptions in terms of the demands with your job as a colorist?

Breitweiser: Probably just in people not taking my job seriously or not viewing it as a fulfilling way to make a living. Many tend to think of what I do as “easy”. Coloring to them is just an afterthought and not seen as an essential part of the storytelling. I’m pretty sure most of my family and friends still do not understand what it is I do and how I can make a successful living at it. Professional colorists in general seem to almost always be overworked and overstressed. A lot of it has to do with us being at the end of the production line, but it also has to do with people having unrealistic expectations due to an incomprehension of the effort it takes to successfully tell a story with color.

O’Shea: When did you first realize you wanted to be a colorist–and what first attracted you to the work?

Breitweiser: I really just stumbled into it a few years ago. I was teaching art lessons and working as a painter when I began dating my now husband, Mitch Breitweiser. He was working as an illustrator for Marvel and slowly started integrating me into his world of comics. We spent a lot of those early days traveling to conventions, meeting professionals, and comics enthusiasts. Until I met Mitch, like most people outside the industry, I had no clue you could make a viable living coloring comics. I really grew to appreciate the medium of visual story telling and wanted to become involved. After evaluating my strengths and weaknesses as an artist, it felt very natural to transition myself from fine arts into coloring.

O’Shea: Back in March, I interviewed artist Gabriel Hardman–and he said (of your work): “A colorist can have all the technical skills in the world but if they don’t have taste in choosing colors that work with the storytelling it could sink the book.” How did you reach a point in knowing what colors to use (and how to utilize light to the colors effectively)?

Breitweiser: Gabriel is right, being successful boils down to having good taste. As it is with many artists, part of that comes intuitively, but I did spend a great deal of my formative years studying color theory, design, and composition. I would like to think I had a competent grasp on these ideas before I dived into the comics industry and that is what set me on a successful path. I try to use that same foundation in fundamentals to get across the point as simply as possible using solid color and value choices and as minimal of rending as the art will allow. It is so incredibly easy to abuse Photoshop and all its fancy tools. A colorist really has to step back and make sure they aren’t hurting the illustration with too much rendering.

O’Shea: When working with artists like Butch Guice and Hardman, can you talk about what it is about both of their respective art styles that enable you to be an effective colorist for their work?

Breitweiser: These boys bring out the big guns. They very clearly know what they are doing and are masters of story telling. That is what really makes it for me. They are so good at visual story telling that all I really have to do is find the simplest way to accent the illustrations and help guide the reader though the story. It’s all about respecting their artwork and finding the best way to compliment their aesthetic without overrunning it. It’s a lot more challenging to work with an artist who isn’t quite as skilled in storytelling. A lot of the heavy lifting ends up in the hands of the colorist.

O’Shea: Do you ever look to the scripts or other clues from the writers when seeking on how best to approach an aspect of a scene?

Breitweiser: I always, always, always read the script. That is a must. The script provides so much information on the setting, time of day, emotion of characters, etc.. It really is essential that a colorist reads their script before starting. If possible, I always prefer to be in direct contact with both the writer and the artist so that we work together to get the best product possible. The last thing I want to be responsible for is destroying the vision of the creators. If I am working on an ongoing or a miniseries I always approach the writers and artists first to see if there is a specific rendering style they are looking for and if they have any specific notes. After that it’s a process of me finishing the page then, if needed, going back and forth until we get just what we want. That’s one reason I love working with Jeff Parker so much. He is very involved and I think our stories are all the better for it.

O’Shea: A March 2011 CBR/Doug Zawisza review (for Hulk 31) said of your work:  ”Elizabeth Breitweiser’s colors … bring out the emotion in the characters and settings.” How do you go about using color to convey emotion?

Breitweiser: Before I begin any project, I sit down to read the script and make notes of each scene; what kind of atmosphere and time of day is it? who are these characters? what are they doing? what are their motivations? What emotion and mood is the writer wanting to convey? where do I need to create focus? These are the kind of questions I ask myself before I start any of the coloring process. After that, it’s just a matter of utilizing color, lighting, rendering, and texture to convey the answers to my questions. Color can have a huge impact on the human psyche. I really try to play on that knowledge so I can help immerse the reader more deeply into the story.

O’Shea: Not everyone gets to collaborate with their spouse, as you and Mitch did on Captain America 615.1–do you two enjoy a rapport that allows you both to be more ambitious when you work together?

Breitweiser: There is nothing better than getting to work with your spouse on a project. It’s a hugely fulfilling experience and one that I wish happened more often! Since Mitch is right there in the studio with me, we really can sit down and hash out a wonderful product. When I first started in this industry I only worked specifically with Mitch. Now I’m lucky if I can squeeze him in between my monthly ongoings. Our ultimate goal is to flip things back around to where we can be more ambitious with the work we do together.

O’Shea: Can you recall a recent issue you worked on, where after you finished a scene or a page, that you took off your creator hat for a moment/forgot it was something you were involved in creating–and allowed yourself to just be lost in the beauty of the page? With me, for example, in Hulk 39, the opening scenes (in Western New Hampshire of 50 years ago) have a bucolic vibe to them–made all the more jarring/effective when it shifts forward to modern day and has Thaddeus Red Hulk Ross standing amidst all of this.

Breitweiser: Considering the guys I work with, it’s easy to see how that could occur quite often! It happens a lot just in my initial reading of the script. Especially when I work with talents like Ed Brubaker, Jeff Parker, Karl Kesel, Butch Guice, Gabriel Hardman, Chris Samnee, and Mitch Breitweiser to name a few! I could list at least a hundred of my favorite episodes from these guys, but maybe the most persistent in my memory is from the opening scene of Hulk #32 set in modern day India. It’s easy for me to look past the panel boarders and imagine myself pouring down the street through the bustling haze.

Hulk 32

Captain America 618

Captain America 617

I’d be amiss not to mention Captain America #617 and #618. As morbid as it may sound, I felt incredibly drawn into the miserable, icy atmosphere of the Gulag and the unsettling collages of terror. [Click on the images for larger views of the Hulk and Captain America pages]

O’Shea: Sometimes I see you listed as Bettie, other times you’re listed as Elizabeth, when working professionally do you prefer one name more than the other, or is it a non-issue for you?

Breitweiser: haha, yeah, it probably appears I’m having an identity crisis to my readers. I’ve also been listed by my maiden name, Elizabeth Dismang, which I originally wanted to keep (and still do use for gallery work). Production kept crediting me as Breitweiser, so I gave up. Bettie is just a nickname my husband calls me. Elizabeth Breitweiser is such a monster of a name that I decided to shorten it in credits to Bettie to save space. Occasionally production will send it through as Elizabeth, but it’s really not an issue for me. After all, Elizabeths are accustomed to being called a million and one different nicknames.

Elf World

Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading? Today our special guest is Fantagraphics’ Marketing Director Mike Baehr, who runs their indispensable company blog, Flog!, among other duties.

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

*****

Tim O’Shea

Thunderbolts

Thunderbolts 162: Holy crap, Jeff Parker. How long have you been holding onto to the Giant-Sized Man-Thing card? Best Thunderbolts moment in a long time. In the increased publishing schedule dynamic, I do not think I will ever see a more jarring shift than when the story shifts from Valentine De Landro to Matthew Southworth.

Supergirl 67: Really ashamed that we do not get to read more of Kelly Sue DeConnick’s Supergirl. But good lord, Chriscross’ penchant for drawing ugly-as-hell bone structured faces almost killed any enjoyment I had in this story. It astounds me how such an accomplished and talented artist utterly fails to make any effort to consistently draw character’s faces the same way. Extra points to DeConnick for ending the issue on a note that would have been a mild series gamechanger (a secret revealed) had the series continued beyond this point.

Venom 6: OK this whole Spider Island event. Am I the only person that sings Spider Island to the melody of that 1970s rock classic by Jay Ferguson, Thunder Island, whenever I see the phrase? I have one question was it writer Rick Remender or artist Tom Fowler who decided to have the Venom symbiote bond with a dog? Visually a great bit. There’s always a fun horror-vibe whenever the issues are drawn by Fowler.

Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors 4: The issue opens with a great battle scene (with beautifully vibrant colors by Carlos Carrasco), leading to, of all things, a study group session? (This series is like 1960s X-Men comics, but on acid, which is a good thing for me [the comic, not the acid, that is]). But what makes this issue a must buy for me is writer Mark Andrew Smith and artist Armand Villavert’s dead-on riff on Scott McCloud’s storytelling approach in Understanding Comics (special thanks to my friend Dugan Trodglen for pointing this out to me). An aside, the issue is dedicated to Scott McCloud (“one of the greatest teachers in comics”).

Power Girl 27: Matthew Sturges tells a 60-second story. With Power Girl’s speed, of course, there’s a lot to cram in that 60 seconds. But honestly, it must be hard to understand all that she says in that 60 seconds, because she says a lot. Matthew Sturges, another writer who writes females well. Curious to see where he’ll end up in the new DCU.

Cloak & Dagger: Spider Island 1: This actually came out last week, but my pal Dugan convinced me to pick it up this week. Glad I did. Writer Nick Spencer and artist Emma Rios clearly are taking a swing at an ongoing series with this miniseries. So far, the Spider Island connection is fairly mo’s second dular, they could have just as easily plugged in a Fear Itself moment and run the same story. I am not complaining, as the dual (Cloak & Dagger) narration that Spencer employs is really effective. Much of the first issue is a rehash of where the characters have been before, but the life recap actually served to draw me into the tale. I look forward to seeing what issue 3 brings. I’m really impressed with how much more confident and effective that Rios’ art has gotten since the Strange miniseries (with Mark Waid) from a year or so back.

Hulk 39: So my good pal (and I must add, damn fine writer) Carla Hoffman does not feel the love for Red Hulk (as documented in this week’s always must read Fifth Color) that I so clearly possess. This issue perfectly exemplifies why I find Parker and artist Gabriel Hardman’s Hulk to be a great exploration of Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross. Despite the fact that he cannot currently change back to his human form, Red Hulk is very much defined by the human that Ross is. No one else creates as cinematic-like and dynamic layouts as Hardman. The flashback to Ross’ childhood in this issue is some of the most compelling storytelling I’ve read in months. I want a whole damn arc with Thaddeus and his childhood pals. Hoffman, please read this issue.

Daredevil 2: In this issue, writer Mark Waid subtextually reveals that he wants to marry Captain America’s shield. But seriously, I think spending time as BOOM’s big editorial honcho gave Waid a chance to sit back and look at the dynamics of the Marvel universe (something he obviously had mulled prior to BOOM admittedly) and is allowing that inform his approach to this book. Dating back to the days of Waid’s second run on Captain America, I have clearly appreciated his basic concept of seeing Marvel heroes and their weapons as props to be explored (remember when Cap lost his shield for that run?). As issue 2 opens, Daredevil quickly gains control of Cap’s shield and Cap snags DD’s billy club. To see the way the two tacticians wield the weapons is a storytelling treat, particularly given artist Paolo Rivera’s complete commitment to the scenes. DD uses Cap’s shield as an urban boogieboard, for Pete’s sake. When Waid has DD say: “That thing (the shield) is beautifully balanced, by the way. It’s like touching a Stradivarious. High point of my evening.” I giggled in delight like my 10 year old self. In two issues this creative team has given me the DD I have not seen since the days of Karl Kesel’s short run (#353-357, 359-364 [thanks very much manwithoutfear.com])–a fun to read comic. Added bonus, editor Steve Wacker runs a letter column with letters from the 1960s issues.

Tom Bondurant

2001: A Space Odyssey

Finally, the magic of eBay has delivered unto me Jack Kirby’s Monolith-sized adaptation of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the combination of Kubrick, Clarke, and the King was pretty engaging. I had read some of the regular-series 2001, and of course I have seen the movie (and read the books) many times over, but this felt much more like ’70s Cosmic Kirby — much more in the spirit of The Eternals, say — than a straightforward adaptation. In fact, Kirby’s dynamism is diametrically opposite Kubrick’s cool, meditative style. Thus, the Dawn Of Man scenes are beefed up with insight into Moon-Watcher’s thoughts and feelings. Dr. Floyd and his colleagues get a little more attention. The Star-Gate sequence is translated into a series of breathtaking double-page spreads. Kirby does a pretty faithful version of the famous bone-to-satellite jump-cut, but he modifies the look of the Pan Am clipper to more closely resemble the (then-experimental) Space Shuttle orbiter. Ironically, the characters who suffer the most are Bowman and Poole, both of whom come across fairly generic. In a way, this was in keeping with Kirby’s plans for the regular series, in which a procession of ordinary humans were transformed by the power of the Monolith. Still, Kirby’s 2001 and Clarke/Kubrick’s 2001 share the same basic cautions about humanity’s development, and in the end that’s what matters.

I’ve also been catching up on John Ostrander and Jan Duursema’s Star Wars Legacy series, having bought a couple of paperbacks from the emptying shelves at the local Border’s. So far I’m through volume 3, and I like it pretty well. Cade Skywalker does have a somewhat predictable “you can’t make me” attitude, although I guess that’s one way of following in his ancestors’ whiny ways. Also, I can’t quite get past his relentlessly-coiffed appearance, which threatens to be more monsters-of-rock than a Star Wars character should be. Overall, though, it’s a good next-generation take on the Galaxy Far, Far Away, and it stands alone well enough that the occasional ties to the movies are just a bonus.

There’s something of an unfinished aesthetic to the first few years of “New Look” Batman stories (reprinted in color in Dynamic Duo Archives Vols. 1 and 2, and in the black-and-white Showcase Presents Batman Vol. 1). Mostly this is due to the relative lack of Carmine Infantino pencils. The Bob Kane studio (including Sheldon Moldoff) still drew the bulk of the stories, with Infantino only on covers and pencilling every other issue of Detective. (Inker Joe Giella gave everything a consistent feel.)

Among the memorable stories so far are November 1964′s “Zero Hour For Earth!” (Batman #167) and “Hunters of the Elephants’ Graveyard!” (Detective #333), and “Partners In Plunder!” from February 1965′s Batman #169. “Zero Hour” was written by Bill Finger, with pencils credited to Bob Kane, and features Batman and Robin on a globetrotting mission to stop the nefarious organization known as Hydra. (Yes, this predated Marvel’s Hydra by a couple of years, but the Bat-office might already have taken a shot at Marvel a few months earlier, when a megalomaniacal mutant threatened the world in “The Man Who Quit The Human Race!”) Anyway, “Zero Hour” is the kind of story that the hairy-chested love god of the ’70s would have found familiar; although Kane/Moldoff’s Batman was hardly hairy-chested. “Hunters” was written by Gardner Fox and pencilled by Infantino, and it is probably the last word on Batman vs. a herd of rampaging pachyderms. Specifically, it’s very effective at setting up the elephants as noble creatures, and then turning them into a giant mass of stampeding trouble. Most clever of this bunch is “Partners In Plunder,” written by Ed “France” Herron and pencilled by Moldoff, which finds the Penguin deciding simply to create random chaos with trick umbrellas, and then basing his future capers on Batman’s subsequent speculation. It’s a neat idea which plays perfectly off of the “Batman is never fooled” trope, and in fact it ends with the Penguin in prison and Batman never realizing he’s been duped.

Finally, I enjoyed the Batman and Wonder Woman ’90s Retro-Active specials, mostly because the creative teams of Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle and William Messner-Loebs & Lee Moder produced stories which didn’t miss any beats from their earlier work. The Wonder Woman story especially made me wonder why DC wouldn’t turn to Messner-Loebs and Moder more often. Sure, it was a quiet, character-oriented piece about Wonder Woman bonding with a group of mallrat girls, but the reprint was the start of Messner-Loebs’ outer-space saga, and that was plenty action-oriented. If anything lasting comes out of the Retro-Active experiment, I really do hope it involves more work for Messner-Loebs, who clearly still has the chops to handle these characters.

Brigid Alverson

21

I have started reading Wilifred Santiago’s “21″: The Story of Roberto Clemente several times, but I always wandered off: This time I pulled it off my stack and read it most of the way through. I love Santiago’s style and his depiction of Clemente’s childhood in Puerto Rico, but the story is hard to follow for a number of reasons. One is the huge cast of characters, who simply appear and start having conversations as if they had known each other forever, with no background on who they are. The story also moves around in
time in a confusing way, especially in the beginning, and seems to skip important events‹how did Clemente go from being voted 8th in the Most Valuable Player poll to having Roberto Clemente Day at Three Rivers Stadium ten years later? Still, Santiago really captures the feeling of listening to a ball game on a hot summer day, and his story is rich and complex, if flawed. I’m glad I read it.

Also on the stack this week was an advance copy of The Last Dragon, a gorgeous fantasy graphic novel written by YA author Jane Yolen (Foiled) and illustrated by Rebecca Guay, who is probably best known as one of the illustrators of the card game Magic: The Gathering. Guay’s style is a throwback to the Golden Age of children’s books, reminiscent of Maxfield Parrish and Arthur Rackham in its combination of pseudo-classical styling and luminous color. I usually find books like this boring, but Yolen pairs up a smart young woman with a blowhard Fabio look-alike to accomplish the central task of the story, killing a dragon that has been terrorizing a small village. It’s a fairy-tale type story that manages to feel fresh despite its traditional setting and tropes. It’s due out in early September, and it’s definitely something to watch for.

Finally, I picked up Doctor Who Volume II: The Ripper on a whim and I really enjoyed it. The book collects four of IDW’s Doctor Who comics featuring the Eleventh Doctor. In the first story, Rory uses a cell phone in the Tardis and as a result all his (and Amy’s) spam and social-networking contacts come to life. It’s very well done, and some of the anthropomorphized spam made me laugh out loud. The second story comprises three arcs of the comic and it’s a Doctor Who take on Jack the Ripper. You really don’t have to be familiar with the television program to enjoy these stories‹I have been away from Doctor Who since the 1970s, and I still could follow them. In fact, it
worked the other way for me: I started watching the show with my daughter and I actually knew who the characters are. Incidentally, all the stories are available via IDW’s digital app, for less than the cost of the trade paperback, and if you have an iPad, the two bucks you spend on that first story will be the best money you spend all week.

Mike Baehr

My to-read pile contains about 12 feet of graphic novels and comics right now, with about half of that being Fantagraphics stuff — we’re literally putting out books faster than I can read them. I’ll try not to be too much of a shill for my employers, but what kind of Marketing Director would I be if I didn’t love what we put out?

I just finished plowing through my stash of minicomics from the Stumptown Comics Fest. Elf World from Family Style is a fun anthology series of fantasy stories by independent and small-press artists, and the first 2 issues of the 2nd volume have the nicest production values I’ve seen in minicomics, with gorgeous letterpress covers illustrated by Sammy Harkham and Daria Tessler. Salad Days by Minty Lewis is another standout — no one depicts awkward conversations and the minor humiliations of life quite like her, and all with a cast of talking fruit, which gives it a sense of absurdity but somehow heightens my empathy for the characters at the same time. Too Dark to See by Julia Gfrörer is chilling for the way it depicts how the damage that we do to ourselves and each other is far greater than any supernatural threat. And after one issue I’ve completely fallen in wuv with Ed Luce’s adorable and hilarious Wuvable Oaf (soon to be seen in Fantagraphics’ forthcoming queer comics anthology No Straight Lines), which stars a big hairy metal-and-Morrissey-loving gay dude and his friends, plus a bunch of kitties. I definitely need to pick up the rest of that series.

The Box Man

At Comic-Con last month I finally picked up a copy of The Box Man by Imiri Sakabashira, published by our “Distinguished Qompetition.” It’s like a mashup of a Jim Woodring Frank story, Hans Rickheit’s The Squirrel Machine, and a Mat Brinkman comic (with maybe a dash of Brian Ralph) as the protagonist and his animal companion journey through an incredibly detailed detritus-strewn urban underbelly on a mysterious mission, encountering various forms of peril and bizarre debauchery along the way. It’s part maximum weirdness, part straight-up thrilling action, all depicted with breathtaking skill. I’m surprised I didn’t hear more about this book when it first came out.

My current favorite ongoing webcomic is Steven Weissman’s Barack Hussein Obama, which I have the privilege of posting on the Fantagraphics website every week. Steven’s work has undergone a really interesting transformation over the last few years, and he really cuts loose with this sketchbook strip, mashing up old-fashioned gag humor, Lovecraftian horror, bizarre nonsequiturs and absurd interpersonal drama. It’s a combination that could only come from Steven and it makes for a dizzying and thrilling reading experience. I also enjoy seeing the remastered reruns each week at What Things Do (the best webcomics site out there bar none), and I’m excited that we’ll be putting out a book collection of the strip next year.

There’s a ton of recent and upcoming Fantagraphics books that I’m chomping at the bit to read (Prison Pit 3, Michael Kupperman’s Mark Twain book, Gahan Wilson’s Nuts, Willie & Joe: Back Home, The Man Who Grew His Beard) but one that leaped to the top of the pile was the new 4th issue of the Hernandez Brothers’ Love and Rockets: New Stories. I actually first read this as a printout a few weeks ago but it’s been hard to stop picking it back up now that I have a bound copy. Pretty much everyone who’s read it has said that it moved them to tears, and I’m no exception. Jaime’s stories in the issue are some of the most emotionally powerful fiction I’ve ever read — as devastating as “Browntown” was in the last issue, Jaime takes it to the next level here. Brace yourself because Jaime takes you on a rollercoaster ride. So many “oh my god” and “holy crap” moments. And Gilbert is absolutely at the top of his game here too. The metafictional world he’s been building over the last few years is super-fascinating to me, and the new directions he pushes himself within that world are exhilarating.

To continue in shill mode for just a bit longer, another thing I just read is the Fantagraphics Spring/Summer 2012 distributors catalog, with all of our books slated for April-August of next year, which we just sent off to the printer. People tell me all the time that we put out too many good books, all I can do is agree and say HOO-EE, that’s not about to change anytime soon!

Amazing Spider-Man #666

Today our special guest is the recently married Akira the Don, a musician and artist whose latest album, The Life Equation, can be heard on his website.

To see what Akira the Don and the Robot 6 crew are reading, click below.

*****

Michael May

Alpha Flight #2

I finally caught up with Alpha Flight #2 this week with the return of Puck. I like the way he’s a little unhinged after his time in Hell with Wolverine. He should be unhinged after that. But he’s also still very much Puck, and I appreciate that even more. In the Unity Party, Van Lente and Pak have created a group of villains that I’m learning to hate with relish. They’re not as overtly cool as, say, the Master, but they hit where it hurts most,and I’m looking forward to their comeuppance.

I also read Mystery Men #3 and though I’m not souring on the project, I’m not as excited as I was after the first issue. It keeps introducing new characters to join the team and while they’re interesting, there are already so many of them that no one’s getting the attention they deserve. Hopefully we’re done adding members now and the next couple of issues will let us get to know them better and tie everything together.

As I read The Vault #1, it felt very much like an adaptation of a movie that hasn’t been made yet. There’s a diverse cast of characters in a tense setting and a cool reveal of the high concept on the last page, but the story that ties it all together feels clipped. Like it’s just hitting the high points from a movie script without taking the time to get me invested in any of the characters. Now that I know that it’s already being developed as a movie, that all makes sense. It very much reads like a comic that was created specifically to pitch a film, even if it’s not. I think I’ll wait to see the rest of it in that format.

Ending the week on a high note though, I read Cole Haddon and MS Corley’s The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde #1. It’s like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen except I don’t need annotations to feel like I’m getting the whole story. Haddon includes some cool cameos in the script (Hello, Dr. Moreau!)  and Corley’s artwork is even sort of reminiscent of Kevin O’Neill. A different way to sum it up – Hollywood style – is Silence of the Lambs meets From Hell with Jack the Ripper as Buffalo Bill and Mr. Hyde’s taking the place of Hannibal Lector. That description captures none of the charm and action of the finished comic though. Inspector Thomas Adye is a serious young man, but there’s some very subdued humor in his weariness and that makes him likable. Haddon and Corley also know how to present a creepy Ripper and lay out a mean Underground chase sequence. I’m very excited to catch up on the rest of the series this week.

Brigid Alverson

Black Jack

Vertical puts out a new volume of Black Jack every two months, so you can count on that being on my stack every two months as well. Volume 15 is a little odd. The first story mixes violence and sentimentality in almost equal measures as thugs torture Black Jack to find out where his money is stashed, and it turns out that (spoiler alert!) he spent it on an island tomb for a dear friend. Another story sermonizes about the evils of plastic surgery. Still, the stories are entertaining and you can’t beat Black Jack for some good summer pulp.

Still in the manga realm, I got an advance look at one of Kodansha’s new series debuting in August: Cage of Eden is a sort of cross between Lord of the Flies and Jurassic Park; a planeload of teenagers crashes on a remote island filled with prehistoric creatures—some large and bloodthirsty, some small and cute. Ordinary guy Akira, his brainy friend Mariya (whose laptop, thankfully, survives the crash—it’s the manga equivalent of Piggy’s spectacles), and perpetually bewildered but well-endowed flight attendant Kanako are somehow ejected from the plane, and they learn of their companions’ fate from a video left in a video camera. With prehistoric-animal violence, a weird mystery, and plenty of fanservice, it’s manga doing what manga does best.

In complete contrast to this, Allen Say’s Drawing from Memory is a lovely, quiet, beautifully drawn memoir of a boy who wanted to draw manga. It’s a picture book for older readers, filled with sketches, photographs, and illustrations of the people in Say’s life. This is not a shonen manga—there is no noble struggle, no shaking of fists and vows to be the best manga-ka ever—just the story of a lonely boy who was more or less abandoned by his parents and taken in as a student by a kindly older man who just happened to be drawing one of the most popular manga in Japan at the time (1950). It’s an unusual book and presents a very different view of the manga industry than what we are accustomed to seeing.

Tim O’Shea

Team Cul de Sac

Favorites: The Team Cul de Sac Fanzine/benefit book is an impressive collection (edited by my pal, blogger/scholar Craig Fischer [http://thepanelists.org/]). Don’t ask me to pick my favorite essay, the fanboy in me digs Ben Towle’s dissection of Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson’s Manhunter; the critic in me was shocked to discover that both Noah Berlatsky and I share an appreciation for Jim Aparo; and there’s a tie (between Ana Merino and Sean Kleefeld) for the most engaging personal essays about people impacted by reading comics. It’s a hell of a 40-page read for a damn fine cause. As detailed at the website: “The cost is $5.00 plus $1.25 shipping and handling. (All the money that isn’t spent on envelopes and postage will go to Team Cul de Sac, and research into a cure for Parkinson’s disease.)” And any Richard Thompson fan will love the cover.

Superman #714: Sigh. As much as Chris Roberson salvaged a crappy JMS storyline and made it a delightful read, I hate hate hate that this storyline was the sendoff to the current incarnation of Superman. I would have enjoyed seeing what Roberson might explore with the whole “Supermen of America” network (which included several superwomen, despite the name). I have to say the plot resolution for Grounded had a Silver Age vibe to it–not sure if that is thanks to Roberson or JMS, but I did get a slight pleasure from that. Sadly I do not think Grounded will be looked back with fondness in the way many of us view 1986′s Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

Hulk #38: Jeff Parker is one sneaky bastard as he actually has figured out a way to write a new improved M.O.D.O.K. that wields as much wit as he has power–and possibly (God help us, introduce an opportunity for a love life. I’m not really digging this whole Fear Itself event, but I do appreciate the ability of some creators (like Parker) to build engaging tales out of the ruins of this event. Fellow Hulk fans, has Annie always called Red Hulk “Thad” or is this an acknowledgment of increasing affection on the LMD’s part?

Snarked #0: Roger Langridge is the best creator producing All Ages comics. This special issue is a bargain at $1.00. Rather than sound like a stuck record, go back and read the intro to my Langridge interview to see how highly I regard this new creator-owned project.

Akira the Don

Wide World of Marvel

Mighty World Of Marvel

I was pulled back into the Marvel Universe after a multi-year post -Civil War hiatus by one of these ill-ass Panini collections us Britishers can pick up in newsagents. I’d woken up on the floor of a strange house in Brixton the day after my bachelor party and had a 70 minute bus ride back to Olympic East London with the Godfather of all hangovers and a borked back (I had inexplicably decided I had superpowers and thrown myself down a flight of stairs on the way out of whatever club we’d ended up at the previous night), so I needed something engrossing to take my mind of the almighty pain and shame that clung to my personage like bricks. I fell into a newsagent, pulled myself up on my elbows and was faced with the leering face of Norman Osborne in an Iron Man suit clutching A COSMIC CUBE with shapeshifting asshole Hank Pym in it.

“Woah,” I said, softly. I apologised to the newsagent, bought the comic, and hauled my sorry carcass onto the top of a double decker, where my world of pain became a world of joy, as I fell back into a familiar world of espionage and lunacy told across 76 beautiful pages of ridiculous fights involving seventeen weirdoes in tights swapping bad jokes and punching the crap out of each other.

Stuff was much as I remembered it, except the bad guys seem to be running the world which seems to me to be at once a way more realistic and way more fun state for a superhero universe to be in. And that was it. I thought I was out, but they’d pulled me back in again…

Amazing Spider-Man #666

Now, a few months later, I am reading flipping Spider-Man for the first time in a decade, and it seems to be in better shape than its been since JM DeMatteis and Sal Buscema were killing off the Vulture and I was waiting for my balls to sprout hair. It is SO FLIPPING FUN. Peter Parker is young again, spending seemingly 24 hours a day swinging around Manhattan being flipping Spider-Man, rather than mooning about over his wife or whatever it was that bored me to the point of not reading it anymore a decade or so ago. He’s in the Fantastic Four. He’s in the Avengers (who sit around being seedy and playing cards). He says things like, “But first things first. A quick adjustment to my unstable molecule suit”, and does actual science.

Spider-world is a great big maniacal smorgasbord of action and intrigue. Some unspeakable supervillianous fakery means that bedbugs are giving people spider powers, and Manhattan is crawling with souped-up web spinners. Meanwhile sometime spider-boo Betty Brant is a self proclaimed “one woman newsblog” blogging from hospital much to the chagrin of her boyfriend FLASH FLIPPING THOMPSON who protests, “Betts! You were targeted by the Crime meter! Strapped to a bomb! And the recent victim of a violent assault!” FLASH FLIPPING THOMPSON meanwhile is flipping VENOM, doing sneaky superviolent CIA type shit for the government. Sweet baby jesus on a hoverboard, it is nuts in Spiderland! Beautifully drawn, deceptively simple but cleverly interwoven nuts that never feels cluttered, or confusing, or anything other than delirious FUN. Damn! I thought I was out…

Cerebus: Guys

Cerebus passed me by in the, um, past, apart from when he turned up in Spawn that one time, but last year one of my reader listeners started sending me the phone books every few months, and I got hooked instantly, and am now over half way through the thing.

What a ride it’s been! From Conan parody to the meaning of life and the birth of the universe, via some of the most gripping character envelopment and the greatest speech bubbles in comics history. It even stopped being a comic a few phone books back and turned into a great big angry patience-testing lady-lambasting wah-fest presumably inspired by the writer’s divorce, or something, but in Guys it is back on track, and a comic once more, exploring with documentary-detail and almost clinical attentiveness the nature of the Male in one of his natural habitats: the pub. Indeed, 407 pages of dudes sat around in a pub drinking and thinking and occasionally falling of bar stools might not sound like the most riveting thing in the world, yet somehow it is. It is sad, sweet, ugly, beautiful and unflinchingly raw meditation on the triumph and tragedy of the conditioned human male. With some jaw-droppingly amazing speech bubbles.

Batman and Robin Must Die

Batman and Robin Must Die

I just got back off of honeymoon, which myself and my new wife spent on a tiny Greek island, frolicking in the surf and reading Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin run in its glorious entirety in the hotel pool on a lilo. I’d been Waiting For The Trade on the thing since the third issue… the month plus wait for a new issue was was proving too painful and distracting, so I hung a poster of the first issue’s cover on the wall above my twin monitors as a sort of inspirational sigil and left it alone for a year, in which time I made five mixtapes and completed my second album, knowing my reward was imminent.

And what a reward. It looks better than any superhero comics in recent memory, From Frank Quitely’s scratch scratchy all action carnie-ballet at the start to Frazer Irving’s Warhol-With-Photoshop Korean horror movie climax. And it reads like some all consuming Hitchcockian revenge fantasy, the story deepening and spiraling further with every page turn, a thrashing multi-layered abyss-dream with so many OH FUCK moments I had jaw ache by the end of the thing. I read it three times over in a week and if I were still out there on that fucking paradise island I would probably still be reading it, and still finding new things to go OH FUCK at.

My only complaint is the brevity of Tim and Damian’s tenure before Pappa Bruce swashbuckles back into the picture. I could have had years of those two finding their way, but never mind. By the time I’ve finished another fistful of mixtures and my third album, the Multiversity will have explained away the DC Universe Reboot, or whatever they’re calling it, and there’ll be three trades worth of Batman Inc stories for me to enjoy on a lilo on some tropical island I’ve bought with the proceeds of my second album. I better switch the poster above my desk…

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #50

Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading? This week our special guest is Ross Campbell, creator of Shadoweyes and its recent sequel, Shadoweyes in Love, as well as Wet Moon, Water Baby, The Abandoned and “Refuse,” a short story in the recent Strange Adventures anthology from Vertigo.

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

*****

Tim O’Shea

Avengers Academy #15

Avengers Academy #15: As much as I love the teen stars of this series, Christos Gage is writing the best dang Hank Pym since the days of Kurt Busiek’s Avengers. At the heart of most comic book series I enjoy, there’s a soap opera element. And artist Tom Raney pulls off the soap opera angle in this issue, showing the anguish in Pym’s face, when faced with certain hard choices.

Last week I avoided contributing to WAYR, because all I could think to write about DC comics was “What the hell is the point of recommending these any DC main titles, given that the series–no matter how great they may be–will end in a few months?” Well, Bryan Q. Miller’s Batgirl coming to an end is a prime example of a comic and creator who I will hate to see go. I expect Gail Simone’s Batgirl will be a big hit with folks, but I was dismayed to see Miller has not been tapped (to date) to work on any new DC projects. Here’s hoping that’s not the last I will see of Miller’s writing in comics.

Hulk #35: I love Jeff Parker for writing a scene where Thunderbolt “Red Hulk” Ross opines on his admiration for George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Few other mainstream comics are as equal parts quirky and entertaining as Parker’s Hulk.

Michael May

Alpha Flight #1

My enjoyment of Alpha Flight #1 was unfortunately tainted by paying an extra buck for two story pages and a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff I’d already seen online, but the story itself was a welcome return to what I originally liked about the team when Byrne created the series. I’m even digging Marrina’s new personality now. Van Lente and Pak sold me on it in three panels that simultaneously made me laugh and suddenly, totally get why Marrina would be exactly the way she is now. I’m still a bit sad about innocence lost, but they’ve found the silver lining in the storm clouds of Marrina’s history. Also, hell of a cliffhanger.

I don’t know what it was, but I just couldn’t stop adding periodical issues to my stack this week. I’m a stubborn trade-waiter by nature, so that surprised me. Cullen Bunn’s (The Sixth Gun) writing a Defenders vs Atlantis story in Fear Itself: The Deep was too tempting to pass up and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s gotta be hard to make a team starring Doctor Strange, Namor, and a Hulk feel like underdogs, but Bunn pulls it off and makes it look easy.

I also read Kelly Sue DeConnick and ChrisCross’ Supergirl #65 and it reminded me that there are still great comics being published by DC that don’t tie into a larger story. This is the first of three issues that have Supergirl going undercover for Lois Lane at a college to investigate some student disappearances involving robots and possibly faeries. Maybe even robot faeries. It’s a lot of fun, and it’s only going to cost $12 to read.

I did pick up another event-related comic though: last week’s Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #1. (I think it was last week. Two weeks ago?) It’s sort of the perfect Flashpoint tie-in because it starts during WWII and drops its heroes into the present, Captain America-style, so that readers can learn about the Flashpoint world along with them. Unlike Grodd of War, which I also read, I didn’t feel like I needed to have purchased Flashpoint and World of Flashpoint and three other mini-series to understand everything that was happening. It’s just Frankenstein and a bunch of monsters whooping up on some bad guys and trying to figure out what’s going on. Cool characters, great action, and a nice mystery.

Carla Hoffman

Batgirl #22

I gotta go with Tim on this one: I love Batgirl so much. Batgirl #22 was just as good as the issues that came before it and was totally bittersweet because I just don’t know if we’ll ever see its like again. The art was clever and fast paced, the writing was swift and adventurous, never leaving you too long to explain anything but connecting all the dots along the way. Stephanie Brown is fun, funny and confident in her role, a fantastic female character without having to be The Best Female Character, if that makes any sense. However, this is the killer part: you get a full story in that one issue. It’s one of the reasons I’ve kept up with Batgirl as much as I have: each issue tends to give you the most bang for you buck and requires very little from me but to kick back and enjoy. I kind of want to go back and read the Knight and Squire mini-series thanks to the fun I had with this book.

To show my true colors, I also read X-Men: Prelude to Schism #3 and have deemed it the best of the prelude books out thus far. I still don’t know what’s going on plot-wise besides the obvious (there is a threat! there is a decision!), but this week we took a peek inside the head of Scott Summers as he makes the decision to fight … something. Jenkins hasn’t been this on for personal storytelling in awhile, at least for me; I enjoy a good quiet moment where we really look at the motivations of why a particular hero is the way they are and he nails it for one of the quietest load-bearing characters of the X-Universe. Scott, even in his new souped up position as the leader of Utopia, remains reserved and thoughtful and it’s easy to see why in this issue. He is, in effect, a blind man leading people who are in a whole new phase of existence, which is a neat little way to look at this event, whatever this event may be.

I also read Avengers #14 because I have a streak of masochism. It’s embarrassing how much I don’t enjoy a book I actively seek out every month, like I should have learned by now not to do this because I’m just not the person Brian Michael Bendis is writing these books for. There are plenty of people who enjoy this flagship book of the Marvel Universe, its sales are consistent and the story is popular, so they don’t need me as a reader. But yet, here I am. Whereas X-Men: Prelude to Schism #3 is giving me one quiet character moment, this tries to give me several with a variety of talking heads, some living, some dead, being interviewed. At the same time, the main point of the story is that the Thing fights the Hulk. Not only that, but the Godly-Hammer-Chosen Thing fights the nigh-unstoppable Red Hulk! And it’s drawn by John Romita Jr. who, from his work on World War Hulk, kind of sort of declared himself Artist King of Hulk Fights(tm) in my humble opinion. Why didn’t I like this? Why won’t you let me love you, Avengers!? Because it’s slow. There’s a whole lot of tell-not-showing in the issue, some beautiful shots that have these little head shot boxes dotting their margins telling you how awesome this picture is. Because they destroy Stark Tower and I can’t say I’m worried for where the Avengers will live now, nor is Stark Tower so endeared to our hearts as the Avengers Mansion was when it also was destroyed by Bendis. Because at the end of the book, Jarvis tells us that this moment was more terrifying to him than having his life threatened in front of Captain America in the classic “Under Siege” story line. This is just, what, two issues in? He tells me this point blank, instead of showing me a moment that tops the classic panels from the Avengers’ past and, as a reader, I don’t feel like that’s really happening between the panels.

Ross Campbell

Remake Special

Remake Special by Lamar Abrams: The first Remake is hilarious but this second book is without a doubt the funniest comic I’ve ever read. Being a connoisseur of poop humor, I was delighted to see that Remake Special features hero Max Guy and his pals Magma Boy and Sick Rick going up against people made of poop.

Happyface by Steve Emond: Emond is most known for his comic Emo Boy from SLG Publishing, but he really shines in his first novel. It does include artwork, though, which is interesting, I’ve never read a book quite like it. Anyway it’s really good, I saw a lot of my younger self in the main character, a self-absorbed, angsty, whiny, sometimes delusional hopeless romantic high school boy, which isn’t something I look for in fiction but which turned out to be entertainingly embarrassing. It starts off kind of superficial seeming but it unfolds really interestingly and unexpectedly, and ends up being honest and unflinching.

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor: I only just started reading this the other day but I had to include it! I’ve been reading Nnedi’s books for a while and they’re all great, and her last book Who Fears Death, about a powerful mystic girl in post-apocalyptic North Africa, was amazing but it looks like she may top it with Akata Witch, which is about an albino black American girl, Sunny, living in Nigeria, who discovers she has magical powers.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson: Man, this book sucked me the hell in, I was so absorbed in this. It’s about a girl dealing with anorexia and it’s brutal and sad and compelling.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: City At War by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and Jim Lawson: I grew up on the old Mirage TMNT comics and felt like reading City At War again, and I’d forgotten how awesome it is. Issue #50, all wordless, is super awesome. I love when Leonardo says of Splinter “I would gladly die for him… but I don’t know if I can give him my life.” DANG.

Artist Coran Stone captured this sweet moment between the Dark Knight Detective and the Green Goliath. Apparently they made up after their previous meeting:

A God Somewhere

Happy Easter and welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look back at the comics and other stuff we’ve checked out recently.

Today our special guest is Chris Schweizer, creator of the Crogan Adventures series published by Oni Press and a professor of sequential art at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

To see what Chris and the Robot 6 crew have been reading lately, click the link below.

*****

Tim O’Shea

Invincible #79

Invincible #79: Earlier this week, in a CBR News interview with writer Robert Kirkman, he said of this issue ” I just wrote a scene at the end of #79 that I don’t think you’d ever see in a corporate superhero comic.” And he is right about that. The plot reveal of a decision that Eve chose to make in Mark’s absence is an interesting direction for the book to take with the characters, but I’m curious to see if certain social issue groups take umbrage at the creator’s plot choice. I don’t want to reveal the ending, but I will comment that I appreciated how Kirkman had both characters react to the news. Superhero comics rarely attempt real character moments like this, and I admire Kirkman’s effort to do it.

Super Dinosaur #1: I was really struck by the difference in tone between the adult issues dealt with in Invincible, versus the full-out fun in the launch of Kirkman’s all-ages Super Dinosaur. Kirkman does an impressive job of introducing the cast quickly and building the most unique father-son dynamic I’ve seen in an all-ages adventures ever (basically the child becomes the parent). It’s an interesting element to attempt, but one hopes it’s a plot element that is temporary and not status quo for the entire series. Here’s hoping the female kid characters will be utilized as more than potential crush interest for Derek Dynamo (the book’s kid lead). An aside, Stan Lee must be overjoyed to see Kirkman introducing a lead character named Derek Dynamo, son of Doctor Dynamo. The 11-year-old son found the book to be a solid read as well.

Justice League of America #56: I keep reading this title hoping a glimmer of old James Robinson will reveal himself. Is there any chance that Robinson was only a really strong writer when he was edited by the late Archie Goodwin? Longtime Titans fans let me know something, has Dick Grayson at any point in his friendship with Donna Troy ever called her “Don”? And kudos to DC editorial for shoehorning Doomsday in this Eclipso plotline (where Shade appears to be uncharacteristically weak-willed for the sake of the plot). Meanwhile, the Alan Scott family gets used as props in a very crappy plot (at least we’re spared the odd costume that Scott is sporting in the JSA). Both the JSA and JLA keep throwing characters at stories with very little attention to how or why they are there.

Avengers Academy

Avengers Academy #12: Christos Gage continues to write the best Avengers title that Marvel publishes currently. This issue though I was really struck by the character moments that Tom Raney is working into the tale. For instance, in the opening splash page–after the team is granted access to future versions of themselves, I love how Raney has Finesse looking at her future self by using Mettle’s surface as a mirror. But Raney’s best work does not occur until the final pages of this issue, where Raney attempts (and succeeds) at showing Mettle’s non-moving facial features with emotion. It’s amazing what Raney accomplishes merely with Mettle’s eyes.

Hulk #32: Jeff Parker’s ability to capitalize upon Thunderbolt Ross’ military instincts (and problem-solving ability) makes a different kind of Hulk than you get with Bruce Banner. I really love the use of Annie in recent issues and am curious to see what he does with this almost human character over the long haul. Plus artistically there are few books that beat the combo of Gabriel Hardman colored by Elizabeth Breitweiser.

Thunderbolts #156

Thunderbolts #156: I’m not sure who is having more fun: me reading this series since the introduction last issue of Satana or Parker getting to write it. The effort to develop a B-Team for the Thunderbolts (the Underbolts) is already bearing some great narrative fruit as well. But back to the new team member, the one panel where Satana “greets” Moonstone will have word balloon placement scholars talking for decades, I tell ya, decades! Be sure to see Erika Moen’s alternate take on that scene –as well as see the latest installment of Parker and Moen’s Bucko. Did I mention that Parker is my favorite Thunderbolts writer since Kurt Busiek?

Zatanna #12: Matthew Sturges pinch-hits for regular series writer Paul Dini–and reveals he’d be a great replacement should Dini ever want to quit the series. The scene that won me over was when Mikey quizzes Zatanna with flash cards, practicing backward versions of words. Extra bonus, Amanda Conner’s cover where Zatanna’s morning commute has her magically juggling an iPad, her coffee and a muffin just stolen by a bird.

Brigid Alverson

The Sky Over the Louvre is the latest in NBM’s series of translations of graphic novels about the Louvre, and I think it’s the best so far. It is set in the French Revolution and the two main characters are Maximilien Robespierre, architect of the Terror, and the painter Jacques-Louis David, who was sort of the art-propaganda arm of the Revolution. The story revolves around Robespierre’s desire to create the Cult of the Supreme Being, a sort of secular religion, and to make a martyr of a young boy, Bara, who had chosen to die rather than hand over two horses to the enemy, and David’s attempts to create paintings for both. The backdrop of all this is the Terror, and David’s struggles are contrasted with Robespierre’s seeming obsession and the madness of accusations and death. It’s a great read and left me wanting more.

I returned this week to Dylan Meconis’s Family Man, another historical comic about a wayward theology scholar at a university in the hinterlands of Germany. It’s a great story that wraps up bits of scholarship and history with a supernatural tale in a really beautiful setting. The romantic action is heating up right now, and there’s nothing I love more than a love story between brainy people‹moments of passion interspersed with witty dialogue. I continue to be in awe of the way Meconis composes a page, using panels and pictorial elements to set the scene and move the action, and her characters have gotten even more solid and real as the story goes on.

Chris Schweizer

It’s been a little bit tough to squeeze in comics reading for the last couple of weeks. I’ve been engrossed in Patrick O’Brian’s first two Aubrey/Maturin novels, Master and Commander and Post Captain, and have just started the third, and I’ve been scrambling to get the files to the printer for a large sketchbook that I’ll be debuting at HeroesCon. Nevertheless, I read any time I’m not actively doing something where I can’t be reading – in bed, in the bathroom, eating, at stoplights, in line at the post office, etc. so I do have a few that have slipped through my schedule barrier.

Blacklung by Chris Wright: I’m incredibly lucky, in that I was citing this book for a paper about the rise of genre in art comics, and asked Wright if he could give me a page or panel to use while presenting. He obliged by sending me the entire book as a PDF, which I printed out and bound, and have read four times in two months.

Though I’d read and been very impressed by the Wright’s short stories in his Inkweed collection a couple of years ago, I could not have imagined how impressive a work Blacklung would turn out to be. It’s a graphic novel, both in its vernacular term and in a more literal sense, violent and horrible and poetic at the same time – the sort of thing McCarthy might write if he were more interested in pirates than cowboys or Appalachians.

Our medium has had many excellent works, and usually I tend to be an ardent cheerleader for ones that I feel best epitomize the form. Segar’s comics, for example, are excellent in the larger context of the comics medium. But they don’t necessarily hold up against the great works of Western literature. They do to me, but I’m a toon-head, if I might borrow a phrase from Jeff Smith.

Blacklung is different. While trudging through it (and it IS a trudging read – the hatchwork is so heavy as to anchor one’s eyes to each panel, and the story forces regular pauses for contemplation), I couldn’t help but compare it to Conrad, as the reading experience seemed virtually identical – I expect he influenced the work, though I don’t know this for certain. And I genuinely believe it to be on par in quality with his best works. Blacklung is a great book; canonically great.

It does not have a publisher.

It had one, from what I understand, one of the more respectable GN publishers, but my impression is that this is no longer the case. Wright’s meticulous and minutiaed inkwork doesn’t allow for any reduction in scale from the original to the finished book, which means that the book must be large – 10 by 14 inches or so, I reckon – and for a book which the average comic reader will likely find difficult this may be a real stumbling block for publishers, financially. But I hope against hope that somebody who can give it the design treatment that it deserves will carry it to shelves.

It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. Do I enjoy reading it? No. It hurts me to read it, both my mind (which I’m the first to admit is not nearly as quick as I’d like) and my sensibilities. But it’s a damn good book. I hope it becomes available very, very soon. It’ll make everything I do look like the Boxcar Children, but that’s a small price to pay for the elevation of our medium.

A God Somewhere by John Arcudi and Peter Snejbjerg: I can be kind of a snot regarding collaborative comics – I don’t mean to be, and I’ve got nothing against them, but it’s a rarity that I pick them up, the same way I tend to avoid books with two authors on the byline (Black House or Peter and the Starcatchers, for example). I enjoy reading comics, but I’m always analyzing them, and not knowing from which end, artist or writer, a decision comes is frustrating to me. I like having a clear sense of how the narrative was conceived and delivered, and it’s much harder to do that with team comics. I read the ones my friends make because I can gain that insight through conversation, but otherwise I don’t unless something comes highly recommended, and as a result I miss a lot of really good titles.

A friend sent me A God Somewhere, by John Arcudi and Peter Snejbjerg. I love Arcudi’s work on B.P.R.D., but haven’t read much of his other stuff – after this I plan to. Like Blacklung, it’s an emotionally uncomfortable read, a superhero story without any costumes and a terrifyingly account of the consequences of absolute power – real absolute power, Superman-level absolute power. Arcudi delivers this horror with the same approach to scale that he handles so deftly in B.P.R.D., consequences so far beyond my capacity for imagination that trying to fathom them puts me in the same state of panic and fear as his characters. Snejbjerg’s art is well-suited to the story, and he doesn’t pull any punches in depicting the human consequences of the events. It’s graphically violent without glamorizing the violence. It has to be shown vividly for the story to work. I’d like to see more works like this and less degradation of existing or iconic superheroes, as per the suggestions Roger Langridge made last week.

Moonshine by Falynn Koch: Also, another in-progress one, but at least this one you can read so far on the web. It’s Falynn Koch’s alcoholic werewolf coming-of-age western, Moonshine. I love seeing stuff as this is being developed, and Falynn’s an amazing storyteller. I can’t wait to see it all finished and in color (she’s a heck of a good colorist).

Justice League of America #55

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 what we call our “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 probably put it towards the latest issues of series I’ve been enjoying for awhile: Batman Inc. #4, New York Five #3, Justice League of America #55 – Yes, even with my nervousness over Brett Booth’s art – (All DC Comics, $2.99) as well as Jeff Parker and Gabe Hardman’s Hulk #31 (Marvel Comics, $3.99).

If I had $30, however, I’d probably put JLA back on the shelf and add The Arctic Marauder (Fantagraphics, $16.99), instead. I found myself enjoying Tardi’s Adventures of Adele Blanc Sec earlier this year, and Chris’s review has tipped me in favor of picking up this latest translation of his work.

Splurgewise, it’s a tough one – I’d like to pick up the collection of Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s second Demo series (DC/Vertigo, $17.99), but I see that the hardcover collection of Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth’s spectacular Stumptown (Oni Press, $29.99) is out this week, and that really falls into the
category of having to have it. I’ll grab Demo next week.

Chris Mautner

It looks like I jumped the gun a bit last week as some of my picks arrive in stores this week, namely Arctic Marauder and New Character Parade. So feel free to add those books to your shopping list too. Unless, of course your store did actually did get them last week. Hooray for the Direct Market!

If I had $15:

The new Batman Inc. is a pretty safe bet for me, as is the latest (and, apparently penultimate) issue of Alan Moore’s Dodgem Logic magazine.

Whirlwind Wonderland

On the other hand, Sparkplug has a pair of pretty nifty books that I might pick up instead including Rina Ayuyang’s Whilrwind Wonderland, which I wrote about briefly, and Chris Cilla’s bizarre, surreal The Heavy Hand which is about .. well, caves, monsters, masked men and job seekers … I think. It’s pretty out there, but in a good way.

If I had $30:

The book of the week for me is easily The Cardboard Valise by Ben Katchor. Katchor is admittedly an acquired taste; it took me a few tries before I began to fully appreciate his work. He’s since become one of my favorite cartoonists — an utterly unique artist who uses the medium in ways that few, if any, dare to try. He doesn’t publish on anything resembling a regular schedule, so any new book from him is cause for celebration. If you want to learn more about Katchor and his work, you can read an interview by our own Sean T. Collins.

Splurge:

I’m not a huge Jeffrey Jones fan, but I’m willing to bet the new $80 coffee-table book A Life in Art is worth at least a flip through if not actual purchase. I’d also be looking pretty closely at the new Starstruck hardcover collection, and I bought all the initial issues.

Michael May

Marineman #4

If I had $15:

I’d start with the Lorna: Relic Wrangler one-shot ($3.99) from Image. Treasure hunters are always an easy sell with me. Next I’d add Marineman #4 ($3.99) because I love sea-themed superheroes and this is a good one. Echoes #4 ($3.99) also hits this week, as does Namor: First Mutant #8 ($2.99), so I’d get both of those too.

If I had $30:

I’d add Pepper Penwell and the Land Creature of Monster Lake ($14.95) from SLG because if there’s anything I like as much as treasure hunters it’s monster hunters and teen sleuths. Pepper Penwell is both of those things.

Splurge:

Like Brigid, I’d grab the Western Classics volume from Graphic Classics ($17.95). Graphic Classics has never disappointed me and I’m getting ready for a cowboy binge anyway. This is perfect timing.

Chris Arrant

Creepy Comics #5

Another busy week on my pull list at my local comic store, but $15 would still get me four titles. First up would be the newest installment of Creepy Comics #5 (Dark Horse, $4.99). Criminally under-rated, but I think these stories are really high quality stuff – I’m excited to see what Dave Lapham does in this issue. Second up would be Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting’s new FF #1 (Marvel, $3.99) – a not-too-subtle re-jiggering of the Fantastic Four name and concept. Third would be the Wood + Kelly joint of New York Five #3 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99) – why can’t there be a music/college genre as big in comics as there is superheroes? Lastly would be Batman Incorporated #4 (DC, $2.99); this is such a refreshing title for me after all that’s gone on with Batman, and I hope both Morrison & Paquette are on this for a long time.

Oh, what’s this – I found an extra $15? In that case, I’ll call my LCS and tell them to hold a pair of Point One issues – Captain America #615.1 (Marvel, $2.99) and Thor #620.1 (Marvel, $2.99) to be exact. I’ll also get the Kirkman/Ottley Invincible #78 (Image, $2.99) and Remender/Ribic Uncanny X-Force #6 (Marvel, $3.99). Seriously, the latter – is it the best title in the X-Men family of books or is it just me?

For splurge’s sake, I’d plunk down some tall dollars on the Oni collection of Stumptown (Oni, $29.99). I loved this series in singles, but I feel buying it in trade is important – how else can I cajole Greg Rucka to do more of these when I see him at a convention?

Brigid Alverson

21: The Story of Roberto Clemente

This is a tough week, because the ratio of expensive, interesting graphic novels to cheap pulp entertainment is very high. Let’s see what we can do.

If I had $15…

I’d get the fifth volume of Time and Again ($10.99), a Korean series about ghost hunters that deserves more attention than it is getting. The stories stand on their own pretty well, so even though I haven’t read the last few volumes, I’m not worried about having to catch up. The stories definitely have an edge to them, but the art is really lovely. And that leaves me enough change to pick up the latest issue of The Sixth Gun, my favorite American supernatural story.

If I had $30…

I’d leave Time and Again on the shelf (for now) and go for 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente ($22.99). I’m not much of a sports fan, but there was a lot more to Clemente than baseball, and Wilfred Santiago’s biography has a real richness to it, bringing in Clemente’s background and upbringing and wrapping it all together in deceptively simple, almost primitive looking art. With this I can still get The Sixth Gun and add one more; I’ll take Fables #103 ($2.99) to round out the week’s reading.

Splurge….

So much to choose from! I’d get the third volume of Bunny Drop ($12.99), a charming manga about a young man who impulsively adopts an orphaned six-year-old girl. I really enjoyed the gentle humor of the first volume and would like to read more. The Graphic Classics Western Classics anthology ($17.95) is right up my alley, with classic tales of the west (like Zane Gray’s Riders of the Purple Sage) brought to life by a variety of artists. And I love NBM’s Louvre graphic novels, so how could I resist The Sky Over the Louvre ($19.00), the latest addition, which looks lush and beautiful.

Hardman's Fortean character design

Not to mince words: In the plethora of talented artists that are working at Marvel currently, Gabriel Hardman is the best. His eye for layout alone injects a vitality to his work rarely seen in comics. In addition to discussing his collaborative efforts with writer Jeff Parker, most recently on Hulk (Issue 30.1 hits stands this Wednesday, March 16, 2011), Hardman was kind enough to give Robot 6 a sneak peek of a sci-fi OGN he’s working on, with his wife, Corinna Bechko, called STATION TO STATION. My thanks to Hardman for his time and to friend of the blog, Jeff Parker, for helping arrange this interview. Finally, please be sure to contribute to the comments section this week, as Hardman is seeking suggestions for future Daily Sketches.

Tim O’Shea: In terms of current artists in the industry, you have a strikingly distinctive layout approach. Not every artist is as ambitious as you are. Do you ever back off from challenging scenes to layout, or is that what part of what makes the work interesting for you.

Gabriel Hardman: Storytelling in general is what keeps me interested in comics and the layouts are a huge part of that. My only goal is to serve the story being told. When I read the script, I can visualize the angles and layouts pretty easily. Figuring out a given angle is fairly simple: focus on the most important thing happening in the panel. Then place those important elements on the page in a way that leads your eye from top left to bottom right. It all works best when she script gives me freedom with the layouts.

O’Shea: In terms of the recently finished Scorched Earth arc, which did you enjoy more: drawing Monster Island or redesigning MODOK?

Hardman: I enjoyed both but drawing Monster Island wins. That was some of the most fun I’ve had drawing freelance comics.

O’Shea: What is it about Jeff Parker’s approach to comics narrative that made you want to work with him?

Hardman: Jeff and I don’t have identical tastes but the Venn diagram of where our sensibilities overlap lines up pretty well.

O’Shea: In recent months, Hulk has been the land of many Marvel character cameos. Does Jeff seek suggestions from you of characters you might want to draw?

Hardman: The cameos in the Scorched Earth Arc were pretty much set when I started on the book. It was good to have the opportunity to show I could handle drawing those guys. Thor worked out particularly well in my opinion. I had drawn Namor in Agents of Atlas but he’s a fun character to draw. He has such a solid personality. Not to mention the Watcher. I love drawing characters that have roots stretching back to the Stan and Jack days.

O’Shea: In what ways does your work benefit from being colored by Elizabeth Breitweiser?

Hardman: Bettie has quickly established herself as one of the best colorists in comics. She can bring a sense of light to the colors that is essential in providing depth to the images as well as the technical ability to model forms without overwhelming them. But she also has the most important quality needed in a colorist: taste. A colorist can have all the technical skills in the world but if they don’t have taste in choosing colors that work with the storytelling it could sink the book.

O’Shea: You worked in comics for a period prior to your work in the film industry. Once you returned to comics, did you find some of your film business dealings came in handy?

Hardman: I was 18 years old when I started drawing comics professionally the first time around and I lacked a certain amount of professionalism. The tenacity that got me into the comic business didn’t necessarily serve me well when dealing with editors. Working in feature films is an extremely high pressure career. I’ve worked directly for some of the biggest directors in the business and it’s given me a level of discipline I lacked when I was younger. Drawing thousands of storyboards over the years made me a much faster artist than I was the first time around in comics.

Another thing working in movies has given me is a lack of preciousness. I work very hard to maintain a high level of quality but I’m not married to things. If an idea or a drawing isn’t working, I have no qualms about throwing it away and moving on. In features you could put months of work into a sequence only to have it tossed aside for budgetary reasons or just at the whim of the director. And you can’t pout about it, you have to start work on the next thing. I think there’s value in not being precious.

O’Shea: I saw you recently tweet about attending a Decemberists concert. Do you listen to music while you work or do you find that too distracting?

Hardman: I listen to a lot of music. I also listen to radio and several podcasts. Sometimes I have movies running in the background. Anything to keep me going.

O’Shea: Any chance you might collaborate again with your wife (Corinna Bechko) on a comics project down the road?

Hardman: We’ve been working on a couple of projects. We’ve been hesitant to announce anything before one of them is finished but I’ve attached a couple of pages from the sci-fi OGN we’re working on called STATION TO STATION. My plan is to finish drawing it over the summer then we’ll look for a publisher. You guys are the first to get a glimpse of these pages.

O’Shea: Any questions you’d like to ask your Robot6 fans?

Hardman: I do a lot of sketches that I post online. You can see them all at http://heathencomics.deviantart.com/gallery/

I’d love to hear from fans what characters they’d like to see me draw in future Daily Sketches. They can follow me on twitter @gabrielhardman to let me know.

I just want to thank everyone who’s been supportive over the last two years. There’s nothing better than hearing that people are enjoying my work.

If you’re eager to learn more about his approach to storytelling and how his work in the movie industry helps shape that approach, be sure to read Comic Book Resources’ interview with Hardman from earlier this month.

Vietnamerica

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

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

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

*****

Chris Mautner

Ice Haven

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

Tom Bondurant

The Unwritten #21

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

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

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

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

Brigid Alverson

Zita the Spacegirl

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

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

Michael May

Namor #5

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

Tim O’Shea

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

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

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

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

Carla Hoffman

Avengers Annual #21

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

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

Sean T. Collins

Spotting Deer

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

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

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

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

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

Jay Hosler

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

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

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

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

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

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

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

Good times.

MODOK

After being defeated in last year’s World War Hulks storyline, the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing, aka M.O.D.O.K., apparently decided it was time for a makeover. Above is a rough sketch of the new design for the character, compliments of artist Gabriel Hardman.

“It’s a new age, and we need a new M.O.D.O.K. who works in new ways,” writer Jeff Parker told Marvel.com. “This one will get out and interact in a way the previous model didn’t. And he’s a bit of a charmer.”

Hardman went into detail on his design process for the lovable killing machine.

“Jeff had some specifics he wanted to integrate, specifically the legs and bald head. My design process was to go back through the previous iterations of M.O.D.O.K.’s look to get a feel for the choices other artists had made over the years. But I mainly focused on his early appearances. Anytime I design something for Marvel, I want it to feel like it could fit into the world Jack Kirby designed, even if it has more contemporary industrial design elements,” Hardman said.

And if the spider legs aren’t working for you, never fear — Parker stated on Twitter that M.O.D.O.K. would have several different modes. “That’s only one of MODOK’s modes, @NinjaCyborg -hope you like the others more,” he said.

The new M.O.D.O.K. debuts in Hulk #29, on sale Feb. 2.

Deadpool Team-Up #886

Hello and welcome to a special “birthday bash” edition of our weekly “What Are You Reading” feature, where the Robot 6 crew talks about what books we’ve read recently. Usually we invite a special guest to share what they’ve been reading, but since today isn’t just an ordinary day for us, we thought we’d invite a whole bunch of special guests to help us out — our friends and colleagues from Comic Book Resources, Spinoff and Comics Should Be Good!

To see what everyone has been reading, click below …

*****

Brigid Alverson

Fables Deluxe Edition Hardcover, Vol. 1

I’m trying to catch up on some of the books I missed during the long stretch of my life when I was away from comics, so this week I picked up the first volume of Fables. I like the idea a lot—taking the characters of fairy tales and children’s literature and putting them into adult situations—and the stories are interesting enough to keep me reading. The art bothers me a lot, though. The character designs are fine, but the different elements of each panel don’t work together to create a coherent space. Snow White’s office for example, is in a vast room filled with all sorts of clutter—a flying ship, a toppled column, a suit of armor—but it’s as if every piece was drawn separately and then pasted down, like a Coloforms kit. It’s not as obvious in other parts of the book, but that early scene made me aware of it. Also the characters in this first novel don’t wander far from standard stereotypes—the icy executive woman, the bad boy, the slut, and of course Prince Charming. That’s the cost of using fairy tales as your source material, but I hope the characters develop a bit more complexity. Anyway, it’s a very witty take on the topic and the stories are fun to follow, so I’ll be sticking with it.

Manga-wise, I read the first chapter of Mizuki, a shoujo manga that Digital is publishing on their eManga site. It’s a pretty standard story about a girl who transforms into a devil to fight ghosts; as she is in high school, she tries very hard not to transform because her friends are frightened and revolted by her other form (they don’t know it’s her) and she doesn’t want to scare off the guy she has a crush on. That’s a pretty transparent metaphor for teenage life, and I can see why a book like this would have some appeal for the young-adult crowd. The art is not very distinctive but it is nicely done; I’ll be sticking around for chapter 2 of this one.

Sean T. Collins

Oh, sweet Christmas break! I did a ton of cramming to be properly equipped for doing Best of 2010 lists and now I can kick back and catch up on my prose reading. Right now I’m working my way through an old favorite fantasy series, Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising Sequence. Re-reading it for the first time in years, I’m struck by how much of it is basically info-dumping, yet somehow its tale of the eternal, Arthurian conflict between the Dark and the Light in Britain and Wales still feels immediate and epic.

But there have been plenty of comics on the docket as well. Click the links below for full reviews!

H Day

* H Day by Renee French (PictureBox): French’s elliptical, silent tone poem about her struggle with migraines and ants is a fantastic showcase of her considerable gifts as a crafter of images.

* I Want You #2 by Lisa Hanwalt (Pigeon Press): Body horror, gross-out humor, and insanely detailed drawings of horses and birds and stuff. It’s quite a combo.

* Boy’s Club #4 by Matt Furie (Pigeon Press): Another uproarious installment of Matt Furie’s chronicle of the unrepentant dude-dom.

* Duncan the Wonder Dog by Adam Hines (AdHouse): Despite its rapturous reception elsewhere and my sympathies for its subject matter of animal rights, I found this graphic novel a classic case of reach exceeding grasp.

* The Wrong Place by Brecht Evens (Drawn & Quarterly): Evens uses color like you’ve rarely seen elsewhere to tell the tale of two friends, one a livewire and one a wallflower, and their shared social scene.

* Big Questions #15 by Anders Nilsen (Drawn & Quarterly): The decade-in-the-making conclusion to Nilsen’s haunting series about a flock of birds who were tragically ill-equipped to deal with the incursion of humanity into their world offers no big answers.

Timothy Callahan

The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, by J. W. Rinzler
I’ll admit that the combination of the leaden prequels and video-gamish Clone Wars theatrical release nearly killed my interest in anything Star Wars-related. But I used to be a total Star Wars geek, even going so far as to submit a Star Wars RPG adventure to West End Games in the mid-1990s, though my adventure was rejected because it (a) wasn’t very good, and (b) had what the editor called an “inappropriate title” for something in the Star Wars line. The title? “Attack of the Energy Beasts,” a purposely goofy classic sci-fi homage. I guess, when the second prequel title was announced, years later, that editor probably realized his mistake. Or he said to himself, “Yeah, Lucas doesn’t get it, either.”

Anyway, Rinzler’s massive “Making of…” tomes are the kinds of things that can rekindle interest in that far, far away galaxy. This book focuses on Episode V, of course, and it not only has fascinating behind-the-scenes photographs, and a compelling overview of the struggle to make the movie at a time when no sequel had ever made as much as the original film (Godfather II only did half as well as the original, for example, and that was the best sequel ever made), it also has a great sequence which transcribes a day in the directing life of Irvin Kershner, based on a recording of that day’s events leading up to the famous Han Solo in carbonite scene. Kerhner was wearing a mic all day for another “Making of…” project being completed at the time, and the transcription of the on-set script revision and fragile egos of the performers is a clear look at what really happened when the cameras weren’t looking. The whole book is a pretty great, and engrossing, read.

Captain America #613 by Ed Brubaker, Butch Guice, and Friends
I read ten to twenty new comics every week, so why single out this one? Because sometimes I forget how good Brubaker’s Captain America can be, and this was a particularly good reminder of what has been one of the best mainstream superhero comics of the past five years. From Guice’s chiseled artwork (best embellished by Stefano Gaudiano) to the sometimes dynamic vividly nightmarish layouts to the rapid cross-cutting between Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, and the daughter of the Red Skull, this looks to be a comic that’s back on track after a year of slightly disappointing issues (though by the high standards of Brubaker’s Captain America, even weaker installments are better than most). I liked this one a lot.

The Art of Jim Starlin, by Jim Starlin
Quite early in my comic book reading days, I picked up a copy of Dreadstar and Company #2, which reprinted the second issue of the Epic Comics series focusing on Dreadstar’s blind female compatriot, Willow. It was a shocking issue back then, and rereading the entire Dreadstar saga these days, trying to follow along with CBR’s Chad Nevett in “Dreadstar December,” has reminded me how much I’ve always enjoyed Jim Starlin’s work. I’ve been devouring his other comics, and I have an essay on Gilgamesh II that I keep promising to write.

Jim Starlin’s art book, which features highlights from his career and a lengthy retrospective written by himself, is a good primer on the man’s career and it’s also a good reminder of all the projects he’s tacked over the years. It doesn’t go into nearly enough detail about the conflicts he’s had with various publishers (he frustratingly hints at juicy stories of poor treatment by the Big Two, but politely declines to name names or provide specific blow-by-blow accounts), but it does show Starlin to be a man who has always been ahead of the curve, trying to do his own thing in an industry that wants bland conformity.

Timothy Callahan writes the regular column When Words Collide, as well as reviews for Comic Book Resources. He does a lot of other stuff online, too, even talking about comics on the Splash Page podcast with CBR’s Chad Nevett.

Josh Wigler

Morning Glories #2

It’s probably no accident that the books I’m enjoying the most these days are coming from Image Comics, given the fact that I’ve covered the Image beat on CBR for the better part of two years now. But that’s just the state of things, I guess — it’s a good time to be a comics fan, and an especially great time for Image’s creative output.

The two books at the top of my buy pile every month are Chew and Morning Glories, and not just because I’m running monthly columns on them (though that certainly doesn’t hurt). With Chew, John Layman and Rob Guillory are constantly evolving the story of FDA agent Tony Chu in exciting new directions, almost effortlessly taking the series from its initial premise of a guy who gleans psychic impressions from the things he eats to it’s current end-of-the-world-by-fiery-alien-sky-writing status quo. There’s no telling where the book is going to go next, which is exactly why I love it so much.

Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma’s Morning Glories is entering the new year in great shape as well, with the first arc officially concluded in last month’s breathtaking fifth issue. Having already read this month’s installment a couple of weeks early, I can already tell you that Morning Glories is off to an excellent start in 2011. I can also say with no bullshit that this series is one of the most consistent edge-of-your-seat reads you’ll find anywhere in comics today. If you’re not picking Morning Glories up already, do yourself a favor and dive in while it’s still early — trust me, you don’t want to miss this boat.

Some other current favorites include:

- Artifacts … the best event series of 2010, trucking strong into 2011 thanks to Ron Marz and the enormously talented people at Top Cow.

- Orc Stain … I’m pretty sure James Stokoe couldn’t make a bad comic if he tried, certainly not when crafting the disturbingly detailed world that “Orc Stain” inhabits.

- Proof … recently relaunched with a new number one, but it’s the same hairy Sasquatch you know and love.

- The Walking Dead … as the world wakes up and smells the coffee thanks to the hit AMC series, the rest of us already know how amazing this series is thanks to the increasingly devastating monthlies. After eighty issues, Kirkman is still at the top of his game and showing no signs of slowing down.

That’s barely scratching the surface of what I’ve been reading and loving lately, and judging by what’s on the horizon in 2011, the new year should be an equally crowded one. Here’s hoping, at least!

In addition to covering Image for CBR, Josh also can be found blogging regularly for Spinoff. He also writes for MTV and ComicsAlliance.

Ryan K Lindsay

Franken-Castle

Franken-Castle
It’s a concept nearly everyone scoffed at and while many enjoyed it just as many would never admit that it was fun. I missed the boat but that only means I get to enjoy it in one big HC instead. While the end of the tale may have lost its way, the start of this strange monster filled romp by Remender and Moore was one of my picks for comic of the year. A shame not enough agreed with me and it missed out on a mention on the CBR Top 100. I absolutely loved the art and the writing here and while it wasn’t really the Punisher I kind of dug that about it. It wasn’t afraid to try something new and completely succeed in totally new ways.

I can only imagine what a youth would make of Franken-Castle if s/he found it squirreled away at home (which is the optimal way for every generation to discover comics). The sensational art by Tony Moore is something indeed and matched with Rick Remender cutting loose in a way that the Big Two just don’t do enough is the sort of mind-expanding four colour drug that every formative stage should be exposed to. This is comics the way I always imagine them through the magical and misty lens of the golden years of my youth. There should be more titles out there like this.

Secret Dead Men
I love Duane Swierczynski. I’ll just come out and say it, I think he’s a damn fun writer. I really liked his Immortal Iron Fist Run and I would have loved to see him do just a bit more on Black Widow. But the man also writes novels and very good ones so I’m slowly catching up on them all. I recently finished The Wheelman, which is a stellar heist story, and I’m now elbows deep in Secret Dead Men, which is about a sort of wandering PI who collects souls and stores them in his brain. It’s the sort of zany idea that must be read to be believed, and once you’ve read enough Swierczynski you will become a believer. I have no doubt.

Proof
John Prufrock is a very cool character. A Bigfoot (perhaps the Bigfoot) who works for a shadowy government agency tracking down other cryptids. It’s a perfect high concept but shocking in that the execution is actually better than you think it might be. There’s erudition to the words, and beauty in the art, and a certain spirit between the panels that just makes you fall completely into the world created. This is a title you can get lost in.

I initially picked this title up in trades but I’ve switched to floppies for the new relaunch and I’m glad I did. The latest issue was a whole barrel of cool and I’m so very glad I don’t have to wait months between my Proof fixes. This comic deserves to be read by more people so become the next one and pick up a trade, or the latest #1 issue, today. You won’t regret it.

Ryan K Lindsay is a weekly reviewer at CBR. He is also a staff writer for comic news and reviews site The Weekly Crisis. He also runs a comic scripting challenge site called thoughtballoons where each week a character is picked and every member of the site must write a one page script about that character (and play-at-home scripts are encouraged in the comments). He’s also been known to throw a think piece up at Gestalt Mash and is hoping one day to have his many comic pitches drawn by people with pencils.

Greg McElhatton

All Clear

All Clear by Connie Willis: I’ve been a fan of Connie Willis’s writings ever since I first picked up a copy of Doomsday Book, back in the day. The second half of what was supposed to be a single novel (but so big it got split into Blackout and All Clear), it feels like it’s the final word on her time travel novels. A book about World War II is rarely cheerful, but this one pulls your heartstrings with both despair and hope. It’s a book I was a little unsure of early on, but it comes together beautifully for a strong conclusion.

Justice League International Vol. 1-4 by Keith Giffen, J.M DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, Ty Templeton: I have a confession to make–aside from the odd issue here and there, I’ve read almost none of the “classic” Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire JLI. I recently went on a binge and read all four collections to date, and unsurprisingly I loved them. Sure, I could’ve done without the inevitable line-wide crossover every five or six issues, and the rotating door of cast members is a little hard to keep track of at times, but it’s still a lot of fun. Looking forward to picking up Volume 5 shortly!

Voodoo Heart by Scott Snyder: I’m about halfway through this collection of short stories, and if there was any doubt that Snyder’s adept at multiple genres (he’s already proven that by writing both American Vampire and Detective Comics with completely different voices), this should seal it. The opening story (“Blue Heron”) about a man chasing a zeppelin across the country to catch the love of his life will hook you, and three stories later the quality hasn’t dipped. Really looking forward to sitting down with the rest before long.

Greg McElhatton writes reviews for CBR and Read About Comics, and also has a fun personal blog.

Kiel Phegley

X'ed Out

Over the past few weeks, my reading has been divided up on two very specific categories. First up, I’ve been going back over a ton of great comics while working on CBR’s top 100 of the year list. Aside from some of the books I wrote up for the countdown including Brandon Graham’s King City, Hope Larson’s Mercury and Mike Dawson’s Troop 142, I’ve been going back over the big books of the year like Wilson an X’Ed Out as well as some killer stuff that didn’t quite make my top ten or the top 100 including Jason Lutes’ latest issue of Berlin and Kathryn and Stuart Immonen’s Moving Pictures. And in case you’re wondering, my #1 book of the year was totally Love & Rockets New Stories #3. That one has been banging around my brain box since the moment I first picked it up. We live in an age of wonders.

The other stack of stuff I’ve been tearing through are a slew of novels I have to read for my upcoming residency as an MFA student at Hamline University. My program is in Writing for Children and Young Adults, so my required list is a metric ton of middle grade and YA prose with a few picture books thrown in. I’ve read Jack Gantos’ Joey Pigza Swallowed The Key, Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak and Deborah Heiligman Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith. Most importantly for the comic folks out there, I’ve been asked to re-read Gene Yang’s American Born Chinese because, get this, Yang will be at Hamline next week while I’m in my first residency to give us students a workshop in writing and graphic novels and what not. How rad is that?

Kiel Phegley is the news editor for Comic Book Resources, and one of the folks I should probably thank more often for all the help he gives us. Check out his interview with The Comics Reporter.

Brian Cronin

The last five comic books that I read were Deadpool Team-Up #886, a well-told action story by Shane McCarthy and Nick Dragotta featuring Iron Fist. Dragotta’s art was fantastic and McCarthy had a lot of funny dialogue.

Secret Warriors #23

Secret Warriors #23 was the rare issue that gives you an extreme amount of singular character development while still moving the over-arching plot along. Great job by Jonathan Hickman, and it is awesome that Alessandro Vitti is going to finish out this series on art.

Justice Society of America #46 was an intriguing look at the idea of a superhero team devoting itself entirely to one city and not letting ANY crime occur. Meanwhile, Marc Guggenheim and artist Scott Kolins do strong work in establishing the mysterious villains in the comic as a formidable and scary threat to the cast of this book. One drawback in the issue to me was a scene featuring Obsidian that did not ring true to me.

Hulk #28 was another entertaining issue by the impressive duo of Jeff Parker and Gabriel Hardman. Hardman has not had a bad issue yet, and Parker gives him a lot of really cool stuff to draw in this issue (and the previous issues, as well).

Finally, Flash #8, by Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins, was an effectively eerie look at the origin (or should I say originS) of the Reverse-Flash. Seeing him cruelly change time around himself makes him a rather terrifyingly disturbing creature.

That’s my list!

Brian Cronin runs our sister blog, Comics Should Be Good! and was part of The Great Curve team way back in the day, before we were ever Robot 6. He’s also an author.

Alex Dueben

Apollo’s Angels

Apollo’s Angels by Jennifer Homans. Writing about comics and art has its challenges, but it’s a cakewalk compared to writing about dance. For centuries, the only real record we have of dance has been through writing. The facility with language required by good dance writers is part of what I love about the genre (sometimes more than dance itself) and as I think and write more about the history of comics I know that Homans’ cultural analysis and history of ballet is something that’s going to stick in my head for some time to come. This is the gold standard of arts writing.

Berlin: City of Stones and Berlin: City of Smoke. I’ve been meaning to reread the first volume and read the second one of Jason Lutes’ epic series ever since I picked it up months ago but I wanted to read through it all in one sitting and finally got a chance this week. I can’t help but feel that like Love and Rockets, the problem isn’t that we love the series any less or that the quality has dropped – it’s better than it’s ever been – the problem is that we’ve run out of adjectives to describe it. There’s nothing new to say. How many times can we say it’s a brilliant piece of work and one of the greatest comic series ever?

Bad Machinery: A Feral Flag Will Fly. I picked up this limited edition book of the beginning strips of John Allison’s new comic at Webcomics Weekend and hadn’t gotten around to reading it. Part of the problem with buying the books of webcomics is that I’ve already them, which means they drop to the bottom of the pile quickly. The truth is that I love Bad Machinery. I think it’s Allison’s best work. And it was great to OD on the comic for an afternoon without staring at the screen.

The Butterfly Mosque. G. Willow Wilson is best known to comic fans for her graphic novel Cairo and the series Air. This new memoir will likely change all that. It’s a beautiful book that I can’t recommend highly enough, detailing Wilson’s conversion to Islam and her time in Cairo, falling in love and her young married life. Wilson conveys the culture she found herself a part of and the essential separateness that one feels in a culture unlike that which one is born and raised in. Through it all there is a greater understanding and love.

Alex Dueben writes about the kinds of comics that I know Sean and Chris dig for CBR.

Sonia Harris

The Essential Moon Knight

The Essential Moon Knight Vol 1 & 2
by Doug Moench, Bill Sienkiewicz and others
Love Bill Sienkiewicz, I have ever since New Mutants and then Elektra Assassin. Because of his genre-altering work , I thought it would be interesting to see how his style evolved. This book definitely show his early work, you can see the change and watch him move towards something more communicative. Still, his line is always characteristic, easy to spot even when he’s trying to hide his inherent craziness. To be honest, I’m not reading the words, I’m just in it for the art. I might go back and read them if I get stuck in bed sick one day or something, but there isn’t a lot of draw.

http://www.freakangels.com/
by Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield
I tried reading this online when it started, but the short episodes meant that I couldn’t really get into it. Then I forgot about it for a few months and came back with plenty of story unfolded. Elis writing a screwed-up, post-apocalyptic London is very compelling, especially with a dysfunctional, neo Village of the Damned (but nice, sort of) angle. Duffield’s art is quite lovely, and it’s become one of the few comics that I don’t mind reading online. Having said that, it does look good in print – the colors sort of do slightly better things in print – but knowing that it is up online, how can I wait all those extra weeks for the book?

Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity
by David Lynch
A funny little, chunky, blue book. Although I read sequentially, it would be a great book to dive into at any point for inspiration, a sort of random divination kind of a thing, to set the mood for a project or day. David Lynch talks gently about his creative process and the role transcendental meditation plays in that (which may or may not be your cup of tea, but I think it is interesting, regardless.) He’s very candid, talks openly of his feelings about major projects, which is really interesting to me. He discusses about how some films are made, what it means to him, and what he intends in making them… It’s nice, but it didn’t affect my enjoyment of his films. The book is less dry than that, more an aspirational piece for the creative mind.

Sonia Harris writes for Comics Should Be Good every wednesday and sometimes writes convention coverage for CBR.

James Hunt

Hopeless Savages: Greatest Hits

1. Hopeless Savages: Greatest Hits – Jen Van Meter, Christine Norrie et al.
Many of my favourite creators have admitted being influenced by Hopeless Savages, so when the omnibus edition came out recently, I took that as my “now or never” moment to see it for myself. Working through the book, I’m not sure I’ve been entirely won over by the “punk family” premise, but the characters are lovingly-crafted and it’s easy to see why it had such an impact on those who read it.

2. Generation Hope – Kieron Gillen, Salvador Espin.
With its central theme of teenagers accepting themselves as mutants, Generation Hope feels more like the X-Men than any other X-Book does right now. I’ve loved Gillen’s work ever since the days of the original Phonogram series, and this is no exception. The market might feel a little over-saturated with mutant titles, but this had an incredibly strong launch, and it’s a series that I’m looking forward to seeing more of in 2010.

3. The Fabric of the Cosmos – Brian Greene.
Sometimes it’s good to get away from fiction and be reminded that actually, the universe we live in is strange enough even without superpowers and cosmic beings. I figure if I can understand DC continuity, quantum physics shouldn’t be much harder to grasp, and Greene’s informative yet approachable style keeps me from feeling overwhelmed by the hard maths – just when you think it’s getting a bit too complicated, out come The Simpsons references.

James Hunt reviews comics for Comic Book Resources.

Greg Hatcher

Well, to be honest, what I’m reading is usually listed right there in the column every week. But today we have….

Crossovers: The Secret Chronology of the World, volumes one and two, by Win Eckert. This is kind of the ultimate continuity-geek book, working out the chronology of every single literary crossover ever, including comics. It might be a little uber-nerdy for some folks but I’m pretty nerdy and I think it’s great fun. I’m a Wold Newton guy from way back, I bought Philip Jose Farmer’s biography of Doc Savage new off the stands back in the seventies, so this is totally my thing.

Coils, by Fred Saberhagen and Roger Zelazny. Picked this up on a whim not too long ago, on one of our bookscouting road trips. A man discovers that his memories are false computer implants… when he tries to discover the truth his fiancee is kidnapped and the chase is on. Sort of a cross between The Bourne Identity and Total Recall.

The Liberty Project by Kurt Busiek and James Fry, collecting their short-lived comics series from Eclipse way back when. I remember this series fondly from the 1980s and it’s nice that it’s back in print again.

Greg Hatcher can be found writing every week for Comics Should Be Good!

Shaun Manning

20th Century Boys

20th Century Boys vol. 12

I’ll admit that I thought 20th Century Boys went off the rails a bit when the “New Book of Prophecy” was introduced, but volume 12 reveals a bit more about the origins of this second deadly tome and ties together a lot of really fascinating threads. Urasawa is utterly brilliant, managing to string out the big reveal of the Friend’s identity for a full twelve volumes and keep things interesting at every step of the way.

Doctor Who #1

I got a preview copy of the new IDW series starring the Eleventh Doctor, and this standalone issue was a hell of a lot of fun. Basically, the TARDIS is infected with every spam email Rory has ever received and brings to life the various charlatans and con men embodied in each. The 419 man is a special treat. My only gripe is that it drives me nuts when recognizable entities like Facebook are tweaked just to avoid naming them directly, and there was a bit of this.

Shaun Manning covers Dark Horse, BOOM! and a lot of other comic news on CBR.

Chad Nevett

Invisible

I got some really cool books for Christmas and have been reading those, prose and comics alike. On Wednesday, I had a bunch of time to kill and wound up reading all of Invisible by Paul Auster in the process. It’s not dissimilar to his other books with a narrative within the narrative presented to us by a friend of the original author. I find Auster’s prose engaging and it always makes me want to write. It’s writing that requires you to be active and read between the lines. He’s also a writer I love just for the fact he’s almost at the point where he’s releasing one novel each year.

I arrived home from the holidays to find a shipment of comics I bought, including Jack Cross #1-4 by Warren Ellis and Gary Erskine. It’s one of the rare recent Ellis-penned minis that I hadn’t read and I missed getting a copy of the recent DC reprint. It fits nicely into his larger body of work with his interest in intelligence work. The protagonist is an interesting fellow with his idealism and pacifism in the ‘real’ world, but his utter brutality when he’s called on to do a job. It’s a cynical book, but definitely one for the Ellis fans.

And, finally, just today, while at work, I read Parker: The Outfit by Darwyn Cooke (on lunch and during breaks, of course). I picked this up during the week with a gift card and loved it. Much more of a COMIC adaptation of the prose than The Hunter was. Cooke is more playful and inventive here, willing to change up styles and storytelling approaches when it suits him, not just during the heist scenes. It’s a shame we’ll have to wait until 2012 for more.

Chad Nevett talks about comics in several different places around the web — at his personal blog GraphiContent, at Comics Should Be Good!, as a reviewer for Comic Book Resources and on the Splash Page podcast, with Mr. Callahan. He also writes about wrestling for 411mania.

Uncanny X-Force #1

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what the Robot 6 crew has been enjoying on the comics front. Today our special guest is our friend Ron Richards, one of the co-founders of the popular comics website iFanboy.com. To see what Ron and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below.

*****

Brigid Alverson

Scrooge and Santa

I got into the Christmas spirit a bit with Scrooge and Santa, by Matthew Wilson and Josh Kenfield. It’s a cute update of A Christmas Carol, with a cynical modern-day Scrooge who loves shiny gadgets almost as much as he hates Santa Claus. This is a kids’ comic with lots of humor and plenty of action. Scrooge kidnaps Santa and tries to take over Christmas, but the FBI and his sweetheart of an assistant thwart him at every turn. There are lots of goofy chase scenes, some magic, and plenty of in-jokes for fans of the original book as well as some other holiday classics. Kenfield’s art is expressive and dynamic — sometimes a bit too dynamic, as it was hard to follow what was going on in some of the action sequences — but overall it’s a fun holiday story.

In Doug TenNapel’s mind, the afterlife is sort of like Yugoslavia — seven different kingdoms, all set against one another and then reunited by a single conniving ruler. It’s a dreary place, filled with danger, and the ghosts keep escaping into the world of the living to get away from it. In Ghostopolis, the story is set in motion when a talented but washed-up ghost wrangler accidentally sends a young boy, Garth, into the afterlife before his time (Garth is dying but at the moment is very much alive). Of course it turns out that Garth has special powers, and soon a number of different parties are after him, each for their own reasons. The bare outline of the story — boy strays into forbidden kingdom and must get back home — is as old as the human race, but the world that TenNapel conjures up is original enough that it feels fresh anyway.

Chris Mautner

This week I read the first hardcover volume of Brightest Day which … well, to be honest, it left no impression on me whatsoever. It wasn’t awful enough to make me want to slag it, nor was it decent enough to make me want to admire it, even begrudgingly. Actually, I found myself rather bored by it, despite the presence of giant zombie sharks, dead baby birds and psychotic Martians that flay families alive while they’re playing Rock Band. The whole thing seems so concerned with set-up and continuity that the pace is rather slack, and I didn’t find enough reason to care about Boston Brand or any other of the cast’s plights I’ve talked before about my dislike for Ivan Reis’ over-rendered art before and that dislike continues here. Maybe everything picks up in Vol. 2, but at this point I’m not terribly inclined to find out. I didn’t hate the book — I couldn’t work up enough emotion to do that. All I felt was a bout of extreme indifference.

Tim O’Shea

Knight and Squire #3

I don’t know if Paul Cornell has enough material drive or interest to do a Knight & Squire ongoing, but three issues into this six-part miniseries and it is fast becoming one of my favorite monthly reads. Comics rarely make me genuinely laugh, this issue did. One-part comedy exploring Shakespeare’s take on King Richard III/one-part social commentary on the borderline absurdity that social media has the potential to be (in Knight & Squire’s world,Twitter is called Twunter [with a slogan of "Let Your Fingers Do the Talking"]). The story involves historical clones, including Richard III, who artist Jimmy Broxton has handle a gun, like a modern day posturing criminal in one scene, to great effect.

Some comics talk me to death in an effort to show the reader seemingly how smart the writer is. I am relieved to find that while Nick Spencer pours a great amount of story and details into every page, it’s not heavy handed. Quite the opposite in fact, the details draw me into THUNDER Agents #2 even more. As much as I enjoy Cafu’s pencils on this series, Chriscross handles many pages in this issue in a style that is a poor match for Cafu. After several pages of Chriscross almost cartoonish characterizations of face, it was jarring to go back to Cafu toward the end of this issue. It was so jarring I did not recognize the main character (compared to how he looked on Chriscross’ pages) until someone actually said the character’s name.

Paul Tobin’s all ages work on Marvel Adventures continues to captivate me. He’s written the best version of the Vision that I have read since Kurt Busiek last handled him. My only complaint? I wish Scott Koblish had been given enough time to draw the whole issue, as again I was distracted when the latter pages of the issue shifted to the different art style of Peter Nguyen. Fortunately, however, all the characters were still easily recognizable.

Ron Richards

The Thin Black Line

The Thin Black Line (TwoMorrows Publishing) – While not a comic book per se’, this is a book about a comic book creator. After reading the first two Fantastic Four Omnibuses and hearing about the work of Vinnie Colletta, I’ve been fascinated by the man and his work, so when TwoMorrows Publishing put out this book about Colletta, a retrospective of his career and investigation into his legacy as one of the most controversial inkers in the industry, I had to read it. I seriously couldn’t put this book down and read it cover to cover over 3 nights. I can’t say I can definitively say that Colletta is as bad, or deserving of the comments people have made about him, but now I definitely have greater insight to the man, his work and the controversy. I’m not saying it was okay to erase Kirby art so that he could inker faster, but now I get it. Any fan of the silver age and/or the craft of making comics has to read this.

Uncanny X-Force (Marvel Comics) – The standout for my vote for best new series of 2010 is the one I was most worried about once it was announced. The creative team of Remender and Opena are one of my favorites (if you haven’t read Fear Agent, stop reading this and go buy it now!) and the idea of them on an X-Book, as an X-Fan, got me super excited. But the fact that it was picking up the much maligned X-Force as black ops/death squad and was adding Deadpool and Fantomex, two of my most hated characters, to the team had me worried. But after just a few issues, I have to say, Remender and Opena pulled it off. This is easily the best book in the X-Universe right now and I can’t wait to see where it goes.

Cowboy Ninja Viking #2

Cowboy Ninja Viking (Image Comics) – One of the most imaginative and creative ideas in a comic book that I’ve seen in a very long time, this espionage/action/thriller from AJ Lieberman and Riley Rossmo (of Proof fame) gets better and better. The idea of an assassin with 3 distinct personalities that take the form of a common archetype is brilliant, and the number of combinations and archetypes used has kept me engaged from issue #1. The inventive use of word balloons in the lettering is just an added bonus to the look of this book, which along with it’s unique use of color, makes this unlike any comic on the stands right now.

Glamourpuss (Aardvark-Vanaheim) – I don’t know if anyone else is still reading this besides me and 2 of my friends, but I never miss an issue of Glamourpuss by Dave Sim. Now to be honest, I could do without half the book, as Sim practices his photorealism art by replicating fashion photography and does wacky magazine/pop culture send ups. But the meat of Glamourpuss lies in the historical exploration and telling of some of the greats of comics and cartooning, like Alex Raymond and Stan Drake. Through his research in the photorealistic style of cartooning, Sim has uncovered and is telling an amazing behind the scenes story of comics in the 1940s and 1950s from both a process standpoint, as well as a historical view of the industry. Every issue is absolutely enthralling.

Hulk (Marvel Comics) – I have often gone on the record that I am not a Hulk fan. Despite growing up a Marvel Zombie, Hulk never really connected with me. I read Peter David’s run here and there, the Bruce Jones run as well as tried to pick it up here and there. But after getting caught up in Loeb’s Red Hulk run, I decided to give Jeff Parker and Gabe Hardman’s start on Hulk with issue #25, and I couldn’t have made a better decision. Easily one of the best, classic Marvel-esque comics being published right now. Hardman’s art is dynamic with a touch of retro to it, and Parker is telling some great stories, complete with dramatic cliffhanger at the end of every issue. This is how super hero comics should be done.

Justice League Generation Lost #10

Justice League: Generation Lost (DC Comics) – Speaking of super hero comics, we’ve been saying over at iFanboy.com that one of the best books DC puts out these days is Justice League: Generation Lost. Judd Winick has been telling issue after issue of what is some of the best Justice League stories in a while. Taking the remains of the old Justice League International characters, along with some new blood in the form of the modern takes on legacy characters like Blue Beetle, Winick has just delivered quality every 2 weeks. I could read Max Lord stories for hours and thanks to this book, I’m getting that along with some humor and most recently some awesome Cliff Chiang covers.

Return of the Dapper Men (Archaia) – As we get to the holidays, my go-to present in giving the gift of comics has been Return of the Dapper Men by Jim McCann and Janet Lee. This book is unlike any other graphic novel you’ve ever read or seen. Truly a modern fairy tale, McCann has written a story that is totally all ages, that could be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. If you haven’t seen the art yet, are you in for a treat. Janet Lee’s first visual story telling work is amazing, and you have to read the bonus material to read about her process and how she went about making each page, each of which is an individual piece of art. This is the must read Graphic Novel of the 2010 Holiday Season if you ask me.

Artifacts (Top Cow) – There’s been a lot of hype about Artifacts recently and all of it is deserved. One of the challenges of Top Cow has been it’s accessibility of the characters and stories. Many people have a negative opinion based on past depictions and images of characters like Witchblade or the fact that they’ve been around for so long, it’s hard to pick up with the story. But with Artifacts, Ron Marz has been able to create an event book that is completely accessible to new readers, as well as enjoyable to anyone who’s been up on the Top Cow Universe. Every issue has read like an action flick and it has the promise to be one of the best contained series once it’s all said and done.

Wuvable Oaf (Goteblud Comics) – A local indie comic fave here in San Francisco, Wuvable Oaf is the excellent series written and drawn by SF native Ed Luce. Touching on all things that are cute and adorable, like kitties, and the fierce world of dating withing the gay scene, to the realities of music from Morrissey to Slayer, Wuvable Oaf has it all. Every issue is an event, and as evidenced by Ed Luce’s recent interview in legendary punk zine, Maximum Rocknroll, is on it’s way to becoming a cult classic. Do yourself a favor, if you have a good sense of humor and are open to something different, then seek out Wuvable Oaf, you’ll never be the same

Hulk

It looks like the Hulk could once again be smashing the small screen.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Marvel and ABC are working on a new Hulk TV series for the network, as well as a Cloak & Dagger series for ABC Family. Both are in the early stages of development.

According to the report, Marvel met with ABC back in May to pitch several potential television shows, including Hulk, Heroes for Hire, Moon Knight, The Eternals, Ka-Zar and The Punisher, among others. Cloak & Dagger made the cut despite not being on the list, and Jeph Loeb, head of Marvel’s TV division, is reportedly hearing ideas for the show. HR also notes that The Punisher could become a cable show down the road — presumably not on ABC Family.

The original Hulk television show, which starred Bill Bixby as Bruce Banner and Lou Ferrigno as his green-skinned alter ego, ran from 1978 until 1982 on CBS.