As I mentioned last week, the T-shirt site Threadless has unveiled the four designs for the fourth round of their “Comics-On Tees” series, this time with a theme of “Monkey Around.” The comics are written by Chris Roberson and feature artwork from Colleen Coover, Mike Allred, Chris Samnee and Francesco Francavilla.

Check out all four designs after the jump, which you can buy individually or as a set for $79.

*****

Mike Allred (front and back):

Colleen Coover:

Chris Samnee:

Francesco Francavilla:

by Mike Allred

The folks the social T-shirt site Threadless are gearing up for a fourth volume of their “Comics-On Tees” line, where they ask a writer and four artists to design shirts that tell a story. Although they won’t be officially announced until Jan. 30, they did reveal the creator involved and teased some artwork from the shirts. And based on what they’ve shown so far, it looks like the theme this time revolves around monkeys.

Volume 4 is written by Chris Roberson of iZombie and Superman fame, with designs by artists Mike Allred, Colleen Coover, Chris Samnee and Francesco Francavilla. You can see some of Allred’s artwork above, and Francavilla’s after the jump.

Daryl Gregory

The Avengers #4 (Not the comic stuffed in 'Lil Daryl's stocking)

Every Christmas, comics would show up in my stocking. They’d be rolled up, which I’m sure breaks the heart of every collector out there, but it didn’t bother me much. Comics were for reading. For some reason, my mother thought I liked Thor. I wasn’t a Thor guy, except when he was hanging out in the Avengers. I was, and still am, a Captain America super-fan. How could my Mom not know this? But every year I’d get a couple more Thor comics.

Fast-forward 35 years. I’m the official stocking-stuffer in the household. My wife is the queen of holiday organization, but the stocking assignment has always been mine, primarily because it’s the kind of job you can give to a procrastinator. I can run out on Christmas Eve and grab everything I need: gum, iTunes gift cards, candy bars, extra batteries… and comics. See, my son is 15, and he IS a Thor guy, so I usually try to round up something Asgardian for him, as well as a something with Atomic Robo or Axe Cop. I don’t understand the clothing my daughter is asking for (an “infinity scarf” sounds like something Dr. Who would wear), but by gum, I do know my son’s taste in comics.

And by the way? The comics never actually get inside the stocking, but sit there on the mantle beside it. Because Christmas tradition be damned, I’m not rolling them.

Jeff Parker

Okay fine, I’ll tell an embarrassing one. A few years ago I was renting a house here in Portland and indulged one of my vices I haven’t been able to shake: trash dumping. Not in the woods or anything horrible like that, but in any open dumpster that someone left unlocked- I can’t help it, I hate having lots of trash around and can’t wait for garbage pickup sometimes!

Anyway, I had just gotten rid of a bunch of boxes at a nearby apartment complex’ dumpster during the holidays and Christmas morning I answered my door where an angry apartment manager held up an empty box from Dark Horse that had once contained comps of something I’d done for them- with my name and address clearly labeled. I had to laugh at myself for getting busted by such a stupid slip up, and I told the guy I’d go back over there and pull my trash out. He let me off the hook because it was Christmas and a ‘don’t do it again.’ I wonder what other mysteries he’ll be out solving this holiday season?

Remember kids, using other people’s dumpsters is WRONG. (wink!)

Fred Van Lente

It’d probably be getting Watchmen under the tree the year the TPB came out and reading pretty much in one sitting (in robe and PJ’s) for the rest of Christmas Day. I don’t remember if I got to Exploding Vaginal Space Squid before turkey.

Young Romance

Colleen Coover

One year Paul [Tobin, her husband] gave me my favorite Christmas gift EVER. It was a medium-sized box, and when I opened it there was some packing material, beneath which were fifteen romance comics from the late 60s and early 70s! I thought I’d died and gone to cheesy comics heaven. But then under all those comics was more packing stuff, and under that: ANOTHER TWENTY ROMANCE COMICS!!! Just the best.

Jane Irwin

My best Holiday-related comics memory is from right after Thanksgiving 2002, when Paul Sizer, Pam Bliss, Matt Feazell, Layla Lawlor, Sean Bieri and I all got together during Mid-Ohio Con and created a “Comics Passport” minicomic where fans could collect autographs and stamps from all of us and end up with a neat little personalized book. Sean hand-pulled the covers with his Print Gocco, and we each contributed a sketch. It was a really neat concept — it got fans of one creator introduced to the rest of us, and we had a lot of takers — but the very best part was that working on the passport together caused Paul and I to finally notice each other, after about five years of attending the same conventions. The rest, as they say, is history — we’ve been happily married and making comics together for over seven years now.

Paul Sizer

Here’s my memory. Not as mushy as Jane’s, but hers was pretty good!

Age 10: the marathon experience that was the opening of presents at Grandma and Grampa’s house was well under way. Two hours (out of five) in, my brain was ready to explode from boredom. Then, I opened a present from one of my uncles; How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way. History was forever altered. I don’t think I actually saw any of my other presents that year. I still have that book somewhere in my stacks.

Chris Schweizer

Through most of middle and high school, my sister exhibited a distaste for reading.  When she was a kid, she read voraciously, as did the rest of the family; when we moved to Kentucky (I had just turned eleven; she was nine) she fell in with a group of girls for whom reading was a very low priority, and, being a preteen girl in a new place and in want of friends, she naturally followed suit.  What I assume began as affectation became character, and by the time she was in middle school you couldn’t get her to crack open a book unless there was a grade attached.

There was one clear exception – newspaper comic strip collections.

My dad and mom both had picked up comic strip books since I was very little.  Our house was stocked with Peanuts and Pogo books well before I was born, and it was my dad’s first Calvin and Hobbes trade, likely brought home within days of its release, that cemented my love of the form, and my desire to contribute to it.  My dad was an ardent C&H and Far Side fan, and my mom bought For Better of Worse and Cathy.  We had stacks of others, usually the 1950s minimalist humor strips that still run today, but these paperback-book jobs were haphazard and gathered in no particular order from garage sales, not like the pretty horizontal Andrews McMeel deals that lined our bookshelves by series and in order of release.  When Watterson and Larson retired, our influx of books didn’t halt; if anything, it increased.  My mom and dad both became big fans of Dilbert (which, though oft-criticized, I still quite enjoy).  My favorite contemporary strip when I was in middle school (and a chunk of high school, until Zits came along and gave it a close run for its money) was Bill Amend’s Foxtrot.

Wrapped-Up Foxtrot

Though it may not be evident upon glancing at my comics, Foxtrot has likely had more influence on my storytelling than any other comic.  I consumed Amend’s dialogue pacing with such fervency and regularity that writing dialogue in anything but an Amend-patter-pattern would be entirely unnatural to me, and my dialogue pacing determines everything on the page, including the composition of the images. Oh, yes, Foxtrot was my favorite.

My sister felt the same.

My dad couldn’t resist picking up the Dilbert books as they came out, but the Foxtrot books waited until Christmas.  Why?  My parents, ever eager to stoke the fires of advanced literacy in their daughter, ALWAYS GAVE HER THE MOST RECENT FOXTROT BOOK. Without fail.  Every year. Her.

This would not have been a problem, in general.  We were a fairly communal household when it came to books, and what belonged to one generally ended up being passed around.  But as she grew older, my sister became increasingly aware of my intense desire to spend time with Amend’s newest masterpiece, and she began to use this to her advantage.  I’d have to trade candy for the privilege.  I’d have to give up a gift of greater value.  When I became able to drive, chauffeur duties became a bargaining chip.  Sometimes, just to get my goat, she’d refuse me entirely and hide the book, leading me to search, sometimes for days, whenever I found her absent.

“Well,” you might say, “You could drive and likely had a job.  Why not simply go get your own copy?”  The idea truly never occurred to me.  Getting my own copy when my dad or mom or sister had one which I could (in theory, at least) read?  It made no sense.  Even now, away from home for a decade and more, I still don’t have duplicates of books that my dad has.  The new Fantagraphics Peanuts collection?  You’ll not find a one on my shelves.  The big Calvin and Hobbes collector’s set?  Nope.  I make do with my old A/McM paperbacks.

I have, to be fair, stolen a good number of my parent’s books for my own collection – I consider it a child’s prerogative, and will not begrudge my own children such luxury when they someday fly the nest.  But, though they sit not in my sister’s house in Alabama but at my parent’s in North Carolina, I have not taken the Foxtrot collections.  Whereas taking from my dad is hardly stealing (sorry, dad), taking from my sister would be.  So, by virtue of Christmas tradition, I live more or less Foxtrotless, save the occasional bumper compendium snagged at a Borders failsale.

Elizabeth Breitweiser

My husband, Mitch, has a good one. Christmas of 1992, Mitch age 13. His dad gave him his very first comic book, Spider-Man 2099 #2. As soon as he pulled it out of his stocking and flipped through the pages, he knew he wanted to be a comic book artist.

This year will also be one for the memory book. Mitch surprised me by sneaking our little family, fat cat and all, into the holiday issue of Journey Into Mystery #632. What a treat!

The Breitweiser Family in Journey Into Mystery #632

Erik Larsen

My recollections are both Marvel-related. I can remember having two different people give me a copy of Stan Lee’s Origins of Marvel Comics as a kid and I can recall getting money from my parents to buy gifts for other members of my family and blowing part of it on a copy of Rampaging Hulk #1 (the b&w magazine) and getting some grief for doing that.

Mike Allred

When I quit a career in broadcasting in exchange for a budding comic book career, the first few years were hard going.  But Christmas time brought a few moments of splurging, and Laura would justify getting me hard cover collections of classic comics.  I still have those, and they are every bit as priceless to me as the original pulpy beauties they reprint.  Later, after Madman started taking off, she started scoring me original comic book art for Christmas gifts.  The ultimate collectable from the ultimate wife.  Laura is the best thing about Christmas and comic books.

Van Jensen

G.I. Joe

When I was 4 or 5, there was nothing cooler in the world than G.I. Joes. It’s fair to say I spent months in the lead up to Christmas poring over the Sears and JC Penney catalogs looking at the Joe toys, trying to decide which ones to ask for (we lived far from any toy stores, so the catalogs were all I had). Christmas morning, I know I had a couple of Joes waiting for me under the tree. But despite all of my excitement for the toys, I can’t recall which ones I received. All I really remember is that I also got my first few comics: issues of MAD, Captain America and Larry Hama’s G.I. Joe. I still remember the stories from those issues—Roadblock was arrested!—even though hundreds of readings long ago disintegrated the copies into dust.

MK Reed

On a New Year’s Day about 10 years ago, I was working in a ski rental shop at a small ski slope in New Jersey with my bff. They’d been very insistent that we come in on New Year’s bright and early, but it was in the 40′s and the snow was all melted. With few customers and little to do, we started putting together the shipment of kid’s skis that were waiting to be assembled, and when rentals employees called to see if they should come in, we said yes, not realizing that at a certain point the managers made an announcement that the slope would be closed in the afternoon because of the weather. (There was no speaker in the rentals room, nor supervision, nor heat.) We accumulated some boxes from the skis & bindings, and so my bff & I decided to set up a city of boxes and live out a Godzilla/Rodin fight to break them down. Within a minute of the fight’s beginning, the laughter and cheering of a dozen onlookers alerted a manager who showed up to see what all the noise was about. As he yelled at us for not leaving, we protested it was impossible for us to hear the announcement, and that no one had told us to leave or stop more employees from coming in. During the entire argument, we kicked & stomped down boxes. We were then criticized for being inefficient in box-waste removal, which everyone jeered at. Then we got to leave work early!

John Arcudi

Terminator

It was long, long ago — right about when I became a full-time comics writer.  In fact, it was exactly then.

I was back in my home town visiting my father for the holidays when I got a call from Dark Horse publisher Mike Richardson.  I don’t remember how he got my father’s number (we had only communicated through my home # back in Brooklyn) but he did.   I’d been writing part-time for a few years, working a variety of day jobs, hammering away on scripts at night.  You can do that in your 20′s.  Just 8 page stories here and there, nothing regular.  Anyway, Mike was calling to offer me a series (Terminator) which would require a full time writing schedule from me, meaning I would have to quit my day job.  Seems like an easy decision in retrospect, but there was no “retrospect” then.   Still, I knew what I wanted, and so did Mike.  I remember what he said very clearly: “You want to be a comics writer, John, then be one.”  He was, of course, right.

Yeah, not something easily forgotten, to say the least.

Mark Andrew Smith

This is a Christmas story that happened to me last year.

Living in Taiwan they do not celebrate Christmas.  You’re on your own, and you try to make the best of things.

I went to a Taiwanese Bar with my friend Paul and we are going to order some hamburgers.  We sit down and there’s a drunk guy in the bar who speaks poor English that wants to talk to us and says the same thing over and over again, the guy is kind of scary, and I just nod to be polite, hoping he’ll leave.

In Taiwan there are street dogs everywhere. This black stray dog goes into bar and just starts humping the crap out of the guy’s leg.  He’s drunk and can’t do anything about it.

Meanwhile all of these Christmas songs are playing while the dog is going at this guy’s leg nonstop with his face so happy and his tongue hanging out of his mouth and it almost seems to synch up to ‘it’s the most wonderful time of the year’.  The dog would go away and then come back and hump this drunk and incoherent Taiwanese guy’s leg.

It went on for a good 30 minutes with the music playing like it was out of a film.

I turned to my friend Paul and said, “This is it, this is our Christmas Eve. Eating a hamburger and watching a dog go to town for 30 minutes on a drunk Taiwanese dude’s leg.  Merry Christmas Paul.”

Janet K. Lee

Duncan the Wonder Dog

Last year, I desperately wanted a copy of Duncan the Wonder Dog for Christmas, but could not find it in Nashville. My LCS couldn’t get it for me in time for the holiday; I had waited until too late to ask. So I tweeted about my great sorrow, my failure to acquire Duncan the Wonder Dog, to several hundred of my closest internet friends. Like you do.

Well, the amazing folks at Malaprops Bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina, were listening. They have one of the best graphic novel sections in the US—not only in my opinion, but according to the fine folks at Publisher’s Weekly—and they sent me a copy of Duncan. It was a Christmas miracle under my tree. I sent them a bunch of home-made ornaments as a thank-you. Best part: the book was every bit as wonderful as I wanted it to be.

Charles Soule

In March 2009, my first published work, Strongman, appeared on shelves (from SLG Publishing, a fine group of people if ever there was one.)  The Christmas before that, I was home to visit my family in Michigan – in Grand Rapids, specifically, at my dad’s house.  I had some advance copies of Strongman with me, and I intended to give a few to my siblings and my father as Christmas “gifts.”  Yes, I know that’s pretty dubious as far as gift-giving goes.  I might as well have given them a framed picture of myself.  Signed.  (Hmm… maybe I’ll do that this year.)

Anyway, I got everyone something “real” too, but I was (and still am) very proud of Strongman, and wanted to share it with them.  On Christmas morning, everyone opened up their stuff, oohed and aahed and thanked, and we moved on to the customary post-gift breakfast.  Good stuff.  Traditionally, my family will go to a movie Christmas afternoon, or do something else as a group.  That year, we trooped out to see The Spirit, god help us.  My dad declined to come with us, which was weird – we weren’t all together that much over the year, because my family is scattered all over the country, and normally he’d hang out with us the entire day.  He decided to skip the movie because he wanted to stay home to read Strongman (or possibly because he’d read a review of The Spirit, but I choose to believe he wanted to read the book.)

My siblings and I saw the movie, came home, and my dad and I talked about my first published book for a while.  He was a comics reader from childhood, and introduced me to them – my first comic was a Fantastic Four he bought me, and I use to read his tattered T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents issues in his old bedroom when we’d go to visit my grandparents when I was little.  So, he knew what he was talking about, and he had some good things to say and some critical points to make.  It was amazing.  One of my favorite Christmas memories of all time, not just comics-related.  Unfortunately (putting it very mildly) that was the last real Christmas we got to spend together, but that afternoon we had no idea that bad things were looming on the horizon, and we just talked.  I have a million memories of my dad and books, but it’s hard to top that one.

Ryan Stegman

Spawn #39

My comics-related holiday memory is the issue of Spawn that had “Santa Spawn” on the cover. That is easily one of my most remembered comic book covers ever. It hit me at the time when I had just decided that comics were what I wanted to do and I just stared at it forever wondering how the hell someone could draw something that cool.

I also remember reading that issue. It’s hilariously cheesy, but in the best way possible. It’s like every Christmas related kids movie with the sappy ending. But the stuff leading up to the ending was insane violence and Spawn looking badass. What more could you want?

Corinna Bechko

This time of year generally means two things at our house: comics-related presents and wicked deadlines. Usually the gifts are special edition books or maybe rare action figures, while the deadlines are always urgent and seldom as nice to look at.

Last year I wanted to get something extra special for my husband Gabriel Hardman though, and after much hunting I found an original page from The Tomb of Dracula #14, drawn by Gene Colan and inked by Tom Palmer in 1972. I carefully wrapped my treasure up, convinced that I had scored a great bit of comics history.

Meanwhile, Gabriel was hard at work penciling and inking Hulk. The holidays are always hectic when you’re a freelancer, so when he was asked to do an extra “point one” issue on top of his normal workload something had to give. He agreed to pencil the book, but wanted someone else to ink it. And who did that someone turn out to be? None other than the legendary Tom Palmer. So in a nice bit of symmetry Gabriel now has an almost 40 year old Palmer-inked page hanging on his studio wall as well as his name next to Tom’s on a book from 2011.

Nick Dragotta

My favorite holiday recollection was the time Howtoons went to the Kipp Bridge Charter School in West Oakland to teach 8th graders how to make snow globes through our comics. We projected the cartoon up on the wall and then just laid out the supplies. The kids were pretty stoked you only needed a peanut butter jar, water, and glitter. The decoration we left to their imagination. The results were pretty fantastic. I also remember it being freezing that day, and we all wore our winter coats the whole time while inside the classroom.

Shawn Crystal on The Cartoonists Holiday

It’s dark outside, and cold. My two kids, Zoe and Zac, are tucked snuggly into their warm beds. My wife, Stephanie, sits watching Family Guy while wrapping presents.

I wish I were there, home with my family… relaxing.

Instead, I am at my studio, working tirelessly under the relentless pressure of a tight… VERY tight, deadline. This is my life, the life of a cartoonist. We don’t get down time, vacations, or holidays. We work when we have work. We relax when we don’t. The lucky ones are constantly working.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I’m just painting a portrait of what a cartoonist’s life is like.

Crystal art from Deadpool Max XMas

When I was a young wide-eyed child with a head full of dreams, my biggest wish was to be a professional comic book artist for Marvel. Every Hanukah, I asked for drawing supplies, comics, and Marvel related toys. As I grew older, I wished for books on storytelling, cinematography, anatomy, and photography. Always focused on the big wish, to draw for Marvel. Decades later, here I am, doing just that.

I didn’t just wish for this lifestyle, I worked hard to achieve it. I was focused and driven to draw comics. I don’t think many of us (cartoonists) truly understood the demands of this job before we had it, but that doesn’t matter. It’s a damn cool job to have.

It’s a bittersweet time for me.

I miss being with my family, but I LOVE that I am drawing comics.

On the day of Hanukah, I’ll be busy frying Latkes and grilling steaks. Passing out presents to my family while shoveling Belgian chocolate gelt into my mouth. I’ll be full, happy, and half drunk.

So, I’ll get some downtime…even if it’s just for a day. After that, I’ll promptly return to my studio, ready to grind while I listen to Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast.

To my family, I love you. Without your support, I wouldn’t be able to do this. My job asks a lot of you. You work with me to make it all happen. I’ll see you soon, with a table full of food, and presents to pass around.

To all the cartoonists, my brothers in arms, fighting the good fight in the trenches of publishing…you’re not alone during these cold nights. You’re making comics, and you worked hard to be able to do this. Take a moment to enjoy your success. Soon you’ll be with friends and family, doing your thing. Only for a short while though, there’s a deadline waiting for you…. and he’s a nasty lil bastard.

Did I mention that I run the Sequential Art dept. for SCAD Atlanta as well? That’s another story for another time.

Supergirl

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

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

Graeme McMillan

As we’re heading towards the middle of August, it’s no surprise that curiosity is getting me to pick up more than a few DC books just see how particular series “end;” I’d be getting Justice League of America #60 and Legion of Super-Heroes #16 (both DC, $2.99) anyway, because I’ve been following those series for awhile, but I’m likely to add Batman #713 (DC, $2.99) to the pile as well, if only to see the explanation as to why Dick quits being Batman before the big relaunch. But it’s not all endings for me with my $15 this week; I’d also make a point of grabbing Daredevil #2 (Marvel, $2.99), because the first issue was just breathtakingly good, and the series became a must-read before I’d even reached the last page.

If I had $30 this week, I’d add to my list of DC final issues with Supergirl #67 (DC, $2.99), which Kelly Sue DeConnick has talked up in interviews as being the highpoint of her short run to date and a great capper to the series as a whole. I’d also check in with the third issue of David Hahn’s All Nighter (Image, $2.99), as well as see if Nick Spencer’s Iron Man 2.0 is worth a look with the mini-collection of the first three issues, Iron Man 2.0: Modern Warfare (Marvel, $4.99).

Splurging this week is tough. On the one hand, there’s the hardcover Secret Society of Super-Villains (DC, $39.99), but there’s also the We3 Deluxe Edition with brand new story pages (DC, $24.99) and also a rescheduled release for the Alex Toth book Setting The Standard (Fantagraphics, $39.99). Any one would be good comics, but I’m probably going to plump for the SSoSV. What can I say? Read something as an impressionable pre-teen and it stays with you…

Brigid Alverson

Elephantmen, Book 2: Fatal Diseases

If I had $15, I’d borrow a dollar (or, more precisely, 98 cents) so I can afford my top two picks: vol. 16 of Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys ($12.99), possibly the most awesome manga ever, and Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors #4 ($2.99), continuing the charming and action-packed saga of a school for super villains.

If I had $30, well, call me fickle but I think I’d hold off on 20th Century Boys until next week and pick up the Elephantmen, Book 2: Fatal Diseases ($24.99) instead. I’m still reading the first volume, but I’m intrigued by this quirky comic.

Splurge: The Smurfs book from Abrams looks tempting (I can’t believe I just said that!), but my love of all things retro is going to lead me to Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising ($29.99) from Fantagraphics instead. And if my splurge could extend to one more book, it would be the seventh volume of the Library of American Comics collection of Little Orphan Annie, a steal at $49.99.

Chris Arrant

Daredevil #2

If I had $15, I’d carve off half of it to get the awesome line-up inside DC Comics Presents Teen Titans #1 (DC, $7.99). Seriously, Bob Haney, Mike Allred and Jay Stephens? They seem ideal candidates for DC’s Retroactive titles; hell, I’d love to see them mastermind more. Next up I would get my two long-term serials, DMZ #68 (DC, $2.99) and Walking Dead #88 (Image, $2.99); both are bleak as hell, but they offer some redeeming qualities in their humanity.

If I had $30, I’d double-back and get a trio of Marvel titles: Avengers #16 (Marvel, $3.99), Daredevil #2 (Marvel, $2.99) and X-Men Schism #3 (Marvel, $3.99). I’m particularly interested in Daredevil #2 to see what Waid, Rivera and Martin continue to do on this; can they keep being as good as #1? Last up I’d get the Image one-shot Deadlands: Death Was Silent (Image, $2.99). I have some serious admiration for Bart Sears, and this is the latest in an all-too-rare fix for that.

If I had a chance to splurge, I’d get the long-delayed 99 Days (DC/Vertigo Crime, $19.99). Writer Mateo Casali and artist Kristian Donaldson are two up-and-comers, and I’m anxious to see more of them. I’ve read the story solicitation but couldn’t tell you what it’s about; I’m buying this strictly for the creators involved.

Michael May

Mr. Murder is Dead

If I had $15, I’d start with Supergirl #67 ($2.99) to finish the fun story Kelly Sue DeConnick’s been telling there. I’d also grab the latest Deadlands one-shot, Death Was Silent ($2.99) by Ron Marz and Bart Sears, as well as Heap #1 ($3.99), because if there’s anything cooler than comics about swamp creatures, it’s comics about Nazi-fighting swamp creatures. To round off the ticket, I’d grab Stan Lee’s Soldier Zero ($3.99) based on Graeme’s recommendation.

If I had $30, I’d put back Soldier Zero for another day and use that money toward Mr. Murder is Dead ($19.95). Artist Brent Schoonover is a friend of mine, but don’t hold that against him. He’s a fantastic artist and the perfect one for this whodunit homage to Golden Age comic strips. And since it’s from Archaia, you know the package is going to be beautiful too.

I have way too many splurge items this week, from the latest volume of B.P.R.D. ($19.99) to the special editions of We3 ($24.99) and Elephantmen Vol. 2 ($24.99). But if I had to pick one thing it would be Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan ($39.99) for the same reason that Graeme’s getting The Secret Society of Super-Villains: ten-year-old me couldn’t get enough of that stuff.

JK Parkin

X-Men Schism #3

I guess I’m the opposite of Graeme in that, with the exception of the titles I was already reading, I find myself less intrigued by what DC is doing this month as storylines are wrapped up in preparation for the relaunch in September. So this week I find myself DCU-less, though there are a couple of Vertigo books I’m considering. In any event, I do know four books I am eagerly awaiting for Wednesday — Captain America #2 ($3.99), Butcher Baker Candlestickmaker #2 ($3.99), Daredevil #2 ($2.99) and X-Men Schism #3 ($3.99). As a longtime fan of Ed Brubaker’s run on Cap, as well as The Boys, those first two were easy. And like Chris and Graeme noted, Daredevil #1 was pretty great, so I’m looking forward to the next issue. Schism actually kinda surprised me; over the last few years I’ve bought the big X-events as trades, usually well after they were over and at a decent discount. I’m an old-school X-Men fan, but in recent years my interest has waned. I ended up downloading the first issue of Schism via Marvel’s iPad app (as it was available on the same day it hit shops) and was really impressed with it.

That eats up my first $15, so if I had $30, I’d also get the weirdest Fear Itself tie-in and possibly one of the weirdest Marvel titles I’ve read in awhile, Fear Itself: Fearsome Four #3 ($2.99). It features Howard the Duck, Man-Thing, Nighthawk, She-Hulk, Frankenstein and like 10 different artists doing the art. Well, not really, but so far it’s featured artwork by Ryan Bodenheim (more or less the regular artist, or at least the guy who has drawn most of it so far), Michael Kaluta (he’s also doing the covers), friggin’ Simon Bisley, and this issue will feature Flint Henry. But wait! There’s more — it’ll also include the New Fantastic Four (Wolverine, Spider-Man, Hulk and Ghost Rider) plus the Psycho-Man! It’s been part crazy throw-in-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink fun, part train wreck, but I’m reluctant to look away at this point.

Wow, I kind of went long there, so I’ll be quick and say I’d round out my week with Fables #108 ($2.99), Walking Dead #88 ($2.99) and Avengers #16 ($3.99). And finally, for my splurge, I would probably also go with 99 Days ($19.99).

Hello and welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading? Today’s special guest is Shannon Wheeler, New Yorker cartoonist and creator of the Eisner Award-winning comic book Too Much Coffee Man, Oil & Water, the Eisner-nominated I Thought You Would Be Funnier and the upcoming Grandpa Won’t Wake Up.

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

*****

Tom Bondurant

Superman Family #203

Last week my brother-in-law was in a used bookstore — actually, I guess “used-book store” would be more accurate — and called me asking what random old DCs and Marvels I’d like. One of the fruits of his labors was September-October 1980′s Superman Family #203, a decent little anthology inked mostly by Vince Coletta (so they all tended to look the same) and written and penciled by various DC stalwarts. The lead was a Supergirl story, “The Supergirl From Planet Earth,” written by Jack C. Harris and penciled by Win Mortimer. Seems there’s a formerly-comatose blonde teenager in Kara’s old hometown Midvale who suddenly starts manifesting Kryptonian powers and zipping around in a certain blue-skirted super-suit. Moreover, when questioned by Supergirl, the new kid pretty much recites Kara’s first speech to her cousin, about the destruction of Argo City, etc. Naturally I was reminded of Peter David and Ed Benes’ “Many Happy Returns” storyline, but Harris and Mortimer only have 12 pages to introduce another complication and then resolve everything — and resolve it they do, using X-Kryptonite, a medallion made of lead, and some conveniently-placed acid. It’s a neat little story which, although inconsequential in the greater scheme of things, is still entertaining.

Since I’m always interested in how a Lois Lane solo series might work (once more), I read “Lost,” another 12-pager, written by Marv Wolfman and penciled by Bob Oksner. As with the Supergirl story, there’s a lot of plot in these pages: Lois is kidnapped and mind-wiped, escapes, gets picked up by a helpful widower, falls in love with same, and then uses her (unwiped) martial arts skills to fight off the goons who eventually catch up with her. The story ends with an amnesiac Lois wandering off into the woods, Bruce-Banner-style, so I’ll have to seek out #204 to see how it ends. Here, I’m not sure the format does this story many favors (especially with regard to Ted, the widower). It might do better played out over a few issues of that hypothetical solo title. (That would also leave room to cross over and/or be mentioned in the main Superman books, too….)

Finally, “The Critic Killer” (written by E. Nelson Bridwell and penciled by George Tuska) is a tale of the Earth-2 Lois and Clark, set in the early ’50s when the two were newly married — and when TV was still new enough that the Daily Star didn’t have its own critic. Along comes Lana Lang, daughter of a professor Clark knew from Smallville, seeking to carve out some column space for just that purpose. Clark (editor of the Star, like you didn’t know) gives her the job, and she promptly goes all scorched-earth on the new sitcom from a notoriously thin-skinned writer. Lois realizes nothing good can come of Lana’s scathing review, and sure enough, the writer traps Lana and Lois in a specially-modified elevator car. Because Lois — in what strikes me as a bit of Earth-2 Superdickery — is wearing a “mood ring” which telepathically alerts Clark to sudden changes in her emotions, Superman saves them (of course). However, we learn that the writer bought his elevator-trap from Luthor, still in prison but still scheming about taking down Superman. Dun dun dunnnn! Again, it was a clever little tale whose eight pages were more concerned with establishing Lana’s bona fides (this was apparently the retcon introducing Lana to Lois and Clark) and maybe making Lois a little jealous, than with a straightforward adventure/suspense story. Along those lines, it laid the groundwork for future stories involving Lana and/or Luthor, and I’m now curious to see how fleshed-out the “Mr. And Mrs. Superman” stories got.

And speaking of Earth-2, I read Invaders Classic Volume 1, written by Roy Thomas (who else?), penciled mostly by Frank Robbins, and inked by Vince Coletta and Frank Springer. This paperback reprinted the first several issues of The Invaders, plus ancillary issues, and it’s pretty much non-stop action from page one. Essentially, the Invaders — Captain America and Bucky, the Human Torch and Toro, and the Sub-Mariner — fight Nazi super villains, as depicted by Robbins’ hyperkinetic pencils. What I took away from this book, though, was that even though he was working at Marvel, and even though DC was, at the time, doing contemporary Earth-2 stories featuring the Justice Society, Roy Thomas desperately wanted to write a wartime JSA book. I have no idea how much Thomas drew from those old Timely comics to come up with the various Axis bad guys and the heroic Liberty Legion (although reprinted text pages help out in this regard) — but there sure are conspicuous references to moving “faster than a speeding bullet” and being part of “seven soldiers” of something-or-other. Actually, I take part of that back — the first baddies the Invaders face are a trio of faux-Teutonic godlings, and I thought “oh, here’s a riff on Evil Thor.” Still, though, the Liberty Legion contains 1) a speedster, 2) a guy who stretches, 3) a superheroine with black hair and a red-and-blue costume, 4) the Blue Diamond, who kinda looks like Green Lantern if you squint, 5) a flying guy with big bird-wings on his back, 6) Jack Frost, an ice-based hero who looks like he’s got Aquaman-style scales, and 7) the Patriot, another red-and-blue-clad figure who’s the group’s moral center. Maybe it was just me, but I had more fun looking for those kinds of references than I did reading the stories themselves. Lucky for the series, though, the last couple of issues introduce Union Jack and Baron Blood, a British hero and his undead foe, and The Invaders starts to build its own little corner of Marvel history, instead of reminding readers of others’. Lucky for Roy Thomas, too, that it wouldn’t be long before he was writing DC’s All-Star Squadron — otherwise, I suspect his brain might have exploded.

(By the way, I’m not up on Marvel history as much as some — but doesn’t Union Jack’s debut in World War I make him Marvel-Earth’s first costumed hero, preceding the Human Torch by at least 20 years?)

Michael May

Lois Lane and the Resistance

As I said in this week’s Food or Comics, I wasn’t sure if I was going to buy Lois Lane and the Resistance or not. I flipped through it in the store though and decided to get it for its visuals and action sequences. It looked like fun. And there were some exciting parts, but unfortunately, this still isn’t the Lois Lane comic I’m waiting for. Lois spends the entire issue running around doing the bidding of other people. The story opens with Perry White’s sending her on a fluff piece instead of covering the impending war. The Lois Lane I want to read about doesn’t get sent to cover Fashion Week. She doesn’t have to whine and argue that she’s a serious reporter; everyone should know that she is and treat her that way. But this Lois…even when the story gets going she’s still acting as someone else’s agent, and not even a particularly competent one. This isn’t the story of a strong, empowered reporter that I’ve been craving.

I also read Mystery Men #2 and liked it, but it reminded me why I became a trade-waiter. The first issue got me all excited to continue the story, but now I’m growing impatient with its being rationed out in small chunks. Some cool stuff happens this issue — another masked hero joins the investigation and there’s a major revelation about the villain — but it’s hard to say that I enjoyed this particular chunk of the story as its own, self-contained unit.

Finally, I read the first volume of Jason DeAngelis and Aldin Viray’s Captain Nemo, a manga re-telling of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. There are some cool, imaginative things going on in it, like the story’s taking place in an alternate timeline where Napoleon won at Waterloo and has taken over the world. The 19-year-old son of the original Captain Nemo is operating the Nautilus II in rebellion against the French Empire, providing this version with an actual plot (something that Jules Verne’s novel lacks). Viray’s obviously had a great time creating the steampunk world for the story; the environment of the book looks great. And I like how it’s still hitting major beats in Verne’s story, but reworking them enough to keep them exciting and follow DeAngelis’ plot.

But the book falls victim to some standard manga tropes and the characters are boringly familiar. Nemo is the classic manga hero: handsome, but stand-offish, but really very gentle at heart. Camille Pierpont (who stands in for Professor Aronnax, Conseil, and Ned Land by ending up prisoner on the Nautilus II after Nemo saves her from drowning) is the traditional manga heroine: headstrong, judgmental, entitled, but supernaturally gifted with wild animals and really just one good kiss away from calming down into someone likeable. Even the characters’ designs are unimaginative; something that Aldin admits to in the sketchbook section where he says that he gave Nemo “the standard Harlock look” and Camille “the typical female lead character look.” The other crew members of the Nautilus II are just as immediately recognizable: Smart and Cocky Guy With Glasses, Bad Attitude Girl, Plucky Kid, etc.

Brigid Alverson

Treasury of Victorian Murder

This week was murder, at least in terms of what I have been reading. I got an advance copy of Rick Geary’s latest Treasury of Victorian Murder book, The Lives of Sacco and Vanzetti, which will be debuting at San Diego Comic-Con this year. Like all of Geary’s books, it’s cool, almost clinical, with the timelines and details carefully laid out in a heavy-bordered grid and a narrative voice straight out of a PBS documentary Geary’s objective voice suits the story well, because the guilt or innocence of Sacco and Vanzetti is a matter of some controversy, but it does make the book seem rather dry.

Also on the stack is The Green River Killer, written by Jeff Jensen and illustrated by Jonathan Case. Jensen’s father was a detective on the case, and the story is told from his point of view. The story gets rolling with Gary Ridgeway’s confession and skips back and forth in time as the police bring him to the sites of the murders and then flash back to their first encounters with the same scenes. The art is straightforward and linear, but there are some nice atmospheric moments.

And in the prose realm, I’m reading The Poisoner’s Handbook, which would be more aptly titled “The Toxicologist’s Handbook.” Set in 1920s New York, the book follows the work of pioneering medical examiner Charles Norris and toxicologist Alexander Gettler as they investigate various murders — grouped by the poison involved. Some they solve, some they don’t, and sometimes they are simply frustrated by the difficulty of proving their toxicological case in court. It’s a bit overly dramatic but a good read nonetheless, and I’m learning a bit of chemistry from it too.

Tim O’Shea

IDW’s Rocketeer Adventures #1

Rocketeer Adventures #1 and #2: OK, I have to admit, I completely missed the first issue’s release. So I picked up issue #2 this week, Mark Waid teamed with Chris Weston, Darwyn Cooke, Geof Darrow, Lowell Francis with Gene Ha (all colored by Dave Stewart) and realized: “you were a fool to miss issue #1.” Fortunately I snagged the last copy of issue #1 at my local store. And I am torn which is my favorite from that issue, it’s a close race between John Cassady colored by Laura Martin or Kurt Busiek teamed with legendary Michael Kaluta (honorable mention Mike Allred colored by Laura Allred). But after serious consideration I have decided that Kaluta (inked by Stewart) is my favorite. There’s not a bad story in either issue–and I am looking forward to issue #3.

Thunderbolts #159 is a double-sized issue with multiple creative teams on different tales. But all you need to know is this: Jen Van Meter writes a team-up (of sorts) between Ghost and John Walker. I really hope that Marvel announces some more work for Van Meter at San Diego, because she deserves a monthly assignment.

Captain America: Given Bucky’s current status quo (given the Fear Itself event), I am confused as to why I would care what happened to James in this issue. But all my annoyance washed away when I got to see Chris Samnee draw more Nick Fury in the second half of the issue.

Did you catch my interview with Roger Langridge about the preview of his new Kaboom book, Snarked #0, which will sell for $1 in August? Did I convince you to tell your retailer to get a copy for you? You have until June 30 for the Previews deadline (Diamond Code: JUN110963). I mean it when I commit to this series being destined for my best of 2011 books.

Shannon Wheeler

Paying for It

There’s a narrow road to success if a creator already has a lot of good books. If it’s too different from what came before, I’ll hate it, and if it’s too similar to what came before, then I’ll hate it, too. Chester Brown created my favorite comics: Ed the Happy Clown and The Playboy. So, of course, I was disappointed with Paying for It.

It’s an autobiographical book about Chester Brown’s decision to satisfy his sexual needs by being with prostitutes. The best part of the book is when he details his internal conflict and anxiety when he first hires women to have sex with him. Unfortunately, the book drags as he uses his friends as characters to stage pro and con arguments regarding prostitution. The books drags even more when he reiterates his beliefs for the third… and fourth time. He avoids talking about his final relationship in respect for her desire for privacy. This could have been an emotional resolution in the book — Chester finding a relationship that he’s comfortable with. They are both happy with monogamous, but independent, lives where he continues to pay for sex. Any editor could have trimmed 20 percent of the redundant ranting to make it a smoother read and then pushed for a conclusion with emotional depth and acute observations similar to the book’s beginning. Chester Brown could have had a book that matched or succeeded his earlier work. As it stands, the book is a vaguely interesting read as a political diatribe and an okay read as an emotional journey, but is redundant as one and unresolved as the other. Chester is still a great creator; it’s too bad his editor hasn’t kept pace. It’s a good book that could have been a great book.

Okko

Okko

It’s a solid read that takes place in old Japan with demons, ronins, monks and magic. The book is skillfully put together with natural storytelling, attractive drawings and pretty coloring. It’s not a book you’ll ponder much after putting it down. As a book in the same genre as the great Usagi Yojimbo, it holds up as a solid and entertaining read.

New Yorker: On the Money

I always grab collections of New Yorker cartoons. This one has the strength of being assembled by the New Yorker’s current cartoon editor, Bob Mankoff. By choosing financially themed comics from 1925-2009, Mankoff shows an economic history of our country through humor. It’s telling that the rich-screw-the-poor is a recurrent theme that doesn’t change from the earliest comics to the recent ones. The repetition left me a little cold. Maybe not cold – but depressed. If the economics of this country could change the way families, gender roles and race relations have changed, I might like the book better. But I guess that’s not really the book’s fault.

Cowboy Wally

Always funny. I’m constantly amazed at how well this book has held up. I consider it one of the best comics created.

Underground

I just picked this one up, but the first issue shows potential. I love the art and story. Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber are great comic creators. I’m sure they’ll deliver.

Space Warped

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.

Brigid Alverson

If I had $15:

I’d surround myself with good-humored, good-natured comics. Sometimes you just gotta do that. My stack would include Veronica #207 ($2.99), which launches the new Kevin Keller miniseries; Donald Duck #367 ($3.99), with a rework of a classic Carl Barks story; Space Warped ($3.99), kaboom’s new Star Wars parody comic (I probably won’t get half the jokes, but it looks like it’s worth checking out); and Love and Capes Ever After #5 ($3.99), just because Love and Capes is such a charming comic. I may be poor, but at least I’ll be happy.

If I had $30:

I’d get a bit more adventurous — and philanthropic. Alterna Comics has been having financial difficulties, and this week they are publishing Rafer Roberts’ Plastic Farm, so I’ll take a chance on that. It sounds like an interesting mix of horror and weirdness. And volume 5 of Bakuman is a must-have for me.

Splurge:

Probably Fantagraphics’ Mickey Mouse vol. 1, Race to Death Valley, which promises to show us a different side of the familiar rodent. I have read about Mickey having a personality, which he really doesn’t now, so I’m curious about what he was like in the early days. And I’d also throw vol. 14 of Black Jack into the basket, because there is no better hammock reading, and it’s getting to be that time of the year.

Graeme McMillan

American Vampire: Survival Of The Fittest

It’s clearly movie week for me: If I had $15 this week, I’d not only pick up Green Lantern Movie Prequel: Kilowog #1 (DC, $2.99) and Green Lantern Movie Prequel: Tomar Re #1 (DC, $2.99), but also the first issue of IDW’s Transformers: Dark Of The Moon adaptation ($3.99). Then I’d remember that there are likely to be better books worth my money, and pick up the first issue of American Vampire: Survival Of The Fittest (DC/Vertigo, $2.99), Scott Snyder’s spin-off from the regular book with the amazing Sean Murphy on art. I mean, really: How could I resist that?

If I had $30, I’d feel rich enough to buy 15 Love #1 (Marvel, $4.99). I’m fairly convinced that I won’t really like this “From The Marvel Vault” attempt at manga-style romance stories, despite the presence of Andi Watson as writer, purely because the art I’ve seen in previews seems offputtingly “desperate” in its attempts to appeal to a manga audience, but I’m curious enough to give it a go… although I would’ve been a lot more curious if it had been a little cheaper. $5 for a taster? Really? Much cheaper is The Iron Age: Alpha #1 (Marvel, $2.99), a seemingly under-the-radar X-Men Forever/Avengers Forever kind of time-traveling tale pitting Tony Stark against Dark Phoenix because… well, fair fights are for wimps. It could be horrible, but I have to admit: I like the time travel stories. To round out, Marvel’s Mystery Men #1 ($2.99), just to see how this latest attempt of Marvel to give itself an instant Golden Age varies from The Twelve, The Marvels Project and all of the other tries we’ve seen in recent years.

Splurgewise, it’s another week where something just jumps out at me: Avengers: West Coast Avengers – Family Ties Premiere HC (Marvel, $34.99). I loved Steve Englehart’s 1980s work, especially on this and Green Lantern, and it’s been years since I’ve had a chance to read any of it, so I’ll eagerly be looking for this in the store. So much so that the $34.99 price tag doesn’t completely scare me off.

Chris Mautner

Glamourpuss #19

If I had $15:

I’d probably get the fifth volume of Bakuman ($9.99) and the 19th issue of Glamourpuss ($3.99 — with a cover by Mike Allred!). If you haven’t already got a copy yet, however, allow me to point you towards Isle of 100,000 Graves, the latest comic from the Norwegian artist Jason, this time working with writer Fabien Vehlmann. Rest assured this new collaboration sees no drop in quality and is a worthy addition to his catalog. (For the curious, I talk about that book, and other things he’s done here).

If I had $30:

After what seemed like a lengthy drought, Jim Woodring seems to have jumped back into comics full steam, releasing the second graphic novel, Congress of the Animals ($19.99) in two years. Congress isn’t quite as good as his last book Weathercraft, but that’s only because Weathercraft was really, really, really excellent. Woodring fans will be more than pleased at this latest tale involving the ever unperturbed Frank and his adventures in the Unifactor, which, I should note, take an interesting left turn 2/3 of the way through.

Splurge:

The new Mickey Mouse collection ($29.99) is the obvious pick of the week for me. Floyd Gottfredson has far too long ignored by comics and Disney fans and it’s nice to see Fantagraphics give the work the attention it deserves. They did a fantastic job too; this is easily one of the best designed reprint projects I’ve seen in awhile, and chock full of great extra essays and extra features. I really hope this goes a long way towards establishing Gottfredson in the comics canon (whatever that may be).

I’d also pick up Black Jack Vol. 14 ($16.95), because, duh, Tezuka.

Michael May

Mystery Men

If I had $15, I’d pick up each of DC and Marvel’s monster-team books: DC’s Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #1 ($2.99) and Marvel’s Fear Itself: Fearsome Four #1 ($2.99). I find it delicious that both companies have prepared such similar books as spin-offs of their big events and I’m looking forward to each. I’d also check out Marvel’s Mystery Men #1 ($2.99) to check out their take on Pulp hero action and Vertigo’s American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #1 ($2.99). I haven’t been reading American Vampire, but the SofF covers look awesome and pulpy. It’s sadly rare that a comic book cover makes me want to read what’s inside, so yay for Sean Murphy. Finally, I’d spend my last three bucks on Ka-Zar #1 ($2.99). I’m not super fond of the creative team, but I find that the famous pizza/sex quote from Threesome also applies to Ka-Zar comics.

If I had $30, I’d add Welcome to Oddville ($14.95), if it’s indeed out this week. It’s not on Diamond’s list, but Comic List has it and they’re often right. If so, AdHouse’s collection of Jay Stephens comics, including Jetcat and a ghost pumpkin, is mine-all-mine.

My splurge for the week is easily Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Jungle Comics, Volume 2 ($59.99). I’ve grown especially fond of Golden Age jungle comics lately, though reading them is a lot like eating fish. You have to sift through a lot of bones to find the good stuff, but the good stuff is worth the trouble.

Featuring the classic Blizzard vs. Polar Bear battle!

One tagline for the big alien-invasion movie Independence Day cautioned, “Don’t make plans for August.” Well, perhaps the biggest news coming out of DC’s August solicitations is the pervasive sense of foreboding they have about September. Rich Johnston maintains that a whole crop of new No. 1 issues is on tap for the fall, but there are no “FINAL ISSUE!” blurbs to be found on any of the current ongoing series.

While that doesn’t rule out a line-wide relaunch, the solicits also seem to say that readers won’t have to worry about a line-wide reboot. As noted in this space a couple of weeks back, the degree of change will probably be different for different titles. Nevertheless, now that we have a better idea of how August will look, let’s see what it says about September….

* * *

MY HEART WILL GO ON

Exhibit A for the “pick up where you left off” theory is War of the Green Lanterns #2, which promises that its ending “will fuel the next year’s worth of GL tales!” Presumably that includes the return of Green Lantern, perhaps with a new No. 1 issue for Sector 2814′s new GL. (Although each of the four Earthling GLs has held the title at some point, I’m guessing it’ll be John, because Kyle and Guy are firmly ensconced in GL Corps and Emerald Warriors. I don’t think DC will go outside the box on this one — but movie-star Sinestro would sure make for an interesting year.)

Exhibit B is Gates Of Gotham #s 4-5, “set[ting] the stage for a bold new direction in the Bat books!” Here, I suspect “bold new direction” excludes Batman Incorporated, Grant Morrison’s bold, still-fairly-new direction, as well as whatever David Finch intends to do with the late-again Batman: The Dark Knight. That leaves the venerable Batman and Detective Comics, and the barely-two-years-old Red Robin, Batgirl, Batman And Robin, and Gotham City Sirens, none of which seem like good candidates either for relaunching or renumbering. (Why renumber a title in the very high triple digits when you know you’re just going to go back in a year? For that matter, why give a new No. 1 to a book whose first issue wasn’t that long ago?) Perhaps a consolidation is coming: Batgirl and Red Robin, Batgirl and Gotham City Sirens, Red Robin and Batman and Robin, and/or an expanded Detective Comics with room for multiple short features. There is a tease that Dick Grayson might not be Batman for much longer, but I think readers have gotten used to him in the cape and cowl. Oh, and Batwoman is supposed to relaunch in the fall too (almost forgot!).

A handful of titles seem content to spend August telling their own stories, uncompromised by handed-down deadlines or big-event changes. These include Xombi, Zatanna, and Power Girl – although the latter two sport guest creative teams. While THUNDER Agents #10 advertises the end of a particular arc, it even comes right out and says this isn’t the end of the book.

Otherwise, I don’t see much in August’s solicits which would change my earlier thoughts. Given their prominence in Flashpoint, we’ll probably see renewed efforts to push Wonder Woman and Aquaman into bigger sales.  I suspect the same holds true for other characters Flashpoint will emphasize, like Kid Flash and perhaps even Lois Lane in a solo series.

WELCOME BACK …

Chief among these may be the Marvel Family. Not only does Flashpoint recast them as more of a group effort, but August also promises a second DC Comics Presents collection from the ‘90s Power Of Shazam! title. Ever since the end of 52 revealed a new Earth-5 as the successor to the old Earth-S, I’ve been wondering whether DC would give the Marvels their own Earth again, where they didn’t have to worry about the shifting social mores of main-line Earth-DC. Supposedly that’s part of Grant Morrison’s Multiversity project, and if Flashpoint does anything with the Multiverse, it could easily help set up Multiversity. (Of course, I’m sure Flashpoint will be setting up any number of DC projects, but I just have a feeling about the Multiverse.) Anyway, the bottom line is, there’s a lot of Captain Marvel stuff coming down the pike, and I have to think it’s in preparation for a new Marvel Family book.

Another almost-certain Flashpoint spinoff is Secret Seven, the magic super-team featuring Shade the Changing Man, the Enchantress, Raven, a few players to be named later, and someone called “Princess” who (when we consider Rip Hunter’s chalkboard, seen most recently in this week’s Booster Gold) is most likely Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. I don’t pretend to have any influence over what DC does, but I’ve used Amethyst in this space as a good example of a DC character who’s pretty easily marketable to a wider audience. Like Captain Marvel (as it happens), she’s a teenager who assumes an adult personality when she travels to the otherdimensional Gemworld for sword-and-sorcery adventures. To put it bluntly, she’s the kind of character who might do well away from the particular tastes of the Direct Market … so it’s a little quixotic to say DC should publish more Amethyst comics. Still, we’ll see how she performs in Flashpoint, and whether that leads to reprints and/or something new.

Then there’s Frankenstein, whose Seven Soldiers miniseries was very well-received. His Flashpoint miniseries looks to build on its predecessor’s tone of no-nonsense mayhem. Frankenstein doesn’t share anything like the contacts Captain Marvel and most of the Secret Seven all have with the regular DC Universe, so for him to get a post-Flashpoint spotlight would be a pretty big deal.

… TO THAT SAME OLD PLACE THAT WE LAUGHED ABOUT

DC doubles up on the Retro-Active books in August, so much so that I made a chart to keep track:

8/3: Batman ‘80s, Wonder Woman ‘80s, Flash ‘80s
8/10: JLA ‘80s, Superman ‘80s, Green Lantern ‘80s
8/17: Batman ‘90s, Wonder Woman ‘90s, Flash ‘90s
8/24: JLA ‘90s, Superman ‘90s, Green Lantern ‘90s

That’s three per week for four weeks — almost in Flashpoint territory! I’ll get ‘em all, though. It’s probably just the nostalgia talking, but I don’t see a clunker in the bunch. While I’m always glad for more Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire wackiness, most gratifying are the reunions of creative teams who haven’t done much DC work in recent years: Bill Messner-Loebs and Greg LaRocque on Flash; Messner-Loebs and Paris Cullins on Wonder Woman; Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove on Superman; Roy Thomas and Rich Buckler on the other WW; on Green Lantern, Len Wein and Joe Staton, and Ron Marz and Darryl Banks; and on Batman, Mike Barr and Jerry Bingham, and Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle. Good to see them back in familiar saddles.

However, I did wonder if this is DC’s way of reminding readers that the Flash, Green Lantern, and the Justice League weren’t always faithful to the classic Silver Age setups. The cynic in me says this is just a way to appease us lifers who were kinda fond of Wally, Kyle, and the JLI. (The cynic also thinks this is a good way to gauge interest in future reprints — for example, the Messner-Loebs/Cullins “space-pirate” storyline from Wonder Woman, or the Grant/Breyfogle Detective Comics.)

On the other hand, though, part of me thinks this is DC preparing its readers for another round of guard-changing: in addition to Sector 2814′s new Green Lantern, there could well be a new (or back-to-headlining) Flash, and/or a new Justice League lineup. If the “rebirths” of Hal Jordan and Barry Allen bookended a period when DC rolled back many of the big changes from the ‘80s and ‘90s, maybe 2011 will close out with even more upheaval.

ODDS AND ENDS

Although I never got into their Spider-Girl — but I did buy all five or so issues of Fantastic Five — it’s fitting that Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz take a crack at one of DC’s alternate futures in Superman Beyond #0.

Once again, The Spirit and Doc Savage keep the First Wave line alive for another month. Spirit #17’s lineup of guest creative teams looks especially intriguing — Brian Bolland, P. Craig Russell, and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez should make Central City look extra-good. Likewise, guest artists Ryan Sook and Mick Gray should turn in a nice and spooky Jonah Hex.

August wraps up Green Arrow’s two-part story by James Patrick and Agustin Padilla. Last month I wasn’t sure they were just a guest creative team, what with the series’ inaugural year-long arc apparently over after Brightest Day. Now, considering September’s potential deck-clearing, Patrick and Padilla look like placeholders, with the book’s next long-term team put off for another month.

Congratulations to Teen Titans for reaching issue #100! Too bad September might return the book to single digits.

REPRINTS AND COLLECTIONS

“Tygers,” the Alan Moore/Kevin O’Neill short story which informs so much of Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern, is reprinted yet again in Green Lantern Corps Super Spectacular #2. Ironically, the book’s other reprints work pretty well as a standalone story, although they too lay the groundwork for future GL epics.

Originally printed as a squarebound, tabloid-sized graphic novel, JLA: Heaven’s Ladder was quite literally a big deal.  The precise timing escapes me — it wasn’t Waid’s first work as regular JLA writer (following Grant Morrison), but I think it was supposed to introduce the new team of Waid and Bryan Hitch. The story was appropriately outsized to fit the format, so I will be curious to see how it translates into a regular-sized comic.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Mike Allred’s Teen Titans/Doom Patrol story from Solo #7 will be reprinted in DC Presents Teen Titans #1. It’s not the most subversive part of Allred’s Solo issue — that would be the “grim ‘n’ gritty Adam West” story — but it’s pretty good nonetheless. In fact, it’s too bad that not a lot from Solo gets reprinted, because even a selection of the superhero stories would make a pretty good hardcover.

Looking at the solicit for the new-edition Death In The Family paperback, it hit me — Jason Todd has been back from the dead for over five years. What’s more, Tim Drake has been Red Robin for almost two years. With that in mind, “A Death In The Family” and “A Lonely Place Of Dying” seem like ancient history. Hard, therefore, for an old fogey like me to picture them as formative Batman classics, arguably as important to the Bat-legend as O’Neil/Adams or Englehart/Rogers. For what it’s worth, I thought Marv Wolfman’s Batman was a marked improvement over Jim Starlin’s, so I may end up getting this just to compare and contrast.

And speaking of the late, great Marshall Rogers, his Legends Of The Dark Knight tribute looks like a must-have for any Bat-fan. You lose the beginning of Englehart’s epic Detective run (drawn by Walt Simonson and Al Milgrom), but you get the rest of it, plus Len Wein’s two-part Clayface III story, a Golden Age origin story written by Roy Thomas, Denny O’Neil’s illustrated prose work “Death Strikes at Midnight and Three,” a pretty good Legends of the Dark Knight arc written by James Robinson from an Archie Goodwin plot, and the Englehart/Rogers swan-song sequel Dark Detective. I think the only thing missing is his brief stint on the short-lived “Batman” newspaper strip of the early ‘90s (written by Max Collins). My heart aches a little just looking at his Bat-work, because he did relatively little and he died way too soon. Regardless, Marshall Rogers is one of my favorite Bat-artists, and he deserves to be one of yours too. Can’t wait for this one — just in time for my birthday!

If Flashpoint will bring back supernatural superheroes like Frankenstein and the Secret Seven, why not reprint Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan’s Night Force? From what I know about it (mostly from a preview in New Teen Titans), it looked like a decent attempt to recapture Wolfman and Colan’s Tomb Of Dracula mojo, and it should be a pretty good read.

Glad to see Sinestro Corps War getting the single-paperback treatment. I’ll probably get this one just for convenience’s sake. Same goes for the new JLA paperback.

Finally, although I won’t be getting this because I have both of the color paperbacks, Showcase Presents All-Star Comics Vol. 1 is a good introduction to the “Super Squad” era of the Justice Society. Set on Earth-2, back when the JSA was an annual guest in Justice League, these stories laid the foundation both for Infinity, Inc., and for the team’s multigenerational future. In fact, with that Infinity reprint solicited a few months ago, one might even think Earth-2 was making a comeback….

* * *

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

Laura Allred's studio

There’s a list of creators that in my estimation are not interviewed nearly enough, one such example is colorist Laura Allred. You can find several interviews with both Mike and Laura Allred together, but few rarely focus on Laura solely. So I recently crossed my fingers and shot off an email to Laura seeking to do an email interview. Much to my sheer delight, she was game for a discussion of her career as a colorist. Jamie S. Rich, long-time Allred associate and friend of Robot 6, was kind enough to share his perspective on Laura’s body of work, which helped me shape some of the topics covered in this exchange. Obviously, a huge thank you to Laura for giving so selflessly of her time. As someone who enjoyed Art Adams’ Monkeyman and O’Brien years ago, I plan to dig up my box with those issues, just to appreciate Laura’s work on it, given how highly she speaks of it in this interview.

Tim O’Shea: The life of a freelancer is never easy–and in your house, it’s extra challenging as both of you make a living either through one of the independent publishers or work through DC or Marvel. Granted at this point in your career, there is a certain brand and reputation that your work carries, still freelancing is a challenge even for successful folks as yourself. If you don’t mind me asking, how much has your faith served to buoy your spirits when the hardships of freelancing blindside you?

Laura Allred: It seems when we simply try to do our best in all our efforts, everything always seems to work out. We work hard, though Michael refuses to call it working, but we also try to make time for family and friends. So, I’ve found that my secret weapon for hardships is to just crack the whip and we get back on track. I’m only half kidding.

O’Shea: As a married couple, you understandably have a rapport with Mike that is stronger than any you share with other collaborators? When you first started coloring Mike’s art, how did you discuss his color desires for the pages, given that you two see color quite differently due to his colorblindness?

Allred: He started by showing me work he liked. A lot of European books from artists like Moebius and Daniel Torres. I took those influences and found inspirations of my own, and then it was just a matter of finding what we were both happy with. Now it’s mostly second nature. Instinctual.

O’Shea: When selecting to color the work of someone other than Mike, are there certain qualities you seek in the art to consider accepting the assignment?

Allred: It’s almost always been a friend or someone we both are fans of. So it’s easy to find what they are wanting as well as approaching them with what I’d like to try.

O’Shea: I’m always surprised at how some consumers of comics fail to understand the vital role colorists play in storytelling. Not to put you in the awkward position of bragging about yourself, but looking at the before and after of a page–do you see how much an artist’s work benefits or is bolstered by colors?

Allred: Absolutely! I’ve seen a good colorist make a mediocre artist look good. And a subpar colorist destroy a great artist’s work. We feel that the line art should stand on its own and the color should provide an extra dimension. Usually, the simpler the better.

O’Shea: Over the years of coloring art, how has technology helped to make your job either easier or more effective in terms of your technique?

Allred: Oh, it’s like cavemen getting electricity. There are no limits, which can be very tempting at overdoing something. But the time-saving is night and day. I used to water color photocopies of the line art and then have to draw a code on every single individual color. And then it would get sent off for someone else to do the separations. Now, I have cintiq where I color directly on a screen. Zap! It’s done.

O’Shea: With a project like The Golden Plates, how frustrating is it that while it was successful, as noted in this 2009 interview it was “not big enough to sustain us financially given the time needed to do it right. So, we simply have to find time to do it when we can. We’re confident once we manage an efficient schedule that it will pick up steam.” Are you closer to finding the time and managing an efficient schedule? Have you considered producing future installments online first and then publishing?

Allred: To be honest, every day feels less and less likely to complete it. I handle the finances, and we would have to win the lottery or have a bag of cash dropped regularly on our doorstep to complete it. Michael would need to immerse himself in it the way he did with the first three volumes and put off every other aspect of his career to do it right. We literally used up our savings to complete those first three volumes and I was the one who had to tell him he had to stop and find paying work immediately. He spent more time studying and referencing than he ever did actually drawing the book. He knew the kind of scrutiny it would have, as well as the level of respect he had for its audience. We both feel that, completed, it would be a work of such significance, if not curiosity, that would pay for itself over and over again and stay in print. We almost had our house completely paid off and had a nice nest egg from our Marvel Mutant money. To continue would have meant going in debt or looking for financing which we weren’t comfortable doing. But we’re extremely happy with what we did accomplish and haven’t ruled out the possibility of completing it someday.

O’Shea: When a collection like MADMAN ATOMICA! is released which covers a great deal of your respective work and includes “many now out-of-print one-shots, plus a huge pile of extras, pin-ups, and rarities”–what pieces out of the extras and rarities stand out some of your favorite?

Allred: I love it all. I just love the idea that almost 20 years of work is in two huge beautiful books.

O’Shea: In the past, you’ve expressed your admiration for the work of the Hernandez brothers. Given your respect for their work, how enjoyable was it to color Jaime Hernandez for Strange Tales?

Allred: Thrilling. Michael wouldn’t have started making his own comics if it wasn’t for them. He was so excited with the joy of creating in their work and that spilled over on me. In fact, their covers were classic examples of simple flat colors enhancing without distracting from the wonderful line art. A big influence on me. I just colored new Madman strips form all three, Jamie, Beto, and Mario, for the upcoming Madman 20th Anniversary Monster!

O’Shea: Among your other non-AAAPop collaborations, which rank among your favorite assignments?

Allred: LOVED coloring Art Adams’ Monkeyman & O’Brien comics! Love him and his wife Joyce too. He’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, and his work is as much fun to color as he is to listen to.

O’Shea: Speaking of non-AAAPop work, how do the collaborative dynamics change when you and Mike collaborate on iZombie, a series in which Chris Roberson is the writer?

Allred: Not at all. Except our dearest and oldest friend in the biz, Shelly Bond, throws in her two cents as my editor. I just have more people to please and make changes for in the process. But that rarely happens.

O’Shea: In this 2008 iFanboy interview with you, you noted of the printing process “We’ve never been completely satisfied with any printed work. We’re always looking for ways to make it better.” Do you think you will ever be completely satisfied with your printed work–and does the partial shift to digital comics make quality improvement of your work more or less challenging?

Allred: It’s easier, and we are both currently happier with the final result than ever. We’ve been playing with our process constantly. You can look through the books and see the changes. In fact, we tried at least three specific different ways in iZombie alone to make the colors more organic to Michael’s art work. You’ll see where the printing got quite “muddy” and then we had an epiphany and found the perfect recipe. So simple. It was in front of us all the time. Now I can model Michael’s figures in shadings to his specifications in layers and change and adjust them instantly until we are both happy. And now it prints almost exactly how we see it on the monitors. I think it was around iZombie 6 or 7 when everything finally clicked. And we’ve used the process since in the new Madman stories as well as a Rocketeer 8-pager for a new Rocketeer anthology series.

O’Shea: Given that his career ended long before it should have, not many folks can say they colored Seth Fisher’s art. What do you recall of working with him on Happydale?

Allred: It may be the most difficult project I ever worked on. Seth was still getting his footing. The scans weren’t the best and being such a heavily detailed artist, it was extremely challenging. But the hardest jobs are often the most gratifying, and that was the case when working with Seth Fisher. So sad.

O’Shea: In the 2008 iFanboy interview, you spoke of your affinity for the art of The Wyeths (N.C., Andrew and Jamie). Could you explain if there are certain qualities about each artist that catch your interest, or is it the family’s body of work overall that earns your respect?

Allred: All wonderful, but it’s NC Wyeth that really excites me. His work feels timeless and dreamy. Lush, classic, graphic and artsy all at the same time.

O’Shea: Is there anything about your craft or projects that you’d like to discuss that I neglected to ask you about?

Allred: Nope.

Only that we always want to take every opportunity to encourage people to embrace and dig into the comic book medium as much as possible. There is always something new, special, and unique for anyone to discover.

Superman 710

Writer Chris Roberson is one of those folks that deserves to get more than one Eisner nomination, but alas he–oh wait yes he did. In all seriousness, this interview occurred before the Eisner nominations were announced last week. So while I congratulate Roberson for his nominations in the categories of Best Limited Series (along with Shawn McManus) for Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love and Best New Series (along with Mike Allred) for iZombie, the focus of the interview is mainly on Superman, while iZombie and the new Cinderella miniseries (Fables Are Forever) are discussed briefly. This Wednesday, April 13, marks the release of both Superman 710 and Cinderella: Fables Are Forever 3 (of 6), so we discuss his upcoming Superman and Cinderella issues (plus gaining a bit of insight into last month’s Lex Luthor’s 40 Cakes homage in Superman 709). To get greater context on Roberson’s upcoming work, be sure to also read CBR News’ recent Roberson coverage from late February and early March.

Tim O’Shea: The comics reading audience can prove to be a fickle lot, some readers thrive on minutiae, others do not. But there’s no doubt a lot of people recently got a kick (myself included) out of the Lex Luthor/40 cakes retcon in Superman 709. How did that idea come to pass (I know it was partially inspired by a tweet)?

Chris Roberson: It was really simple, actually. I’m a huge fan of the Super Dictionary, and have a copy of it on my shelf, but it hadn’t occurred to me that I might include anything from it until it was suggested to me. Once someone on Twitter first mentioned the idea (@loganjames, in fact), it seemed intuitively obvious in retrospect.

O’Shea: When I’ve talked to you in the past, I get the impression that you get a great deal more (or at least more immediate) satisfaction from your comics writing efforts, as compared with your prose novel work. Would that be a correct assessment on my part, and why do you think that is?

Roberson: I think it’s because comics were my first language, in a lot of ways, and I only became a novelist because I couldn’t manage to break into the comics field. I think I was always thinking in “comic” and translating it into “novel,” though, so now that I’m able to stick in “comic” throughout, it just makes the process that much smoother.

O’Shea: Collaborating with the likes of artists Mike & Laura Allred (as well as recent guest artist Gilbert Hernandez) [all on iZombie] what kind of storytelling experience (which you can utilize in future efforts) have you earned from such team-ups?

Roberson: Well, working with heavyweights like the Allreds and Hernandez REALLY forces you to bring your A game, and to push yourself past what you already thought you could do. So the immediate benefit is getting to work with such amazing artists and seeing the scripts brought to such beautiful life, but the longterm benefit is that I’ve raised the bar for myself and have to stay at that level.

O’Shea: In discussing your work on iZombie recently with CBR (http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=31109), you made no bones how much you enjoy writing strong female characters. In an industry trying to maintain, if not grow its base audience, how important do you think it is for there to be more writers like you to please consumers seeking stories with female leads stories like iZombie?

Roberson: It would certainly be nice if there were more stories that appeal to female readers, and not just in terms of there being female characters available. But to be honest, I don’t set out to write a story calculating that it will appeal to this segment of the audience or that. I’m just writing stories that I would like to read. I just hope that there’s enough people that share my tastes, both male AND female, that I can keep doing it for a while!

O’Shea: In Superman 710, you get to feature Vandal Savage and the adventures of teenage Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne, there’s just so much material to explore–how do you fight the urge not to throw everything but the kitchen sink into such a rich story–and fit it all into one issue?

Roberson: Who says I DO resist the urge to throw in everything?! I’m sure there’s a kitchen sink in there somewhere…

But it has to serve the story, or it doesn’t get used. The trick is to take all these great ideas from the characters’ respective histories, and treat them like building blocks or Lego bricks, and then figure out what you can build out of them. When you’ve finished building that cool thing, there will probably be a few Legos left over that you couldn’t find a place to use. And that’s okay, because you’ve still got them lying on the floor for the NEXT cool thing you try to build.

O’Shea: What can you tell folks about Sharif, the new character being introduced in issue 712: is this a character that JMS outlined in the initial Grounded plans–or is this a character you suggested? (Feel free to tweak or ignore this question if I have structured it poorly)

Roberson: Sharif was one of my additions to the Grounded storyline, but he isn’t some one that I created so much as an existing character that I “salvaged.” He was lurking there in the back issues boxes the whole time, albeit under a different name, waiting for his chance to come back from comic book limbo.

O’Shea: How much of a kick was it to recently see your young daughter working on her own mini-comic? Granted you’re not writing an all ages Superman, but on some level does it register that her dad is writing Superman?

Roberson: Well, in my head I AM writing an all ages Superman! There won’t be anything in the issues I’m writing that a seven year old couldn’t read and hopefully enjoy. When I started reading Superman back in the 70s, I was reading the regular Superman title, and I want kids today to have the same opportunity.

And do I enjoy seeing my daughter making her own comics? Um, YES! She’s also making her own board games now, though, so comics might miss out if she ends up going into game design, instead. But is she impressed that I’m writing Superman? Not in the least. Most days she just wishes I had a “real job,” since in her eyes all I do is sit around the house all day reading comics and making up stories. And what kind of life is THAT for a grown-up, I ask you?

Cinderella: Fables Are Forever 3

O’Shea: Describe the level of elation you felt when you started work on the second Cinderella miniseries. How early in the development did you realize you wanted to utilize Dorothy Gale for this new mini?

Roberson: The idea that Dorothy Gale was a possible nemesis for Cinderella is actually where the second miniseries started out. I was watching The Wiz with my wife last year, and right about the last act it occurred to me that Dorothy Gale was an ASSASSIN. She kills witches and gets rewarded for it. The first witch she killed by accident, but when the Wizard tells her that he’ll only send her back to Kansas if she kills another witch, Dorothy takes the job. That’s a HITJOB! I figured that maybe Dorothy had developed a taste for it, and imaged this whole life for her after the events of Baum’s stories, going around and knocking off witches in exchange for pay. I mentioned it to Bill Willingham, saying if he ever did another Cinderella story that he should use Dorothy as her nemesis. And the next thing I knew, *I* was doing another Cinderella story.

O’Shea: Am I right in assuming that as many ideas as you have typically have rolling around in your head, the opportunities explored with the Shadow Fabletown in the Soviet Union is only a sampling of what you’d like to delve into, if given a chance down the road?

Roberson: Oh, definitely. The storytelling possibilities in the world that Bill has built for Fables are literally endless. And I’ll keep playing around in that world as long as Bill lets me!

O’Shea: How many bikinis does Cinderella own–is it part of her spy contract (“assignment must include period of time where I get a new bikini”)?

Roberson: Cinderella probably owns as many bikinis as she does pairs of high-heeled shoes–in other words, a LOT.

O’Shea: I’m fairly certain that Cinderella has the most frequent flier miles of any Fabletown’s residents–and in this miniseries you have her trailing her nemesis through many countries. Can you talk about what motivated you to pick some of the places where Cinderella goes in this mini?

Roberson: I tried to pick locales that we don’t see too often in comics, and that were different enough from each other to make it visually interesting and offer some grist for the storytelling mill.

O’Shea: Earlier this month, you noted “Just realized that my first comics work hit stands 20 months ago.” Take a moment and consider if you would, in what ways have you’ve improved as a comics writer in those 20 months?

Roberson: I certainly hoped that I’ve improved! I think that’s really up to the readers to judge, though. I’m just trying to do the best I can with every issue I write, and to always do the next issue a little bit better than the last one.

Kirby King of Comics

Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading? Our special guest today is Ryan Cody, creator of Icarus and illustrator of Villains and Jesus Christ: In the Name of the Gun. You’ll be seeing more of Icarus around these parts starting very soon …

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

*****

Brigid Alverson

Strangers in Paradise

I bought a copy of Strangers in Paradise from author Terry Moore himself at C2E2, and it helped make the trip back go more quickly. This is a classic book that came out during my long hiatus from comics, and I’m glad to have finally discovered it. Just in the first few chapters Moore quickly sketches out a set of characters—Katchoo, Francine, and David—and sets the story barreling out of the gate at full speed. I love their personalities, his deft hand with dialogue, and the twists and turns of his stories, and I’m definitely signing on for the whole series.

I also read an advance copy of, One Soul, by Ray Fawkes, which is due out from Oni Press in May. Fawkes splits each page into a nine-panel grid and tells 18 stories in parallel on each two-page spread. His characters are widely separated in time and space and never actually meet, but they have a lot in common, and parts of their lives echo each other. I read it once, but I know I will have to read it a few more times, partly because it’s hard to keep 18 characters straight and partly because I know I’m going to see more in each re-reading; there are many patterns and subtleties that are only starting to emerge.

Carla Hoffman

New Mutants #23

I read New Mutants #23 this week and suddenly, everything makes sense. Having already read the start of this ‘new perspective’ side event (Age of X: Alpha and X-Men: Legacy #245) back when they were released, I wasn’t expecting much from chapter four of this storyline. At first glance and being thrown into the action as it were, the characters just seemed like pale Age of Apocalypse shadows and the idea of a full scale war between mutants and humans was something I know I had read before. There was nothing to stick to as far as where this whole thing would be going. But there is a new an interesting piece of the plot that shows up in New Mutants #23 that reminds me that no one would or should get away with printing the same old story, no matter how cool the character designs are. I’d tell you more but that would ruin the discovery of it on your own, which is always part of the battle. Mike Carey is giving nothing to you directly, but through deduction, you’re actually working right alongside Magneto and Rogue to find out what’s really going on.

So fellow X-Fans, take note: if you read the first part of Age of X and compared it to something you have already read or didn’t find anything interesting in the infinite war between mutants and humans, give it another chance. Read New Mutants #23 as see if the twist doesn’t make you think a little more kindly on those earlier issues. If it does, go back and read them (that’s X-Men: Legacy #245, New Mutants #22 then X-Men: Legacy #246; don’t worry there’s a list in the back) because I know you’ll catch things the second time around. Things that really do make this a story I don’t believe we’ve seen before, despite some familiar window dressing and the ever-so fashionable lens of nostalgia. I’m already starting to re-think my ideas of a ‘never-ending battle between mutant and man’ and what that really means…

Michael May

Colonia

I finished the first volume of Jeff Nicholson’s Colonia, but I don’t think I’ll be going back for the second. In his introduction, Nicholson compares what he’s trying to do with Bone, and I can see the similarities. As a concept, it works wonderfully: an innocent boy and a couple of companions enter a world filled with strange people and creatures, but instead of Bone‘s medieval-fantasy setting, Colonia‘s locale in based on the early days of New World colonization and piracy. That’s a milieu I enjoy more than the Middle Ages, so it should have worked.

Unfortunately, though his story is interesting, Nicholson isn’t as proficient as Jeff Smith at creating humor in his art. The dialog is funny enough, but the visual timing’s all off and Nicholson lacks Smith’s gift for expressive faces and slapstick. That also makes the characters rather flat, so while I really wanted Colonia to work, I kept thinking that I should be reading Bone instead, pirates or no pirates.

Tim O’Shea

Yo Gabba Gabba

I am kicking myself for neglecting to mention a release from last week, the 128-page Yo Gabba Gabba Comic Book Time anthology. Imagine a book with a range of talent including, Michael Allred, Philip Bond, J. Bone, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, Chris Eliopoulos, Matthew Loux, J. Torres (who also co-edits the book with James Lucas Jones), and Dean Trippe (among many, many others). For whatever reason, I’ve never seen the Yo Gabba Gabba show, but despite my ignorance I immediately fell in love with this book. Why? Because Jamie S. Rich (who wrote the first story in this anthology) provides a story resolution that partially involves The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” Seeing an Allred-drawn character singing Rolling Stones lyrics is the kind of left field moments I love in a story.

My tastes don’t lean toward horror or supernatural, but one has to take notice when BOOM publishes the first issue of a new Hellraiser series, written by Clive Barker. And there’s a back-up tale written by Larry Wachowski. I am a lousy judge of horror, but I speculate that the folks who enjoyed Hellraiser under Barker’s vision will really enjoy this book. Even though not a fan of the genre, I will admit I was impressed with the linework on the main title from Leonardo Manco.

Graeme’s post that praised BOOM! Studios’ Dracula: The Company of Monsters reminded me that I had allowed the comic to drop off my radar. That’s despite the fact I am a huge Kurt Busiek fan (see the aforementioned aversion to horror). But this week, prompted by Graeme, I read the series’ first volume (collecting issues 1-4) –a story created by Busiek and written by Daryl Gregory–and will likely try to track down the more recent issues. This modern day take on Dracula has him terrorizing board rooms–and gives us odd scenes of the vampire acclimating after his resurrection and reading the New York Times.

There’s no doubt that Marvel is flooding the market with Thor and Captain America one-shots, due to the upcoming theatrical releases. But Kieron Gillen actually pulls back the mask (real and metaphorical) on Batroc the Leaper–indulging in some interesting character exploration. I am hard pressed to recall another writer examining the fiscal and logistical challenges to the life of a villain. Added bonus: the 1967 battle between Batroc and Cap, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby from Tales of Suspense #85. It includes two great moments: Stan Lee having Cap mocking Batroc: “How’s this for some fancy stuff weeth zee hands” (as he punched the villain) and Lee shutting up and allowing Kirby to do a fight scene for one page (nine panels) with no dialogue.

Tom Bondurant

Green Lantern #64

Following Blackest Night, I had thought Green Lantern was in a bit of a rut, gazing into the Rainbow Lanterns’ collective navel without having much of a direction. However, I was pretty impressed with the first two parts of “War of the Green Lanterns” in GL #64 (written by Geoff Johns, penciled by Doug Mahnke, inked by Christian Alamy et al.) and Green Lantern Corps #58 (written by Tony Bedard, penciled by Tyler Kirkham, inked by Batt with Rob Hunter). GL #64 pulls together the past year’s plot threads into a neat little bundle of revenge, tied together with the longstanding notion that the Guardians’ omniscience doesn’t always make them right. What’s more, Krona’s plan involves the return of some “classic” Green Lantern mythology; and as ominous as those developments were, it was good to see Johns returning to them. Bedard and Kirkham come at the same events from a different perspective in GLC #58, but they too end up with our heroes facing overwhelming odds. “War of the Green Lanterns” could actually be that proverbial storyline which changes everything, but it’s setting up those changes nicely so far.

Having just spent some time with the ’70s Batman Family stories which reintroduced Kathy “Batwoman” Kane, I was delighted to see her return in Batman Incorporated #4 (written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Chris Burnham). The issue worked well as an interlude in Batman’s Argentinian adventure, but it may have worked even better as yet another giddy deconstruction/celebration of Goofy Sci-Fi Batman. Robin’s dialogue about “even the dog wear[ing] a mask … makes it all dumb instead of special[,] like it doesn’t matter anymore” is probably the most pointed criticism of the (for lack of a better term) “anti-goofy” reader. Still, once again Morrison has given meaning and resonance to a dusty corner of Batman lore, even echoing the great Alan Brennert’s treatment of an aging, wistful Batwoman in the classic “Interlude on Earth-Two” (Brave and the Bold #182, January 1982), while continuing to advance the “United Colors of Batman” theme he’s been working for the past five years. Just a really great issue all around, and I haven’t even mentioned Burnham’s wonderful work.

Ryan Cody

Sadly, for someone who claims to be a writer himself, I do not read as much as I should, and what I do read is mostly comics. One book I just finished was Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier. I found a used copy at Hastings for $8 and thought there was no way to go wrong there. It’s basically a beautifully illustrated biography of Jack’s life in comics. It touches a little on his youth, mostly in how that affected his later ideas of the stories he wanted to tell, and goes through his long career. There was nothing scandalous or really mind-blowing about it, but it was a quick read and gave a good impression of the greatest comic creator ever. It also has some beautiful artwork in it including some variant designs for Marvel’s Norse Gods that are amazing.

The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of Women

Another recent book I read, and in part had read to me, was The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of Women by James Ellroy. It’s a biography that has the single focus of Ellroy trying to explain and come to terms with his relationship with women, and how those relationships reflect back to him being 10 and his mother being murdered. It has a snappy pace and is hilarious more often than not. Biographies are probably my favorite types of books when I do sit down to read, it’s often that the truth can be as entertaining as fiction if you care enough about the subject.

The artist side of me mostly follows other artists when it comes time to read comics. No matter how good the story is, if the art is boring to me, I can’t get through it. I really enjoy the B.P.R.D. and Hellboy books, Guy Davis did some fantastic work on those and Arcudi and Mignola have created a great universe for the characters. I try to follow Powers as much as I can, again I think the setting and relationships coupled with insanely talented art make for good reading. Last but not least, I just finished reading The Winter Men by Brett Lewis and John Paul Leon. That was fantastic, from plot, to script, to art, one of the best books I have read in a very long time. It had everything I love; crime, amazing powers, corruption, bad language and even a tiny bit of nudity. I highly recommend it.

Taking a page from his work on the innovative DC series Wednesday Comics last year, Madman 20th Anniversary Monster will be a huge book — measuring 11″ x 17″ and have a bevy of material new and old. Included in this volume are 20 new strips from friends and colleagues, virtually every single Madman pin-up from the original series and a new story by Allred himself.

Allred’s rolling out news, process art and contributions from friends on his new blog at allredart.blogspot.com.

If you’re a fan of the X-Men, This American Life and Mike Allred’s art, your ship has come in. Last year’s “>Nation X #1 included a story by James Asmus and Mike Allred that featured Wolverine and Nightcrawler riding around in a pick-up listening to This American Life, and now the radio program is selling a poster of the panel that references host Ira Glass.

If you aren’t sure if this poster is for you, they’ve even provided a handy Venn diagram that should help you decide.

(Thanks, Dan!)

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne

Welcome once again to What Are You Reading? Today’s special guest is writer and artist Dean Trippe, creator of Butterfly and co-founder of the Project: Rooftop blog, among other credits. He posts regularly on his Tumblr site Bearsharktopus-Man, where he is currently selling this nifty Doctor Who/Batman crossover print. He also has some art in the Webcomics Auction for the Gulf.

To see what Dean and the rest of the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below …

*****

Brigid Alverson

The Hunter

Intrigued by the sampler of Darwyn Cooke’s next Parker graphic novel that I picked up at ALA, I ordered the first book, Parker: The Hunter, from the library. Wow, is that hard boiled! Richard Stark (a pseudonym for Donald Westlake, who wrote funnier mysteries under his real name) came up with a hero who was almost superhuman (he can kill a man with his bare hands) but also resourceful, forging a driver’s license and hijacking a gun shipment with equal ease. The story is incredibly dated —most of Parker’s scams wouldn’t fly nowadays, and his treatment of women is beyond appalling—but Cooke takes it for what it is and captures the look of the era in both the setting and the style, a gestural ink line backed with washes of dull blue that would not look out of place in a 1962 issue of Esquire. The story is very straightforward—Parker was double-crossed and left for dead in a job gone bad, and now he’s looking for payback—and Parker slices through every obstacle like a hot knife through butter. The story itself isn’t too intellectually demanding, but Cooke’s art brings it to another level.

A bound galley of Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream and Other Stories arrived in yesterday’s mail, and I’m halfway through it already. Hagio’s art in some of these stories is absolutely beautiful to look at, but what’s interesting to me is that these really are girls’ stories. The ones I have read so far are about children and told from a child’s eye view; the adults are there, but they usually make things worse. These short stories remind me very much of their British contemporaries, the ghost stories in Diana and other girls’ comics that were running around the same time. I’m sure the finished book will be beautiful and expensive, but I sort of hope some girls find these stories as well, and get the same thrill I did.

Sean T. Collins

Click the links for reviews…

Werewolves of Montpellier

Werewolves of Montpellier by Jason: The Norwegian master serves up his latest mix of genre wackiness and ruminations about violence and loneliness. Every book’s a winner with this guy.

Where’s Waldo? The Fantastic Journey by Martin Handford: The maddening, fun search game book you remember from your childhood is also a really impressive feat of cartooning-as-worldbuilding.

FCHS by Vito Delsante & Rachel Freire: A sweet, sexy, smart summer soap set in high school circa 1990.

Graeme McMillan

For no real reason whatsoever, I dived into recent Inhumans stories from Marvel’s recent years this week, and got very frustrated as a result; I enjoyed Son of M a fair bit, really loved Silent War, and then felt cheated by the way that Secret Invasion: Inhumans pretty much threw away the wonderful cliffhanger that Silent War ended on – It’s one thing to say “Black Bolt was replaced by a Skrull,” but to ignore that War left all of the Inhumans except for Black Bolt and Quicksilver and Crystal’s daughter either insane or mind-controlled by Maximus (I’m not sure which, to be honest, and that may be the point; the real answer may be somewhere in between) and suddenly launch into a much-smaller “the family that fights together stays together” dynamic was incredibly disappointing. Did I miss something that wrapped up
David Hine’s story in between the two, does anyone know?

Tim O’Shea

Red Robin

Of the Bat-family of books, it’s odd to say that Red Robin is one of the strongest–but there it is. Grant Morrison can’t be bothered with character dynamics, as I doubt they’ve ever interested him as a writer. Fabian Nicieza constructs a great scene in this issue between Batman, Red Robin and Robin. Add to the mix that Marcus To continues to provide solid art on this book.

Having bought the initial Casanova b&w run, I almost did not get this revitalized full color version–the first issue of which came out from Marvel’s Icon imprint this week. But I’m glad I did, as otherwise I would not have read the bonus new story involving the Night Nurse from that first issue. Also, you get a Matt Fraction text piece which includes his admission that Casanova ultimately grew out of a Dominic Fortune/Marvel pitch.

I hate Jim McCann for populating the second issue of Mockingbird & Hawkeye with characters I like, only to kill some of them. Seriously though, strong second issue–but to be perfectly blunt you could have miniseries called “Hawkeye Does His Laundry” and I’d just be happy to be able to buy a monthly book featuring Hawkeye.

I don’t know how I missed the first issue of Peter Hogan, Chris Sprouse and Karl Story’s Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom (six-issue miniseries), but I caught up this week–buying issues 1 and 2. I never tire of the way Tom shouts his dialogue and the importance of family to the series.

I’m grooving to the comedic undercurrent that Chris Roberson and Mike Allred feed throughout iZombie (this week saw the release of issue 3).

I’ve got a Jeff Lemire Talking Comics with Tim interview in the pipeline for the coming weeks–and while recently editing I was unsure as to whether he’s more excited about his writing on Atom or his writing and drawing for the Vertigo ongoing, Sweet Tooth. It doesn’t really matter which he’s enthused most about, what’s important is his passion for both projects shows equally. In terms of Atom, I’m just grateful that DC editorial has allowed Lemire to ignore Palmer’s recent history (ex-wife as murderer, etc)–Lemire’s left to tell an updated style of a Silver Age Atom science story.

Thor and the Warriors Four (the four-issue miniseries) came to a satisfying happy ending for kids and adults alike. Like a good sitcom, I enjoy the snippets of dialogue that Alex Zalben works in–case in point when Thor, Frog of Thunder; and Beta Ray Bill acknowledge each other as they head into battle (Frog: “Thorse”‘ Bill” “Throg”). And I can’t be the only person left wanting to see a Colleen Coover sequel to this Hercules the Olympian Babysitter with the Power Pack?

Gail Simone? Thanks for taking a month off from the Secret Six and allowing John Ostrander to fill in for you. (And I agree with your comment here as I would like Ostrander to “…write an Oracle mini” one of these days). It’s a simple one and done story, which I never tire of reading.

Steve Rogers, Super-Soldier is a mixture of James Bond meets Nick Fury by Ed Brubaker nicely paired with artist Dale Eaglesham. I would be okay if this were an ongoing, instead of a miniseries.

Earlier this week Mark Waid got some folks riled about his Tweets on the superhero genre. It was an unfortunate week for the dust-up to occur, as I think it diluted any attention that his actual superhero comic writing deserved this week. I stepped away from Irredeemable for a few months (there’s only so many comics in a month I can read,
honestly) and I’m glad I came back with Irredeemable 15. They had been building up to a few things and while you don’t get any actual closure on anything, you definitely get some interesting battles and twists. I like it when Waid gets to play with the toys as a writer and they aren’t the holy DC or Marvel, because people can die, things can occur
and no one worries about the precious continuity status quo.

Finally with the first issue of Thor, The Mighty Avenger, writer Roger Langridge and artist Chris Samnee become my favorite all ages creative team at Marvel. I’m a sucker for a Thor who smiles. My one complaint? I have to agree with Kurt Busiek’s tweet from earlier this week when he wrote: “…Lettering’s too damn small, but the book is gorgeous!” One must assume that Langridge tried to fit as much dialogue in the book as he could. I don’t wish either storyteller to be more economic in their storytelling terms, but it may flow better with less words.

Chris Mautner

Solomon's Thieves, Book One

I read two books from First Second this week — Solomon’s Thieves and Resistance Book One.

On the latter, let me just say that I agree 100 percent with Michael May’s assessment of the book — this is a slam-bang, totally engrossing, rip-roaring adventure story from start to finish. Whereas creators Jordan Mechner, LeUyen Pham and Alex Puvilland tripped over themselves in trying to create something of substance in their Prince of Persia adaptation last year, Solomon has next to no pretense (though there’s a lot of info about medieval life and the Knights Templar — it’s apparent both artists and writer spent a lot of time on research). It’s really just a great, smart, fun read — the kind you’d swear people didn’t make anymore. I’m actually happy for once that the story is “to be continued,” because it means I have something to look forward to.

I was less enthused with Resistance, the second “kids in World War II” book FS put out this spring, though this has a more serious tone than City of Spies, as it deals with a brother and sister living in Vichy France attempting to get their Jewish friend out of the clutches of the Nazis and reunite him with his mom and dad. It’s OK — Kids will probably dig it, but I never really felt like the danger the children were in was sufficiently emphasized at all (with the exception of one incident). What’s more, Leland Purvis’ character art is a little on the stiff side and Carla Jablonski’s dialogue is a bit TV-movieish — everyone speaks in either dull exclamatory sentences or endless questions (“Where are you going?” “Where are you taking us?” “What’s going on?” and so on — for like every other panel). Ultimately the book just felt very rote to me. As down as I was on City of Spies the other week, I think I prefer it to Resistance.

Tom Bondurant

Batman & Robin #13

My haul of superhero comics turned out quite well this week. Batman And Robin #13 was especially good — suspenseful, well-paced, great art, and full of neat little bits like the “I’ll just call you ‘Commissioner Gordon’” exchange. I like how everyone who’s really close to the original Batman isn’t automatically dismissive of Dick/Batman, and I like that that group includes the Joker. I also enjoyed the first issue of Batman: Odyssey. I would call its author “the goddamn Neal Adams,” but I’m sure someone has already used that joke.

I liked John Ostrander and RB Silva’s issue of Secret Six — now where’s their Oracle miniseries?

Thought Great Ten #9 felt very rushed, but that’s not surprising. I did like the miniseries overall and hope to see these characters again soon.

Finally (in Brightest Day #5) Aquaman does something about the big oil spill! Too bad it’s DC-Earth’s version, somewhere near the Bermuda Triangle. Oh well — I’m sure the JLA cleaned up its Gulf of Mexico a while back. Seriously, I continue to believe that the Aquaman subplot is the strongest part of Brightest Day, and I’m hoping it will play a bigger part as the series rolls on.

And lastly, I liked both Fantastic Four books I bought this week. Fantastic Four Annual #32 (done up 2008-style by writer Joe Ahearne and penciller Bryan Hitch) was a nifty standalone story about Johnny Storm’s child and a new version of an old villain, and Spider-Man/Fantastic Four #1 (by Christos N. Gage and Mario Alberti) was just plain fun. How can one say no to a two-page spread involving the FF, Spidey, Doctor Doom, the Sub-Mariner, the ESU quad, “It’s Clobberin’ Time,” and “Imperius Rex!”?

Dean Trippe

Hellboy: The Storm #1

The only really terrible thing about being a comics creator (besides the pay and constant fear you might’ve been happier or at least healthier with a menial day job of any other kind) is that you know what good looks like.

I’ve become insufferable as a comics fan. I don’t like most writing, drawing, coloring, or lettering, and I’m sure as hell not shopping in a store that doesn’t let me flip through books to see if they look interesting. I can’t invest in crossovers anymore. I don’t even care about characters, even though I think nearly every mainstream comics character could be interesting. I follow creators because I’m spoiled.

Because I read Tom Strong, Promethea, Planetary, The Authority, Hellboy, B.P.R.D., Robin: Year One, and All-Star and Superman, I know comics can be absolutely incredible. When my favorite creators team up, that’s when I get interested. Were I President of Comics, I’d make it so every comic was amazing. Somehow. So vote for me.

What meets my impossibly high standards? Here you go:

Batman and Robin (and The Return of Bruce Wayne) by Grant Morrison and a whole host of artists. Grant Morrison’s not just writing these titles. He’s writing the entire DCU over the course of his lifetime. You just didn’t know it. Batman and Robin is the most fun Batman’s been in forever, but Grant’s DCU is all one thing, joined to his JLA, Final Crisis, All-Star Superman, DC One Million, Seven Soldiers of Victory and so on. These are easily the comics that I enjoy the most. So if Morrison writes it, I’m buying it. Speaking of which…

Joe the Barbarian by Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy. Great writing, great art. Dave Stewart on colors. That’s how you do it.

The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard. That is an excellent creative team, and the story is edge-of-your-seat fascinating, every month.

I, Zombie by Chris Roberson and Mike Allred is the silliest group of monsters, written and drawn so well it never seems unbelievable.

Hellboy and B.P.R.D. by Mike Mignola, Guy Davis, and a slew of awesome, awesome creators. These are the all-around best books in comics, from the writing on down the line. There are no problems. There is only win. Dave Stewart and Guy Davis make so much pretty. If the Big Two could match this level of quality, this consistently, sales would triple.

Besides those, I pretty much follow anything Mark Waid, Robert Kirkman, Mike Mignola, Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, or Jonathan Hickman writes, and anything Cliff Chiang, Frank Quitely, Dustin Nguyen, Cameron Stewart, Chris Samnee, or J.H. Williams III draws. Those guys do it right.

Astonishing Spider-Man and Wolverine

Welcome once again to What are you reading? Today our special guest is comics retailer James Sime, owner of the world-famous Isotope Comics in San Francisco. As a retailer, James has the opportunity to read a lot of comics, and his submission this week reflects the diversity of great stuff you’ll find in his shop.

Click below to see what he’s been reading lately, as well as what the rest of the Robot 6 crew has had on their reading lists this week ….

*****

Graeme McMillan

Thanks to my beloved Multnomah County Library system, I’ve recently had the dubious pleasure of catching up on two iconic 1990s comics that I’d somehow missed (Well, avoided, in one case) the first time around, and it’s definitely one of those “sublime and ridiculous” things: The former of those two would be Jeff Smith’s Bone, which I’d only read in fits and starts, and am now enjoying in the Scholastic colored editions, and the latter undoubtedly the complete X-Men: Age of Apocalypse saga, which feels like some strange perfect time capsule of 1990s superhero comics and makes me feel depressingly old with almost every single page (Seriously, is this what X-Men comics were like when I was purposefully pretending that they didn’t exist due to twenty-something snobbery? That idea kind of makes my mind explode).

Single issue-wise, I love the new Vertigo series, I, Zombie – Chris Roberson had already won me over with his Cinderella Fables spin-off, but the combination of his writing with Mike Allred’s art really made this one a winner for me. I’ve been loving a lot of Vertigo’s recent releases (Daybreakers, Joe The Barbarian, American Vampire); I think the line is as strong as it’s been in years, and yet somehow still underrated. Hopefully that’ll change sometime soon.

Brigid Alverson

I only have one book this week, but it’s a good one: Hope Larson’s Mercury, which I liked for a whole lot of reasons. Larson starts with a view of a little hill in Nova Scotia and imagines how it looked in different periods, from the 1600s to the present. That foreshadows how she tells her story, which is really two interleaved stories, one happening in the mid-nineteenth century, the other in the present, both in the same geographical space. One is the tale of a teenager returning to her old school after an upheaval in her life. In the other story, the stakes are higher: A prospector finds gold on the land of a struggling farmer. Both stories have twists, and they come together with a supernatural turn at the end. I like Larson’s easygoing style, but it was the story that really grabbed me, and once I started reading this I couldn’t put it down.

Chris Mautner

I just read the 10th and final volume of Dragon Head, the post-apocalyptic disaster manga by Minetaro Mochizuki that Tokyopop put out back when they were rolling in money and convinced nothing would ever, ever go wrong for them. Anyway, it’s a relatively satisfying end to the series that, thankfully, doesn’t attempt to explain what exactly caused the constant devastation that’s plaguing Japan, or give us any sort of suggestion that our protagonists will, ultimately, be alright, though they seem to be in slightly more emotionally stable shape than they were a few volumes before. Let’s face it: any attempt to neatly wrap things up in a bow or explain things would have stunted the horror of the work.

I say “relatively” however, because, honestly, the series kind of took a nose dive after the fourth volume or so, when the two main characters got themselves out of the tunnel they were buried alive in and made it to the surface world. The manga never really recovered its nail-biting sense of tension after that. Still, it remained a decent read nevertheless, firmly planted in the “psychological horror” camp and well-thought out enough to keep me from regretting my time spent tracking down and reading the whole thing.

James Sime

As a comic retailer it’s my job to read everything that I sell and I’m dedicated to carrying a really diverse range of comics and graphic novels at the Isotope. So… I read a *lot* of comics (laugh)!

Here’s some of those reads I’m really loving this week:

ASTONISHING SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE by Jason Aaron & Adam Kubert

Jason Aaron… that guy writes some really kick ass comic books. You’re reading Scalped, right? You should be. At my shop I call it the “Preacher Methadone Clinic” because it’s one of the few books that you can actually successfully follow up Preacher with. Everything else just leaves you feeling hollow and wishing that a Preacher volume 10 existed. But Scalped makes you forget about how much you loved Jessie, Tulip, and Cassidy. If only for a little while. And if something can do that? Well, that’s about the highest praise I can give.

Aaron’s been writing a number of other great comics, too. Wolverine Weapon X, The Other Side, Hellblazer, PunisherMAX, he even made Ghost Rider great. But Spider-Man? Now we all know Adam Kubert is going to knock a Spider-Man comic right out of the park. Seriously, Adam Kubert can do no wrong. But even with one of the most stellar track records in all of comics, Aaron doesn’t really strike a lot of my customers or me as a Spider-Man kind of guy, y’know?

Thanks for proving us all wrong, Mister Aaron, with one of the best first issues I’ve read in years with a note-perfect Wolverine and Spider-Man. Marvel, give Jason Aaron any title he wants. Not only can he handle it, he’s going to make your characters really, really shine!

THE TALE OF ONE BAD RAT by Bryan Talbot

The Tale of One Bad Rat

Originally published back in 1994, Talbot’s magum opus about child abuse is a book that every comic reader should seriously have on their bookshelf. Sadly, it’s been out of print for far too long and lots of folks who are new to the world of “graphic novels” who would absolutely love it have never had the opportunity to discover it. So thanks to our friends at Dark Horse at long last now they can. Personally I plan on selling hundreds and hundreds of these this year!

Tale of One Bad Rat is without a doubt a breathtaking work of comic art that was many, many years ahead of it’s time. And as popular as it was inside the comic industry 15 years ago, people didn’t really know what to do with a book like this back then. If it was released today it would be the toast of the town on NPR’s Fresh Air like Wilson is. Or on the New York Times best books (not comics, but books) list of the year list, like Fun Home was in ’06. Or winning National Book Awards like American Born Chinese did. Or burning up the Top Ten Best Seller on Amazon like Logicomix did. Or all of those put together!

There’s a reason why this book has pull-quotes from the likes of Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. And that’s because it really is a run-down-to-the-shop-right-now-and-buy-yourself-a-copy hardcover.

WUVABLE OAF by Ed Luce

Hands down my favorite self-published comic being made today. So good!

I actually never thought of calling Wuvable Oaf the “Scott Pilgrim of gay comics” before… but that’s *exactly* what it is! The story’s main character is a giant hairy sweetheart of a guy who lives with a hundred kitties and is secretly in love with a scrawny punk rawker who wears a lot of Morrissey t-shirts. Every issue is jam-packed with those awkward unlucky in love moments that anyone can relate to, laugh out loud quirky personalities that instantly remind you of people you know, and plenty of references to all sorts of nifty and obscure 80′s bands. Luce’s charming art, smile-inducing writing, and downright loveable characters is the reason Wuvable Oaf is just as popular with my straight customers as it is with my gay customers.

As this book doesn’t have any distribution at this point, there’s a good chance your local shop doesn’t have them in stock yet, but Luce has been working the convention circuit pretty heavily recently (The Wuvable Oaf Ultimate Sacrifice Special debuted just a couple weeks ago at Portalnd’s Stumptown convention) and you can order them directly from his site here.

HELLBOY IN MEXICO by Mike Mignola & Richard Corben

YES! How beautiful is it that Hellboy In Mexico came out on Cinco de Mayo?! What could be a better celebration than seeing a hard-drinking Hellboy team up with a trio of vampire-killing luchadores for a tequila-drenched excursion through Mexico in the 1950s? And it’s got plenty of Aztec pyramids, vampire wrestlers, Satanic turkeys, Mayan death bat gods, zombie spectators, and all the high-flying luchador action you could ask for. And I ask for a lot!

This was one of the most fun issues of Hellboy ever. And I sold a ton of them, so “muchas gracias” Mike Mignola and Richard Corben!

GHOST PROJEKT by Joe Harris & Steve Rolston

You know those comics that fly just under your radar when they’re first released and then suddenly it seems like everyone’s is talking about how great it is? And by the time you find out it’s way too late to get copies of the whole series and you just wish someone had told you about it sooner? You know, like Chew or Stumptown or Stuff of Legend or Locke & Key or Choker or Last Days of American Crime or Forgetless?! Well, Ghost Projekt is one of those books… and I’m telling you to pick it up right now.

Ghost Projekt is an excellently creepy post-Soviet horror chronicle of two American weapons inspectors uncovering strange phenomena at an abandoned weapons facility deep in the heart of the Siberian outback. Rich with politics and unsettling arms race experiments, this book pours on cold war era paranoia and shakes plenty of 21st century WMD anxieties into a cocktail glass overflowing with the kind of supernatural strangeness you’ve been thirsting for. A perfect allegory for true modern terror.

If you’re looking for a comic that will keep you on the edge of your seat waiting for the next installment, this is it.

Grab yourself a sneak peek of issue #1 on Oni’s site here, you’ll be glad you did!

And this next one is “not comics” just for good measure… because I read a lot of “real” books too.

UNDER AND ALONE by William Queen

True Crime Novel. Under And Alone is the first hand account of ATF agent Queen’s years as an undercover agent inside the infamous Mongols Motorcycle Club. This book reads a lot like a Brubaker or Azzarello comic, or something Elmore Leonard might write… full of dead bodies, quick tempers, deals gone wrong, middle fingers to local law enforcement, and lots and lots of sleezy lowlife characters. It’s really a fascinating peek behind the curtain at biker culture and organized/disorganized criminal lifestyle.

For me there’s a special appeal in lurid motorcycle tales. Growing up there was a biker clubhouse not too far from my house, and although it probably was not the best environment for 11-year-old kids, a friend of mine’s mom knew one of the guys so sometimes we’d go hang around out front and look at bikes. But still, this book’s appeal is universal to anyone who likes a good crime story. I’m particularly interested to see what they do with the Mel Gibson-helmed movie version of this book that is currently in production according to IMDB. And for those who are fellow fans of FX’s Sons of Anarchy TV show – it cribs a lot from Queen’s writing here, but these truths are much stranger and more dangerous than fiction.

I, Zombie #1

but then they have to go and get Darwyn Cooke to do the variant cover:

I, Zombie variant

I kinda want both. As for the series, Vertigo’s Pamela Mullins shares some more details on what it is about:

Told from a female zombie’s perspective, the new monthly comic book series, I, ZOMBIE is a smart, witty detective series with a mix of urban fantasy and romantic dramedy. Gwendolyn “Gwen” Dylan is a 20-something gravedigger in an eco-friendly cemetery. Once a month she must eat a human brain to keep from losing her memories, but in the process she becomes consumed with the thoughts and personality of the dead person until she eats the next one. She sets out to fulfill the dead person’s last request, solve a crime, or right a wrong.

Our zombie girl detective is joined by a radical supporting cast: her best friend Eleanor who happens to be a swinging 60s ghost; a posse of vampires who play paintball; a smitten weredog, and a sexy but demented mummy.

Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love

This Wednesday, February 3, will see the release of the fourth installment in the six-issue Vertigo miniseries, Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love by (writer) Chris Roberson and (artist) Shawn McManus. Recently, I was fortunate enough to email interview Roberson about Cinderella, as well as his upcoming ongoing Vertigo series with artist Mike Allred–I, Zombie.

Tim O’Shea: Looking at the historical flashbacks that open issues 2 and 3 of Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, I’m curious are you a fan of history? Which of the historical flashbacks you have built into the story reflects your favorite historical era?

Chris Roberson: History is one of my passions (alongside cartoons, puppets, superheroes, quantum physics, etc). I minored in history in college, and taught middle school history for a couple of years before I’d paid off the karmic debt left over from being a smartass when I was in school. In the eighteen years or so it took me to break into comics, I built a career as a writer of science fiction and fantasy prose, and a good percentage of my short stories and novels have played around with history in one way or another—alternate histories, period pieces, you name it.

As for which of the flashbacks in Cinderella reflects my personal favorite era, I’d probably have to punk out and say “All of them.” I’m a fan of stories set in each of those time periods, and getting to work all of them into Cindy’s backstory was like being a kid in a candy store.

O’Shea: When you signed on to do this miniseries, was Shawn McManus already part of the project or was that an added bonus later in the development process?

Roberson: If I recall correctly, Shawn wasn’t yet attached to the project when Bill Willingham and Shelly Bond first handed me that particular brass ring, but his name was mentioned very soon after. I have been a huge fan of Shawn’s work for years, back to the days of “Pog” in Swamp Thing (though my personal favorite of his work is his run on Omega Men—or rather, it was until the truly stunning work he’s been doing on Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love took the top spot!). Having the chance to work with Shawn, and see my meager words brought to life with his line work, has truly been a dream come true.

O’Shea: Given the complex and unique nature of the Fables universe, were you hesitant at all to delve into a world built for the most part by Bill Willingham?

Roberson: I wasn’t at first, but I probably should have been. I was a fan of Fables before there was a Fables, as I was lucky enough to be in Bill’s circle of friends when the comic was first coming together, and he shared bits of scripts and early pencils with us before the book launched. When Bill called and asked if I was interested in doing a Cinderella miniseries, it was the perfect excuse to sit down and reread the whole series from beginning to end.

It was only after rereading the entire series that Matt Sturges pointed out to me that my contributions to the Fables universe (my fill-in issue of Jack of Fables and the Cinderella miniseries) would be the first Fables comics not to have Bill’s name on it as either writer or co-writer. And that’s when the pressure kicked in!

O’Shea: How hard was it to construct a Cinderella character with such a modern and powerful tinge to her?

Roberson: You’ll have to ask Bill! Everything I’ve done with Cindy in the course of the miniseries has built directly on what he did with her in the pages of Fables proper. I read and reread those issues over and over, just to get the rhythms of the voice he’d given her in my head, and then picked up the ball and ran.

O’Shea: What’s the biggest challenge to writing dialogue for talking animals and it is made harder when they are interacting with humans versus animals talking amongst themselves?

Roberson: The hardest part is remembering whether or not they have lips. It’s tricking for the lipless creatures to make all of the “m” sounds.

No, only kidding. When writing the talking animal sidekicks, I just treated them like people who just happened to be the size and shape of animals. Well, I made the cat lazy and fastidious, but that’s only fitting.

O’Shea: Who are your favorite spy/adventure authors and would you say any of them helped to form your tone in this miniseries?

Roberson: I’ve read loads of spy novels, but the tone of the Cinderella miniseries is probably more influenced by spy movies. Spy novelists so often try to inject some degree of verisimilitude into their stories, and that’s not really what we were going for with Cinderella. I doubt very seriously, for example, that real spies ever end up in death traps, or that arms dealers spend a lot of time monologuing.

My absolute favorite spy novel of recent years, though, isn’t being marketed as a spy story, I believe, but as steampunk science fiction. The novel is a story of 19th Century derring-do and high-tech gear (well, high-tech for the 19th Century) called Not Less Than Gods, by the science fiction novelist Kage Baker, my favorite living novelist. (Sadly Ms. Baker has taken ill, so this may be the last novel we get from her. [Unfortunately, Baker died on January 31, as noted here]) The trade edition is out in March from Tor, and everyone who doesn’t hate goodness owes it to themselves to pick it up.

O’Shea: It’s currently a miniseries, but if the opportunity presented itself would you be open to writing an ongoing?

Roberson: Are you kidding? Of COURSE! Writing comics is the most fun a kid can have, and getting to write the adventures of the world’s greatest super-spy, who just happens to be the immortal heroine of a beloved fairy tale? Even better!

O’Shea: Who of the supporting cast do you most enjoy writing?

Roberson: Probably Puss-in-Boots, though I really like Aladdin, too.

O’Shea: In addition to your comics writing, you’re a successful prose novelist. How hard is it to shift gears from writing a prose novel versus writing for comics or vice versa?

Roberson: Well, with comics the vast majority of the hard work is being carried on the talented shoulders of the artist, who has to actually draw all of this stuff. The writer just has to suggest what it might look like and write a few captions and bits of dialogue. The biggest sin that many novelists make when writing comics is that they think they have to write everything, and you get pages that are just awash in these huge blocks of text. Let the artists do their job, folks, and get out of their way.

It’s actually harder going back to writing prose, since suddenly then the writer is responsible for everything that the reader sees. You have to actually describe all of this stuff.

O’Shea: Is it too early to discuss yours and Mike Allred’s upcoming collaboration, I, Zombie?

Roberson: Not too early at all! The first issue is going to be solicited any day now for a May release, and Mike is finishing the inks on issue 3 this week as I finish the first draft of the script for issue 6.

I, Zombie is the story of Gwen Dylan, zombie girl detective. She’s a zombie, naturally, and once a month she has to eat a human brain or she goes all shambling Night of the Living Dead and loses her memories. But when she eats a brain, she slowly “digests” the memories and personality of the dead person for the next week, during which time she feels compelled to finish any unfinished business they left behind. Her best friends are a ghost and a were-terrier, her nemesis is the vampire who runs the paintball outfit in town, and the two rivals for her affections are a sexy mummy and a kick-ass young monster-hunter.

This is honestly the most fun I’ve ever had writing anything, ever. And we haven’t even gotten to the talking monkey yet…

O’Shea: Back in 2009, what was the highlight of having Neal Adams illustrate your story for House of Mystery?

Roberson: The answer is in the question, I think—the highlight was “having Neal Adams illustrate” my story. I mean, come on. Neal Adams?! Seriously?

O’Shea: Recently on Twitter you wrote “It’s always strange to me how the Terrytoon and Harvey characters have pretty much completely disappeared from the popular consciousness.” Are you fan of the Terrytoon and Harvey characters? If so, what’s the appeal compared to other cartoons in that vein from that era?

Roberson: I’m a huge fan of kids’ entertainment in general—cartoons, picture books, middle reader novels. Fortunately I have a five-year-old daughter now, so it probably doesn’t seem as odd that I’m browsing the children’s section of the bookstore as it did when I was in my twenties, but I know that sooner or later she’s going to outgrow me and I’ll still be there.

There are so many examples of pop culture being evergreen, still as much in the popular consciousness now as they were decades ago (Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Star Wars, etc), that we tend to forget that the vast majority of popular culture is entirely ephemeral. When I was a kid in the 70s, you couldn’t turn on a television without hitting reruns of old cartoons, and the Terrytoons and Harvey characters were always in that mix. These days, the only place that old cartoons are shown are on cable, and even then only at particular times that you’d have to seek out if you want to watch them (which, in our house, we do, of course). But only those cartoons fittest to survive are still on the air, with the Warner Bros catalogue only have just returned to Cartoon Network this year, the old MGM Tom & Jerry rerunning on Boomerang a couple of times a day, and so on. Now, granted these cartoons are better than the vast majority of the cartoons that have become “extinct,” but there’s still a lot of charm in those old cartoons of Casper, Mighty Mouse, Inspector James Hound, and so on.

There’s probably a connection between my affection for the Harvey characters and the approach I’ve taken to I, Zombie. I always loved that the Harvey lineup included one of everything—ghost, devil, witch, rich kid, giant retarded duck, etc.—and there’s a similar kind of “one each from column A” approach in I, Zombie, and though I’d never really considered the link before, there just might a connection there.

Guess who's back?

CBR posted some of Marvel’s advance solicits for next March, and it looks like we’ve all got a good reason to buy multiple copies of Nation X #4 … the return of Doop! The little green guy is front and center on the cover for the book, and the creative team for the anthology series lists both Peter Milligan and Mike Allred, who introduced us to Doop during their wild ride on X-Force and X-Statix. Merry Christmas, and God bless us, every one.

You Have Killed Me

Back in late July/early August, Robot 6 was fortunate enough to feature independent comics industry veteran writer Jamie S. Rich guest-blogging with the group–partially in promotion of his and artist Joëlle Jones‘ You Have Killed Me, the 184-page hardboiled crime graphic novel released by Oni Press in mid-July. Rich, an established writer of prose and comics, recently ran circles (in a good way) around some questions I shot his way recently about his latest book. Enjoy, hopefully as much as I did.

Tim O’Shea: Back in 2006 in an interview with Tom Spurgeon you told him (about You Have Killed Me) “12 Reasons was going so well, I think we had only been working on it a couple of months, but I didn’t want to lose her to anyone else, so I asked her if she would work with me again and what she would want to do, I’d write her anything. She said she wanted to do hardboiled crime, and since I had the same passion for it she did, I jumped at it, even though it scared me because it was so different from what I’m known for. She’s challenging me in incredible ways I would never challenge myself.” Can you discuss what ways this story challenged you?

Jamie S. Rich: Well, most immediately, it required some real plotting. Relationship stories like what I had previously been known for don’t require as much careful planning, they have a natural flow, peaks and valleys that are tied to the rhythm of real life. It’s often unpredictable, less structured, and there is no definite resolution beyond whether or not these people stay together. In a crime story, you have something that happened, and the discovery of how it happened has to be detailed and lead to the revelation of the truth or the punishment of the criminal. You can’t just have a random stranger suddenly emerge and say, “Oh, yeah, this homeless drifter did it.” I mean, you could, but a lot of people would call you out for cheating, that’s not a good story. For You Have Killed Me, I had to concoct a trail for Antonio Mercer, the private detective, to folloq, and each step had to kick up new dirt and I had to keep all of that dirt ordered, even when false or a red herring. There are expectations of that kind of plot. Just as Chekhov said if there is a gun in the first act, it will go off in the third, if you need a gun to go off in the third, you might have to think about having it show up in the first. There is far less left to chance.

The other is just the notion that one must approach a thing he or she loves with a healthy respect. It’s hubris tempered with humility. I look at the tradition of great crime stories, and I have to think I can somehow be a part of that tradition, and yet, it wouldn’t suit me to denigrate it. To succeed at that bold bid to join the ranks, we had to rise to meet the quality of the pioneers who led the way. There are plenty of examples of mistagged so-called noir movies, for instance, that don’t do that. Last year there was this film called Dark Streets that was a lot of empty style, operating with just a surface notion of a jazz-age tale. Or you see these things come out, I can think of a couple of recent comic book examples but shouldn’t name any names, that are jokey about it. As a lifelong smartass, I can tell you for a fact that using ironic winks as the building blocks for your story is about the easiest thing you can do. It takes no skill, and it’s easy to get by doing it. It’s also very hard to be memorable, and that kind of material fades. We wanted to make a book that sticks around.

O’Shea: Do you have some dialogue lines just pop in your head and you store them to use down the road, or do lines like “You homicide cops, you have it lucky.” just pop up naturally in the creation of the story?

Rich: It’s a little bit of both. My brain is often working ahead of what is on the page, anticipating what is coming. I know, for instance, there is a line about lollipops that I wrote long before I got to the part in the story where it would fit. It came to me while I was thinking about other things and I had to write it down and file it away. Often, I either have a separate documents of random notes like that, or I might even have pages at the end of the manuscript where notes are laid out in a certain order, and when I reach them, I join those pages into the larger script. In fact, I have a leftover file from You Have Killed Me, the stuff that I never joined up with.

Other times it just comes from being in the scene. I feel a writer has to be willing to let things happen. Sometimes the worst lines are the ones I force, where I plug a hole where I know something snappy will do the trick. In the romance stuff, it actually comes when a character first meets his or her love, and trying to find something to describe that feeling. In Cut My Hair, it was something like how Mason wanted to jump in the air and bounce the moon off his head like a soccer ball. I remember that coming very easy, and some of the lines that came in later books landed with just as much ease, but sometimes it was a tough thing, trying to find something like the moon and the soccer ball, and it ends up like one of those millions of TV shows where the pilot is passed out and a person with no experience has to land the plane. I am the guy in the control tower trying to talk the line into existence, bring the metaphor in for a landing, step by step.

I don’t specifically recall writing Mercer’s line about homicide cops, but I think that’s just one that came with the scene. It’s late in the book, so by then I could really “hear” the voices of all the characters, and the writing had become like a conversation between them and me. Most of Spell Checkers is written that way. Like a good conversation in real life, one statement prompts a logical response.

O’Shea: Of the characters you wrote for this story, can you think of one or two characters who had a role that expanded beyond your original expectations when you first started building the tale?

Rich: The bartender was originally a one scene guy, then it became two, he was the natural person to give Kane a heads up that someone was looking for him and so he stuck around for that. Then he re-emerged again when I needed some kind of transition, and it felt right to have him both advocate a certain humanity on behalf of the crook, but also to ask Mercer to retain some of his own. It serves a very good purpose, I think, in that it shows Mercer making a tough choice. It also fit the emerging themes of family and the ties that bind, and Mercer’s hard reaction to the same.

The doctor is the only other one, even though like most of the side characters, he only gets one scene. That scene became more meaningful than I had anticipated, both for myself and Joëlle, whose reaction to it was what actually made me realize there was something deeper there. She said she took special care in how she designed his look, because for her that scene was rather tender. She viewed Doc as Mercer’s only real friend, he was lonely except for that. He might get along with Tynan, the head police detective, but it’s adversarial and Tynan expects something from it. Doc comes to Mercer to help him because he believes Mercer deserves some compassion.

O’Shea: In terms of the structure, you and Jones utilize chapters for the story. You rarely see that in graphic novels. What motivated this choice?

Rich: Honestly, it’s just the way I think. Just about everything I’ve done, be it prose or comics, has had chapters, including Love the Way You Love, which had the issues of the series but also chapters in each issue. I just think that using a chapter-based structures causes the authors to think more in terms of units and natural breaks in the story. It also gives the reader a moment to pause and adds impact to a scene. Like when a chapter ends with Mercer being knocked unconscious, it’s much nicer to then have a page of nothing after, and we pick up with him when he returns home, having come out of the blackout. It’s another tool we can use.

O’Shea: What is the advantage of writing a period piece–and on the flip side what are the challenges to writing a story in a different era and making sure you don’t slip in modern day elements by accident?

Rich: I suppose the advantage is you don’t have to worry about being current. You don’t have to fear your story becoming outdated really fast. If you think about movies from the 1980s and 1990s that dealt with emergent computer technology and virtual reality and the like, they look hokey now, we can’t imagine how anyone ever thought that tech would take such turns. Whereas at the time, they may have seemed cutting edge.

When it came to slang and things, I had to keep myself in check, had to consider what the characters were saying. I also had to consider certain social issues, some of which I decided to not get into, like Kane being black. I let that just be an unspoken part of the story, as this wasn’t the right place to examine it without derailing what was happening. Given Mercer’s background, though, as a child of immigrants and new money, I could see it being more important later. But even that we only hint at for Mercer in You Have Killed Me. A writer has to pick his battles and know what suits this outing, maybe let the reader fill in more. In some ways, I like the imposed structure of the time period, it makes me think in ways I might not otherwise, keeps me from falling back on my own tricks. One of the more disappointing scenes in Inglourious Basterds was the big preparation for the climax when Tarantino tosses in a David Bowie song, and it completely destroyed the mood he had otherwise created. He had been doing so well, he had gotten out of his box, and then he climbed right back in. Hell, I remember arguing with Chynna Clugston about her soundtrack choices for Blue Monday. She had a specific time frame in mind for the series, but then she’d toss in a Supergrass song that wasn’t even recorded when she was in high school, and we had a disagreement over whether or not she could do that. Granted, years later in Love the Way You Love I would steal the same idea of a sort of specific timeframe, since the book allegedly happens at the same time as Cut My Hair, and I ended up breaking that in much the same way she did. But we were also both dealing with the immediate past, whereas Basterds and You Have Killed Me were both much further back.

O’Shea: I agree with you regarding Inglorious Basterds, but the moment that first derailed the storytelling for me was the scene introducing Hugo Stiglitz–complete with 1970s logo. Did that scene bother you as well?

Rich: Hugo Stiglitz was another sequence that bugged me. I liked the sequence itself, but yes, the logo and the voiceover were too self-indulgent. Maybe if we had stories about all the other Basterds in a similar vein, then it could have worked, but it was like an idea he brings up and then drops. The second voiceover sequence was bad, as well, particularly since all the info had kind of been explained in the dialogue immediately prior.

O’Shea: Not every book you work on warrants an art exhibit of its own. How pleased were you when the Art Institute of Portland and Meltdown Comics both hosted an “Art of Joelle Jones” exhibit–and how did that come together?

Rich: Leslie Waara at the Art Institute was fan and she actually got in touch with me for it because they had an open show month and thought maybe it would be interesting to bring a different kind of art into the space. It was very flattering and really neat to see comic art showcased in that context. The Meltdown show came out of that. They saw the news about the gallery display and asked if they could get the show when it was done. Given that they are, of course, one of the best-known and respected stores in the country, and that the shop is in a primary market like Los Angeles, we jumped at the chance. I’m still sad that the arrangement time didn’t allow for me to go down there and be there for the opening night, but hopefully we’ll get a chance to visit the store some other time.

O’Shea: Speaking of the art, can you select a favorite page? (For me, it’s the page in chapter 6 when Mercer is looking at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, as he draws a bath for himself–and his image slowly disappears over three panels, while steam fills the room)

Rich: I like that page. In my head, I originally saw the next page as even better. Mercer wipes away the steam and in the reflection, the bathroom is the one that Julie disappeared from, and not his own. It was all kind of complicated, though, and when Joëlle thumbnailed it, she saw it wasn’t going to work and went for the full-page instead. She was right, it was overly ambitious and cluttered. Comics writers sometimes have to remember that just because they can see something in their head, it doesn’t mean it can be effectively communicated in a drawing.

For me it’s probably page 63, though. That’s the page of original art I kept from the book, it was the turning point page for me in the writing, and Joëlle captured it exactly like I imagined–sometimes what I see in my head can be effectively drawn, and sometimes I can even effectively communicate it. It’s the page where Mercer is looking at the race track and amidst the blur of the horses, he sees the woman he is looking for, the missing girl, only to have his gaze diverted when he hears the scream of someone discovering another dead body. It’s both a great looking page and an example of writer and artist being in sync.

O’Shea: I love the quirky elements you insert in a story-for instance how (and/or why) did you come up with your use of almonds for this story?

Rich: There wasn’t a lot of thought given to that, it shows up in the first couple of pages and is part of a sense memory of the woman that Mercer loved and that he is now being hired to find, though here the sister of that woman is wearing her older sibling’s perfume, which was meat to play with his head. I chose almonds because I both liked the smell and it’s also got deadly connotations, a similar scent being a signifier of cyanide. So, for the readers who pick up on that, it’s meant to make them think of the ex-lover as poison. If it didn’t have that connotation for a reader, that was fine, too. I couldn’t have Mercer make a point out of it, it would have been too obvious and maybe too self-aware for him, as well. I tried to approach the narration where he describes the smell as a stream-of-consciousness narration, just as it appears in the book. It’s like a long monologue, really, and each detail flows into the next and there are themes recalled, clues revisited, a parallel to the mystery itself. I largely thought to do that because it would help me avoid the narrative cliche, and I also thought it was something that you could only do in comics. You can’t write that kind of narration in prose, it would be too disjointed in this kind of story. Turns out you can do it in the movies, though. Matt Damon’s narration in The Informant! is quite similar, even coming around to enter reality when the monologue runs out.

O’Shea: Given our shared appreciation for film, would you say certain movies helped inform (not necessarily influence per se) the tale?

Rich: Most definitely. Again, it’s the nature of genre to look back at the foundation of said genre, to discern the tropes, etc. For me, the movies really influenced the rhythm of the writing as well as the visual thinking. I often suggested the light sources and how we might use shadows based on shot compositions from movies like Laura and Out of the Past and movies by Siodmak and Fritz Lang. At the same time, I thought about crime comics like Sin City and The Spirit and It Rhymes with Lust. I thought about Blacksad and Union Station by Parks and Barreto, The Damned by Bunn and Hurtt and Benkei in New York. Milligan’s Human Target is a favorite, particularly for the main character, and of course Sandman Mystery Theatre.

Joëlle was actually the one more schooled in detective fiction, in the prose side of things, and we talked a lot about the expectations of the style. She had specific things she felt were important, such as Mercer getting clocked all the time. Every other chapter or so, someone has to knock him out. That makes him punching that mouthy cop really cathartic. I love how she drew that. POW!

O’Shea: Any chance Jones and you may do another tale with Mercer?

Rich: We’d like to. It’s a matter of timing. I actually wrote a script in the months You Have Killed Me was being prepped and printed. I’ve been sitting on it, only Joëlle has it. It gets into some of those issues of class and race I mention above, gets into Mercer’s past, and it also establishes who may be the regular cast, including return players. But nothing is set in stone yet. If Joëlle reads it and decides she hates it…well, if we do another book and it’s nothing like what I just said, that’s likely what happened. Ideally, I would like to do a series of Mercer books, four or five, but it’s going to be at least a year before Joëlle even has time to consider it, so we’ll really just have to wait and see.

O’Shea: Is it too early to start teasing folks about your upcoming Oni project, Spell Checkers (which has you working with Jones and Nicolas Hitori de)?

Rich: No, the cat’s pretty much out of the bag on that. In fact, I’m actually writing the second volume of it right now. A good writer is always one step ahead of his artists, so I can’t let Nico finish volume 1 without a script for volume 2 waiting for him. We have mapped out three books with Oni, and the first will come out in April, likely debuting at the time of the Chicago Comic Book and Entertainment Expo, which we all have tentative plans to attend, including Nico flying over from France. We’re all really excited about the book. It’s a rude high school comedy with magic, about three teenage witches who quite literally rule their school. They are mean girls with actual power, even if no one actually knows that they are using magic. Kimmie, Cynthia, and Jesse are wild children with abilities that exceed their learned social behavior, who have been able to do whatever they wanted since elementary school, and so they know how to manipulate the system and have a good time. In the first book, however, someone challenges their rule by spreading dirty graffiti about them, and it may be part of a magical curse.

Joëlle is drawing flashbacks that will give us the back story to these girls, while Nico draws the here and now. He’s really talented, and though Joëlle and I came up with the central characters, he’s really a full partner. We didn’t want to go ahead with the book without her drawing it unless we found just the right person, and he is it.

His coming on board has given Joëlle the space to draw the Dr. Horrible one-shot from Dark Horse and do two issues of Madame Xanadu, which I believe are #19 and #20, January and February, so there will be lots of work from her leading up to Spell Checkers. I’m also in the planning stages with Mike Allred for a Madman special next year, featuring a new story by him and three short stories with talent we’re excited by doing their fresh takes on the character. I have already recruited two awesome people. That should be on its way in the summer or thereabouts.

from House of Mystery Halloween Annual

I’m not sure I want to know what kinds of “treats” kids can expect when visiting the House of Mystery … but anyway, the Vertigo blog Graphic Content has some preview pages up from this month’s House of Mystery Halloween Annual.

They include looks at the House of Mystery framing sequence, a new Merv Pumpkinhead tale by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham, and one page of Chris Roberson and Mike Allred’s “I, Zombie” tale. Now those are treats I can get behind.

Mike Allred draws Mesmo Delivery

Along with the news that Dark Horse Comics will publish Rafael Grampá’s next project, Furry Water, came word that they will reprint his Mesmo Delivery book, originally published by AdHouse Books. On his blog, Grampá reveals that the Dark Horse version will include 22 pages of extras, like sketches and pin-ups by other artists such as Mike Allred, shown above.