Animal Man #9, by Travel Foreman

Following today’s creative-team reshuffling that sees Steve Pugh return to DC Comics’ Animal Man, artist Travel Foreman stopped by the Comic Book Resources forums to explain why he’s leaving the well-received series for Birds of Prey.

“The change on Animal Man boils down to the reason I was on the book to begin with, which was that I needed to take on a job after my mother died (to deal with the financial end of someone being sick for a while and then passing) and Animal Man was the only thing DC was going to let me do. Which in any other time frame would have been perfect,” Foreman wrote. “But really the context of me dealing with the death of my mom and drawing the kind of content in Animal Man just burned me out sooner than I thought.”

Foreman, who before Animal Man was best known for his work on Com.x’s Cla$$war and Marvel’s Immortal Iron Fist, launched the series in September with writer Jeff Lemire as part of DC’s New 52. But with the solicitations for March’s Issue 7 came the news that Pugh would fill in as artist — well ahead of today’s announcement. Pugh continues his fill-in with Issue 8 before becoming the regular artist the following month.

“I had hoped to stay on the book until at least the spring so that the artist I wanted to replace me was free from his commitments,” Foreman continued, “but I would have ultimately just dragged the book down if I did, because it was becoming harder and harder to concentrate on the work.  Steve was bending over backwards on his fill-ins to keep the book on schedule so you have to keep that in consideration. Really, he won’t skip a beat once he’s doing the book full time.”

On his blog, Lemire wished his collaborator well, writing that, “The success of Animal Man is due in no small part to Travel’s artistic vision and I was lucky to have worked with him.”

(via The Beat)

In a clever bit of product placement and cross-promotion, DC Comics is offering “Evolve or Die” T-shirts featuring Travel Foreman’s cover for Animal Man #1 just ahead of the shirt’s debut in the seventh issue of the series. It certainly makes sense within the context of the relaunched title, which opened with a Believer interview in which Buddy Baker was asked how it felt “to have your face plastered on kids’ dorm rooms and T-shirts all over the country.”

The shirts will be available in direct market stores, and at GraffitiDesigns.com, at the end of the month (prices range from $18.95 to $24.95, depending on size). There’s no word yet as to when we should expect that “World’s Best Grandpa” design.

Animal Man #7, by Jeff Lemire and Steve Pugh, arrives March 7.

Fatale

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 Mautner

If I had $15: I’d be all over Fatale #1, as I’ll grab anything Brubaker and Phillips do together. I’d go out on a limb and say that’s one of the best and consistently stellar collaborations in comics going on right now. I’d probably get the latest issue of The Boys as well, because that’s what I do.

If I had $30: Well, I haven’t read the first volume yet, but everyone says that the transgender manga series Wandering Son is stellar so I’d at least give it a look through, and perhaps nab volume one as my splurge for the week.

Splurge: Then again, I’m a big Larry Gonick fan and I see where is latest book, the Cartoon Guide to Calculus, is out this week. I have zero interest or aptitude for math, but Gonick knows how to make even the dullest and fear-inducing subjects seem fun.

Graeme McMillan

If I had $15 this week, I’d get my year started on the right foot with 2000AD Prog 2012 (Rebellion, $10.00), the annual extra-sized holiday issue of the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, and the first one I’ll have picked up in quite some time. I’ve been looking for an excuse to check out some new 2000AD for awhile, and this oversized issue provides me with all the reason I need. Zarjaz! There’s also Fatale #1 (Image, $3.50), the new horror noir by Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips, and who could really pass that up?

If I had $30, I’d add OMAC #5 (DC, $2.99), which continues to be a guilty pleasure every month, as well as Marvel’s Defenders #2 ($3.99)–I was ambivalent-towards-positive about the first issue, enough that I’m curious enough to pick up the second–and Uncanny X-Force #19.1 ($2.99), based almost entirely on the critical plaudits the book’s recent “Dark Angel Saga” received; I tried out the first trade and didn’t fall in love, but we’ll see whether or not I get won over by this jumping-on point. Curiosity also draws me towards Atlas Unified #1 (Ardden, $2.99); I don’t have any great love for the Atlas characters, but I do like Tom Peyer’s writing a lot, so I’m optimistic about what I’ll find.

When it comes to splurging, I’m going for a possibly unexpected pick of Avengers Academy Vol. 2 trade paperback (Marvel, $19.99); I really enjoyed the first collection, and have been eagerly awaiting this second volume.

Chris Arrant

Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega

If I had $15, I’d get two #1′s and two #5′s (ok, dump joke). My two #1s would be Fatale #1 (Image, $3.50) and Wolverine & the X-Men: Alpha & Omega #1 (Marvel, $3.99). I’ve got a lifelong subscription in my mind to anything teaming up Brubaker and Phillips, and Fatale is no different; seeing them melding crime plus horror plus time travel will be interesting to see, plus I just want to see Phillips draw some monstrous creatures. For the other book, I’m getting it for Brian Wood & Quentin Quire – both underrated by Marvel standards, and I’m excited to see what they can accomplish. My #5s would be Action Comics #5 (DC, $3.99) and Animal Man #5 (DC, $2.99). It’ll be interesting to see how Morrison retells Superman’s origin here; the only thing more I would have asked for is a different artist; last time Andy Kubert did an origin (Wolverine’s), it didn’t turn out so well. As for Animal Man, Lemire and Foreman are really showing what they can do with an off-kilter superhero.

If I had $30, I’d go from the Rot to the Green and pick up Swamp Thing #5 (DC, $2.99). No slight against Victor Ibanez, but I’m glad to see Yanick Paquette is back on with this issue; like Animal Man, it’s the artist that are turning it from a greatly written book to just a plain great book. After that I’d pick up the lucky 13th issue of Artifacts #13 (Image/Top Cow, $3.99). Seeing new work by Dale Keown is a rare treat, and after being recently won over to the Artifacts series it’s a crossroads of personal interest for me. The last two books I’d get would both be Marvel: Uncanny X-Force #19.1 (Marvel, $2.99) and Avengers: X-Sanction #2 (Marvel, $3.99). I’ve never really been interested in Age of Apocalypse, but Remender hooked me in with his previous issues of Uncanny X-Force so I’ll give him one chance to wow me here. Last up would be Cable’s one-man war on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes; Loeb’s doing some really decompressed storytelling with I’m on the fence about, but Ed McGuinness’ art continues to make this a must-buy for me.

If I could splurge, I’d splurge for 2000AD Prog 2012 (Rebellion, $10). This is the 2000AD equivalent to Marvel’s recent Point One, with the first part of eight new serials with everything from classics like Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog and more recent hits. I’d reluctantly admit I’ve missed a couple issues of 2000AD in the past, but this should set me straight.

JK Parkin

Mudman

If I had $15, I’d start with two from Image Comics–Mudman #2 and Fatale #1, each $3.50. The first issue of Paul Grist’s latest, Mudman, was loads of fun, and I’m not sure what else I can add to my colleagues’ thoughts on Fatale besides “Yes, please.” I’d also get Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega ($3.99), the new X-miniseries by Brian Wood, Roland Boschi and Mark Brooks. And finally, I’d get the second issue of X-Club after the better-than-I-expected first issue. I wasn’t even planning on getting this until I saw the good reviews of it.

If I had $30, I’d also get Avengers Annual #1 ($4.99), which continues the Wonder Man story that started in New Avengers Annual #1. I love the concept of an annual, at least as I was first introduced to them–that big, special story that may have included some fun guest stars or wrapped up a storyline introduced in the regular book or took the characters to somewhere exotic. New Avengers Annual contained two of those three elements, so if this one takes everyone to the Savage Land or the Blue Area of the Moon or Asgard, it will have scored a trifecta. Mostly, though, I hope we get some of the back story around why these anti-heroes came together to take out the Avengers. Moving on, that would leave me with about $10, so I’d also pick up Dynamite’s new Lone Ranger #1 ($3.99), which should provide a nice jumping on point if you’ve never read their Lone Ranger comics before, as well as the second issue of Defenders ($3.99).

For my splurge item, in all honesty I’d probably spend any extra monthlies I skipped over, stuff like Swamp Thing and OMAC and iZombie and The Punisher. There was a lot this week I would have gotten for a few dollars more …

Brigid Alverson

Psyren

If I had $15: I’d probably grab vol. 2 of Psyren ($9.99), which is one of those survival-in-the-desert manga from Viz. This one put a few cute twists on the standard plot in volume 1, and I’d like to see where it’s going. Viz manga are reasonably priced, so that leaves me enough for a floppy; I’d go for issue #4 of Terry Moore’s Rachel Rising ($3.99)

If I had $30: I’d keep Rachel but shift the rest of my dollars to Archaia, which has been producing a bumper crop of beautiful books lately. I’m tempted by Billy Fog: The Gift of Trouble Sight ($24.95), which is storybook/comic hybrid with a Lemony Snicket vibe, but I’m drawn by the color art in their first volume of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: The Creation Myths ($19.99), a prequel to the movie, so I’ll grab that one.

Splurge: Chris already picked up on vol. 2 of Wandering Son, which is pricey at $19.99 for a volume of manga (even a hardcover) but definitely a good splurge.

Justice League #3

Sales | The comic book market was up more than 19 percent in November when compared with the same period last year, with comics up 23 percent and graphic novels up 12 percent. So far this year the comics and graphics novel market is up 1.87 percent versus the first 11 months of 2010. If December cooperates, this could be the first up year for the market since 2008.

DC Comics was once again the top company in terms of market share. The company took six of the top 10 spots on Diamond’s Top 100 Comics list, with Justice League #3, Batman #3, Action Comics #3, Green Lantern #3 and Marvel’s Point One #1 making up the top five comics of the month. Batman: Noel took the No. 1 spot on the Top 100 Graphic Novels list. [The Comichron]

Publishing | IDW Publishing has promoted Chief Operating Officer Greg Goldstein to president, with a focus on new markets and acquisitions. He joined the company in 2008 from Upper Deck. [ICv2.com]

Creators | Ron Marz is selling signed copies of comics he wrote, with plans to use the money he makes to buy toys for his area Toys for Tots program. [Messages from Marz]

Creators | Darwyn Cooke is again hosting “12 Days of Christmas” art auctions to benefit the Hero Initiative. [Almost Darwyn Cooke's Blog]

Frankenstein #4

Creators | Frankenstein writer Jeff Lemire says to expect a twist in Issue 7 of the DC Comics title: “You can’t sustain an on-going with monster battles. Monsters beating up monsters every month is really fun for like five or six issues, but it gets stale and formulaic to keep repeating it. The fun and interesting thing to do is to shift the tone around that time, halfway through the first year. We’ll still have the action and the adventure and the sci-fi concepts, but I’m going to focus a lot more on Frankenstein himself, his past, where he came from and how he became how he is. Build him up as a character and give some depth to him. I want to expand who this guy is and the role he plays in this larger New DC Universe. So I really needed to shift the tone in somewhat of a more serious direction. The readers need to know who Frank was and why he’s important and why they should care about him before going back to the big action stuff again.” [Paste Magazine]

Creators | The BBC’s Nick Higham talks to Art Spiegelman about Maus and MetaMaus inside Gosh Comics in London. Eddie Campbell then uses the location of the interview to have some fun. [BBC]

Digital comics | Johanna Draper Carlson reviews the iPad version of Jason Shiga’s choose-your-own-adventure tale Meanwhile: “Instead of having to be careful to visually follow the right path, the app handles all the mechanics for you, allowing you to focus on the art, story, and choices. Even when you’re reading in a sequence, you move from panel to panel via a yellow highlight, tapping whenever you’re ready to move on.” The iPad seems like the natural medium for this particular work. [Comics Worth Reading]

Digital comics | Artists Doug Hills, Joshua Hale Fialkov and Gabriel Hardman discuss how they deal with the challenge of presenting double-page spreads in digital comics. [Graphicly blog]

Exhibits | Curator Martin Brauen discusses an exhibit at New York’s Rubin Museum that features “the most complete collection of comics related to Tibet ever assembled.” [Salon]

Commentary | Comic Book Resources’ Kiel Phegley reviews a comic he found in a cereal box, General Mills Presents: Justice League #1: Unstoppable Forces. [The Cool Kids Table]

Green Lantern #3

Hey kids, it’s time once again for What Are You Reading?, a weekly look into the reading habits of your Robot 6 bloggers. This week our special guest is Rik Offenberger, comics journalist and public relations coordinator for Archie Comics.

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

*****

Brigid Alverson

This week’s reading included two totally different comics about young men haunted by their father’s work-related deaths, which is an odd coincidence because they are otherwise totally different stories.

Spontaneous

I had been reading the single issues of Joe Harris and Brett Weldele’s Spontaneous, but I sort of dropped off in the middle, so this weekend I went back and read all five issues, the entire story arc. It’s a great supernatural thriller about a young man and a slightly wacky investigative reporter tracking down the cause of multiple cases of spontaneous human combustion in a small town. The young man, Melvin, is driven by the memory of his own father exploding into flames before his eyes. The story stretches credibility a bit in places but also includes some good twists, and the pacing is perfect. I am also a huge fan of Weldele’s atmospheric, watercolor-styled art, which is perfect for a story like this. (You can read the whole first issue at Robot 6.)

Saturn Apartments is a sci-fi manga about a window washer in a huge ring-shaped apartment colony that circles the earth like the rings of Saturn. It’s located in the stratosphere, 35,000 feet up, so it’s not in outer space–the earth is right there, but no one lives there any more. Mitsu is the son of a window washer who disappeared while working on the lower side (the earth side), and when he starts at the same job, he wonders if his father wasn’t just trying to get to home to earth–but his first gig is in the exact same spot where his father disappeared, and that first-hand encounter changes his thinking. Saturn Apartments is your basic workplace manga in a sci-fi setting, and the entertainment in this book comes both from the technology and the personalities, especially the customers who’s windows Mitsu cleans. The ring-shaped complex is literally stratified: Wealthier people live in the upper levels, with access to natural light, while the lower class lives at the bottom of the ring in crowded, dark streets. The lack of natural light weakens their immune systems and makes them sickly. Creator Hisae Iwaoka uses this as a structural element in the story but doesn’t get too heavy-handed with it.

Tim O’Shea

Batman: The Brave & The Bold #13

Batman: The Brave & The Bold #13: Once Grant Morrison has praised someone’s writing and picked them to write a Steel back-up for his ongoing Action title, one would think it would be a good time to notice the creator. I’d already been enjoying writer Sholly Fisch’s run to date, but this month’s Calling All Robins may be the writer’s best issue to date. His ability to capture the voices of the various Robins, through the myriad incarnation (plus one Nightwing) of the character is uncanny. Rich Burchett’s prowess at capturing the characters’ look (no easy fit) is the icing on the cake.

Batman & Robin #3: Not sure which I like more in this series; Bruce Wayne as father figure, or Alfred as the grandpa (with espionage savvy). One thing that threw me with Peter Tomasi’s writing in this issue, I think he may have had Daddy Batman use Child (Assassin) Robin as bait in a trap. An odd thing for a father to do to a son, even when it’s Batman.

Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos Essentials Volume 1: I don’t know if it was intentional on the part of Marvel to release this Essentials volume on the same week of Veterans Day, but if not that’s one great coincidence. As much as everyone enjoys Jack Kirby’s art in some of this issues #1-23 collection (plus one annual), I really gained a newfound appreciation for Dick Ayers on this project. One funny quirk, the fact that Stan Lee named a story named “An Eye for An Eye” (issue #19) in which the then two-eyed Nick Fury…does not lose his eye.

Frankenstein

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #3: I would strongly recommend this book were it not for Jeff Lemire’s annoying narration crutch of S.H.A.D.E.NET (the computer program that runs operations and is seemingly technologically omnipotent or something). The monsters in this issue drawn by Alberto Ponticelli are a reason to check out the book, though. And I hope one day that they can get Arthur Adams (is he Marvel exclusive?) to draw a guest arc.

Black Panther #525: I normally would be overjoyed to have Shawn Martinbrough on art (working with David Liss’ strong script). And while I was quite happy to see him on this assignment, it seems like his art was too rushed in certain points. In fact toward the end of the story, a villain is introduced and I had to re-read the pages, as it appeared a page of the story was missing. But honestly as much as I am displeased by the quality of Martinbrough’s art, on his worst day, the artist outperforms 85 percent of current mainstream artists. And his noir approach is picture perfect, in a general sense, for this series.

Battle Scars #1: As little interest as I had for the Fear Itself event, I was pleasantly surprised by the basic premise of this limited series (Military veteran who is sought after by villains and protected by heroes). But I wonder how much we will see of series like this, given that editor Alejandro Arbona was recently let go by Marvel. Time will tell.

Rik Offenberger

Jughead Double Digest #175

Jughead Double Digest #175: Jughead is always good for a laugh, and this issue is no exception. Jughead is featured as his super hero alter ego Captain Hero. Which is the best name a comedy hero ever came up with. He is join in his super hero adventure by Big Ethel, who has been looking for any way to team up with Jughead since before I was born. Its both fun and funny, it’s everything you want from a comic book. Pal’s and Paws is the following story and I don’t know what Hotdog is such a good foil for Jughead. It’s hard to do animal stories in comics but Hotdog has always been able to bridge the gap between funny animal stories and strait comedy stories. The double digest is the greatest value in comics with more comic pages per dollar then any other format. The balance of the digest is filled with Jughead tales spanning the generations. If you are a new fan then all the stories are new to you, but if you are a long time fan you get to re-experience your childhood love of Jughead as the classic tales cover every decade.

Mega Man #7: Mega Man is a video game-inspired comic that is so good you don’t have to have played the game to enjoy it. However if you are a gamer, Mega Man follows the game closely and adds depth and enjoyment to the game you already love. In this issue Mega Man searches for his kidnapped sister. Clues to clear Dr. Light’s name is coming up empty. Dr. Wily is still at large. Maybe Mega Man can save the day with the help of the six Robot Masters, or are the robots wandering right into Dr. Wily’s latest trap? It’s the mixture of both fun and excitement that Ian Flynn delvers better then anyone else.

Green Lantern #3: Green Lantern was never one of my favorite characters, but it is one of the best comics on the rack. Geoff Johns’ have overcome my concerns about a character who only had to think about what he wanted and his ring would do it for him. Hal Jordan has been put through his paces from one set of personal torture to another. Currently he has been stripped of his ring and finds his non-super life is a total mess. His greatest nemesis, Sinestro has offered Hal his powers back and Hal has to answer to Sinestro. However it’s not entirely clear that Hal will survive the experience. To make matters worse, the Guardians of the Universe, who give Green Lantern’s their powers, are now considering pulling the plug on the entire corps and starting over.

Huntress

Huntress #2: I have been a Huntress fan since she first appeared in DC Super Stars. She started as the daughter of Batman and Catwoman, and after the first Crisis she became Helena Bertinelli, a girl whose family was killed by mafia rivals. She has always been a character who could stand up to Batman without flinching. In the current story, Huntress creator Paul Levitz tells a compelling story of Helena Bertinelli’s trip to Naples, where she ends up fighting the mafia to save young girls from a prostitution ring. It’s a full blown, hard core kick ass adventure that should please any comic readers and on top of it all, Marcus To’s art is outstanding.

FemForce #157: FemForce is the first all female team book. Bill Black and team have been building a small but very loyal fan base since 1984. I started reading FemForce with FemForce Special #1. This issue focused on the storyline involving Synn’s loss of control of her powers. The whole FemForce team have repaired to a high-tech government paranormal facility, The Colorado Project, where they hope to preform an experimental medical procedure to restore Synn’s balance. Stardust and Nightveil argue as to whether science or magic is the best cure to Synn’s ills. This issue also introduces N.E.D.O.R. Agents. Set in 1965, the strip answers the question, what if the Standard /Nedor heroes had been revived in 1960s, like the DC and Marvel/Timely heroes were? The store features Fighting Yank, Pyroman, Black Terror, The Commando Cubs, and other actual Golden age heroes, and introduces second-generation heroines Pyrogirl, Candi Future and Fighting Yank, jr. Plus Dinosaur Girl faces an Asian giantess who seems to be the first in an endless wave of new female Axis menaces.

Magneto Not A Hero #1

Magneto Not A Hero #1: Erik Lasher is the best villain in any comic. In that he is so complex that he can be written as both hero and villain. He is the Malcolm X to Professor X’s Martin Luther King. He wants Mutant equality now by any means necessary. He is also a holocaust survivor, who really believes “Never Again.” In this four part story a video surfaces of Magneto murdering members of an anti-mutant group. It’s not clear if the tape is real or a fake. But Erik must answer to the Avengers for the contents of the tape as well as deal with the reaction from within his mutant community. The thing that makes Magneto fun is playing the line between being a mutant rights activist and being a mutant terrorist. Skottie Young does a great job focusing on Magneto and how others deal with him.

Uncanny X-Force #17: In Uncanny X-Force, Rick Remender goes into familiar waters as we are in part 7 of the 8 part Dark Angel Saga. The Saga actually began in June 1986 when Apocalypse first appeared and started a storyline that led to the end of the Angel and the birth of Dark Angel. One of my favorite lines in the book is Warren saying “X-Men don’t kill” especially since Dark Angel does kill and the entire Uncanny X-Force cast are the X-Men who kill. You could even go as far to say they are child killers. The events in Uncanny haven’t matched up with Schism yet. If you are a long -ime X-Men fan there are lots of little payoffs with fond memories of Age of Apocalypse. Even playing up the Phoenix and Weapon X relationship. While I find this all to be great fun and well thought out, I don’t know if it is even accessible to new fans. I hope it is, because this is all the wild violence that made Wolverine a super star in the early days of Uncanny X-Men and now he is leader of a team of like minded mutants.

Drunk Elephant Comics

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

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

*****

Chris Mautner

Nuts

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

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

Tim O’Shea

Animal Man #3

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

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

Batwing

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

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

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

Captain America and Bucky #623

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

Brigid Alverson

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

Feynman

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

Jacquelene Cohen

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

A Matter of Life and Death

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

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

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

Beartato and the Secret of the Mystery

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

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

Scott Chantler’s Two Generals tells the story of the invasion of Normandy, during World War II, through the eyes of Chantler’s grandfather, who was an officer in the Canadian Highland Light Infantry. Chantler drew on a number of historical sources, including his grandfather’s diary and photographs, to create the book, and in this video, he shows some of the materials he used to create the story.

Two Generals has also been included in the top 40 selections for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Canada Reads, sort of a battle of the books. This is the second year that a graphic novel has made it this far. Last year, Jeff Lemire’s Essex County made it to the final round but was voted down because four of the five judges didn’t like the fact that it was a graphic novel. Hopefully the panel will be more enlightened this year.

Dwayne McDuffie

Creators | Eugene Son, a friend of late comics creator Dwayne McDuffie, announced plans to transform the writer’s website from “one that promoted his work to one that reflects his immense legacy.” The site’s blog will remain active, with plans to post old columns and scripts written by McDuffie, as well as tributes and stories from McDuffie’s friends. Earlier this week Son posted a 2002 essay he said was one of McDuffie’s most-read works, “Six Degrees of St. Elsewhere (aka The Grand Unification Theory).” [DwayneMcDuffie.com]

Publishing | Wizard has hired Kevin Kelly as managing editor of its “website, social media and digital content endeavors.” Kelly has previously worked for several entertainment websites, including io9, Moviefone, Cinematical and Joystiq, and was most recently senior features editor for G4tv.com. [press release]

Manga | Playback hosts a “Manga Moveable Feast” on Ken Akamatsu’s Love Hina, which returns to print from Kodansha Comics next week. [Playback:stl]

Conventions | Our own Brigid Alverson reports on the kids comics presence at this past weekend’s New York Comic Con. [Publishers Weekly]

New York Comic Con

Conventions | Alyssa Rosenberg gives her impressions of New York Comic Con: “… The other thing that stuck with me was the experience I’ve never had before, of being in a place essentially without a visible social hierarchy. Some of that is because this is a temporary community, and some of it’s because everyone there is pulling a Clark Kent, taking off their workaday clothes and putting on what makes them comfortable and most them, whether it’s Chuck Taylors or some really fantastic ladies-fit purple Mandalorian armor. But despite the fact that the audience ranged from black teenaged hipsters, to parents with their kids, to the standard, stereotypical white-dude comic fans, as well as up and down the age spectrum, it was essentially impossible to tell who had power among the attendees. Cosplayers? They get looked at, and praised, and have their pictures taken, but getting what you want out of an experience isn’t necessarily the same as having power in it. Consumers? To a certain extent, yes: you might have to wait in a lot of lines, and pay money, but the entire experience exists for your stimulation. But by the temporary nature of the situation, there’s no way to tell who’s cool, maybe because for once, for a couple of days, it just doesn’t matter.” [ThinkProgress]

Creators | Jeff Lemire chats briefly about his plans for DC’s Animal Man and Frankenstein, Agent of S.HA.D.E. [io9.com]

Creators | Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian discusses his passion for comics and working with artist Alex Ross on the band’s latest album cover, among other topics. [Denver Westword]

Commentary | Our own Matt Seneca looks at a recent collection of Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant comic. “A few pages into the fourth of Fantagraphics’ beautifully reprinted new editions of Hal Foster’s masterpiece and it’s difficult indeed to remember that this isn’t the greatest comic ever.” [The Comics Journal]

New York Comic Con

Conventions | The New York Post previews this week’s New York Comic Con in a pair of articles, the second of which focuses on announcements from Marvel and DC. Marvel’s “Cup O’ Joe” panel will reveal how Fear Itself, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade and X-Men: Schism tie together, while DC plans to reveal “the surprising origin of a longtime member of the Justice League” and more creators who will work on their New 52 books, in addition to Andy Kubert. Update: Presumably the Justice League member with the surprising origin is Wonder Woman. [New York Post article #1, article #2]

Comics | Not surprisingly, DC saw double-digit increases in September compared to the year before, but the overall market was down a touch as graphic novel sales, lacking this year’s equivalent of Scott Pilgrim, were down. [The Comichron]

Business | Disney CEO Robert Iger, who oversaw the company’s purchase of both Marvel Entertainment and Pixar, will step down as CEO in March 2015. [Bloomberg]

Graveyard of Empires #1

Creators | Mark Sable discusses his career, his work on Graveyard of Empires and Decoy, and his Marvel-themed bar mitzvah: “There was a caricaturist there, and I gave out shirts with a picture of me — this seems incredibly narcissistic looking back — there’s a picture of me on this shirt, a caricatured version of me in Iron Man’s Silver Centurion armor. With the helmet off. And me wearing — I no longer wear glasses, I wear contacts — me wearing these really thick, socially damning glasses [laughter] and saying, ‘I had a MARVEL’ — Marvel in all caps — ‘MARVELous time at Mark’s bar mitzvah.’” [The Comics Reporter]

Creators | Kevin and Zander Cannon of Big Time Attic, an illustration studio that specializes in educational comics, talk about their work on educational comics such as Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards and T-Minus: The Race to the Moon. [The Journal]

Creators | The Toronto Star talks to three local creators who are working on DC’s New 52 comics: Francis Manapul, Jeff Lemire and Ken Lashley [Toronto Star]

Comics | The Moscow Times interviews the creators of Forbidden Art, a nonfiction graphic novel about the trial of the organizers of a controversial art exhibit. Although censorship is nominally forbidden in Russia, the government and the Orthodox Church teamed up to prosecute the organizers, who ended up paying a fine. [The Moscow Times]

Retailing | Tom Moore, owner of Texas Comic Shop in San Angelo, Texas, offers his personal formula for success: “I didn’t get in over my head. I wasn’t borrowing money that I couldn’t pay back. When times got tough I just had to bring in enough to keep everything open. I got by not making tactical mistakes. I know my customer base, so I order what I need, and I don’t go over. When I do go over, I make an effort to lower prices or offer promotions to get rid of the items.” [The San Angelo Standard-Times]

Infinite Vacation #1

Comics | “There is no good reason for me to buy an independent comic issue any more unless it is a complete story in itself”: Johanna Draper Carlson bemoans the tendency of indy comics to start strong but never finish and concludes that print serialization is not working for small publishers. She sees online releases as the way to build an audience nowadays, although that may not solve the problem of the near-infinite wait between issues of Infinite Vacation. [Comics Worth Reading]

Manga | A member of one of the Digital Manga Guild’s fan translation/editing teams talks frankly about what the experience has been like so far, including communication with publisher Digital Manga Publishing. [Manga Bookshelf]

Review | Gavin Lees reviews Mike Dawson’s Troop 182. [Graphic Eye]

Comics | Here’s a handy reference tool: Paul Gravett has made a database of all the comics in his book 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die, with title, author, and publisher information, as well as some supplementary articles. [Paul Gravett]

Webcomics | Sean Kleefeld takes a look at webcomics that take the creator’s personal life as their subject, and why this is more common on the web than in print. [MTV Geek]

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

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

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

*****

Brigid Alverson

Snarked

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

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

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

Tim O’Shea

Sweet Tooth

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

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

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

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

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

JK Parkin

Ready Player One

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

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

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

Jim Gibbons

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

The Coffin

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

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

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

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

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

Haven Distributors

Distributors | Johanna Draper Carlson catches a couple of tweets from publishers indicating that independent-comics distributor Haven, formed in 2008 from the assets of Cold Cut Distribution, is shutting down at the end of the month. Calls for confirmation this morning to Haven’s Skokie, Illinois, offices went to voicemail. The company’s closing would leave Diamond without any significant competition for independent comics distribution — print comics, at least. As Johanna notes, the industry giant still has a rival in another quarter: digital distributor comiXology. [Comics Worth Reading]

Legal | The defense rested in the Michael George trial Tuesday after the comics retailer, who is accused in the 1990 murder of his first wife, chose not to take the stand. His lawyers argued that if he were to do so, his testimony would become the sole focus of the trial. George’s current wife Renee, who was kept out of the courtroom for most of the trial in case she was called as a witness, also did not testify. Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday, and then the case will be sent to the jury. [Detroit Free Press]

Retailing | Michael Malve, former owner of Atomic Comics in Arizona, has been named partner and president of the entertainment division of Epic Digital, a Phoenix-based web and media company. Malve closed the four-store chain in August and filed for bankruptcy after 25 years in business. [The Beat]

APE

Conventions | Shannon O’Leary and Casey Burchby wrap up last weekend’s Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco. [Publishers Weekly, SF Weekly]

Creators | Tucker Stone talks to Jeff Lemire, writer of Animal Man, Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E., and Sweet Tooth. [ComiXology]

Creators | James O’Barr chats about The Crow and music. [Guitar International]

Creators | Brian Heater kicks off a four-part interview with Anders Nilsen. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Comics | Paul Gravett collects three interviews he did recently about his just-released book 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die — and he admits that he hasn’t read all of them himself. Yet. [Paul Gravett]

Critics | Time book critic and author Lev Grossman (The Magicians, The Magician King) talks about the greater acceptance of comics in the mainstream media — and by his 70-year-old mother, who is a Death Note fan. [Graphic Novel Reporter]

Digital | Robot 6 contributor Graeme McMillan points out that in the world of prose, reader response to “agency pricing,” in which publishers set the price of digital books and that price is the same across all outlets, has been file no fewer than 17 lawsuits, while in the comics realm, folks just complain and buy them anyway. The comments suggest that high prices are keeping people away from digital comics, and 99 cents is the sweet spot, but it’s a small sample. [Blog@Newsarama]

Animal Man #1

Welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading? Today our special guest is Kevin Colden, whose comic work includes Fishtown, I Rule the Night, Vertigo’s Strange Adventures and Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper, among others. He’s also the drummer for the band Heads Up Display.

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

*****

Michael May

Justice League #1

I spent most of my week getting caught up on the New 52. I liked some of Justice League #1, but have many of the same problems others did. I’m primarily interested in Justice League to see what kind of relationships the heroes have with each other in this new version. That’s what I like most about team books anyway, and I did enjoy Green Lantern’s feeling like Batman needed to prove himself and how Batman reacted to that. It was a new take that couldn’t have been done without the reboot. But stretching that out to an entire issue was disappointing and I may wait until Wonder Woman shows up in the series before I buy another issue. I’m very curious to see how Johns’ version compares to the way Azzarello’s going to write her.

Action Comics #1 was a nice surprise though. I love, Love, LOVE the less-powered Superman. I’ve been watching the Fleischer Superman cartoons lately and this reminded me a lot of those. Superman’s incredibly tough and strong, but not invincible and I sincerely hope he stays that way. Even though it reminded me a lot of Batman: Year One and Spider-Man 2, I also liked the Superman vs. the cops scene with the people coming to Superman’s defense. I don’t care that it’s not the first time I’ve ever seen that kind of thing, it’s the first time I’ve seen it with Superman and it was awesome. Lois reminds me of Fleischer’s Lois too: badass and capable, but not immune to getting in over her head and needing some help. There’s so much storytelling potential there that doesn’t have to have her be as goofy and helpless as her Silver Age version. I bought the issue out of curiosity, but I’m very much looking forward to more like it.

Batgirl

Batgirl #1 was another disappointment though. I typically love Gail Simone’s work so much, but I wanted a light-hearted superheroine (like the one on the cover) and didn’t care at all for Batgirl’s dealing with the Post Traumatic Stress of being shot by the Joker. I’m not saying it’s a bad story, it’s just very heavy and not what I’m looking for. I won’t buy the second issue, but may come back to it in the collected version if the buzz is good.

Static Shock #1 – My hopes that this will include more Milestone characters than just Static are encouraged by Hardware’s playing a major role in Virgil Hawkins’ story. I’m hoping for more like that (Blood Syndicate please!), but in the meantime, this was a lot of fun with some great, new villains and I can’t wait for the next issue.

Demon Knights was always going to be a hard sell for me because I’m not a big Demon fan, nor do I generally care for the way Marvel and DC have portrayed medieval times. But Diogenes Neves has some nice designs and halfway through the issue Paul Cornell threw in a romantic triangle that hooked me but good. Then he netted me and put me in the boat with the last page. I not making any long-term commitments, but there are some great elements here and I’m excited to see where it goes.

Brigid Alverson

MetaMaus

I got an advance copy of MetaMaus this week, and when I sat down and started flipping through it I couldn’t put it down. It’s basically a book about Art Spiegelman’s Maus, and the heart of it is a lengthy interview with Spiegelman himself in which he talks about the thought process that went into the book, how the making of Maus affected his relationship with his father and the origins of many of the images in the graphic novel. The book is crammed with visuals, including photos from Spiegelman’s bar mitzvah album and pictures from books about the Holocaust that once belonged to his mother. The result is fascinating, at least for a Spiegelman fan like me. The book comes with a disc that includes Maus in its entirety as well as recordings of Spiegelman’s father. I haven’t cracked that yet, but I know it will add a whole new dimension to the experience.

On a much, much lighter note, I worked my way through the first year of the Life With Archie magazine, with its dual Archie-marries-Veronica and Archie-marries-Betty storylines, this week. I have been picking these up and putting them down all year, but sitting down and reading them all at once makes the stories come into sharper focus. It’s interesting that some events occur in both storylines, while other outcomes are totally different—for instance, Moose becomes mayor of Riverdale in one story and janitor of Riverdale High in another, for reasons that have nothing to do with Archie’s choice of a spouse. Although the multiplicity of characters and subplots makes it a bit confusing to read both at once, it’s hard to put the stories down, as writer Paul Kupperberg keeps the plot twists coming thick and fast. It’s good melodrama, and because the characters are all familiar faces, it’s fun to see what directions they evolve into from their teenage selves.

Tim O’Shea

Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.

Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #1: When I picked up this week’s comics from the local store, my pal Dugan admitted that this comic reminded him somewhat of Hellboy. After I read it, I had to agree with him to a certain extent. Oddly enough, it also reminded me of another Dark Horse property, The Umbrella Academy. One major thing that annoyed me about Jeff Lemire’s writing (as much as I typically enjoy it) was this issue seemed really too text-intensive–and I hope the S.H.A.D.E.NET narrative. (If I never see another writer use narrative elements like “Data incoming…97% downloaded” I will be happy). But the first issue, despite its hiccups, introduced enough interesting characters (I bailed on Flashpoint after the first issue) to me to want to return for issue #2.

Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #523: This series is at its strongest when writer David Liss is teamed with artist Francesco Francavilla (as with this issue), Since this series began (with the departure of lead character) a major focal point of the series has been the importance of Hell’s Kitchen. T’Challa/Black Panther’s efforts to help Hell’s Kitchen continues to pay off in the neighborhood’s darkest hours. In terms of the supporting cast, I love love love Sofija.

Daredevil #3: I would not be surprised if Marvel is pitching Mark Waid’s Daredevil run as a TV series at some point. The surprise twist involving Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson’s law firm in this latest issue was really what triggered my theory. While the book is called Daredevil, Waid has devoted a good amount of time to showing Murdoch attempting to rebuild his life and career, which has entertained me to date. This was my favorite read of the week.

Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors #5: I feel for independent creators trying to garner attention for their respective series in a month like this, where the new DCU 52 dominates the news and review cycle. If you have not checked out Mark Andrew Smith and Armand Villavert’s Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors, you are genuinely missing out on a quirky series. In this issue, all the kids get a hold of the comics that the Nefarious Kid has been reading. (The two-page sample of those comics that Villavert offers early in this issue is executed with such great homage-level attention, it actually reminded me of some of the scenes from Jim Rugg’s Afrodisiac). The story really kicks into high gear in this installment and I really love where the creators leave things at the end of this installment (always leave folks wanting more, of course [which surprisingly some creators fail to do]).

Chris Mautner

Prison Pit 3

Prison Pit 3 — I had the opportunity to do a Q&A panel with Johnny Ryan at SPX last weekend. One of the more interesting parts of discussion was when Ryan said how each volume of Prison Pit had to have a different vibe or theme so that the different books didn’t feel interchangable. That’s certainly true in volume three, as we see the inclusion of a new character, who, while just as violent and vicious as CF, is completely different in attitude and demeanor. Plus, he has one of the most amazing (and utterly grotesque) resurrection scenes I’ve ever seen. There’s also a neat little bit toward the end where it seems like Ryan is heavily drawing upon the Fort Thunder crowd, particularly Mat Brinkman. All in all, it’s another excellent volume.

Prince Valiant Vol. 4 — This volume covers the most of the WWII years, 1943-44, when the paper shortage was at its highest. As Brian Kane notes in the introduction, this meant creator Hal Foster had to format the strip so parts could be cut for papers that had been forced to shrink their page count. He did this by adding a bottom strip, The Medieval Castle, which, while certainly informative and amusing, wasn’t necessarily as good as pure, unadulterated Valiant, especially since this new situation meant that Foster was unable to do the big, impressive vistas that had quickly become the strip’s trademark. Still, while no doubt hampered by this new situation, it did nothing to harm his storytelling skills, and Valiant remains a hugely enjoyable action strip, as Valiant battles a variety of ne’r do wells on a quest to find his true love, Aleta.

Mome Vol. 22 — I’ve talked at length before about how good the Mome anthology has been, and while I’m sad to see it come to a close, it’s nice to see it end on such a high note. Seriously, this is the best volume of Mome yet, with standout contributions by Chuck Forsman, Eleanor Davis, Laura Park, Dash Shaw, Jesse Moynihan and Sara Edward-Corbett. But really, there’s not a bad story in this entire book. It might seem weird recommending the last book of a series, but if you gotta only read one of these things, this would be the one.

Kevin Colden

Besides obsessively lurking on my Twitter feed and the typical mind-sucking websites like Damn You Autocorrect my, um… INTELLECTUAL reading time has been chock full of good stuff.

I suppose the elephant in the room would be the DC New 52 books – of which I’ve read about half so far (maybe 13 of the 27 to date). The overall concept of the reboot is solid, though some of the books have nailed it better than others. Animal Man in particular is one of the best new books I’ve read in a long time. I’ve always thought that Jeff Lemire was an interesting, unorthodox choice to write DCU books, and he and Travel Foreman have crafted an eerie, tonal work that recalls Moore and Totleben’s Swamp Thing – and it lives up to its pedigree. I got really excited for this title when I saw a preview of Foreman and inker Dan Green’s artwork for this book – creepy, angular and distorted, with a tasty late-80′s vibe – and it delivers. Colorist Lovern Kindzierski complements their work by smartly keeping it subtle, not eating the ink with rendering and doing some sweet limited-palette work as well. This one is on my regular list now and forever.

Bakuman

Keeping my comic selection broad and stroking my passion for well-crafted manga, a few months back DC Digital super editor and newly-installed Angeleno Kwanza Johnson recommended I read Bakuman by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. Or maybe he strong-armed me into reading it. I don’t remember. Either way, I loved the creators’ previous work Death Note (which I also highly recommend; I read the first five volumes -about 1000 pages – in one sitting), so I figured this one was a good bet. Bakuman is about two high school-age kids making comics. Yeah. It’s about writing and drawing – possibly the least interesting and least active things in the universe – yet somehow the creators infuse the story with drama, tension and suspense. Besides some inexplicably bizarre behavior by two characters that requires Herculean suspension of disbelief, it’s thoroughly enjoyable and the art is stellar. Interestingly, Viz released volume 4 as a digital day-and-date experiment, and then promptly abandoned that plan with volume 5. Boo.

On my bookshelf, you will find many, many a finely bound graphic novel. You will also find my only two other reading passions – mountain-climbing memoirs and music biographies. I kid you not. I love reading about climbing because I will never be able to do it myself. I like to read about being a touring musician, because I will likewise never be able to do it myself. My current musical selection is See A Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody by Bob Mould. It’s a great companion piece to Andrew Earles 2010 Husker Du biography (for which Mould declined to be interviewed, in anticipation of his own book), detailing Mould’s view of the band’s acrimonious history, and moving further into his time with Sugar, his solo career and his life as a gay man. It’s a fascinating, unflinching, sometimes brutal portrait of a self-made artist, and it’s one of the best and most inspiring I’ve read.

Those selections, by the way – all purchased and read digitally. The revolution is here, and it will not be televised. It will be downloaded.

Willworld

Which is not to say I’m all ones and zeroes here – quite the opposite. I’m a biblio-junkie with a bad habit. Two weeks ago, I read WE3 by Morrison and Quitely, Green Lantern Willworld by DeMatteis and the late, great Seth Fisher (buy all of his work – ALL OF IT), and when my wife is done with it, our pal Mike Dawson’s Troop 142 is in the pile. Last weekend, I was at Small Press Expo and went on such an insane buying binge that I’m not even sure what I bought. I know I had Jennifer Hayden sign a copy of her new book Underwire, and I picked up Eddie Campbell’s Alec (both from Top Shelf), got a few Roger Langridge’s books, and went on a blind spree at Fantagraphics with Four Color Fear, an Alex Toth collection, some books by Jordan Crane and an impulsively bought Jacques Tardi book because CBLDF’s Alex Cox told me I needed it. That’s the first bag of three.

What am I reading? Everything, apparently.

• At Comic Book Resources, Kiel Phegley checks in with direct market retailers after the first full week of the DC relaunch.

• USA Today previews Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #1, which kicks off the “War of the Monsters” story arc. “It’s basically Frankenstein and these classic Universal monsters against as many other monsters as I could throw at my poor artist [Alberto Ponticelli],” writer Jeff Lemire says. “Literally, I had pages where he was drawing thousands of monsters. It’s really fun and big and over the top and a lot of black humor as the team gets to know each other and interact, and the readers get to know them, as well.”

• TV Guide previews Suicide Squad #1, written by Supernatural co-executive producer Adam Glass, who details his take on the radically redesigned Harley Quinn: “The thought was, let’s see her operate outside of the Joker, not being obsessed 24/7. One thing that I think gets downplayed with her is how smart she is. This is a woman who is a mastermind in her own right. [...] We didn’t lose any of the humor. She’s still funny, she’s still sexy, she’s still a little crazy. This is Harley if she’s moved away from home, her chance to shine on her own.”

• IGN.com and iFanboy have previews of Red Lantern #1 and Grifter #1, respectively.

• Writer Scott Snyder talks at length with Complex about Swamp Thing, and his approach to Batman: “The way DC approached me about the relaunch was that it was a way to tell any story that you wanted about your favorite character, no holds barred. And the story I wanted to tell was one that was already really rooted in what’s already happened in Batman, but is accessible to anybody that hasn’t been reading Batman. It’s a big epic, ambitious story about Bruce Wayne and the way he thinks of Gotham as his friend and this kind of ancient evil under Gotham that exists, or may exist, that he has somehow overlooked as Batman. So it has to do with the history of the Wayne family and the Grayson family, and there will be big revelations about this enemy from the past, and this enemy is going to bring all the weight of history against the Bat family and try to crush them.”

Big Questions

Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading?, our weekly column where we successfully answer the question in the title. Our special guest this week is Janice Headley, events coordinator, publicist and “ambassador of awesome” for Fantagraphics.

To see what Janice and the Robot 6 crew have been reading this week, click the link below.

*****

Michael May

Justice Inc.

A while back I got interested in the old pulp character The Avenger and picked up everything my local comic shop had on him starting with DC’s Justice Inc. They only had a couple of issues, numbers 1 and 4, but I felt like I got a good indication for what the series was like. The first issue was an adaptation of a the first Avenger story from the pulps and since I’ve also read that it was pretty rough reading Denny O’Neil try to condense it into a single issue. Given that impossible task, he did a pretty good job of it though. Much better, say, than M Night Shyamalan’s trying to condense an entire season of Avatar: The Last Airbender into a two-hour film.

Justice Inc #4 is an original story (also by O’Neil) with some fun Kirby artwork and a couple of nice set pieces featuring a zeppelin and a fight on a bi-plane. It’s too bad the villain’s scheme is a sad scam in which he blows up his own passenger-filled planes for the insurance. If you’re going to kill massive amounts of innocent people, at least have the guts to try taking over the world or something.

In the “more recent, but still not exactly new” category, I saw the old DCU out with Supergirl #67. I’d pretty much given up reading comics in single issues, but was making an exception for Kelly Sue DeConnick’s brief, but extremely enjoyable run. I almost missed the significance of Supergirl’s asking a new friend not to forget about her in the last couple of pages. A sweet end to not only a fun story, but this entire version of the character. I hope to see Kelly Sue on more superhero stuff soon.

A couple of other periodical-issue exceptions I’ve been making have been Mystery Men and Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown. I just finished the fourth issue of Mystery Men and am loving the team as it’s finally coming together. I feel like they’re only just going to form in time for the climactic fifth issue and then I’ll have to say goodbye, but hopefully the series is doing well enough to warrant a sequel. I understand there’s already plans for a collected version.

As for Frankenstein, the third issue wrapped up the Flashpoint era of Frank’s story very nicely and – just as important – completely. According to friends who’ve been keeping up, that’s more than can be said of the rest of the comics in the event. Jeff Lemire and Andy Smith finish the story they began without making me buy anything else, while just teasing the New 52’s Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE enough to get me to want to check it out. It’s one of several comics I’ll be buying as single issues again thanks to the reboot.

Marvel’s also benefiting from my renewed interest in single-issue comics. As long as I’m reworking that format into my budget, I decided to check in on some favorite Marvel characters starting with Rogue in X-Men Legacy #254. Though it’s Part One of a story, it’s very much continued from whatever long epic space search the Legacy X-Men have been on for however long they’ve been on it. Part of the fun though was diving back into the X-Men feet first without trying to catch up ahead of time. That’s how I got into them in the ‘80s and it worked pretty well this time too. There are some new characters I don’t know, but I had Rogue, Gambit, and Magneto to lead me around and it was just fine. Also, the story about the team’s getting accidentally split up and searching a giant space station for Havok and Polaris while dealing with factions of warring aliens was pretty cool.

Carla Hoffman

Batwing #1

Let me first publicly apologize to DC Comics and everyone who worked on Batwing because I am more than willing to eat my hat on this: Batwing #1 is everything I have wanted from a detective comic and some things I didn’t. That issue was awesome, from the smooth, emotional artwork to the very casual but directed level of storytelling, to the costume design in action… they even changed the logo to look more clear and less I-broke-it-with-a-hammer. Within three pages, we know everything we need and no one stops the whole book to repeat origins or bother with long exposition. The supporting cast range from ‘hey, African Alfred!’ to a cop who could be better and is slowly being fostered by Batwing’s alter ego to strive for more than what little justice they can get. I expected absolutely nothing from this book and it worked its little comic book butt off making me invest in it. I’m going to make sure we sell out of Batwing by the end of the week because this feels more like a new fresh start than anything I’ve read yet in the reboot.

Back in my home country of Marvel comics, the third issue of Greg Rucka and little mentioned superstar Mark Checchetto’s run on Punisher came out this week also and man, if that isn’t a good story. Checcetto is becoming the name I want to spell because his artwork is both strangely apt and far too beautiful for Frank Castle. A street level crime story has a certain look to it, or so we have dubbed in modern comics: there’s going to be a lot of blacks, shadowed faces, newspaper clippings, narrow panels of just someone’s eyes, etc. Things you don’t look for but know will be there when someone says “There’s been a murder.” Not only does Checcetta’s art fit the bill with some moody dark pictures, violence and artistic representations of pain, but people’s faces are remarkably beatific. It’s something in the eyes I think, but Frank Castle is probably the best looking I’ve seen him ever. Best of all, it doesn’t take you out of the story; Greg Land’s art might remove you because you’re trying to figure out where he took that photo reference from, but Checcetto’s work seems organic. Like all this darkness has some light within it as well? Man, that sounds corny, but it’s the best analogy I got.

Tom Bondurant

Batman Annual #1

I’ve been enjoying the reprints in the DC Comics Classics Library: Batman Annuals Vol. 1, and specifically the first Batman Annual (Summer 1961). These stories were collected around the theme “1,001 Secrets Of Batman And Robin,” and by and large they’re well-crafted little tales shedding light on particular aspects of the Dynamic Duo’s methods. “How To Be The Batman” finds Robin re-educating his amnesiac mentor; “Untold Tales of the Bat-Signal” strings together vignettes about the signal’s role in various cases, “The Origin of the Bat-Cave” takes readers back to the pre-Gotham frontier times, etc. Nothing too complicated, and each like catnip to the Bat-fan hungry for whys and hows. I was surprised at how many of these stories I’d read years, if not decades ago — not in the ’50s, of course, but in previous reprint collections — and they hold up pretty well.

Otherwise, I’ve been re-reading the first several issues of American Flagg!, simply because it had been a while, and there’s never really a bad time for Flagg!. I just finished the second arc, “Southern Comfort,” which spans issues #4-6. Not that I think the series peaked early, but this has always been one of my favorite Flagg! arcs. It opens up the book’s scope beyond the Chicago Plexmall, it introduces a few significant supporting characters (and Flagg’s standard disguise, Pete Zarustica), and it kicks off with a nifty, almost standalone story about Flagg and his friends foiling a blimpjacking. Flagg! went on the road a few more times, including to Canada, England, and Russia, but none of those stories were quite as tight and fun as “Southern Comfort.”

Brigid Alverson

Americus

Although I had read the first few chapters of Americus in webcomic form, for an interview here at Robot 6 last year, when the finished copy arrived I read it in one sitting. The story that drives the book is about a religious fanatic’s attempt to have a series of fantasy novels removed from the library of a small town in Oklahoma, but I found that to be the least interesting part of the book. The “Christian” character seemed like a caricature taken from internet postings, rather than a real person with thoughts and emotions (and even doubts), and in a book filled with quirky, nuanced characters, her lack of depth is noticeable. What makes this a great book is Hill and Reed’s portrayal of their protagonist, Neil, a teenage boy making the awkward transition from middle school to high school and losing his best friend (who is shipped away to military school) at the same time. Neil starts out being the Mikey of Americus, Oklahoma — he hates everything, and not without reason‹but as the book moves along he finds more and more kindred spirits. The authors intersperse sequences from their fictitious fantasy novel into the story, switching the drawing style to differentiate them from everyday life. Despite its one flaw, this book is a great coming-of-age story with a (mostly) likable cast and a host of small subplots. The book issue is resolved neatly (and predictably), but some of the other stories look like they will continue beyond the boundaries of the book, and I’d love to see an Americus 2 that leaves controversy to the side and simply continues to tell the stories of these characters.

Shutterbox, by Rikki and Tavisha Simons, seems like the sort of book that the fundamentalists of Americus would try to ban. It’s a fantasy tale about a girl who travels in her dreams to an alternate universe that is the home of the muses who inspire humans. Megan, the likable everygirl heroine, is a sort of supernatural exchange student who arrives at Meridiah University in pajamas and bunny slippers and encounters elf-like creatures, a ghost in her camera, and several handsome young men who don’t seem to be telling the truth. It’s a good example of an American graphic novel that picks up on the styles and tropes of manga and reinterprets them to make something completely new. The first four volumes of the series were published by Tokyopop, and the Simonses are now self-publishing them, along with volume five and an eventual sixth volume, digitally.

Tim O’Shea

Batgirl

So my regular comic book store since 1977 (Book Nook, no link because it’s an established Atlanta store that has no interest in the Internet) sold out of many of the DC new 52 fairly quickly–and I had been unable to make it to the store on Wednesday. Hankering to check out the new Batgirl, I called nearby stores on Thursday around 6 PM. The first store did not even pick up the phone. I dialed twice just to make sure I had not misdialed (and checked their posted hours, they were open for another hour). And the phone rang off the hook. I am not naming the store because, hey everybody can have a bad night. The second store I called, Galactic Quest, answered the phone on the third ring–and quickly I found out they had a copy of Batgirl.

Galactic Quest strikes me as the kind of store that will win a lot of new customers from the new DC books (and having just celebrated its 20th year in business, it’s a known business in that part of town). The clerk who answered the phone was even more helpful when I got to the store (it was a 15 mile drive in rush hour traffic, so I was pushing my luck just getting there). She directed me to the new releases and when I expressed pleasure that they had a copy of Batgirl, she immediately (but not in a pushy manner) informed me of their pull policy, if I’d like to sign up. When I explained I had a regular store–she backed off on the sell, but was still very friendly. When I noted that Stormwatch had sold out she snagged me a copy from the back that had been set aside, “but not spoken for.” When I thanked her and admitted I was afraid I was not gonna make it before closing, she offered (mind you, to a first time customer): “Give me a call if you are going to be five minutes late, I can keep the store open for you.” That is customer service that keeps a store open for 20 years, folks.

On to the books, Action Comics #1 was a pleasant surprise for me. Based on the advance art, my expectations had been lowered (and fortunately Rags Morales delivered a solid visual tale). But really this is a story that benefits from the reboot. Rather than being about the iconic Superman, this was a street-level hero Superman–and I like it. I will be back for issue 2.

As for Batwing #1, I concur with Carla’s assessment. And I have a hard time liking a Judd Winick story these days typically, unless it involves Barry Ween.

Stormwatch #1: I bought this because Paul Cornell is writing it, plain and simple. Cornell was really trying to cover a lot of ground and introduce all of the cast (a thing that Justice League failed to do last week), so that did win me into coming back.

Batgirl #1: “Feeling a creep crumble under my feet,,,I didn’t even know how much I missed it.” That line may alienate some, but for me it’s the Gail Simone written line that hooked me.

Janice Headley

Where do I even start?!?!  I’m a voracious reader and, as anyone who’s ever met me at the Fantagraphics table at a comic-con can attest, an excited chatterbox when it comes to books I love!  So, I was thrilled to be invited to share my recent comix loves for Robot 6!

So, I recently finished reading the gorgeous Big Questions collection from Anders Nilsen.  I followed the series here and there during its decade-long run, but admittedly missed out on a few earlier issues, so I’m grateful to Drawn & Quarterly for this incredible 600+ page book.  Honestly, I wish there were 600+ more pages to read.

Don't Go Where I Can't Follow

When I finished Big Questions, I still wanted more from Anders.  I’d already read his Fanta titles, Monologues for the Coming Plague, and his Ignatz title The End, but for years I had shied away from his acclaimed memoir Don’t Go Where I Can’t Follow.  Y’see, I cry… easily.  I cry at commercials, I cry at video games, I cry when I’m doing long division and I have a remainder left over.  Mike Baehr (Director of Marketing at Fantagraphics, and Director of Being My Husband) reluctantly pulled the book down from the high shelf, and handed it over to me with great concern.  And yeah.  Of course.  I cried.  Who didn’t???  But, god, I’m glad I finally got around to reading it, and it was the perfect companion to Big Questions, whose title page has the owl simply saying, ” You must live every day as though it might be your last.”  Um… sorry… there’s something in my eye…

And while I’m on a teary-eyed thread, Love & Rockets: New Stories 4 pretty much wrecked me.

On a more chipper note, I picked up some new work from Esther Pearl Watson at the San Diego Comic Con. Her Fun Chicken booth with her husband Mark Todd is always on my “must-visit” list at any convention. This time around, I picked up their collaborative comic Nubbin & Nutz, a hilarious and wacky adventure at the grocery store.

I also picked up another collaboration Esther did with Martha Rich, the 2008 mini-comic Beauty Across America, which documents a cross-country trip they took, interviewing people along the way about their feelings on what makes a woman “beautiful.”  I’m bewildered that I had never picked this mini-comic up before, because the topic of “society’s definition of beauty” is one I tackled myself in an old issue of my zine, copacetic.  Their findings were truly inspiring, and, well, beautiful!

The Wolf

I thought I had caught up with the Invincible Summer series by Nicole J. Georges when I picked up Issue #18 at the Stumptown Comics Fest earlier this year.  But, apparently, she just released Invincible Summer #20, a split with Clutch, so I clearly need to get on it.  Speaking of Stumptown, I’ve been loving the “Living Things” series that I picked up there from PDX publishers Little Otsu.  My favorites in this series of mini-art books include Lilli Carré’s and Jo Dery’s.

And speaking of art books, Tom Neely’s “painted novel” The Wolf is a stunner!  We passed around a copy excitedly behind the Fantagraphics booth at San Diego Comic Con, and we’re over the moon that the Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery gets to host his signing on his upcoming book tour.  If you live in Seattle, please join us for that on September 24th!

It’s an annual tradition to look forward to: The alternative comics publisher Top Shelf has unveiled its “Massive $3 Sale,” in which they’re pricing down their catalog to near-ridiculous levels — in many cases $3, and in many more cases just one lousy American dollar. For very little money, you can rack up a big chunk of one of the best comics publishers’ best comics.

What would I get? At the $3 level, Kolbeinn Karlsson’s The Troll King — a surreal collection of intertwined short stories that for once lives up to the overused, rarely true label “fairy tales for grown-ups” — is basically a must-buy. I’d also be sure to pick up Andy Hartzell’s Fox Bunny Funny, an unpredictable and impeccably cartooned funny-animal allegory about conformity and self-discovery. Lilli Carré’s remarkably assured debut collection of satirical short stories, Tales of Woodsman Pete, is another no-brainer. If you’re interested in rounding out your Alan Moore collection with some of his more off-the-beaten-path efforts, you can get all eight issues of his underground-culture zine Dodgem Logic, his prose novel Voice of the Fire, and his poetry/photography collaboration with José Villarubia The Mirror of Love for three bucks a pop. And you can pick up all three issues of Jeffrey Brown’s one-man action anthology series Sulk — Bighead & Friends, a return to his genuinely funny superhero parody characters; Deadly Awesome, an 84-page mixed martial arts fight comic; and The Kind of Strength That Comes from Madness, a grab bag of sci-fi/fantasy/action/adventure spoofs — for a buck apiece, which is a steal.

Beyond the deepest discounts, you’ll rarely find the publisher’s heavy (literally–these books are big) hitters priced as low as they are now: Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s From Hell, Campbell’s Alec: The Year’s Have Pants omnibus, and Jeff Lemire’s complete Essex County are all $20, while Craig Thompson’s Blankets is just $22.50.

And hey, if you’re totally new to all of these books, so much the better. Maybe DC’s New 52 initiative has you in an “I’ll try anything for $3 a book” mood? If so, put a few bucks aside and get some full-fledged graphic novels for that price or lower. You’ll be glad you did.

The barriers to entry for getting your comic work out in front of people may have changed, but as Sean Kleefeld points out, the Xeric Foundation provided another benefit to comic fans. “…here’s why I’ll miss the Xerics: they have been an incredibly powerful shorthand for identifying great comics,” he wrote on his blog. “Oh, there’s other comic awards out there, of course, but those always come across as hit or miss for me. Just because a comic won a Harvey or an Eisner or whatever doesn’t mean I’ll really enjoy or appreciate it. But the Xerics, I’ve found, are consistently high quality and enjoyable. I have yet to read a Xeric-winning book that I didn’t enjoy, a claim I can’t make regarding the Eisners.”

So when I threw out the idea to do a Six by 6 list highlighting some of our favorite Xeric Foundation recipients over the years, I didn’t realize what I was asking; it didn’t register just how many completely awesome creators out there have benefited from the grant. So, when I say “Six Xeric Foundation grant recipients we love,” that’s not to say that they are the only ones we love. Hell, just throw all the names in a hat and pick out six, and you’ll have a list just as legitimate as this one.

Also, it was interesting to see how my fellow bloggers interpreted my request for entries for this list; while some, like Chris Mautner, did what I was expecting and talked about what one of their favorites went on to do after receiving the grant, others reached out to some of them to get their thoughts on the discontinuation of the grants. So the content of the list is … varied.

As always feel free to share thoughts on some of your favorites in the comments section. You can find a list of all the recipients here.

Jeff Lemire

Lost Dogs

When I talked to Jeff Lemire back in early 2008, he did not mince words when emphasizing how important his March 2005 Xeric grant had been (for Lost Dogs, which Lemire self- published through his own Ashtray Press imprint):

“It was a huge break. I would never have gotten a book distributed by Diamond without a publisher if it wasn’t for the Xeric Grant, and that helped put me on the map with publishers like Top Shelf. I also learned a huge amount about the business side of the comics industry, which, even though I am not self-publishing any more, still helps me a lot.” (Tim O’Shea)

Sam Hiti

Sam Hiti won the Xeric Grant in 2002 and used it to produce his first graphic novel, Tiempos Finales. The book used a combination of influences from Jack Kirby and manga to Christian imagery and Latin artwork that resulted in a unique style and brought Hiti instant acclaim from fans, critics, and professionals alike. I asked him how winning the Xeric affected his career:

“I was saddened to hear this morning that the Xeric Grant will be no more. I received mine in 2002 when I published my first graphic novel Tiempos Finales. Wow. It’s almost been ten years. Time flies.

“I remember the work that I put into filling out the forms; the inside scoops I received from Rhode Montijo and Nick Bertozzi (also former winners). Rhode was the one who pushed me to apply last minute and I am so grateful, because I thought I had no chance of winning.

“I remember that someone congratulated me through an email that I had won, so I called up Xeric and they confirmed. I was so ecstatic! Awards like this are good for new creators. It gave me momentum and let me know that somebody other than myself believed that I was capable of doing good work. I wanted to make Xeric proud and show them that their money wasn’t going to waste. The pressure was on.

Tiempos Finales

“I reworked the book, adding many pages and a second color. I wanted to bleed every penny that they gave me. My thought was that if this book was my last project, I would go out in a ball of flames. It took what seemed like forever to finish it, I was learning many new things. I was painting houses in those days and I had little bursts of time to work on the book. The Xeric people would check in periodically and ask if I had printed the book yet. I told them I was working on it and not to worry. I hoped that they didn’t think that I had already blown the money on toys and candy.

“In the spring of 2004, about a year-and-a-half later, I printed the book at a local mom-and-pop shop with whom I built a great relationship. I’m still using them to this day. I remember holding the final book in my hands as if it was my first child. I remember handing over the complete $5000 to pay for the printing. I remember meeting Peter Laird at the Toronto Comic Con a few months later. His booth was right next to mine and I thanked him and apologized that I reworked the book from what I’d originally sent in. Peter shook my hand and assured me that he was very pleased with the way the book had turned out.

“I am honored to be a Xeric Grant winner, it pushed me to my creative limits and allowed me to be at the right time and place to launch my career. As they say, the rest is history.” (Michael May)

Megan Kelso

Gilrhero

The central and simple idea behind the Xeric grant was to give budding cartoonists a financial leg up, and it’s hard to think of a better example than Megan Kelso. The spring 1993 recipient had been self-publishing her initial, magazine-sized comic Girlhero for about two issues before getting the award, which enabled her not only to publish a more slicker looking product, but also reach a wider array of stores and readers.

Since then she has gone on to become one of the most notable women cartoonists in the alt-comix field, publishing such acclaimed books as The Squirrel Mother, the (recently re-released) Queen of the Black Black and Artichoke Tales. She’s had her work published in The New York Times (“Watergate Sue”) and won several Ignatz Awards for her work. Would she have stuck with it and had her work as well-received if she hadn’t won? Probably. But winning the Xeric surely gave her the self-confidence and enough of a financial windfall to keep her publishing and convince her to turn it into a career. Considering this is still an industry where women cartoonists seem like an anomaly, that’s something worth celebrating. (Chris Mautner)

Jason Lutes

Jar of Fools

Lutes received his grant in 1993 to collect his weekly comic strip, Jar of Fools, which was running in The Stranger, a Seattle alternative newspaper. I remember discovering it in 1995, shortly after moving back to Dallas after living in an outlying suburb. As a life-long reader of comics, I never truly gave up on the medium, but there was a time in the 1990s when I came close. A few books like Sandman and Bone kept me coming back to the shop each week, but it wasn’t until I discovered a shop called Einstein’s in Garland, Texas that I felt a sense of renewal and excitement about comics and what they could be.

Einstein’s was one of those stores that went out of their way to push, promote and carry comics from the back section of Previews — the stuff from smaller companies who were coming into their own at the time. In fact, they had a money-back guarantee section in their shop; if you didn’t like one of the books the store recommended, you could bring it back for a full refund. These shelves had some of the staples I was already enjoying, like the previously mentioned Bone and Sandman, as well as one I had never heard of called Jar of Fools.

In its pages I met Ernie the alcoholic magician, plagued by the death of his brother; his estranged girlfriend Esther; con man Nathan and his daughter Claire; and Ernie’s mentor Flosso. It was both depressing and uplifting to see this complex cast struggle through life, emotions and their problems. It was subtle, and ultimately fantastic, and I can remember thinking not only what a great story it was, but how much skill and talent Lutes brought to the storytelling. Thanks to Drawn & Quarterly, the book is still in print, so if you’re a fan of Lutes’ Berlin or just good stories, check it out. (JK Parkin)

Tyler Page

Nothing Better

Tyler Page first came to my attention through Stylish Vittles, his heart-breakingly honest trilogy of graphic novels depicting his relationship with his college girlfriend. I’m a total sucker for realistic college stories and ate it up, so I was also thrilled when Page announced his follow up project, another college series, but this time completely fictional. He launched Nothing Better as a webcomic and in 2007 won the Xeric Grant to publish his first collection. I also talked to Page about what that meant to him:

“I was definitely surprised by the news about the Xeric Grant, as many were. I think it’s unfortunate, though I do understand where Peter Laird is coming from. But even with the Internet and things like Kickstarter, I feel like the Xeric still had a place. For me, winning a Xeric was a big deal. I’d heard about it from a colleague back when I was in college and I made it one of my missions to try and win one some day. While I was committed to self-publishing on my own, and racked up an impressive amount of debt doing so, I wouldn’t have ever published the first Nothing Better collection if I hadn’t won the grant for it.

“Getting the grant did a lot to boost my sense of professional approval and it got me a lot of free press at announcement time as well. And at the time I got it, I was at the end of my financial rope as far as publishing. I couldn’t really risk any of my own money any more on publishing; getting the Xeric really helped in that regard. Then again, who’s to say that if I hadn’t gotten a Xeric and waited a few years until Kickstarter was around, that wouldn’t have worked just as well?

“I think the main difference is just the process of having the work judged and the place of honor the Xeric seemed to hold within the comics community. Funding your comic through pre-sales or crowd-sourcing with Kickstarter is fine, but it will never have the caché the Xeric Grant did.

“I’m sure we’ll continue to see lots of amazing work from newcomers, but it’s still sad to see the Xeric leave the comics world.” (Michael May)

John Kerschbaum

The Wiggly Reader

For creator John Kerschbaum receiving a September 1996 Xeric Grant (for The Wiggly Reader) literally changed the kind of work that the cartoonist wanted to pursue. As he succinctly put it in a public statement on Google+ “Sad to see this end. I would most likely not be making comics if not for the Xeric grant I received.” His statement was reminiscent of something he said in a January 2009 Comics Journal interview–and that Tom Spurgeon picked up on in a March 2009 interview:

“SPURGEON: You once told The Comics Journal that you might not be making comics at all if it weren’t for the Xeric grant you received. Why is that? What did the Xeric give you that’s continued to pay dividends in terms of your overall artistic output the last 10-12 years?

KERSCHBAUM: What I meant was that prior to submitting to The Xeric Foundation, my goal was to sell gag cartoons to magazines. I wasn’t doing comics longer than a page. So writing The Wiggly Reader and getting a Xeric grant turned my attention to longer-form comics, comic books, self-publishing, etc.” (Tim O’Shea)

Casanova: Avarita #1

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

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

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

*****

Tim O’Shea

Iron Age #2

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

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

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

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

Jonah Hex

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

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

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

Brigid Alverson

Aki Alliance

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

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

Chris Butcher

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

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

Cross Game

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

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

Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown

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

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

X-Men: Schism

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

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

Chris Arrant

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

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

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

Graeme McMillan

Captain America #1

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

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

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

Chris Mautner

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

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

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

Brigid Alverson

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

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

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

Michael May

Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #2

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

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

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

Vengeance #1

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

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

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, my first pick off the shelf would be Vengeance #1 (Marvel, $3.99); I love Joe Casey, and especially when he’s given a long leash and room to play in a big universe. Seeing Nick Dragotta drawing this is an added bonus. Next up would be comics’ dueling summer blockbusters, Flashpoint #3 (DC, $3.99) and Fear Itself #4 (Marvel, $3.99). After that, I’d get the excellent Flashpoint: Batman, Knight of Vengeance #2 (DC, $2.99); when Azzarello is on the ball he’s great to read, and this seems to be that.

If I had $30, I’d double back and get Toby Cypress’ Rodd Racer (Image, $7.99); I’m spoiled in that Toby sent me an advance preview of this, which only made me want to read it more. Next up would be Uncanny X-Men #540 (Marvel, $3.99); I really feel Kieron Gillen has already got a firmer grasp on the characters here than Matt Fraction did in the length of his run. I hope Gillen’s given some time to really explore things outside the big-event crossover seasons to come. If Chris Claremont can do those epic baseball issues, I want Gillen to do some music equivalent –who knows, maybe Wolverine saw the Ramones at CBGB’s. Last up would be Jonah Hex #69 (DC, $2.99); seeing Jeff Lemire joining Palmiotti and Gray is a mind-bender.

For the splurge, it’s an easy pick — Flight Vol. 8 ($27). Kazu and company really pioneered a new frontier in comics, continuing on from the trailblazing nature of Jeff Smith with Bone. I hope the end of Flight doesn’t diminish the creative output from the creators shown in these issues going forward in comics.

Graeme McMillan

Flashpoint #3

If I had $15 in this first week of July, I’d put more than half of it towards keeping up with the Big Two’s big summer events, with both Flashpoint #3 (DC, $3.99) and Fear Itself #4 (Marvel, $3.99) out this week. I’ve been enjoying the former much more than the latter, but I admit: I’m expecting a turnaround from the death at the end of FI #3 that I am, in a weird way, hooked to find out how quickly it happens. Marvel gets another $3.99 of my money with the first issue of Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta’s Vengeance, because I’m curious to see what pop thrills Casey has cooked up for his latest journey into the Marvel Universe’s little-seen underside.

If I had $30, the first thing I’d add to my list would be the first issue of Elric: The Balance Lost (BOOM!, $3.99); I’ve never gotten into Moorcock’s fantasy character and always kind of regretted that. With Chris Roberson writing this new series, I feel like I might finally have my “in.” If nothing else, Roberson’s writing will make the whole thing enjoyable, even if Elric himself turns out to be not for me. A couple of Flashpoint tie-ins would also make the cut: Flashpoint: Secret Seven #2 and Flashpoint: The World of Flashpoint #2 (Both DC, $2.99) had strong enough first issues that I’ll likely pick up their follow-ups. Also potentially making the “Huh, I liked the first one enough, so maybe…?” pile: Wolverine and Black Cat: Claws 2 #1 (Marvel, $3.99). I surprised myself by enjoying the first series of Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Joe Linser’s team-up book a few years ago, so the follow-up might be worth picking up.

If I’m splurging this week, I’m going back to my nostalgiaplace: Roy Thomas’ Infinity Inc. begins what I hope is a long run of collections with DC’s Infinity Inc.: The Generations Saga hardcover ($39.99), and I’m enough of a sucker of both Thomas’ 1980s DC work and Earth-2 stories in general that this is pretty close to a must-have for me.

Brigid Alverson

Flight Vol. 8

If I had $15, I’d be a sad girl indeed, because the book I most want this week costs more than that. However, I’d go to the comics store and flip through vol. 1 of Monster Hunter Orage ($10.99), a new adventure manga (based on the Monster Hunter game, but only loosely) by Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima, and vol. 3 of Oresama Teacher ($9.99), and pick whichever one I liked better — I’m kind of on the fence here. Then I’d pick up Robert Bloch’s That Hellbound Train #2 and go home to read my comics and sulk.

If I had $30, the world becomes a brighter place, because now I can afford the first volume of Wandering Son ($19.99), Shimura Takakao’s quiet, sensitive story of a boy who wishes he was a girl and a girl who has already started dressing like a boy. Fantagraphics has produced this in a beautiful hardbound edition as part of their lit-manga line, and it’s a must-have.

My splurge item would definitely be the eighth volume of the Flight anthology. It’s the last, and I’m afraid it will have run out of steam, but I’m still willing to give it a chance.

JK Parkin

Red Skull #1

If I had $15, like Graeme, I’d start with the latest issues of the two big summer crossovers, Flashpoint #3 (DC, $3.99) and Fear Itself #4 (Marvel, $3.99). Unlike Graeme, I’d probably say Fear Itself is edging out Flashpoint for me, but it’s pretty close. I’d also grab Secret Six #35 (DC, $2.99), the unfortunately penultimate issue. And I’d round it out with Chew #19 (Image, $2.99), because, well, it’s Chew.

If I had $30, I’d also get Jonah Hex #69 (DC, $2.99); this series has had a plethora of great and visually interesting artists, and Lemire’s a great addition to the list. I’d also pick up Red Skull #1 (Marvel, $2.99) if for no other reason than it gives me an excuse to show off David Aja’s awesome cover in this post. I’d also get Batman Beyond #7 (DC, $2.99). Heroes for Hire #9 (Marvel, $2.99) has an eclectic cast, so let’s grab that one, and then round it all out with The Boys #56 (Dynamite, $3.99).

For my splurge item, I’d go with the 27 collection (Image, $16.99), by by writer Charles Soule and artist Renzo Podesta. I understand it’ll get a second series, which should be good news for fans of the book.

Trailblazer

Anytime I get to talk to Jimmy Palmiotti, we never lack for projects to discuss. I can’t prove it, but I am willing to bet Palmiotti came up with at least two new story ideas while in the midst of this email interview. This Wednesday, July 6, marks the release of Trailblazer, a 48-page full-color western science fiction comic book ($5.99 [Image]) that he co-wrote with Justin Gray and art by Jim Daly. As detailed in this recent CBR release coverage, Trailblazer is “about a hired killer who turns in evidence against an employer for the murder of the woman who raised him. The government must then shield their star informant by enacting Operation Trailblazer, a witness protection program that uses not only location but time travel as well in order to keep their charges safe. As the assassin adjusts to his new life in the old west, he soon finds that no matter when or where he is the future is dead set in coming back to haunt him.” If you buy the book via Comixology, the original script is included as a bonus.

Before discussing this new Image release, we talked a bit about the impressive Jonah Hex 70-issue run (please note, for more scoop on Palmiotti and Gray’s plans for the new All-Star Western series be sure to read CBR’s Jeffrey Renaud’s recent interview with the creators)–not to jump the gun though, as issue 69 goes on sale this Wednesday (with art by Jeff Lemire). Also our discussion delves into the Palmiotti/Gray team reuniting with artist Joseph Michael Linsner on the Claws II (a sequel to Marvel’s Black Cat/Wolverine 2006 team-up) miniseries, which amazingly enough also goes on sale this Wednesday (check out the CBR preview of the first issue). Go into a comic book store this Wednesday, and bottom line, you will have your pick of Palmiotti product to buy. Palmiotti’s passion for comics and his equal commitment to meeting deadlines are two things I’ve always admired about him and that shine through in this interview. As you’ll read at the end of the interview, Palmiotti is curious to know what characters fans would like to see him work on, so please be sure to let him know in the comments section.

Tim O’Shea: You and Jonah Hex have a heck of a future together (with All-Star Western), no doubt. But I really want to talk about how amazing it was that you and Justin successfully told Jonah Hex for 70 issues. How proud are you of that accomplishment?

Jimmy Palmiotti: Very proud…and proud of the excellent work of so many amazing artists along the way. Justin and I would celebrate each and every year we were on Jonah , thinking at any minute it could be the last, but the great crew at D.C. comics always believed in us and believed in our choices and seventy issues is a huge milestone. They believed in us so much that with the new 52 books, they let us continue too do what we do best. In our minds, issue one of All Star Western is another chapter in the characters life and we haven’t missed a beat. The good news is that we are going to have a lot of fun with the other western characters in the D.C. universe.

O’Shea: What were some of the highlights of working on those 70 issues?

Palmiotti: Getting to work with some of my comic book heroes like Jordi Bernet, Eduardo Risso, Darwyn Cooke, Tony DeZungia, J.H. Williams, and so on. as well getting to writ with Justin a series that mostly consisted of done in one stories where there really wasn’t another book doing it at the time with a rotating guest list of artists. Another highlight was getting all 70 of these books out on time the first week of the month for 70 months. That in itself is a record these days…and last , introducing Tallulah Black into the Jonah Hex legacy. Honestly, the whole series was a bunch of highlights for us. In the perfect world we would have continued Jonah Hex and done all star western at the same time.

O’Shea: Will you be marking the final JH issue in any special way, or just focus on telling one good final tale?

Palmiotti: Both, the last issue is something special for a number of reasons that I will not ruin here…but in our eyes, because the book only sold a certain amount of issues, we always thought it would be cancelled any time, so we made sure each and every story being told would be great, since it might have been our last.

O’Shea: As a longtime and established inker/writer, I am always curious how you go about deciding to team with certain artists. For example, why did you choose to work with Jim Daly on Trailblazer?

Palmiotti: I met Jim while hanging out with mutual buddy Tim Bradstreet and we got along well. At the time Justin and I wanted to do this as a book and Jim was available for a really great price and we were happy to have him aboard. Jim is a solid storyteller that doesn’t depend on flash to get the story across and with Trailblazer, we needed someone that understood what we were looking for, and we picked the right man. Jim drew that actual book over five years ago for us…but we had to save up some money to actually pay for the rest of the book and get it published. These things cost a fortune.

O’Shea: How did the Trailblazer project come together–and what prompted you to take it to Image (as opposed to another indy publisher)?

Palmiotti: I have a great relationship with Image comics that has been going on for years and because every cent of our money went into this book, we wanted to retain all the rights…and not share it with a company that doesn’t have our best interests in mind. It’s also a matter of controlling the property after its release. With Image, they let us do what we want, pick when we want it coming out, and the crew there is so helpful, they really are a dream to work with. I think the world of all of them and I wouldn’t bother bringing my work anywhere else unless I actually published it myself. With all the books coming out these days, their line is one of the few aimed at adult comic fans…and that’s an important market to me.

O’Shea: What’s the attraction of mixing the Western genre with time travel?

Palmiotti: What’s not to like? We love genre mashing and it always makes for an interesting story. We have had this idea in our heads for over eight years now, so its good to see it actually get out there. This book was originally a screenplay first. One of the first we wrote.

O’Shea: Given that Trailblazer is based on one of the first screenplays you and Justin wrote I was wondering if you needed to revise it some (given how much writing experience you’ve had since your earlier writing days)?

Palmiotti: We wrote the comic to be a comic and it’s quite different in parts compared to the screenplay. Things that work in a comic don’t always work in a film and I am happy with the differences. Anyone that has worked in both understands this and has to take that into consideration when adapting any kind of work.

O’Shea: With Claws II, you get to reteam with Joseph Michael Linsner–and also get to reteam Black Cat and Wolverine. Traditionally most times, it would not seem that those two characters paths would not cross. But for you as a writer what’s the benefit of playing with the dynamics of these two characters?

Palmiotti: I think they are both at a time in the characters lives where they understand the different between work and play and we have kept that tradition alive in this second series. There is a huge amount of flirtation and we have written to Joe’s strengths in this series by introducing not only the sexiness of the characters, but also involving Killraven and his band of resistance players. Joe has out done himself on these books and don’t be surprised to see them sell out in the first week. They really are beautiful to behold.

O’Shea: Given the variety of stories you are creating in a given month, how stressful is it to try to keep the creative output of a standard that pleases you, while still keeping your sanity?

Palmiotti: The stressful part comes when the actual script leaves my hands. There are scores of people out there … artists, colorists and even editors that think I worry too much about the product…but my argument is that although a ton of comics come out each month … anything I work on has to have a certain level of professional quality to it. I feel for the people spending their hard earned money on these books and think we have to give them the best work we can each and every time out of the gate. It drives me crazy when creators are dismissive about the work and even worse when the people in charge forget that these are projects of passion. Justin and Amanda [Conner] will tell you that I can lose my mind from time to time, but I take it out on myself, not others. I treat every job like its my last and there is a price to pay for that … and my sanity can be that price…lol.

O’Shea: While clearly in demand at DC and Marvel, how important is it to you to always keep a hand in creator-owned projects?

Palmiotti: I love the big two comic companies. I have a ton of history with the characters and the people there and respect that…but honestly, I shouldn’t be called a creator if I am not doing my own thing and creating new characters. The drive to do this can be costly, but at the end of the day I think I am where I am now because I step out of the safe zone and take risks. Take for example, There would have never been a Marvel Knights deal if Joe and I didn’t start Event comics where we published our own work. Things like this make you realize that although it’s great working for the big two…when you own a character you control everything and they become your baby. It’s an amazing feeling of independence that comes along with it and I know in the end, I will be remembered for my characters long before a run on an established character. I hope…lol.

O’Shea: Any questions you want to ask your Robot 6 fans?

Palmiotti: I would like to know what books they think I would do a good job on … from any company. I am interested to see what they say… and if they would like to speak to me, one on one, hit me up on twitter at @jpalmiotti … or find the Paperfilms page on Facebook.