Look upon my Microsoft Paint work and despair

Before Wednesday morning’s big news, I was all ready to write about the wish-fulfillment aspects of DC’s reprint program. Maybe next week.

Now, though, we’ve got Before Watchmen*, seven miniseries and a one-shot in the Seven Soldiers mode, and no doubt collection-ready. Please pardon my cynicism, but with all due respect to the impressive roster of professionals involved, this could have easily been subtitled We’re Back For More Cash.

To be clear, I understand DC wanting to make money off its intellectual property.  A while ago I argued that one purpose of the current Shade miniseries is to fill another slot on bookshelves next to the rest of James Robinson’s Starman collections. Starman was one of the rare series where one writer introduced a character (Jack Knight) and took him through a series of adventures, until that character reached the natural endpoint of his life’s particular phase. Neil Gaiman’s Sandman preceded it, and Garth Ennis’ Hitman followed. (Working with writers David Goyer and Geoff Johns, Robinson tied Starman into the JSA revival as well.)

Robinson hasn’t returned to the character of Jack Knight since Starman ended, although he used a few Starman characters in his Justice League work (and I’m pretty sure one of the supporting cast showed up in the year-long Trinity miniseries, with which Robinson was not involved) — but more to the point, no new creative team has explored what Jack, or Sandman’s Morpheus, or Hitman’s Tommy Monaghan, has done since their various series ended. There is a firewall around these characters, if not their unique milieux, apparently reinforced only by friendly agreement. When there are cracks — when Morpheus’ successor Daniel showed up in Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s JLA, or when Paul Cornell and Pete Woods had Sandman’s Death meet Lex Luthor in Action Comics — it’s a big deal. I’d even go so far as to say that the old Multiverse was an in-story manifestation of such firewalls: all those Golden Age stories shunted to Earth-Two pretty much as-is, with the same going for the Fawcett (i.e., Marvel Family) characters on Earth-S, and yes, the Charlton characters on Earth-Four.

Indeed, at the risk of being obvious, Watchmen exists in its present form because DC didn’t want to let Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons put the Charlton characters themselves through the wringer. Thus, over the past twenty-five years, Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Nightshade, Peter Cannon, and the Question have each had their own ongoing series, and each has enjoyed various degrees of success in the context of the larger DC superhero line. Ironically, there’s a distinct Doctor Manhattan influence in both the Captain Adam of Final Crisis and the New-52′s Cap, and the Question’s appearances on “Justice League Unlimited” recast the character as more conspiracy-minded, a la Rorschach. Of course, the Question and Blue Beetle who came over from Charlton have since died, and the New-52 setup doesn’t seem to leave much room for either to return.

The larger issue, though, is the extent to which these characters can be allowed to rest. J. Michael Straczynski, who is writing the Doctor Manhattan and Nite-Owl miniseries, told CBR

[a] lot of folks feel that these characters shouldn’t be touched by anyone other than Alan, and while that’s absolutely understandable on an emotional level, it’s deeply flawed on a logical level. Based on durability and recognition, one could make the argument that Superman is the greatest comics character ever created. But neither Alan nor anyone else has ever suggested that no one other than Shuster and Siegel should ever be allowed to write Superman. Alan didn’t pass on being brought on to write Swamp Thing, a seminal comics character created by Len Wein, and he did a terrific job. He didn’t say “No, no, I can’t, that’s Len’s character.” Nor should he have.

Mr. Straczynski’s response goes to the heart of work-for-hire comics; namely, that DC Comics owns (part of) Superman, Swamp Thing, and Watchmen, and as a practical matter can dictate who writes and draws the comics featuring them. Put bluntly, Alan Moore knew what he was getting into when he took on Watchmen, because it was the same situation he entered into with Swamp Thing. In fact, on a conceptual level there is probably not much difference between Before Watchmen and the mileage Geoff Johns has gotten out of “Tygers,” Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s Green Lantern Corps short story.

The real difference lies in the nature of the stories themselves. Superman and Swamp Thing were created to be ongoing characters with no definite endpoint, but Watchmen, Robinson’s Starman, Ennis’ Hitman, and Gaiman’s Sandman were all finite series. We can argue about whether creative teams other than Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster or Len Wein and Berni Wrightson have “done right by” Superman or Swamp Thing, but when you have a singular vision determining virtually every aspect of a particular series from beginning to end, it becomes a lot harder to disassociate that vision from that series. For example, Straczynski himself is associated pretty strongly with “Babylon 5,” the TV series he created and produced, so much so that any subsequent “B5″ projects would no doubt seek his blessing, especially if the series were considered to have told a story complete unto itself.

To be sure, more “Babylon 5″ might well receive and/or deserve those blessings, just as the Before Watchmen books might be worthwhile on their own merits. Certainly none of the professionals involved sets out to make bad comics, and certainly none of them will want to bring anything less than their best. Still, they’re in an unenviable situation, trying to do work which honors the original while still being original enough to justify its own existence. This is nothing new for work-for-hire comics, but the degree of difficulty is much higher.

And the thing is, DC does not need more Watchmen in the same way that it needs to keep publishing Batman, Superman, and Swamp Thing comics. As long as there is a DC Comics, there will be more Batman and Superman books, with dozens more creative teams looking to recapture what they first loved about those characters. Making sure those characters endure is fundamental to DC’s business model, and if some good comics come out of it, that’s just gravy. Accordingly, DC has no interest in producing the last Superman story, whether it’s “Doomsday!” or “Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?” As we saw last summer, DC doesn’t do endings, it does relaunches.

Accordingly, it’s helped nurture a culture where more of anything successful is implied, if not expected outright. As Tom Spurgeon tweeted, “the real takeaway here may be the sadness that [...] DC’s attempts to do Another Watchmen [are] now becoming doing More Watchmen.”

Now, I am not necessarily arguing against More. Personally, I’d love more of Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s Team 13, more Thriller by Robert Loren Fleming and Trevor von Eeden, and more ’Mazing Man from Bob Rozakis and Stephen DeStefano — but mainly because I think those creators could do more with those characters. Conversely, a creator’s triumphant return to a particular subject doesn’t always produce the same kind of work (see, e.g., Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Strikes Again).

At its best, the world of corporate superhero comics allows tradition and ritual to exist alongside creativity and innovation. On Monday I was glad to hear about upcoming collections of Amethyst, Mike Barr and Alan Davis’ Detective Comics, and Len Wein and Dave Gibbons’ Green Lantern. I’m also looking forward to the Trials Of Wonder Woman and All-Star Squadron reprints. Maybe next week I will get to talk about these in more detail. They’re all entertaining segments of ongoing series** which, for various reasons, were highlights either of those particular series or of DC’s superhero line. Each played within the rules of that superhero line, and none set out to be multilayered examinations of the comic-book form and/or the superhero-comics genre.

Nevertheless, it should be an elementary observation, but it bears repeating here: not every superhero comic must follow Watchmen, nor must Watchmen be as exploitable as the average monthly comic. While DC is free to do what it wants with the intellectual property it owns, it should have the same respect for Watchmen that it does for Jack Knight and Morpheus.

Again, it all comes down to the nature of the original work. Not only did Watchmen tell a complete story, set in its own unique world, it was designed specifically to be self-contained. The clockwork motif of an insular system which has to deal with unpredictable elements is one of the work’s core elements. DC may want to honor Watchmen with these prequels, but the work really doesn’t require them; and despite Moore and Gibbons’ exploratory steps to the contrary, the story as it exists almost discourages them.

Look, I know I don’t have to read any of the Before Watchmen comics. I realize these could turn out to be some very well-done comics, and I am guilty of prejudging something of which I have not read one page. It’s the kind of maddening thing which dares one to read it just so one can have an informed opinion, and by that time DC already has one’s money. If this project put these creative teams on the Earth-4 versions of the original Charlton characters — even if DC said This is Watchmen 2 with the names changed — I’d be all for it. That would at least be a touch newer than filling in the gaps of a pretty seamless narrative. No matter how much effort is put into these prequels, no matter how pure the intentions, no matter how polished the product, for a lot of fans this will be a reminder that DC did something because it could, because it would be relatively easy, and because it knew it would attract a truckload of attention. In an artistic field where potential is only limited by imagination, for DC to make such a reflexively conservative choice is incredibly disappointing.

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

* [In one respect the title was inevitable. Back when hype about the Watchmen movie was supercharging book sales, DC reprinted a number of single issues under the banner “After Watchmen.”]

** [Amethyst started out as a 12-issue miniseries, and at first it wasn’t part of the main superhero continuity.]

Wet Moon

Hello and welcome to a special holiday edition of What Are You Reading? Actually it’s just a normal edition of What Are You Reading?, because changing the font color to red and green, and adding twinkling lights around the border just made it harder to read.

Our special guest this week is Andy Khouri, associate editor over at ComicsAlliance, where he drops comic news and commentary on a daily basis.

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

Tim O’Shea

Batgirl #4

Batgirl #4: While I’ve been generally pleased with the new Batgirl by writer Gail Simone, it has not impressed me to the degree of say Mark Waid’s Daredevil…until this issue. And oddly it was a simple line of dialogue that caused me to pause and stop to stare at the page. Batgirl had just saved a couple and when he checked on the victims, the man said: “Because of you, we get to see our kids again. Thank you.” Rarely in a comic these days do the folks that the heroes rescue get any lines. The fact that Simone devotes story space to a small moment like that speaks volumes to how great a writer she is. And then the end of this issue has a reveal that’s a doozy.

Avengers Academy #23: For the past half year or so, series writer Christos Gage has shown that no such thing as the status quo in terms of the Avengers Academy cast or infrastructure. This latest arc involves time travel and it is interesting to see snippets of Gage’s larger view of the Academy-verse. Added bonus? Gage taps into the old Rom series to use a character in the present Marvel universe.

The Shade #3: This is the last issue with Cully Hamner on art. I am so bummed, but wait-who is on the deck for next issue? Darwyn Cooke and J. Bone, wow. Nice consolation prize, I’ll admit. Robinson’s penchant for shifting from historical period bits to present day is in full effect (and to my enjoyment). The art of conversation is something that made the original Starman series so delightful, and that art is alive in The Shade. Another bonus that might entice longtime Starman fans that have not picked up this series yet? This month’s cover is by Tony Harris. Still not moved? Next month’s issue involves two words: Times Past.

The Ray #1

The Ray #1: This comic held me in its sway until the last panel, which had a blip of violence I just do not need to see in a non-mature readers comic. I say this as a warning, it’s likely that folks who play a lot of video games or have a penchant for horror films will not be shocked. But when the villain from this issue puts his fist through a human head and you get to see it from a side angle, it’s just too sickening for my tastes. It’s visceral and likely the exact impact the creative team wanted. Do not get me wrong, it’s one misstep in an overall strong first issue, I just do not wish anyone to be surprised. I am a huge fan of artist Jamal Igle (and an equally supporter for writing team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray). I am 99 percent positive on this book, however, particularly the impressive manner that Palmiotti and Gray establish a unique supporting cast with a few scenes.

Marvel Adventures #21: I really do not know the rhyme or reason of this current all ages book, a few recent issues were reprints, but best I can tell this installment has two new stories, one written by J.M. DeMatteis and the other by Jen Van Meter. Van Meter’s Hulk story very much had the Bill Bixby TV show vibe to it (which works in the limited space she had and for the all ages audience). As much as I enjoyed it, I found myself shocked at how great the Dr. Strange/Captain America team-up was. I never thought that patriotism and mysticism could be mixed in a story, but DeMatteis proved me very wrong. I really hope the Strange/Cap artist Wellington Alves has more assignments down the road for Marvel, particularly given his strong eye for layout.

Batman: The Brave & the Bold #14

Batman: The Brave & the Bold #14: I really appreciate when DC or Marvel does a story like this in the holidays. Rather than going with the Christian-themed tale (which as a Catholic, of course I dig), this Sholly Fisch/Rick Burchett tale partially focuses on the story of Chanukah and has the fate of a neighborhood shul (synagogue) as the center of the story. For parents, aunts and uncles looking for a small holiday gift that might interest a kid in comics—please snag this.

Resurrection Man #4: For Christmas, Santa, I would like this Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning-written comic series to have a nice long run. The fight scenes in this comic are intense, but not in a disturbing sense—and I just love how Fernando Dagnino utilizes distinct panel choices—as well as his approach to the book’s lead character, Mitch Shelley.

Black Panther #526: This book may be cancelled, but it is still entertaining the hell out of me. Last issue I complained about the murky qualities of the coloring obscuring Shawn Martinbrough’s art. I am happy to say this issue’s coloring of Martinbrough by Felix Serrano is much more complimentary. And writer David Liss is really hitting his stride pitting Panther against the Kingpin, which makes for great storytelling.

Brigid Alverson

Level Up

This is a rarity for a First Second book, but Level Up has a terrible cover. I know it relates to the subject matter, gaming, but it’s drab and plain, while the story itself is quite imaginative. Written by Gene Luen Yang and illustrated by Thien Pham, it’s a twist on the Asian-American stereotype of the pushy parents who only want their kid to go to medical school. The hero, Dennis Ouyang, just wants to play video games, but his parents don’t get it at all, and he never has a quarter to play Pac-Man, let alone the bucks to buy a Nintendo system. On the day of his father’s funeral, as Dennis is about to graduate high school, he buys a game system and becomes completely absorbed in gaming. What happens next made me think he was having a psychotic break, but it’s really a fantasy tale–a group of angelic creatures emerges from a card his father had sent him years ago and nudges him toward medical school. Yang and Pham do a nice job of teasing out the nuances of Dennis’s dilemmas, his changing friendships, and his slow realization of the right path–and how his past has unexpectedly prepared him for it. It’s a quick read and a good one.

It would be easy to miss the fact that Jim Henson’s The Storyteller, a new anthology from Archaia, is based on the television show of the same name. If, like me, you weren’t watching a lot of TV in the 1980s and never saw the show, you could read the whole book and not realize it. It’s true, one of the stories is based on an unproduced Storyteller script, but aside from that, there doesn’t seem to be any mention of the show, which is odd–I would at least expect to see an introduction explaining the genesis of the book. Never mind, though, because this is a great little anthology of folk tales adapted and illustrated by some of the most talented comics creators around: Roger Langridge, Colleen Coover, Jeff Parker, Marjorie Liu, among others. This being an Archaia book, the design and production values are superb, and while it’s an all-ages book, there’s a lot here for older readers to appreciate.

Andy Khouri

Wet Moon by Ross Campbell

Wet Moon

I’m a little ashamed to admit that I didn’t even know this existed before all five volumes showed up in the mail recently, but Ross Campbell’s Wet Moon became over the course of one rainy night one of my favorite comics series. There is no high concept hook to this story of variously gothic and geeky and gay girls (and some boys) attending art college in the American south, it’s just completely based on the fairly large cast and their complex relationships with each other. Light on melodrama but heavy on emotion, humor and character development, I’d say Wet Moon is a soap opera but in the best possible sense of that term. Campbell makes each individual truly that – an individual, and I found that as soon as I’d completed one volume (digest-sized paperbacks from Oni Press) I had to immediately start on the next one to see what happens next–not in the sense of a plot or cliffhanger, but just because I came to really enjoy hanging out with his characters. I read five books in just a couple of nights.

But what impressed me most about Wet Moon–and the sort of thing that I find myself caring more about with comics and film–is how Campbell created such an immersive world. From page one, you’re taken in. The uniqueness of the character designs, the details in the locations, the style of dialogue–everything about Wet Moon pulls you in, as opposed to being the sort of narrative you sort of observe and contemplate on some intellectual level. As much as I wanted to keep reading the narrative, I think I liked just sort of living in the world of Wet Moon even more. I can’t wait for the next book.

FreakAngels by Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield

FreakAngels

You’ve got 12 kids all born on the same day and all possessing increasingly amazing powers like telepathy and telekinesis and teleportation and so on, and they operate as a gang in a post-apocalyptic London. Each character as a specific talent–agriculture, mechanics, security, etc.–and they work together to protect the citizens of their neighborhood from marauders and other threats from around the city while insulting each other in the best Ellisian tradition.

FreakAngels is remarkable in part for Duffield’s great artwork, particularly his often gorgeous background renderings and ability to make you understand how something like a bicycle-pedal-based flying machine might work. Indeed, FreakAngels spends quite a lot of time exploring the notion of getting on with life in a post-apocalyptic society, where cleverness and innovation would be crucial to survival when there’s no electricity or other resources upon which the world has become dependent. Duffield is amazing at depicting these kinds of lever-and-pulley kinds of things in a way that’s easy to understand and actually quite nice to look at.

Like Campbell with Wet Moon, Duffield makes FreakAngels into a time and place that is utterly specific to itself, and I found myself getting a visceral thrill from visiting that world (the book’s leisurely, perhaps manga-like pace helps immerse you in it in a very cool way). But what keeps you there are the FreakAngels themselves, who’re among the most vivid characters Ellis has ever created, and of course the mystery at the heart of the series: who are the FreakAngels and what did they do?

FreakAngels has been completed and is available in six trade paperbacks or hardcovers.

The Shade invites you to Starman #6 (April 1995)

Writer James Robinson tweets that low sales might cut short his twelve-issue Shade miniseries. That would be a shame, because the first two issues of The Shade are tremendously entertaining, great-looking superhero comics. Robinson has returned to the character he revitalized, bringing with him the artistic talents of Cully Hamner and a bevy of high-profile guests like Darwyn Cooke, Frazer Irving, Javier Pulido, and Jill Thompson. The Beat’s Todd Allen has written a supportive post, noting along the way that certain New-52 titles which are selling below The Shade #1′s level (30,648 issues estimated sold to retailers) might also face the axe.

I’m somewhat skeptical of this rumor, despite Robinson’s insider knowledge, for reasons having to do with the 2009-10 miniseries The Great Ten.

Created by Grant Morrison and introduced in 2006 as part of the weekly 52 miniseries, The Great Ten is the official superhero team of the Chinese government. The Great Ten miniseries, from writer Tony Bedard and artist Scott McDaniel, ran for nine issues (cover dates December 2009-July 2010), with a planned tenth issue cancelled due to low sales. Specifically (per ICV2.com and Marc-Olivier Frisch), The Great Ten #1 sold 13,159 copies to retailers, issue #2 sold 8,760, and by the time issue #9 came out sales were down to 5,782. Since each issue included a vignette about a particular member of the ten-person team, the cancellation also screwed up the series’ format, adding a bit of insult to injury. To be sure, low sales might have been expected, inasmuch as the Ten weren’t especially critical to 52’s plot, Morrison wasn’t involved in the miniseries, and it came out over two years after 52 ended. (In the meantime, the Ten had appeared in a few issues of Checkmate.)

Thus, while DC did pare an issue off The Great Ten, that miniseries started off with considerably fewer sales, suffered a 33% drop between issues #1 and #2, and still only lost the one issue. In fact, for whatever it’s worth, the Ten’s August General In Iron is now part of the New-52′s Justice League International.

By contrast, The Shade follows one of the more popular characters from Robinson’s fondly-remembered Starman series. For those who came in late, Starman was one of DC’s 1990s successes, thanks both to the hero Robinson and artist Tony Harris introduced (along with a city full of other new characters) and for the ways in which it examined characters and legacies from all of DC’s superhero eras. It’s been collected in a 6-volume hardcover series, so clearly DC thought there was still an audience for those stories. In that context, a seventh volume with twelve issues’ worth of The Shade isn’t hard to imagine. (Admittedly, perhaps it is a little easier to imagine a slimmer hardcover; but again, I don’t think it will come to that.)

* * *

Naturally, this Shade rumor carries with it a couple of startling implications about DC’s cancellation policies. Put simply, DC may now believe that, after two months of chart-busting New 52 titles, it can afford to hold its superhero line to higher standards. Regardless, just as the Shade rumor is hard for me to believe, so is this notion that DC has suddenly become more draconian.

In April — the last full month of comics sales before DC announced the New 52, and therefore the last full month before the entire line got Senioritis — the charts looked a bit different. As it happens, the superhero line published 52 issues’ worth of ongoing series, miniseries, and specials, led by the 75,780 copies retailers bought of Green Lantern #65. However, most of the rest of those issues sold fewer than 31,000 copies each, including the following ongoing series:

Superboy #6 (30,490)
Birds of Prey #11 (30,270)
Superman/Batman #83 (28,403)
Batman Beyond #4 (26,722)
Teen Titans #94 (25,187)
Gotham City Sirens #22 (24,438)
Batgirl #20 (24,310)
Legion of Super-Heroes #12 (23,419)
Adventure Comics #525 (22,946)
Supergirl #63 (21,598)
Titans #34 (20,590)
Secret Six #32 (19,714)
Zatanna #12 (18,432)
Power Girl #23 (17,071)
JSA All-Stars #17 (16,706)
Booster Gold #43 (16,018)
Outsiders #38 (13,092)
Jonah Hex #66 (10,335)
REBELS #27 (10,014)
THUNDER Agents #6 (9,680)
Doom Patrol #21 (9,435)
Freedom Fighters #8 (8,601)
Xombi #2 (8,345)
Doc Savage #13 (7,426)
Spirit #13 (7,041)

Even then, a number of those were dead books walking. JSA All-Stars, Outsiders, REBELS, Doom Patrol, and Freedom Fighters had already been cancelled, with their final issues coming out in May. In fact, in light of the relaunch, we can lop off just about everything from Titans on down; because except for Jonah Hex and THUNDER Agents, none of it has survived recognizably to the New 52.

And that’s another point in The Shade’s favor: the THUNDER Agents ongoing series was selling fewer than 10,000 copies per issue six months ago, and it’s about to be relaunched as a six-issue miniseries. Perhaps THUNDER Agents is a special case for which the math works out pretty well, albeit in some arcane fashion: in addition to the 10-issue ongoing and the 6-issue miniseries, DC has reprinted all of the back issues in hardcover Archives and is about to start paperback Chronicles reprints. However, it could mean simply that the feature has staying power, and it’s reasonable to contend that Starman and its spinoffs are similar. By the same token, I suppose that if the new THUNDER Agents miniseries tanks, it doesn’t look good for The Shade.

Anyway, at the very least it looked like DC in April had accepted a good bit of its line selling at or below the 30,000 mark. However, in October DC had jumped to an average issue selling (by my calculations) 56,851 copies, up almost 89% from April’s 30,148. As Todd noted, if The Shade’s 30K puts it in danger, then October’s bottom four New-52 ongoings (OMAC at 29,434; Static Shock at 29,124; Blackhawks at 28,534; and Men Of War at 28,301) should be a little nervous too.

For now, though, I’m more concerned with October’s other new miniseries. Legion: Secret Origin and Huntress debuted with sales of 38,248 and 36,099 respectively; and Penguin and My Greatest Adventure charted below Shade with numbers of 26,380 and 17,222 respectively. I note that while neither of the latter is a 12-issue miniseries, no one is talking about them ending early.

There’s also Neal Adams’ Batman: Odyssey vol. 2 #1, which charted just below The Shade #1 with 30,410 copies. No one seems especially worried about its future either, but it picks up about where Volume 1 left off in terms of sales. Plus, you know, Adams is apparently indulging every gonzo impulse he’s ever had. Again, though, the fact that Odyssey seems safe, selling about what Shade #1 did, argues against a stricter sales standard.

Somewhat counterintuitively, so does the news of Marvel’s recent cancellations. CBR’s Kiel Phegley summarized the grim details:

[R]egular series Daken: Dark Wolverine, Ghost Rider, X-23 and Iron Man 2.0 have all been cancelled. Miniseries Destroyers and Victor Von Doom were scuttled before their first issues even saw print, while All-Winners Squad was cancelled before the completion of its life as a limited series. Alpha Flight was downgraded from an ongoing to a miniseries after being upgraded from mini to ongoing earlier in the summer. And monthly series PunisherMAX and Black Panther: The Most Dangerous Man Alive will cease publication once their current, long-gestating storylines wrap in February.

[* * *]

For the most part, titles that remain untouched are those built off of properties and franchises that have proven to have long runs in the market, be they spin-offs of popular titles or series that have lasted for hundreds of issues, even through market fluctuations and creative changes. Even the lowest selling comics that remain, such as X-Factor, have shown a level of sales consistency from month-to-month, pointing toward a dependable place in the market. It is logical to assume Marvel is relying on steady, stable performers first and foremost rather than banking on newer, unproven titles bucking their downwards sales trends and building an audience over the long run.

Among the titles listed above, X-23 sold the most copies of its October issue (24,043). With that number as a guide, it’s not surprising that these books were cancelled; but at the same time, it’s hard not to think that if The Shade were a Marvel book, it’d be pretty safe. For the past several years, Marvel has dominated the sales charts both through popular titles and sheer volume, so its standards are going to be a little different from DC’s. Still, if DC aspires to those kinds of numbers, Marvel has just established its own cancellation threshold, which the vast majority of DC’s October superhero titles would be well above. Moreover, thanks to its Starman pedigree, The Shade arguably has that “dependable place in the market” Kiel mentioned. While DC may want better monthly numbers, it would probably be just as happy with consistent sales on the inevitable collection.

* * *

Naturally, for this kind of title, trying to arrive at an appropriate sales “sweet spot” is tough. Starman was a great series, but it’s been over for ten years. Not all of its collections are in print, and as nice as the Omnibus hardcovers are, they’re pricey too. Besides Starman’s eighty-plus issues, The Shade picks up a little from Robinson’s run writing Justice League of America, so depending on the amount of minutiae involved, it may not be too new-reader-friendly. In short, it can be a hard sell — and yet, DC solicited twelve issues of the stuff, of which two elegantly-written, exquisitely-drawn installments have been published so far. Additionally, DC ordered those twelve issues knowing they would run alongside the New-52′s almost-completely-different continuity. DC may be expecting more from its New 52 titles, but I’m not sure it’s fair to measure The Shade’s success the same way.

Having said all of that, certainly The Shade could use more readers. It’s a nimble, great-looking spotlight on a character who started out a Golden Age villain and ended up a peculiar sort of antihero, and it offers another glimpse into the unique world of Robinson’s Starman. If you haven’t read issues #1 or #2, they have my official endorsement (as does Starman, but that pretty much goes without saying). Heck, Gene Ha is the guest artist for issue #12, and he’s stoked about drawing it, so the book needs to be supported for that reason alone.

On one level I’m not overly worried about The Shade making its full allotment of issues. DC is still a fairly conservative company and I have to think it went into The Shade knowing the New 52 books would make market factors behave a little differently. However, the fact that a book’s writer is concerned about its fate this early is unusual enough to warrant some attention. Save The Shade, I say; and enjoy some great comics while you’re at it.

Wolverine and the X-Men

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

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

Chris Arrant

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

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

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

Graeme McMillan

Flash #3

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

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

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

Chris Mautner

RASL #12

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

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

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

Michael May

Justice League Dark #3

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

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

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

Optic Nerve #12

Welcome to What Are You Reading? Our special guest today is Chris Duffy, editor of First Second’s Nursery Rhyme Comics. We spotlighted this anthology project all week here on Robot 6; check out our interviews with Chris as well as contributors Scott C., Aaron Reiner, Richard Sala and Eleanor Davis.

And to see what Chris and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below.

*****

Tim O’Shea

Resurrection Man

Resurrection Man #2: The writing team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning has increasingly grown on me in recent years. But what is really selling me on returning to this series with issue #3 is artist Fernando Dagnino. Whether intentional on his part or not, there are moments that Dagnino’s approach with this book reminds of Butch Guice’s style (the artist on the initial RM run).

Mister Terrific #2: After I read this issue, I mentally kicked myself for the waste of money. The art on this book is just incredibly rushed and uninspiring (by Gianluca Gugliotta — which is a shame as he has a two-page splash at one point with the lead character that is quite exquisite), which could be overlooked if Eric Wallace’s plot did not leave me wanting far more.

Batman and Robin #2: Writer Peter Tomasi constructs some great moments between fathers and sons in this issue (Alfred and Bruce, Bruce and Damian). And after thinking that DC editorial had settled Damian into a traditional sidekick role, I was pleasantly surprised to see Tomasi inject a bit of old (character roots) internal good vs. evil conflict back into the character.

Alpha Flight #5: The art of the bait and switch is something that is used to great effect in this series, repeatedly—and I have to tire of it. Also intriguing to see the character dynamics between Taskmaster and Puck. Glad this series has become an ongoing.

FF

FF #10: This is the best art I have seen from Barry Kitson in a very long time. I am unsure if he was experimenting with a change in his style, or had been rushed, on past assignments—but this issue is visually strong thanks to him. And my FF series rule that the title reads better when Sue Richards appears still holds true (she is in this issue). As a 1970s fan who always loved the surprise cliffhanger, this issue ends on a solid note (and no, it’s not Johnny Storm alive).

Super Dinosaur #5: Robert Kirkman writes an appealing all-ages book with this project. Note I said all ages. Yes, my 12-year-old son book will enjoy this book. But of equal importance, his 43-year-old dad was thrown and hooked by the big reveal in this issue.

Uncanny X-Force: The Apocolypse Solution trade paperback: While I have been reading Rick Remender’s Venom series, I had not checked out this series. The NYCC announcement that he would be taking on Secret Avengers (with one of my favorite artists Gabriel Hardman), I thought it would be a good time to consider the writer’s approach on this X-covert title. Fortunately two of my pals at the local comic book store (thanks Dugan and Mike) steered me toward this first trade collection for the series. Artist Jerome Opeña (who I first took note of when he teamed with writer Stuart Moore in 2004 on Dark Horse/Rocket’s Lone) is perfectly suited for these clandestine affairs. And I like that it seems the dirty work this team must do keeps them out of most X-crossovers that occur, making it even more of an accessible read for me.

The Shade #1: Good giggly wiggly, how did I not know that this maxi-series involved one of my favorite artists, Cully Hamner. Call me crazy, but Hamner’s ever-evolving eye for distinctive and cinematic layouts is steadily making him this comics era’s Alex Toth. I have a new theory about James Robinson’s writing (which was last consistently engaging on his long and beloved Starman run), if he can write a story that has a member of the O’Dare family (or maybe it’s the fact he’s back in Opal City), but something in Robinson relaxes and he delivers a solid story (this maxi-series features Shade’s girlfriend, Hope O’Dare). While the issue opens and closes with a simple three-word phrase: “October brings melancholy”—a great deal happens in between that phrase and its repeating. Welcome back, Opal City. Now if someone can just find a way to bring back Sue and Ralph.

Chris Mautner

In preparation for my upcoming big Comics College post on Grant Morrison, I read his entire run on JLA, which I had more or less avoided up until now. To be honest, I wasn’t terribly impressed by it and am not quite sure why it’s garnered so many accolades. It strikes me overall as very shallow work; very plot heavy and so focused on having a grand, epic narrative that it misses the deeper themes and character touches that I think make Morrison such a noteworthy writer. In short, it’s all rather shallow and nowhere where as rich as say, Doom Patrol, or Invisibles. Plus, while I don’t like ragging on artists, I must say that Howard Porter’s pencils do absolutely nothing for me.

Shade #1

Shade #1 — Why couldn’t the bulk of the new 52 titles be as well plotted and entertaining as this issue? I’ve never read James Robinson’s run on Starman before and know nothing about the Shade, but I found this to be a smartly plotted, entertaining superhero comic that had me curious to eager to find out what happened next. A good deal of this success should be laid at artist Cully Hamner’s feet. My only gripe is regarding the gore at the end that seems a bit excessive to me. I feel like a prude complaining about this stuff, but it feels so out of place in an otherwise disarmingly charming comic.

Tom Bondurant

So there I was, enjoying the heck out of Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy’s American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #5, when it hit me — didn’t Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang make fun of the whole cool-trend-mashup thing five years ago, when they turned the Nazi Lord Julius into a vampire named Primaul (TM) in “Architecture & Mortality?”

Then I remembered Julius was a Nazi vampire gorilla, and that made it OK.

Kidding aside, SOTF was a really fine adjunct to the main AV series, because man were those Nazi vamps some scary f’ers. Most of issue #5 involves a blow-the-doors-off chase scene, with our heroes using a death ray to melt a path for their motorcycle down the side of a mountain as a giant monster tears into said Nazis and tanks are plummeting off said mountain too closely for comfort. Contrast that with the quiet epilogue, which reminds us why Felicia and Cash were tearing down the mountain in the first place, and you get an excellent example of the skills of all involved.

The Unwritten

The Unwritten #30 (written by Mike Carey, drawn by Peter Gross with Vince Locke) was a melancholy, heartbreaking conclusion to the Golden Age arc “On To Genesis.” I keep wanting to introduce this series to my friends and family who are Harry Potter fans, but it has gone so far beyond Potter pastiche that the comparison no longer applies. “Genesis” brings together a forgotten superhero and Frankenstein’s monster as Tom’s friends and allies in his war with the shadowy forces who seek to rule (to keep ruling?) over … well, over all of human culture and history, I guess. This time, though, the superhero is just one facet of a tragic figure who, like Tom, straddles the line between human being and literary creation. On one hand you’re grateful for the life he has, but really it’s not that great of a life. The events of the issue provoke a final-page act of defiance from Tom, energizing the series for the next big (biweekly!) arc.

Finally, I’ve been going truly old-school with my super-team reading, having picked up a copy of All-Star Comics Archives Vol. 1. So far I’m only through the first story, the Justice Society’s first appearance in issue #3, but — and I know how this sounds — I’m a little surprised at how well it holds up. See, for those who don’t know, the first story isn’t really a JSA adventure in the way we might think of one. Instead, it’s a set of individual adventures united by a framing sequence after Johnny Thunder and his Thunderbolt crash the weekly JSA meeting. (Subsequent stories were apparently more conventional.) What’s more, the individual stories were produced by the characters’ regular creative teams — so Gardner Fox and E.E. Hibbard drew the Flash chapter, Fox and Shelly Moldoff drew the Hawkman chapter, Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily drew the Spectre chapter, etc. This is hardly an uncommon practice today, but it’s not what I was used to (having grown up on the Justice League and its fancy-dancy single creative team). In fact I found it pretty charming, especially at the end of each story when a wide-eyed Johnny Thunder would get some reassuring moral from Doctor Fate or the Spectre. I’m not used to supernatural figures, who play with forces which would make mere mortals pee their pants in awe and/or terror, sounding like your favorite uncle. There’s eleven more of these Archives, and I have the first of Roy Thomas’ All Star Companions as well — so I may have to buy a new bookshelf….

Chris Duffy

Ilium

Ilium (novel) by Dan Simmons: I read Hyperion this summer by the same author and ate it up! Ilium is less absorbing at first but it builds curiosity and suspense about the fate of humankind as it goes. It’s a book with not one but about 17 high concepts going on at once. (That’s what Hyperion was like as well.) Far-flung future. It stars a handful of old-style humans (like us), a group of robots from Jupiter’s moons (who are more human than humans), and a resurrected Homeric scholar who it watching the story of the Iliad play out…on Mars. It’s actually much stranger than that sounds. This Simmons guy has written a lot and I plan to try more after this.

Action Comics by Morrison and Morales: I really like watching Superman’s origin retold with a new twist: Superman is actually an interesting character. You wonder what makes him tick. Plus there’s a lot of ACTION. Reminds me a bit of the Tom DeHaven Superman novel (which was great).

Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol: I liked it a lot–very well told teenage ghost story (for teens and starring teens, including the ghost).

Duncan the Wonder Dog: I have only read a page, but it looks pretty good. I’m a sucker for stories about animals with human intelligence. That’s what this is, right?

Optic Nerve #12: Buy this floppy! Adrian Tomine is one of a kind. This issue has two stories. The first is “Hortisculpture,” told in daily strip format with a full page Sunday-style comic after every 6 strips. A middle aged landscaper hears the siren call of a new art form–a melding of sculpture and horticulture. Get it? Hortisculpture! The strips move forward in a really endearing way–the kicker panels are always great little character moments. It’s not always hilarious (nor is it always meant to be) but I really like all the people Tomine creates. “Amber Sweet” ran originally in the New York Times. It’s a doppleganger story with a porn twist. It reads perfectly as a short story. The highlight of the issue though: the letters page. Tomine runs letters that are endearing, crazy, angry, condescending, litigious, and broken-hearted. The longest one sounds like it was written by a Tomine character– a student who adapted an Optic Nerve comic into a play and presented it as his own work. Strange enough to do it, but to then write to the cartoonist and fess up? Oh my god, I would read a book of these.

Batwoman #2

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

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

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, I’d first grab hold of my favorite of DC’s New 52, Batwoman #2 (DC, $2.99). J.H. Williams III has successfully kept up to the immense expectations he accumulated following his run with Greg Rucka, and the artwork seems to benefit even more by J.H.’s input into the story as co-writer. Next I’d dig down for two of my regular pulls, Northlanders #45 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99) and Uncanny X-Force #16 (Marvel, $3.99). For my final pick, I’d have to miss a bunch of other titles for the chance to get the CBLDF Liberty Annual 2011 #4 (Image, $4.99). I love the anthology format, and having that plus the good cause plus the a-list talent makes it a must get; seriously, can you imagine one comic book containing new work by Frank Quitely, Williams, Mark Waid, J. Michael Straczynski, Matt Wagner AND Craig Thompson? BELIEVE IT!

If I had $30, I’d return to my LCS for the one-two Jonathan Hickman punch of SHIELD #3 (Marvel, $2.99) and FF #10 ($2.99). After that, I’d get the coda to Schism, X-Men: Regenesis #1 (Marvel, $3.99) and top it off with Who Is Jake Ellis? #5 (Marvel, $2.99). This book is like a great cult movie; impeccable craftsmanship, but in a genre that the entire mainstream couldn’t get behind. Regardless, I’m looking forward to what Tonci and Nathan do next.

For my splurge, I’d lay it all on the line for Black Metal Vol. 2 graphic novel (Oni, $11.99). I’ve always thought metal meets sorcery is an ideal combination (so much so I did a comic about it once), and this Rick Spears/Chuck BB joint does it for me. I have high hopes for this book, and also to see Rick Spears do more work in comics.

Graeme McMillan

X-Men: Regenesis #1

If I had $15 this week and a compulsion to spend it on comics, I’d be thankful for the existence of The Shade #1 (DC, $2.99), which I’ve been looking forward to since it was first announced a long, long time ago; I missed out on James Robinson’s Starman the first time around–I picked it up through the highly-recommended Omnibus collections–but this slight return promises to be worth reading. I’m also curious about X-Men: Regenesis #1 (Marvel, $3.99); I thought that Schism‘s ending was very flat, and I’m wondering if Kieron Gillen can sell the new status quo in a more convincing fashion. Rounding out the haul, some second issues of New 52 books that I enjoyed the first time around: Superboy #2 and Batwoman #2 (Both DC, $2.99).

If I had $30, I’d pick up a few more second issues of New 52 books: I enjoyed both Demon Knights and Batman and Robin‘s first issues, and was on the fence about Mister Terrific, but find myself curious enough to want to see what happens next in all of them (All DC, $2.99). I’m also curious enough to pick up the first issue of Dark Horse’s Orchid; I’m not a Rage Against The Machine fan at all, but for $1, how much could it hurt? Finally, the CBLDF’s Liberty Annual 2011 is released this week (Image, $4.99), and that’s always worth supporting.

In terms of splurging, there’s a strong nostalgic pull from IDW’s Transformers Classics UK Vol. 1 collection ($29.99), but I think I’ll go back to another old favorite, and pick up the 17th volume (!) of 20th Century Boys (Viz, $12.99), instead.

Chris Mautner

Pope Hats #2

If I had $15: There’s a new issue of Glamourpuss, so that’s a must buy — can’t miss out on Sim’s continued tenuous attempts to explain how Margaret Mitchell led to Alex Raymond’s death. There’s also the second issue of Pope Hats by Ethan Riley, an amazing looking comic that could well up on a number of “best of” lists come the end of the year, methinks.

If I had $30: There’s a lot of great stuff out this week, so with $30 I’d have to put those two comics away for now and get one of two new books from Fantagraphics — either Gahan Wilson’s Nuts or The Cabbie by Italian cartoonist Marti. I’ve raved about Nuts before–it’s a piercingly accurate look at the pain and perils involved in growing up. Cabbie, on the other hand, is a uber-violent Dick Tracy homage by way of Taxi Driver.

Also out this week is Drawn and Quarterly’s new hardcover edition of Dan Clowes’ Death Ray, easily one of the finest comics of the past 10 years. I already own a copy, but if you haven’t read this story yet then it should be your immediate pick for the week, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

Splurge: Oh jeez, so many books I want. Since I’m splurging I’ll grab the fifth volume of the Complete Bloom County, the 12th volume of the Complete Dick Tracy, the third volume of John Stanley’s Nancy, and Seth’s latest book, The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists, which looks simply swell. I’d also pick up Alan Moore: Conversations from University of Mississippi, a collection of interviews with the great bearded one, including one I did with him back in 2006 when Lost Girls came out.

Brigid Alverson

20th Century Boys

If I had just $15, that would be OK because vol. 17 of 20th Century Boys, which is my must-buy comic of the month, is only $12.99. This series is long, but Naoki Urasawa’s unforgettable characters and twisted-yet-logical plot keep it from sagging. Then I’d beg, borrow, or steal one more dollar (or shop somewhere that gives discounts) so I can pick up Veronica #209 ($2.99), from Archie Comics, because despite the title it is actually the third issue of Kevin Keller’s miniseries.

If I had $30, I would add in Jimmy Gownley’s latest Amelia Rules graphic novel, The Meaning of Life and Other Stuff ($10.99). Amelia Rules is a children’s comic, but Gownley’s sophisticated storytelling makes it a joy to read at any age. That leaves enough for one more comic; I’ll make it issue #5 of Who is Jake Ellis?, which wraps up this stylish spy series.

Splurge: That’s easy: the third volume of Dark Horse’s Archie Archives ($49.99), pricy but filled with fascinating comics from the World War II era that would otherwise never see the light of day.

Michael May

Shade #1

With only $15, I’d start with a couple of favorites: Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE #2 ($2.99) and Alpha Flight #5 ($2.99). Frankenstein’s still new (even counting the Flashpoint issues, which I do), but it’s a solid book with a fantastic concept. And I especially can’t wait for Alpha Flight after the last-page reveal of #4. I only predicted that about two seconds before turning the page with hands that were literally shaking from giddiness. It’s hard to say that I’m enjoying Van Lente, Pak and Eaglesham’s run more than Byrne’s because they’re building on his foundation, but yeah … I’m enjoying it more. Next I’d add Shade #1 ($2.99). I didn’t stick with Robinson’s Starman long enough and lived to regret it, so I don’t want to make that mistake again. And the artist rotation sounds too good to be true. I’m also into Mike Carey’s X-Men, partly because, so far, I haven’t had to buy a bunch of other comics to enjoy it. X-Men Legacy #257 ($2.99) also goes to the register. I’d top off the tank with All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #12 ($2.99), because I love a Batman/Zatanna team-up.

If I had $30, I’d add a couple more single-issues to the stack. Marvel’s too-expensive, but fun-sounding Legion of Monsters #1 ($3.99) and the extremely cool, but in-reality-I’m-trade-waiting-it Super Dinosaur #5 ($2.99). And finally, I’d grab Little Jackie Lantern ($7.99), a Halloween board book published by IDW and illustrated by my friend Jessica Hickman who has a knack for combining cute and spooky in just the right amount.

I’m tempted to declare Clive Barker’s Abarat: Absolute Midnight hardcover ($24.99) as my splurge item, simply because I’ve been waiting so very, very long for it. But even though it’s being released through Diamond this week, it’s not comics, so my real pick is Archaia’s Immortals: Gods and Heroes anthology ($19.95). It’s tied into a movie that I don’t particularly care about, but I love mythology and the talent on this — Jock, Brian Clevinger, Francesco Francavilla, Ben McCool, Ron Marz, Jimmy Palmiotti/Justin Gray, etc. — is awesome.

Brian Wood returns to Marvel

FanExpo Canada wraps up today in Toronto, and both Marvel and DC were there this weekend announcing various projects:

• DC Comics will relaunch the Justice Society by writer James Robinson and artist Nicola Scott. The new adventures of the JSA will be set not on the “New 52″ Earth, but on Earth-2, as they were before Crisis on Infinite Earths combined DC’s multiple Earths into one big sandbox back in the 1980s. “Everyone’s saying, ‘How can there be superheroes before the five years?’ We’re actually bringing back Earth-2,” Robinson said.
• Marvel announced Brian Wood will write for the publisher once again, in a teaser that seems to point a finger at a Wolverine project.
• Marvel’s Alpha Flight has been upgraded from a limited series to an ongoing.”We’ve got Taskmaster showing up, we’ve got Wolverine and other characters journeying north to find out what’s going on with Alpha Flight,” said co-writer Fred Van Lente. “We learn that Alpha flight’s actually a member of a super, super team called The Commonwealth of Heroes. I’m very excited about writing those characters — I love them a lot and it’s going to be a good time.” The Commonwealth of Heroes? I am intrigued. CBR has more details in an interview with Van Lente and Greg Pak, where they mention that Captain Britain and MI-13 will play a role in the Commonwealth Heroes.
• In addition to Jill Thompson, other artists working on the upcoming Shade miniseries written by James Robinson include Gene Ha and Darwyn Cooke.
• Marvel will publish a five-issue miniseries called Destroyers, by writer Fred Van Lente and artist Kyle Hotz. The book will feature The Thing, the Beast, A-Bomb, She-Hulk, Karkas the Deviant and Devil Dinosaur. “A lot of this series is about how monsters feel about being monsters and how comfortable they are with it. Hank McCoy is probably the most comfortable in his furry blue skin. He’s got an analytical mind. In this story, a colleague from his past gets murdered. That sets him on a quest to solve a mystery and puts him on a collision course with the Destroyers,” Van Lente told CBR.
• Marvel also announced the return of two more CrossGen properties — Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in December by writer Peter Milligan and artist Roman Rosanas, and Route 666 in February by writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and artist Peter Nguyen. Both are four-issue mini-series.

Shade by Jill Thompson

Although usually not active on the weekend, DC’s The Source blog had two tidbits today coming out of Fan Expo Canada.

The first has to do with the return of the Justice Society. According to DC’s The Source blog:

There’s been plenty of speculation about the Justice Society in The New 52 – and we can now confirm that they will, in fact, be back! As with everything else with DC Comics – The New 52, however, there’s a significant twist. What is it? We’re not saying. Just. Quite. Yet.

“It’s everything you want, but not what you expect,” promises Eddie Berganza, DC Comics Executive Editor.

As Brian Cronin pointed out, word from the convention is that James Robinson and Nicola Scott are working on the series which will be set during an as-yet unspecified time period – on Earth-2.

Speaking of Robinson, the Source also announced Jill Thompson as the artist on Shade #8. The standalone issue — set in Paris in the early 1900s — is something Robinson wrote specifically for Thompson, reminiscent of the standalone stories Robinson would write when he was doing Starman. Shade #8 comes out next May.

Spera, Volume 1

It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes, and first issues so that I don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “Jeff Lemire’s Frankenstein is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.

Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.

Archaia

The Grave Doug Freshley – A lot of publishers are doing Weird Western comics lately and that’s just fine with me.

Spera, Volume 1 – I like the sound of this fairy tale in which a couple of princesses combine efforts to save their kingdoms. It’s not that I’m anti-prince, but that’s a cool, new way to do that story.

Avatar

Captain Swing and the Electrical Pirates of Cindery Island – Warren Ellis doing Steampunk sounds thrilling, but really all they had to say was “pirates.” I bet this is still really good though, even if you’re pickier than I am.

Boom!

Roger Langridge’s Snarked #1 – After a well-loved zero-issue, Langridge’s version of Wonderland gets its real, official start.

The Huntress #1

Dark Horse

Turok, Son of Stone, Volume 1: Aztlan – I never read any of the Valiant stuff, nor the original comics they were based on, but having rediscovered my interest in dinosaurs in the last few years, I gave the first issue of this a shot and enjoyed it.

DC

The Huntress #1 – How’s Levitz doing with his new Legion stuff? Can he still write? DC finally rebooted the Legion enough times to pound the fandom right out of me, so I haven’t been keeping up. I’m always curious about the Huntress though, because she seems like a character with a ton of potential. I’m drowning in the hype in this solicit (“Hot new miniseries!” “Largest price on her head in DC Universe history!” “Jaw-dropping events!” “Defines her life!” “Tie-in to upcoming Birds of Prey!”), but I’d like to read a good Huntress story and am hoping this qualifies.

The Shade #1 – This is probably as close as we’re going to get to a new James Robinson Starman series, but you know what? It’s really damn close. And it’s got some amazing artists scheduled for it like Darwyn Cooke, Javier Pulido, Jill Thompson, Frazer Irving, and Gene Ha.

Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus, Volume 1 tpb – Hey! Cheapskate edition! I hadn’t even dared to hope.

Showcase Presents: Batman, Volume 5 – I was getting all excited about the Tales of the Batman: Don Newton collection also coming out this month and was about to write something about how much I love Bronze Age Batman. Then I realized that that’s what this collects too, only cheaper and it’s slightly earlier stuff. Still, that Newton volume is in color, so I’ll probably want both books.

The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #12 – Do you know what I like better than a Batman/Zatanna team-up? I don’t either.

Hark! A Vagrant

The Annotated Sandman, Volume 1 - Dammit, DC. You’re going to make me buy this again, aren’t you?

Drawn and Quarterly

Hark! A Vagrant – If I could only buy one thing this month, Kate Beaton’s collection would be it. I cannot wait to start loaning this out and sharing her stuff with my friends and family who don’t read webcomics.

Dynamite

Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris, Volume 1 – Colossus of Mars – Unlike the glut of Green Hornet comics, there seem to be solid reasons for each of Dynamite’s John Carter series to exist side-by-side. I’m eager to hear what Burroughs fans think of this one.

Sherlock Holmes: Year One – Ditto this and Holmes fans. Is it closer in tone to A Study in Scarlet or Young Sherlock Holmes?

First Second

Orcs, Volume 1: Forged for War - Orcs are my least-favorite Tolkien/D&D mythical race, but I trust First Second to change my mind about that. Dwarves better watch their backs if they don’t want to get bumped to the bottom of the list.

Humanoids

The Zombies That Ate the World, Volume 1: Bring Me Back My Head! – My Guy Davis collection is one step closer to being complete.

IDW

Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #1 – In spite of what I said about my Legion fandom earlier, this really does sound cool. Then again, I’m the guy who liked the Star Trek/X-Men crossovers.

Legion of Monsters #1

30 Days of Night #1 – Very excited about a 30 Days of Night ongoing. This means I probably need to catch up on the last couple of mini-series though.

Cold War #1 – Yes, I do believe I could get into a John Byrne spy series.

Bloom County: The Complete Library, Volume 5 – Eep! I’m falling behind!

Kill Shakespeare, Volume 2: The Blast of War - The massive Fables-meets-the-Bard mini-series is all collected finally. Which means I get to read it now.

Marvel

Avengers 1959 #1 and 2 – See what I said about John Byrne’s Cold War, substitute Howard Chaykin for Byrne; add Namora and Kraven the Hunter.

Legion of Monsters #1 – Someone started a meme a while ago about what titles you’d want in a Marvel version of DC’s New 52. I’ve been giving that some thought and a couple of my wishes were a  comic about all of Marvel’s monster characters and another about Elsa Bloodstone. Marvel’s apparently reading my mind.

Moonstone

Return of the Monsters – I’m already pretty interested in Moonstone’s pulp characters: Black Bat, Phantom Detective, Domino Lady, and the Spider. But I’m hooked right through the cheek when they meet Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, a mummy, and a werewolf in a series of four, separate comics.

Airboy Presents The Airfighters - I’m a little confused about whether this has already been solicited before, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. I haven’t read it yet and I want to.

Nordguard

NBM

Salvatore, Volume 2: An Eventful Crossfire – I do love a good anthropomorphic animal story. Blame Blacksad.

Scar

Madame Samurai, Volume 2 – The first volume of this was quiet and beautiful. Glad there’s a second.

Sofawolf

Nordguard – The blurb for this reads like a standard Northern adventure story about a team of sled dogs who have to brave a variety of dangers to save some miners. I dig Jack London and all, but I’ve seen that story before, usually on Disney. Then I looked at the cover and realized that the sled dogs are wearing parkas and carrying revolvers.

And that’s it for me. What did I leave out?

Don Newton and Dick Giordano provide a classic Batman cover

Sometimes it’s been hard for me to process the New 52 as anything but an amorphous mass of, well, Newness. In this respect, DC’s October solicitations are helping to define that mass, with details like the five-year timeframe and Superman’s work boots.

Still, despite the promise of widespread change — and the somewhat-irrational implication that those who aren’t curious now will be left behind later — it’s been fairly easy for me almost to ignore the solicits, and just buy the books when they come out. After all, presumably DC is after new (or returning) readers who don’t follow the solicits and aren’t attuned to the spoilers.

Besides, the October solicits also include some attractive reprints; so let’s get right to it, shall we?

* * *

WHEN TRINITARIANS CLASH; or WORLD’S FIGHTIN’-EST

Here’s the thing about Justice League #2: by now, 25 years after Dark Knight Book Four, a Superman/Batman fight is nothing new. However, the relationship between these two characters is one of DC’s most primal. Each taps into a different set of reader-identification impulses: Superman represents wish-fulfillment, and Batman stands for a more practical approach. In a very real sense, Batman’s enduring popularity is bound up with readers having chosen his brand of practicality over Superman’s embrace of fantasy.

The fact that this fight will play out as part of the Justice League’s new origin adds another layer of meaning, because Batman’s mere participation in the League has occasionally been deemed incompatible with his characterization. In fact, while the Justice League itself facilitates the interaction of genres (fantasy, mythology, space opera, etc.), its members tend to be more similar to Superman than to Batman; and so Batman’s pulp-style tendencies are often downplayed in fights with the likes of Despero and the Lord of Time. Therefore, this is not just another Superman/Batman throwdown. Instead, it has the potential to define Batman’s role in the Justice League, and by extension across the reintroduced superhero landscape.

Or, you know, Batman could have even more of an advantage, since Superman’s powers are still developing.  Plus he’s probably got a lot of prep time.

WHO’S WHO

Classic DC names showing up in unexpected places: the Signalmen (plural of an old Batman villain) in Justice League International #2; Brainstorm (old JLA villain) in Mr. Terrific #2; N.O.W.H.E.R.E. (an acronym from Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol) in the second issues of Superboy and Teen Titans; and Amazing Man (onetime member of the All-Star Squadron; successor joined the Justice League) in OMAC #2.

MINISERIES MAKING A COMEBACK

Count me among those excited for the return of Batman: Odyssey – not necessarily because I enjoy the series on its merits, but because it’s another chance to speculate about what Neal Adams wants to accomplish with it. I mean, even All Star Batman & Robin had its own place in Frank Miller’s Batman stories. Odyssey apparently exists apart from anything Adams has ever done with Batman, except maybe some demented version of those Power Records comics.

Speaking of standing apart, the new Shade miniseries – the second one, remember, since James Robinson and a handful of fine artists did four issues with the character in 1997 — sure seems like it’s not for the uninitiated. Rather, it feels like the next best thing to Robinson actually restarting his Starman series after a ten-year absence. And why stop with Starman? Maybe The Shade will refer to Robinson’s current Justice League work, which in October will only be out-of-date by a month. I’m trying not to be sarcastic here, because Robinson has a history of ignoring editorial mandates about continuity. Much of his Elseworlds miniseries The Golden Age (drawn by Paul Smith) laid the groundwork for Starman, so in a sense Robinson has always been playing in his own little corner of DC’s superhero line.

COLLECTIONS

The reprints and collections in this crop of solicits are really quite good. Among the $7.99 issues, Mark Farmer and Alan Davis’ Superboy’s Legion stands out almost on eye-candy value alone. It’s lighter than the team’s original Nail miniseries, but it doesn’t go nuts with the cameos like Another Nail did.

Somewhat more serious is JLA: Age Of Wonder, which essentially puts Superman, Starman, Green Lantern, et al., at the dawn of the 20th Century. In scope and tone it reminded me of Superman: Red Son, because both deal with good intentions gone awry on a global scale. However, AOW doesn’t try to be as satirical as Red Son, so in that respect I liked AOW more. Worth the $7.99, definitely.

Can’t quite say the same for the two-issue reprint of Superman: Secret Identity. On one hand I’m glad it’s being reprinted, because it’s a gorgeous, affecting take on a “real-world” Man of Steel. The only caveat I have about recommending this edition is that DC should have just reissued the 2004 paperback collection. Sure, the two new $7.99 issues will be cheaper (the paperback was $19.95 seven years ago), but they won’t be as durable; and this is a story you’ll want to read many times.

It should surprise none of you that I am a big fan of literary annotations. Besides annotated versions of The Hobbit and A Christmas Carol, and Jess Nevins’ League of Extraordinary Gentlemen annotations, I have Leslie Klinger’s three-volume New Annotated Sherlock Holmes — so of course I’m signing up for Klinger’s Annotated Sandman. (It’s cheaper than the Absolute editions, too!) Now maybe I will finally feel smart while reading Sandman….

Volume 2 of the Steve Ditko Omnibus reprints a lot of odds and ends from the late ‘60s through the early ‘00s. If you’ve always wanted to read Ditko’s Hawk & Dove, or an arc from the Prince Gavyn “Starman” feature (written by Paul Levitz), and you don’t mind a collection with two issues of Man-Bat, a handful of “Odd Man” shorts, and some random Legion of Super-Heroes issues, then this is the book for you.

Last month DC solicited a new Justice League Archives, but I still didn’t expect to see a new Legion Archives in these solicits. We’re well into the ‘70s at this point, and well past the point that a casual Legion fan could just jump into this hardcover series. (Previous Archives have been discounted on eBay, but Volume 8 is out of print and pretty hard to find.) Maybe a combination of the Showcase Presents books and the later Archives will do. Besides, if this keeps up, the Archives might just catch up with that Great Darkness Saga collection I have already.

I’m also glad to see — finally! — a second Wonder Woman Chronicles. Many, if not all, of these stories have already been reprinted in Archive form, so it’s nice for someone like me (who, again, didn’t have the resources to devote to every Archive series) to catch up on the Amazing Amazon’s most imaginative era.

BATMAN COLLECTIONS

One thing about reading early-‘70s Batman comics is that the collections tend to focus on particular topics — all the Neal Adams issues, all the Ra’s Al Ghul issues, the Manhunter saga, etc. — and you lose sight of the larger month-to-month context in which these issues first appeared. That’s why I’ll be getting Showcase Presents Batman Vol. 5. I want to read stories like “The Demon Of Gothos Mansion” (from Batman #227) alongside more familiar classics like “Secret of the Waiting Graves” and “One Bullet Too Many!”

“The Demon Laughs” (now collected in the $7.99 format) came out in 2001, some time after the wholesale creative-team shuffle which followed “No Man’s Land,” but it’s still a good example of ‘90s Batman. It’s from Chuck Dixon and Jim Aparo, two of the period’s signature creators, and the story’s a good marriage of creators and characters. (Probably similar is the Catwoman: Guardian Of Gotham miniseries, which I haven’t read.) By contrast, Dwayne McDuffie and Val Semeiks’ “Blink” (which came out a year after “Demon Laughs,” and which also gets the $7.99 treatment) offered readers a respite from constant Bat-crossovers.  More importantly, t’s a neat story in its own right, earning a Legends of the Dark Knight sequel not too long afterwards.

Of course, if you want the last hurrah of the ‘90s Batman creative teams, step right up to the new edition of “No Man’s Land” collections. After “Knightfall” and its sequels expanded the Bat-line pretty much irrevocably, the books crossed over constantly for the rest of the ‘90s, culminating in a post-apocalyptic storyline which took a year to tell and covered a year in the life of post-quake Gotham. It reduced the Batman mythology to very basic elements: one man (and his small group of associates) trying to bring justice to a hellish city broken by corruption and crime.

Finally, back when DC announced a Gene Colan Batman collection, I mentioned how great it would be to have a similar book for Don Newton — so thanks, DC, for following up on that. Between the Colan book, the upcoming Marshall Rogers collection, and this one, my shelf will soon be full of stellar Bronze Age Bat-art.

POTPOURRI

Although I’m willing to give Peter Tomasi a chance as Batman And Robin’s regular writer, issue #2′s mention of a more violent Robin suggests that some of the nuance which Grant Morrison gave Damian is being eroded. To be fair, Tomasi knows his Bat-history well enough that I expect him to distinguish this storyline from 1988′s “did Jason Todd just kill that guy?” arc. By the same token, though, you’d think this would hit a lot of the same beats.

Glad to see Seven Soldiers’ Shining Knight on the cover of Demon Knights #2.

My position against buying the new Teen Titans hasn’t changed, but I will say that the cover of issue #2 is an improvement. Probably because Red Robin’s glider wings are covered up.

I’m sorry to see House Of Mystery go, because I read it for the first year-and-a-half. At its worst it was still pretty diverting, and occasionally it was inspired. Its unique format tried to combine continuing characters with an anthology, and I thought it was worth supporting just for that. However, I never got into the continuing characters, and eventually I dropped it. Naturally, now that it’s being cancelled, I’m inclined to revisit it to see what I missed.

The fact that the THUNDER Agents paperback reprints all ten issues of the lame-duck series, and is still called “Volume 1,” gives me hope for future THUNDER stories.

Will I buy the 1,216-page DC Comics: The New 52? No. Does DC need me to buy it? No. If DC thinks there is a market for that $200.00 Taschen retrospective, surely it has calculated that neither set of prospective buyers includes me. Anyone who does get it, let me know what you think.

* * *

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

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).

'Batman & Robin' #22 variant cover by Gene Ha

“Where in the world is Gene Ha?”

That’s what comic fans like me have been wondering the past year. Sure he’s been popping up as a cover artist on some big DC titles and rounding out the last issues of The Authority: Lost Year, but in terms of real, sink-your-teeth into it comics work it’s been a drought. But thankfully, Gene Ha has popped up to explain what’s going on.

In a blog post on his website, Ha explains that the his major creator-owned project Back Roads with Bill Willingham at IDW (announced back in 2009) has fallen apart due to the writer stopping to turn in scripts — just after Ha turned in the complete first issue – pencils,  inks and colors. With the full story of Back Roads estimated to be 132 pages and no new script pages in a year, Ha’s pretty much said the project is dead.

Getting back into the swing of things, Ha has worked on those previously mentioned covers for DC, and he also did a Mouse Guard story with writer Lowell Francis. He’s also working on shorts for House of Mystery and the IDW Rocketeer miniseries.  The most enticing bit of news is something else.

“I’ll be doing a few issues of an iconic DC character this summer, DC should announce details soon,” Ha revealed. “And finally, after all that, I’ve been working on something with James Robinson.”

Look for more on Gene Has’ website, but before you go — tell us your favorite Gene Ha work and what iconic character you’d like to see him work on!

The Atlantis Chronicles #1

Last week’s big reorganization project is finished (for now) — but by reintroducing me to Peter David and Esteban Maroto’s The Atlantis Chronicles, it has already paid off.

The Atlantis Chronicles was a seven-issue 1990 miniseries designed to give Aquaman a more “classically mythic” backstory. Like the Old Testament or your average Shakespearean tragedy, it is full of intrigue, violence, sinister motives, and secret affairs. Along the way it traces the history of twin cities Poseidonis and Tritonis from their sinking to Aquaman’s birth, explaining such things as marine mental telepathy, why the Tritonistas are mer-people, and when the Idyllists broke off into their own community. It was all in service to a PAD-written Aquaman regular series which ended up being delayed for a few years; and which, when it finally did appear, produced the cranky, hook-handed Aquaman of the ‘90s. Re-reading The Atlantis Chronicles reminded me that some noteworthy plot elements — including an involuntary amputation — foreshadowed similar events in the later series. Some characters from TAC also reappeared in David’s Aquaman, further connecting the two.

I enjoyed The Atlantis Chronicles on its own merits, but I couldn’t help but think how it would have been treated better in today’s marketplace. That, in turn, got me thinking about the roles various “historical” DC miniseries played (and might still play) in the building of their legends.

* * *

These kinds of miniseries aren’t that common, simply because the history they impart tends to come out in more run-of-the-mill superhero stories. The 1992 “Destroyer” arc revealed the secrets of Gotham City’s weird architecture while Batman raced to stop a mad bomber. (It also let DC incorporate the late Anton Furst’s movie-style designs into the comics’ Gotham.) The development of the Green Lantern Corps, from the Guardians’ homeworld of Maltus through the Manhunter revolt and up to the present, could be pieced together from factoids dropped in various issues. Krypton’s history was explored similarly throughout the Silver and Bronze Ages. However, with each bit of data serving a different story’s needs, pulling them together into their own coherent narrative might not be that easy.

In this respect, I’ve always been curious about what (for lack of a better term) I’ll call “the Superboy problem.” Regardless of incarnation, we treat Superman as if he only became “Superman” when he first performed some heroic public feat (likely involving Lois Lane) in Metropolis. This is understandable, because Superman’s debut marks the beginning of the current Age Of Superheroes, and it’s a renaissance for the heroic ideal, blah blah blah. That’s all fine.

Nevertheless, on the old Earth-1, Kal-El of Krypton first appeared to the public in his familiar red-and-blue costume as “Superboy,” a kid operating out of somewhere in the Midwest. From what I understand, there were a few other adult superheroes (and assorted heroic types) doing good deeds during this same “pre-Silver Age” period — guys like Zatara and Captain Comet, and maybe the Challengers of the Unknown. Remember, on Earth-1 there was no Justice Society, and no significant Golden Age of superheroes, to give Superboy any context. His debut was probably more of a game-changer than, say, Captain Comet’s; but it’s not treated that way. For practical reasons — i.e., because none of the other big Silver Age superheroes had significant teenage careers — the Earth-1 Age of Superheroes kicked off in earnest with the first appearances of Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, the Atom, et al. Superboy might have saved the world several times over before he could drive, drink, or vote, but those adventures are, in large part, separated pretty definitely from his Superman career.

Trying to bridge the gap was 1985′s Superman: The Secret Years, a four-issue account of Clark Kent in college, written by Bob Rozakis and pencilled, as usual, by Curt Swan. It had the misfortune to come out right before Crisis On Infinite Earths, which meant it was only a valid part of Superman continuity for about a year and a half. Still, it did feature a couple of previously-untold skirmishes with Lex Luthor, a retelling of the Lori Lemaris story, and the introduction of Clark’s college roommate. If Superman were Ron Howard, Secret Years was like American Graffiti, providing a link between the child Opie and the young-adult Richie. Such a linkage is important, I think, because only by seeing one’s career as a whole can we evaluate it properly.

However, among history-minded Superman miniseries, Superman: The Secret Years may have been unique in focusing on the Man of Steel himself. Other miniseries looked to Superman’s ancestors and surroundings: 1979′s World Of Krypton, 1997-98′s The Kents, the one-shot Unauthorized Biography Of Lex Luthor, and 1988′s John-Byrne-written triptych World Of Krypton, World Of Smallville, and World Of Metropolis. I never read the first Krypton miniseries, but I don’t think it had much impact on the regular monthly series. I know The Kents — which was basically a Western with very loose connections to the Superman mythology — didn’t really tie into the ongoing books. The Luthor book had some influence, which (thanks to Luthor’s “rediscovered” years in Smallville) may have been dulled; and naturally the Byrne-written books were designed to deepen what was at the time a brand-new continuity.

Because the “Byrne influence” isn’t as pronounced as it was in the ‘80s, or even the ‘90s, those World Of … miniseries aren’t as relevant to today’s books. It’s therefore a little surprising to me that 2008′s Superman: World Of Krypton paperback collected the 1988 miniseries (drawn by Mike Mignola — hey, there’s a reason to collect it!) along with some pre-Crisis “World Of Krypton” backup stories. The Kents is also readily available from Amazon, so there are two paperbacks which, if you’re interested in current continuity, may be no more than curious footnotes.

And speaking of which, if a publisher wants to promote its current continuity, I guess there are two practical reasons to do an historical tie-in: either to set up said continuity, or to pull disparate data together into a coherent narrative. In the wake of Crisis On Infinite Earths, DC launched Secret Origins, dedicated entirely to the details of continuity, and particularly dedicated to those two types of stories. At the time it was a valuable resource for readers concerned about what Crisis had changed; and I think there are still a fair amount of such readers today. If the project doesn’t deal with current continuity in some way — and, perhaps more importantly, if the publisher doesn’t treat it as controlling — it’s just another superhero story. (Signs that The Atlantis Chronicles wasn’t initially promoted as the harbinger of Peter David’s Aquaman included house ads for issue #5, and that issue’s text recap pages.) It may be an exceptionally well-done superhero story, but it loses that historical cachet which presumably gives that sector of the audience a reason to read it.

In other words, it’s Superman: Birthright, which I liked quite a bit, and which I thought told a more cohesive Superman origin story than Byrne’s Man Of Steel; but which always had a shaky relationship with the then-current Superman books. Somewhat in the same boat, ironically enough, is the recently-concluded Superman: Secret Origin, Geoff Johns’ and Gary Frank’s six-issue overview of Clark’s childhood and early appearances in Metropolis. Since it came out after Johns had left the Superman titles, it struck me more as a victory lap than a setup for future storylines. Specifically, it showed Clark, as “Superboy,” meeting the Legion of Super-Heroes; and it retroactively established Lois’ father, Luthor, and Metallo as part of a military-industrial anti-Superman plot. Both of these plot elements first appeared during Johns’ tenure on Action Comics, although they could have come from his fellow Superman writers and editors. Secret Origin also reprised some themes from Birthright, including putting young Lex Luthor back in Smallville, and having Luthor’s Superman-driven paranoia fuel the climactic battle. There were other nods to post-Crisis continuity too (Kenny “Conduit” Braverman comes immediately to mind), but Secret Origin wasn’t exactly a synoptic overview of the current Superman origin story.

Indeed, for something like that you have to go back over thirty years, to 1980′s three-issue Untold Legend Of The Batman. Written by Len Wein, the first issue was pencilled by John Byrne and inked by Jim Aparo, and the other two were drawn entirely by Aparo; so it looked fantastic and it read well too. Because the basic plot involved a mysterious mastermind out to destroy everything Batman held dear, the Dynamic Duo and Alfred ended up reminiscing as part of their detective work. This was during the period in Bat-history when gangster Lew Moxon ordered Joe Chill to murder the Waynes, and when a teenaged Bruce donned a familiar red-and-yellow costume to train with detective Harvey Harris. Thanks in large part to those stories, and others from the ‘40s and ‘50s which explained various Bat-minutiae, Wein wove a good bit of pre-existing material into his narrative, updating it appropriately for the ‘80s readership. It’s the kind of miniseries which gives the basic Batman setup a real sense of depth and scope. I hesitate to compare it to Grant Morrison’s recent Batman work, because Morrison dealt with those old stories more lyrically and abstractly, and was more concerned with establishing a new tone than setting old details in concrete.

(Not that the concrete setting of details is unimportant, mind you. My memories of ULOTB raised my expectations for Wein’s current historical miniseries, DC Universe Legacies, but eight issues in, I’m still not sure how I feel about it, mainly because I think he’s placed some events out of order. I’m sure a DCUL post will be forthcoming.)

Because 1993′s The Golden Age added some disturbing new details to the Justice Society’s postwar history, it was eventually given the Elseworlds badge. Still, writer James Robinson incorporated some of TGA’s plot elements into his Starman series, which launched soon afterwards and which also featured regular “Times Past” flashback tales. The Golden Age is still readily available, and I think it may compare best with The Atlantis Chronicles in terms of influence on a subsequent regular series. We may never know whether an Atlantis Chronicles paperback would have helped the fortunes of Peter David’s Aquaman, but I believe The Golden Age and Starman were mutually beneficial.

Of course, Geoff Johns (and whoever writes Aquaman after him) is free to use whatever he wants from The Atlantis Chronicles as he reintroduces Aquaman to today’s readers. That in itself may be enough to get The Atlantis Chronicles back into print; but I have a feeling that if such a thing were going to happen, it would have happened already. As well, maybe The Atlantis Chronicles has become so identified with David’s run that subsequent writers haven’t wanted to deal with it.

I can’t leave this topic without noting a couple of recent historically-oriented storylines, namely Paul Levitz’ and Kevin Sharpe’s looks back at the early Legion of Super-Heroes in Adventure Comics and the terrific Chris Roberson/Jesus Merino Lord of Time two-parter in Superman/Batman. The former seems targeted to longtime Legion fans who can plug the particular stories into a Legion timeline which is no doubt familiar to them. I’m sure that is rewarding, because this week’s issue of Superman/Batman should fit quite neatly into DC’s books from, say, 1982. References to the Wild West and to Gordanian slavers place its “Bronze Age” sequence after both New Teen Titans #1 (November 1980) and Justice League of America #199 (February 1982), and the rest of the issue spans centuries. In both cases I’m sure the details are just Easter eggs, but what are Easter eggs for if not to make you happy?

Ultimately, then, I think these historical storylines are valid exercises to test the limits of superhero continuity. Can we learn anything from a character’s previously-unexplored period, as in Superman: The Secret Years? Would a project like Untold Legend Of The Batman produce a consistent, coherent narrative from disparate data points? Will an entirely new backstory, like that provided by The Atlantis Chronicles, entice new readers and satisfy existing ones? I am still waiting for the “synoptic Superman” origin — or, better yet, a detailed look at the post-Infinite Crisis Wonder Woman — to examine whether anything consistent remains from recent continuity changes. While strict fidelity to established continuity shouldn’t dictate the kinds of stories DC’s superhero line tells, a critical examination of that continuity can be both instructive and illuminating.

Grant Morrison

“I’ve always wanted to diversify the DCU, but usually when I do it, James Robinson comes along and kills them all. [Laughs] But certainly we try. To me, I look out the window and see all kinds of people walking down the street, and I want to see that reflected in the superhero community. I’m sure a lot of readers would like to see themselves represented as well. It’s always been a focus of mine to widen the scope of DC’s characters internationally and ethnically.”

– Grant Morrison, on Batman and diversity, in a conversation with CBR’s Kiel Phegley. Thank goodness this topic isn’t very controversial, or else this could cause a stir!

Meanwhile, you’ve already made CBR’s Bat Signal column regular reading, right?

Greendale

Happy day-after-Free Comic Book Day to everyone, and welcome to another edition of What are you reading? Our guest this week is Rick Marshall, editor of MTV’s Splash Page blog. To see what Rick and the rest of the Robot 6 crew have been reading this week, read on …

*****

Tim O’Shea

Starman Omnibus

There’s an underlying current of disappointment when I read most of James Robinson’s writing these days (the recent Blackest Night Starman 81, being a noticeable exception). My disappointment was reinforced even more when rereading the early days of Starman, thanks to Starman Ominbus Volume 1.”Talking with David, ’95″ is just an amazing example of how well Tony Harris and James Robinson worked together. Robinson put it perfectly when he wrote in this volume’s intro: “In my time working month after month with Tony Harris, our personalities were never quite on the same page, yet our differences combined to make something far more interesting that either of us, at that time, could have done on our own. (Do you think I would have had one pirate reference, if Tony hadn’t been on board? His version of Grundy–thin, gentle Grundy–led to me revising/explaining Grundy’s various incarnations/personalities to the point that that’s become a part of DC lore. Grundy would have been a one-appearance villain if Tony hadn’t ‘gotten all creative on me’–but again to the betterment of the opus as a whole.)” Harris has gone on to other strong storytelling successes (for example, Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughan and Harris), but if he can spare the time, Robinson might benefit by collaborating with Harris again.

Kudos to DC for running Mike Carlin’s editorial this month about the late Dick Giordano under his classic Meanwhile… banner. Read the piece, it’s a good one.

I don’t know if Roger Stern and Lee Weeks would be willing to become one of the regular Spidey writers in the rotating lineup the book sports, but it would be a delight if they were. I know there’s a retro vibe to their work, in a sense (Weeks even does the half Spidey face bit [when Pete's in civilian mode], a bit I always liked), but for my money Stern and Weeks are as contemporary as any of the other comics creators on the Spider-Man books. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that over the coming issues (starting in Spider-Man 634) Stan Lee will be doing a two-page multi-issue tale with artist Marcos Martin. Interesting choices that Spider-Man editors are making these days, choices that make an old fanboy like me happy.

I continue to enjoy Mark Waid’s Incorruptible series at BOOM!, but as much as I appreciate the company’s effort to deliver on time every month, this issue suffered due to the absence of regular series artist Jean Diaz. Guest artist Horacio Domingues, at one point, is called upon to do a pivotal scene reaction shot with Max, and Domingues gives us a virtual Shaggy/Scooby Doo Yoinks! campy facial expression (a scene that Diaz would have handled quite, quite differently and less cartoonishly). In other BOOM comics, Incredibles 8 shines the spotlight on Elastigirl and brings back a character that has not been seen (unless I’m mistaken) since the actual film. I appreciate an all ages book like Incredibles that tries to expand the continuity as this series has to date.

Sean T. Collins

The Arrival

I’m back, back in the reviewing groove! Over the past couple weeks I’ve finally started reading and reviewing comics en masse on my personal blog after a month or two “prose break.” (Seriously, everyone, go read George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels.) Here’s the first half-dozen comics I took a crack at:

The Arrival by Shaun Tan: Can we please mail a copy of this awe-some look at the immigrant experience to every single resident of Arizona?

Young Lions by Blaise Larmee: A Xeric-winning slice-of-lifer that’s a thing of beauty for the Tumblr generation.

Skim by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki: Subtle and gutsy teen angst for the young-adult market.

Keeping Two by Jordan Crane: A lush and painful look at loss from one of comics’ best draftsmen, now available as a webcomic.

Death Trap by Lane Milburn: Another Xeric winner–a mutant Texas Chain Saw homage, with some really powerful cartooning.

Tales Designed to Thrizzle #6 by Michael Kupperman: After five unimpeachably funny issues, a let-down!

JK Parkin

I picked up several free comics yesterday, but due to company coming into town I’ve only gotten to read one, Marvel’s Iron Man/Thor team-up to save the world from … the moon? Written by Matt Fraction and drawn by the incomparable duo of John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson, the two Avengers team up to save the world from a series of natural disasters being caused by a group of “multibillionaires” using old Stark technology to terraform the moon into a place they can build expensive condos and eat caviar while the rest of the world dies off. I was pleased to see JR Jr.’s take on Thor and Iron Man again, and there were some nice disaster pages (some caused by the moon, some caused by Thor).

Also, Iron Man? Kind of a smug jerk in this story. “Hey Tony, one of your inventions is causing tidal waves and what have you across the globe.” “Oh, that old thing?”

Up next: more free comics, including the first issue of The Sixth Gun, the other Iron Man comic, War of the Supermen, Love & Capes #13 and something I’m forgetting …

Rick Marshall

The Losers

With Splash Page’s focus on the area in which comics overlap with other media, my reading habits have shifted a bit toward titles that have been optioned for big- or small-screen adaptation or have some connection to the mainstream media world by virtue of subject matter, author, or any number of other factors.

That being the case, I often find myself mentally assigning what I read into one of three categories: work-related reading, personal reading with work-related potential, and purely personal reading.

What can I say? I’m a sucker for multitasking, and compartmentalizing all of it helps me keep all of the competing narratives separate in my head.

Here’s what I’m currently reading:

Work-Related: I recently finished Greendale, Joshua Dysart and Cliff Chiang’s Vertigo graphic novel based on the Neil Young album. I’m a big fan of all three of the creative minds involved in this one, and though it fell a little short in the end, it was a really fun read. It reminded me a lot of a smaller, simpler version of Stephen King’s The Stand, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It hits shelves in June.

I’ve also been catching up on The Losers and 100 Bullets, two series I was into early on but lost track of somewhere along their run. I sort of rediscovered the former series due to the movie hitting theaters this month, and the latter because it’s only a matter of time before it gets picked up somewhere. Brian Azzarello hinted to me in an interview last year that an option was likely at some point soon, so now’s as good a time as any to get caught up, right?

Personal/Work: Anyone who knows me is probably aware of my unhealthy obsession with all things Doctor Who. I’ve been devouring IDW’s Doctor Who comics as they hit shelves, especially during the drought between the last season and the current one. Tony Lee is doing an amazing job with the series, and it’s great to see what happens when you have someone writing a series like this who’s both a big fan and a supremely talented writer.

I’ve also been re-reading some of my favorite webcomics that were collected in print over the last year. In particular, Jon Rosenberg’s Goats collections feel like new material with all of the polish they received during the transition to paper. The publisher of the series, Del Rey, did a bang-up job freshening everything up and making the strips really jump off the page. Similarly, some of DC’s print collections of Zuda Comics have really impressed the heck out of me — especially High Moon and Bayou. To be honest, Zuda had never really been on my radar until I started reading some of the print collections of the series published there, but I’m glad that’s changed.

Finally, I just finished reading through all four books in Top Shelf’s “Swedish Invasion” line. All four are great reads, but Hey Princess and 120 Days of Simon were really good. The former felt like a Swedish version of a Jeffrey Brown or James Kochalka bio-comic, while the latter was an experience all its own. The author, Simon Gardenfors, is a popular Swedish rapper who travels around the country at the whim of fans who signed up on his website to feed him and let him crash with them. It’s a wild, wild story.

Personal: I usually read a novel as a counterpoint to all of the comics — a constant narrative that I can keep coming back to between issues and such. I’m currently about halfway through Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, but I’ve been reading a novel between each Wheel of Time chapter so I don’t overload on the sword-and-sorcery stuff. This time around, it’s Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy (I have them all collected in a single novel), a sci-fi classic I’d been meaning to read for ages but finally got around to recently. My copy of the book is a fairly old and was sitting on my bookshelf for years before I finally took the plunge. It’s a great reminder of why Asimov is such a big player in the sci-fi world, and given how much of today’s sci-fi is all shiny metal killer robots, it’s also a reminder of what can happen when science was just as important as the fiction. It’s a true classic, and I can’t recommend it enough.

So, there you have it! That’s what I’m reading these days — or trying to, at least.

Starman #81

iFanboy.com’s Ron Richards posted this morning a conversation he had with writer James Robinson about Starman #81, Justice League and Blackest Night, among other topics.

Some of the highlights include:

–Robinson revealed that the “blue Starman,” Mikaal, will officially take on the Starman name and mantle in Justice League. Robinson said he plans to “make him more of a hero.”
–Robinson said he’d like to do more with Opal City and its inhabitants, perhaps in the form of a Shade series or miniseries.
–If he did revisit Jack Knight from his Starman run, “it would have to be with Tony, and it would have to be something big.”
–He talks a little bit about his Justice League work so far, noting “I’m not sure that that was my best work,” and also spoke about the challenges of trying to put a fresh spin on all the Blackest Night tie-ins he’s been writing. “Ultimate it was worth doing, and I certainly had a lot of fun.”
–Ron brought up the recent Red Arrow developments in Cry for Justice, which led to Robinson saying he doesn’t like to kill off characters and won’t be doing so in the future. “It’s a much nicer James Robinson who will be writing comics in the future,” he said.

Go have a listen.

James Robinson at Bloomingdale's

James Sime and James Robinson — I’m sure there’s a “James Gang” joke to be made here — are taking over Bloomingdale’s in San Francisco next Wednesday.

The owner of Isotope Comics and the writer of Justice League, along with Details Magazine and Warner Bros., will host “an evening of cocktails, DJs, comics, and high fashion! The screen-used costume from Dark Knight as well as the movie costumes of Catwoman and Two-Face will be on display as well,” Sime said.

You can find all the details here.

Grumpy Old Fan

Although it’s been a few weeks since the new Justice League lineup was revealed, I have been slow to post about it. Sometimes even we emotionally-stunted man-children have other obligations, you know?

The new League won’t come together until a six-parter starting next year (according to the preview writer James Robinson gave CBR), but this is a rare occasion for me. Normally when I get stuck for a blogging topic I fall back on either Dick Grayson (with or without his Titan peers) or the JLA, so I can’t really avoid this.

Honestly, though, I’m getting tired of writing this-time-for-sure! posts about the League, because inevitably all that careful optimism is betrayed. The Meltzer Era was a bore, the McDuffie Era was snakebit, and the new Robinson/Bagley Era looks transitory. In fact, the first thing which struck me about this League lineup is its impermanence. Robinson told CBR as much, but any lineup which includes Mon-El and Batman III will last only as long as those status quos do … which might not be too long after Robinson gets done with the introductions.

Now, if I’m wrong, that’s fine. Robinson certainly sounds like he’s plotted a year’s worth of issues, although three of those segue into that six-issue team-building arc. There’s also no reason why most of the team can’t stick around after any or all of the Big Three come back into the picture. Indeed, Robinson seems to have anticipated the team’s continued growth, which will apparently involve bringing back Vixen and Firestorm and bringing in a speedster-to-be-named-later. Clearly he’s looking at the long term.

Let’s hope he gets there, because the upcoming lineup actually does have a lot of promise. (Having Mark Bagley illustrate it sure doesn’t hurt either.) The problem is, as Meltzer’s initial arc and Cry For Justice both demonstrate, JLA team-building can be crushingly dull. You know these characters are going to get together, because there they all are in the promotional material. Skip to the good part already.

Accordingly, I’ll cut to the chase here. I’ve said before that “Justice League, in whatever form, has two basic components: characters who have other gigs, and situations which play off those characters appropriately.” Let’s look at the characters first.

The new eleven-member League (for whatever it’s worth, the same number as the original Meltzer lineup) has only three women and three non-white members (four if you count Congorilla). When Firestorm and Vixen return, those numbers will increase accordingly. Two members are extraterrestrials, three were in the original League, and four were New Teen Titans.

More particularly, though, who will be their friends? (Who will be their blood enemies?) Obviously the new League will have two evenly-matched four-member cliques: the ex-Titans, and the Cry For Justice-ers (“Criers For Justice,” I suppose). However, besides Starfire/Donna, Starfire/Batman, and Green Lantern/Green Arrow, other pairs suggest themselves. Not only have the Guardian and Mon-El worked together, but Guardian already has a relationship of sorts with Dr. Light, and Starfire might find some common ground with a fellow extraterrestrial. Doctor Light and Donna are mothers. The Atom, Cyborg, and Congorilla all know what it’s like to be stuck with an unfamiliar body, and as we’ll see below, the Guardian has a related set of existential issues.

As for the individual members…

The Atom (Ray Palmer): I’ve always liked the Atom as a Justice Leaguer. I like the fact that he’s a super-genius able to interact firsthand with the things he studies. Of course, most of the time he’s written as a fairly upbeat individual (even post-Countdown, as in Trinity), which of course is at odds with his Cry For Justice portrayal.

Batman (Dick Grayson): Despite his wealth of leadership experience — especially with such familiar colleagues — I don’t expect Dick to be this JLA’s leader. Regardless, I don’t think Dick will be shy about sharing those leadership experiences with whomever is in charge. It’ll be interesting to see a Batman interact with the League in a way which doesn’t involve frequent assertions of authority. Dick is easy to work with, super-competent, and one of the team’s most valuable players, so I see him as this team’s Mr. Miracle.

Congorilla: Robinson says Congorilla is around 100 years old, with all the life lessons and street smarts that implies. I like to think of him as the team’s connection with the natural world (and perhaps the magical one), which is how I’d look at Aquaman if he were still around.

Cyborg (Victor Stone): Along with the Atom and Dr. Light, Vic rounds out the team’s scientific expertise nicely. He’s also got a heck of a life story, having to struggle as a teenager between the conflicts of school and the street before being recruited reluctantly for the New Teen Titans. Next to him, Ollie Queen’s late-in-life liberalism looks practically phony. Unfortunately, I’m not sure Vic has really been done right by anyone but Marv Wolfman and George Perez.

Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi): Even before her current stint, she was actually pretty experienced as a Leaguer, having served a few years with Justice League Europe in the early ’90s. Back then her costume was black-and-yellow, and she was portrayed as sort of a wallflower next to Power Girl. I liked what McDuffie, Len Wein, and (in the Superman books) Robinson have done with her recently, so I’m glad to see him continue with her.

Green Arrow (Oliver Queen): It’s hard for me to imagine how Green Arrow is going to be the center of the DC Universe in 2010. Maybe he casts the critical vote which passes health-insurance reform. The way Robinson has been writing him in Cry For Justice, he sounds like a wimpier version of his old outspoken self, capitulating to Hal’s clenched-teeth directions. Rationalizing that CFJ represents bad behavior in the heat of the moment is one of the ways I’m able to get through it, so I’m hoping Robinson brings Ollie back to (somewhat) normal by the time CFJ has ended.

Green Lantern (Hal Jordan): The first issue of the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire Justice League begins with Guy Gardner imagining himself in charge of the new team. Hal is the protagonist of Cry For Justice, he’s probably the highest-profile DC character in the new lineup, and he’s led Justice League Europe as well as innumerable Green Lantern missions … but I hope he’s not the new League chairman. For one thing, he’s not setting a very good example in CFJ. More importantly, though, the League is generally best-served when a big name isn’t in charge. Batman running a Justice League tends to turn into “everyone reacts to Batman,” just as Superman running JL America (briefly, in the Dan Jurgens days) turned into “everyone reacts to Superman.” That can work when there’s some pushback (as in the Giffen/DeMatteis League) and/or parity (as in the Morrison League), so it could work here, especially in connection with Batman and the Guardian. In any event, I can’t see Hal’s Cry For Justice attitude lasting long into JLA itself.

The Guardian (Jim Harper): Robinson says he’s “tough” and “likes giving orders,” which suggests he’s going to be challenging Hal’s purported authority pretty early on. Personally, though, I wouldn’t mind seeing him take a more active leadership role, and not just because he reminds me of Captain America. After all, he’s been leading a squad of Science Police which, until recently, included an undercover Mon-El, so you’d think he’d have some ideas about how to manage various combinations of Leaguers. Also, his worry about potentially not having a soul might be assuaged somewhat by Congorilla, who’s made a career out of his own soul’s portability.

Mon-El (Lar Gand): By all accounts, Robinson has done wonders with Mon-El in Superman, so I really don’t have much to say about Lar as a Leaguer.

Starfire (Koriand’r/Kory Anders): Not only is she on a team with three of her closest friends and most respected teammates, she’s on a team with her former lover and one-time fiancé. Kory seemed finally to have gotten closure on that relationship in Titans #16, but according to Robinson, “people will enjoy seeing the sparks between Starfire and Dick Grayson again.” So, you know, there’s that; and I just hope it doesn’t end up defining Kory on the team. (It probably won’t, but as long as it’s out there, it threatens to dominate.) By the way, three years ago I predicted Starfire would be the “graduating Titan,” so it’s nice to see her finally in the League.

Donna Troy: As you know from last week, my feelings about Donna are complex. It might be good for her to get away from the emotional baggage accumulated during her Titans days (which, as of this week, includes being mauled by her Black Lantern-ized husband and child). Therefore, she’s not helped by Robinson’s lineup. Nevertheless, you’d think that being in the Justice League, apparently for reals and not as merely a Wonder-Woman-sponsored fill-in, would give her some psychological boost. Besides, she probably doesn’t feel the need to “mother” these particular ex-Titans.

Clearly this lineup mixes well on paper — perhaps better than any League has in a long time. Regardless, the Justice League isn’t just a team book. It’s DC’s genre-busting, permanent-crossover, de facto Big Event title. At the risk of indulging my optimistic impulses, I am encouraged by Robinson’s willingness to refer “constantly … to what’s going on in other books,” and his statement that “[i]n a sense, the events of the Justice League of America are unfolding around the adventures of all the heroes of the DC Universe.” While this has the potential to (once again) rob JLA of its own unique narrative, when kept in proper perspective I think it could work well with the League’s all-star concept. In theory, people read Justice League of America as sort of one-stop shopping, so they can see various solo stars working together. There’s not much more to the concept than that. (And yes, having four New Teen Titans on the same team tends to undermine that concept.) Thus, acknowledging the extracurricular activity reinforces the notion that it’s a big deal for these folks to be on the same team.

The challenge, as always, is to tell stories which live up to the team’s potential. Line-wide crossovers have taken the place of JLA-style epics, so JLA needs to re-establish its high-stakes bona fides. This week’s JLA 80-Page Giant might look inconsequential and random, but I found its tale of time-lost Leaguers to be a fun standalone story and an excellent use of the classic JLA format. As for the regular title, send the team into space, have them explore the Multiverse, pit ‘em against Cthulhu — just make sure Justice League‘s scope is suitably expansive. I say this pretty much every time I mention the Justice League, but … this time for sure!, right?

Again, the new Robinson/Bagley lineup is temporary on its face, at least for Mon-El and Batman. However, in a way that’s good for the book. Recognizing that this lineup is only a gateway to the next one — which, given Dan DiDio’s preferences, you’d think would be more “definitive” — should relieve some of the pressure which comes with that “world’s greatest” banner. This isn’t JL Detroit or Cap’s Kooky Quartet, and neither is it the Satellite Team or the Morrison Pantheon. It looks like a good group which I hope will produce fun, exciting superhero comics. I’ll probably have to write another retooled-JLA post in a year or so, but maybe I can enjoy the book in the meantime.

Grumpy Old Fan

By the time this post goes live, you may be quite sick of hearing about Justice League: Cry For Justice #1. Back on Sunday, I said I didn’t hate it; and I suspect mine was one of the more positive comments. Yes, the script has many questionable moments, including an apparent lack of irony where Hal Jordan and Ray Palmer are concerned. I complained more about the staging of the first scene, which I felt sacrificed common sense for capital-D Drama!. And yes, the idea behind this series was a bit tired fifteen years ago when it was called Extreme Justice.

And yet … it’s movement, you know? It’s light at the end of the tunnel — the hope that almost three years into Justice League of America Volume 2, the book will at last gain its own direction and its own identity, free from crossover intrusions and editorial dictates….

… well, as free as any corporate superhero title could be; especially one designed specifically to use characters who already appear in other books.  To me, writing Justice League is sort of like competing on “Iron Chef” — you don’t have total control over all the ingredients; and more likely than not you’ll have to bring new life to old standbys like salmon or Hawkgirl. Accordingly, as Rich Johnston pointed out last week, this has produced a particular cycle of retooling and rebuilding, such that it takes just the right combination of characters and circumstances to keep the League stable.

* * *

Of course, “stability” has historically been a hallmark of the title. Writer Gardner Fox, penciller Mike Sekowsky, and editor Julius Schwartz were together from the team’s debut in The Brave and the Bold #28 (February-March 1960) to Sekowsky’s last issue, June 1968′s Justice League of America #63; and Fox only stayed two more issues after that. Sekowsky’s successor Dick Dillin then penciled the book for the next twelve years until his death in 1980. (His last issue was October 1980′s #183.) Gerry Conway was one of several writers who worked on the title in the early 1970s, but once he got the regular gig with February 1978′s #151, he too stayed for several years, through September 1986′s #254. (He contributed only a plot to #255.)

Subsequent Justice League titles enjoyed their own streaks. Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis became a brand unto themselves over the course of five years of Justice League International antics. Gerard Jones started scripting Giffen’s Justice League Europe plots with May 1990′s #14, became JLE‘s solo writer when Giffen left, and didn’t leave the franchise until August 1996′s Justice League America #113. After that, the Grant Morrison Era of JLA lasted some forty-one issues (give or take a few guest-shots from Mark Waid and Mark Millar), and the Joe Kelly/Doug Mahnke Era lasted thirty-one.

Regardless, for a while the League couldn’t go two years without some tinkering.  Late in 1988, by way of celebrating its first two years of success, Justice League International split into two books.  About two years after that came the anthology Justice League Quarterly. Another regular title, JL Task Force, was added in 1992 as part of the line-wide revamp which followed Giffen and DeMatteis’ departure. The line was overhauled again in 1994, shuffling creative teams and mission statements in part to accommodate the new “proactive” Extreme Justice. That too only lasted a couple of years; and all three books were canceled in the summer of 1996 in favor of a single League title, Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s JLA.

At that point, things calmed down, and JLA enjoyed just three writers (Morrison, Waid, and Kelly) over its first ninety issues. However, the book then spent its last three years under a series of different, disconnected creative teams, essentially telling the sort of inventory stories which would wind up in the anthology book JLA Classified. (Kurt Busiek and Ron Garney’s “Syndicate Rules” is probably the exception here, since Busiek and Garney were announced as the book’s regular creative team but only produced the one arc.) The last couple of arcs fed into Infinite Crisis, and as such set up the current series.

Since then, Justice League of America vol. 2 has become notorious either for continuing to facilitate other titles’ stories at the expense of its own, and for focusing to an unhealthy degree on Red Tornado when it could tell its own stories. (For what it’s worth, I did like the Vixen-changes-history arc, and I am enjoying the present “Cap’s Kooky Kwartet” phase while it lasts.) Cry For Justice now looks like the latest in a long history of reinventions going back at least to the Detroit League, and including Giffen and DeMatteis’ swan song “Breakdowns,” the “Judgment Day” crossover which killed Ice and led to Extreme Justice, and JLA‘s “Crisis Of Conscience.” I’m not going to say that stability has become boring, but every few years it seems like DC loses its handle on the Justice League.

I have argued before that the JLA is a deceptively simple concept — a marketing strategy disguised as a group of all-stars — and one which makes sense only in relation to the rest of DC’s superhero line. Accordingly, in its purest form it is neither a soap opera nor a platform for Gardner-Fox-style formula. Instead, as Giffen and DeMatteis demonstrated so nimbly, it is about relationships: how Green Lantern complements Wonder Woman; what police scientist Barry Allen can teach the World’s Greatest Detective; why a team of powerhouses needs (relatively) lesser lights like the Atom and the Elongated Man.

* * *

And that brings us back to Cry For Justice, which admittedly begins with what looks like a clash of dominant personalities. However, I think Green Lantern’s argument about the meaning of “justice” comes less from his heart of hearts than from writer James Robinson’s need to get the plot going. Sure, we all know that Hal is channeling that part of himself which was open to the Parallax bug, but when he starts parsing the team’s name, it tells me that he doesn’t have much beyond emotion in the way of argument. (By the way, I still can’t get over the stiffness of the figures in that first sequence, never mind the random arrangements in which they’re placed.) In any event, it’s not a debate, just two sides talking at each other, with Ollie as Greek chorus and eventual defector. Maybe we’ll see the main League in these pages again, maybe not.

Regardless, we know already (from, among other things, Robinson’s text pages in CFJ #1 and this week’s editorial from Dan DiDio) that at least some of the CFJ team will be folded into the regular JLA when Robinson takes over the main book sometime down the road. Since I can’t imagine that DC wants the League to be “proactive” on an ongoing basis, the CFJ team must eventually be reconciled with the regular JLA. In the meantime, I expect CFJ to feature a rag-tag group of superheroes tracking down Prometheus (and, if the covers for issue #1 are any indication, most of the Legion of Doom) before realizing ultimately that what they’re doing isn’t the Way We Do Things. Certainly I think someone will throw Parallax and Identity Crisis in Hal’s and Ray’s faces at a dramatically-appropriate moment. (Parallax even got a mention in this week’s World Of New Krypton, co-written by Robinson.) It might sound cathartic at first, but all that crying for justice! just tends to make you hoarse.

If in fact this happens, and the two teams become one happy League, does that make CFJ irrelevant?  I’m not sure.  However, I don’t think the League benefits from the sort of singular viewpoint that all those “yeah … justice!” panels indicate.  The JLA was created out of characters from diverse genres (even if their dialogue all tended to sound the same), and part of the fun of the book was watching those different genre-avatars interact.  It works first on that macro-level, before you start sorting out powers and personalities.  Titles like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Planetary play with this conceit directly, so why shouldn’t the JLA?  Why not emphasize how the pulp-hero Congorilla plays off science-heroes like Green Lantern and the Atom?  In this way the “cries for justice” only bring these characters together.  I suspect that if CFJ were still an ongoing title, the “proactive” angle (or at least its vengeful aspect) wouldn’t have lasted much past the first story arc.

There is still the possibility that, as per the rumor Rich Johnston reported at the above-referenced link, there will soon be two Justice League books anyway:  Robinson’s (presumably with art from Mark Bagley), and a new Justice League of America (vol. 3) written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee.  The latter would focus on Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, and the former would spotlight lesser-known DC heroes like Vixen.  Again, I don’t think such compartmentalization is good for the League.  The title needs a good mix of characters with their own features and characters whose only home is with the team, just as it needs a good representation of superhero genres and personalities.  In any event, I’m not holding my breath for the Johns/Lee book, in large part because it would probably have to wait until Superman is back on Earth and Batman is back from prehistory.

So, once the posturing and self-importance are through, I will continue to hope that the James Robinson I’ve enjoyed these many years will show up again on Justice League of America.  I’d like to think he can find a way to balance the Leaguers’ interactions with big-ticket adventures worthy of the team.  Otherwise, the next revamp may be closer than we think….

Mark Bagley's Justice League

DC Comics announced on their Source blog today that James Robinson and Mark Bagley will take over the flagship Justice League title in October.

Robinson, of course, is no stranger to the franchise, having written the upcoming Cry for Justice mini-series that features a spin-off team led by Hal Jordan and Green Arrow. And Bagley just wrapped up a 52-issue stint on Trinity, which featured, well, just about everybody in the DC universe.

“It’s a thrill to be given the reins of DC’s flagship team book and to know that my partner in crime(fighting) will be the esteemed Mark Bagley who’s dynamic storytelling skills I intend to make full use of,” Robinson said. “It’s further exciting/gratifying for me that I can dove-tail the events of Cry For Justice into the main book where post-Blackest Night will emerge a new team and a new exciting direction as they get caught up in the next wave of events building throughout the DCU.”

Robinson replaces regular writer Dwayne McDuffie, whose last issue was #33. As we noted at the end of May, McDuffie was fired from the series. A story by Len Wein is currently running in the title.