OMAC #7

Since the March solicitations kick off the back half of the New 52′s first year, it’s probably worth noting that the whole line remains unchanged: no “midseason replacements” like Justice Society, but no cancellations either. If I hear relieved sighs from OMAC and Men of War, certainly Dan DiDio and Jim Lee have to be pleased generally that they’ve gotten this far with the 52 intact.

Well, pleased or stubborn, I suppose. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.

Ahem.  Away we go…!

HISTORY LESSONS

One of my pet peeves about the New-52 is the sense that it lacks a meaningful “history.” For at least the last few decades, a reader might not have known exactly what had happened or when, but s/he could tell that these characters hadn’t just fallen off the turnip truck. I say this because the solicits for Justice League #7 and Flash #7 both allude to their books’ untold backstories. With Justice League, we’ll learn about membership turnover and other details of the five years between the League’s debut and today. (To be sure, some of that has already been alluded to in the League’s previous present-day appearances, like JL Dark #1.)

Similarly, Flash features the return of Captain Cold and probably some other members of the Rogues’ Gallery, so I presume we’ll hear about their various dealings with the Scarlet Speedster. Now, I don’t expect either of these books to make explicit references to particular Silver Age stories, because I think DC still wants to avoid alienating new readers with (what may be to them) arcane Easter eggs. Regardless, it’s comforting to know that these characters are getting at least some of their history back. (I would like to see an organizational chart explaining the jurisdictions of the main League, the JLI, and JL Dark, though….)

THIS AND THAT

Between OMAC and the Challengers of the Unknown’s Ace turning into a giant monster, I hope Dan DiDio isn’t thinking that’s his new sweet spot. (That and Jack Kirby references, of course — OMAC #7 gives us the new Evil Factory.)

It may be the longtime fan in me, but it’s hard not to think DC has some line-wide crossover planned for the New-52′s first anniversary. (The cynic in me thinks that’s why nothing has been cancelled yet.) While I’m on the fence about such a move’s artistic merits, I applaud the crossovers between I, Vampire and Justice League Dark. Given the former’s setup, it makes perfect sense that the latter would be involved. It’d also be nice to see more acknowledgment that various insidious events are threatening the larger DC universe — the vampire war, the stealthy alien invasions of Grifter and Voodoo, and the hinted connections among Frankenstein and OMAC and Superboy, Teen Titans, and Legion Lost.

I’ve liked Chip Kidd’s design work, including his showcases of Batman memorabilia, so I’m curious to see how that translates into writing Batman: Death By Design. With his clean, uncomplicated approach, Dave Taylor is a good match for this project, because he’s versatile enough to handle what I expect will be a wide range of styles. He also did one of the World’s Finest miniseries about ten years ago, and he drew a pretty good Batman in that.

COMINGS AND GOINGS

New creative teams abound: Joe Harris comes in for Gail Simone as Firestorm’s co-writer, while co-writer Ethan Van Sciver draws issue #7 in place of Yildray Cinar. Ann Nocenti and Harvey Tolibao are your new Green Arrow writer and artist.  James Bonny joins Tony Daniel as Hawkman’s co-writer. Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens write, and Jurgens pencils, Superman. After Sterling Gates’ departure, Rob Liefeld flies solo on Hawk & Dove. Paul Jenkins takes over writing Stormwatch from Paul Cornell (who then becomes free to write his own Saucer Country series, which looks quite good); Marc Bernardin takes over writing Static Shock; and Tom DeFalco is the new Legion Lost writer.

Also, Gene Ha fills in for Jim Lee on Justice League #7.  Fine by me!

MINISERIES

DC Universe Online Legends wraps up in March with issue #26, and as late as it may be for me, I am somewhat tempted to check it out. Essentially it’s an alternate take on the pre-New-52 status quo, which makes me feel oddly nostalgic. (Also concluding in March are October’s trio of 6-issue miniseries, Huntress, My Greatest Adventure, and Legion: Secret Origin.)

A couple of weeks back I wondered if there weren’t a new Night Force in the works, and what do you know? March brings another Night Force miniseries, courtesy of co-creator Marv Wolfman and appropriately-moody artist Tom Mandrake. I’m a little surprised that the solicitation just assumes everyone knows about Wolfman and the late Gene Colan’s team of supernaturally-oriented investigators.

Okay, I like THUNDER Agents pretty well, and I’m planning on getting all of the new miniseries — but why start a two-part backup story featuring one of the more obscure Agents in the next-to-last issue of what may be your final miniseries?

COLLECTIONS

The first four New-52 collections are solicited here, although they come out in May. While I know it’s not unusual to have a small gap between the last issue collected and the current issue on the stands, I like that readers who want to jump aboard with the monthly issues need only find (at most) three single issues to get caught up.

Alternatively, it’s entirely possible to see the New-52 collections as cousins to the superhero line’s original graphic novels (e.g., Luthor, Joker, and the “Earth One” books), with these first four kicking off an every-six-months schedule. If I were completely new to the superhero line, or otherwise didn’t want to commit to the weekly grind, that could be a fairly reasonable schedule.

Having “lived through” the “No Man’s Land” storyline back in 1999, I’ve not been that eager to revisit it. Therefore, the timing of these new paperback editions must be right. “NML” may even read better in big collections; because as effective as it was to watch Gotham abandoned and rebuilt in real time over the course of a calendar year, the experience surely becomes more attractive if it goes by more quickly.

I’m also glad that DC will be reprinting all of the “Knightfall/KnightQuest/KnightsEnd” saga in hefty paperback form. Like “NML” (which obviously took its format from the earlier events), these stories were serialized a week or two at a time, and played out over about eighteen months. In light of Bane’s upcoming star turn, it’s much easier to understand why DC is reprinting “Knightfall” again, but these remain some pretty entertaining comics regardless. Similarly, the “Venom” arc from Legends of the Dark Knight laid the groundwork for Batman’s eventual nemesis, but it stood on its own for at least a couple of years as well.

Although I seem to be saying this a lot more than I expected to, thanks DC for continuing the Archives line, this time with a new Green Lantern Archives volume. I was glad to get the first six, and I’ll be glad to see no. 7. Similarly, I’m glad to see the second volume of Secret Society Of Super-Villains solicited. The uneven tale of miscreants (and Captain Comet) operating on the margins of the Multiverse remains, with all its flaws, a fine example of DC’s superhero books in the 1970s. Plus, if my chronology is correct, it wraps up with the JLA arc which helped inspire Identity Crisis.

Speaking of the Multiverse, don’t get me wrong — it’s great that DC is collecting All-Star Squadron, the ‘80s series featuring Earth-Two’s Golden Agers fighting the Axis and other wartime bad guys. However, I do wish it was coming out in color, like those ‘70s Justice Society paperbacks from a few years back. Regardless, if the solicitation is accurate as to the issues collected, SPASS vol. 1 should include the five-part JLA/JSA crossover which bounces from the ‘80s to World War II to the Cuban Missile Crisis and involves three parallel Earths. Never could keep that one straight….

Finally, my stat-nerd heart is warmed by the thought of a Secrets of the Fortress of Solitude collection, and I bet yours is too.

* * *

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

Fairy Quest: Outlaws is the first of a projected four-book series that takes the Western world’s most beloved fairy tales and sets them up in their own world — Fablewood — where they’re forced to re-enact their stories everyday like marionettes. Ramos is no stranger to creator-owned work; although he might be best known now for Amazing Spider-Man, he’s done far-ranging projects such as the vampire-epic Crimson to the Catholic thriller Revelations, amongst others. I talked with Ramos about Fairy Quest: Outlaws on the eve of the convention to find out more.

Chris Arrant: Fill us in – what is Fairy Quest: Outlaws about?

Humberto Ramos: Fairy Quest: Outlaws is the first of four books that tells the story of the Fablewood Kingdom, a place where all the fairy tale stories exist for one sole purpose: to tell their story. Every day they have to go to “work” and replay the stories every mom or dad read to their kids at bedtime. Life is quiet and simple if you follow this simple command: “Do not deviate.”

But well, things are about to get shaken up a little in Fablewood because some of the inhabitants aren’t happy anymore following the rules. Take Little Red and Mr. Woof, who both decide they wanted to stop being enemies and become friends; not a big deal, right? Everybody wants to have a true friend for like, but in Fablewood this is a problem… a big one.

So suddenly Little Red and Mr. Woof turn from the most dearest of Fablewood’s inhabitants to dangerous outlaws, and they find out the only way to keep their treasured friendship is to leave the kingdom.

That’s where their journey begins.

Arrant: Fablewood sounds like a great place to live except for all the rules. What’s it like?

Ramos: As I said, this is a place where the characters from fairy tales exist and live, allowing us to have stories to tell our kids ad bedtime. Fablewood is populated with castles, villages, dark woods and candy cottages, all together.

Arrant: But all that is brought down by this rule not to deviate from the classic stories. Who enforces that rule?

Ramos: This is the backbone that supports the kingdom, and the force that keeps it that way is the Think Police, led by Mr. Grimm, a man who has zero tolerance for fooling around.

Arrant: And Mr. Grimm is out to get Little Red and Mr. Woof. Those two are familiar to audiences no matter who they are –- Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. How are they different, or the same, than the versions people remember from storybooks?

Ramos: We want them to look a bit different from the stories we’ve read and the illustrations we’ve seen. This is an action/adventure story, and we wanted to deliver that in the looks of the characters. For example, Mr. Woof is the size of a horse and Little Red will ride him across the kingdom in pursuit of their goal.

Arrant: For people that didn’t make it to Comic-Con, how else can they get the book?

Ramos: This is a self-published edition and the print run was only for 1,000 books, so if there are any left we’ll take orders by writing to culturevandal@hotmail.com.

Arrant: Last question: since this book is about fairy tales, what was your favorite one from when you were a child?

Ramos: I love fairy tales as much as every other kid out there, but the one that stands alone is, of course, Little Red Riding Hood.

Charlaine Harris

Publishing | Charlaine Harris, author of the “Sookie Stackhouse” novels on which HBO’s True Blood is based, says that after she finishes the last two “Sookie” books, she plans to work on a graphic novel with Christopher Golden. “I’m very excited about that. It’s called Cemetery Girl with Christopher Golden, and it’s a very exciting opportunity.” Harris had mentioned wanting to do a novel called Cemetery Girl back in 2009, about “a girl raised by ghosts in a cemetery,” but put it on hold when she found out the plot was similar to Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book.

Based on the description in the news report, it sounds like the story has been tweaked, as it says the graphic novel “centers on a woman who finds herself living in a cemetery with no memory of her past but a clear sense of a mysterious threat hanging over her.” This isn’t the first time Harris’ characters have found their way into comics, as IDW publishes comics based on HBO’s True Blood, and an adaptation of her Grave Sight novels has been published by Dynamite. [NBC San Diego]

Publishing | Former Marvel Comics editor and Transformers writer John Barber has joined IDW Publishing as a senior editor. IDW also announced the promotion of Tom Waltz to the company’s first senior staff writer position, in addition to his duties as editor, and the expansion of the company’s book department with longtime IDW employee Alonzo Simon becoming an assistant editor. [press release]

Publishing | Jim Shooter shares how Marvel’s Epic imprint, which published mostly creator-owned books like Groo and Dreadstar, came into existence. [Jim Shooter]

Creators | Back in the 1970s, long before there was Womanthology, Sharon Rudahl was editing the underground Wimmen’s Comix anthology. Robin McConnell talks to her about those pioneer days, and her more recent graphic novel Dangerous Woman: The Graphic Biography of Emma Goldman, in an hour-long podcast. [Inkstuds]

Creators | Matt Wayne posts the Dwayne McDuffie tribute that Comic-Con wouldn’t print: “I’m worried that Dwayne is going to be the industry’s ‘proof’ that we’re all post-racial and chummy, now that they can’t be embarrassed into hiring him anymore, and I don’t want to contribute to that absurd but inevitable narrative.” [Dwayne McDuffie Forums]

Batman: The Dark Knight #2

Creators | Rich Johnston talks to writer Paul Jenkins about joining David Finch as co-writer of Batman: The Dark Knight #2. [Bleeding Cool]

Reviews | Matthew J. Brady takes a look at Yuichi Yokoyama’s Garden: “… the imagery that Yokoyama has managed to pull from the ether and finely explicate on the page is, for the most part, gorgeously bizarre. There’s the occasional object or action that doesn’t quite read like it is supposed to, but most everything makes sense, from the houses on wheels to the giant wave of photographs, and they provide plenty of opportunities for meticulously detailed scenes, even within the uniform line weights and expansive white space that Yokoyama favors.” [Warren Peace Sings the Blues]

Reviews | Robot 6 contributor Matt Seneca examines Seth’s Wimbledon Green: The Greatest Comic Book Collector in the World. [Death to the Universe]

Reviews | John Parker looks at the comics of Joe Casey, “the most dangerous man in comics.” [ComicsAlliance]

The original Supergirl listing on DC Comics' "The New 52" landing page (courtesy ComicsAlliance)

We’ve known for a few weeks now that some writers were attached to titles in DC Comics’ upcoming relaunch, only to find themselves shuffled off even as the official announcement was made. While some creators have spoken openly about the hurried, and somewhat-confused, pitch and rejection process, the names of other writers, and the corresponding titles, have been a mystery.

But with the launch last night of the publisher’s new landing page for “DC Comics: The New 52,” ComicsAlliance discovered that some of the original creators were, at least briefly, listed among the issue descriptions, providing evidence of the original plans. There’s confirmation of Brian Wood, instead of Michael Green and Mike Johnson, on Supergirl, Michael Alan Nelson, rather than Ron Marz, on Voodoo, and Simon Spurrier and an undetermined artist, rather than Paul Jenkins and Bernard Chang, on DC Universe Presents.

C.O. Austen, whom ComicsAlliance theorizes might be much-criticized Uncanny X-Men writer Chuck Austen, was also listed on Blackhawks, in place of Mike Costa, who actually ended up with the gig.

DC has made the corrections this morning, but ComicsAlliance has the screencaps from last night.

Batman Inc. #7

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

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

Chris Mautner

If I had $15:

I’d pick up Batman Inc. #7 ($2.99) and that would be it, so afterwards I’d pat myself on the back for not blowing my whole $15.

If I had $30:

I’d go with Farm 54 ($25), a new hardbound collection of stories by the brother and sister team of Galit and Gilad Seliktar, courtesy of Fanfare/Ponent Mon. It’s basically a semi-autobiographical collection of tales capturing a young woman at various critical stages in her youth, adolescence and young adulthood, all done in a tentative, wispy watercolor. Lovely stuff to flip through, at the very least.

Splurge:

There’s actually quite a lot that’s splurge-worthy this week. Top Shelf has Lucille ($29.95), Ludovic Debeurme’s 500-plus-page, award-winning (in Europe, natch) graphic novel about two lovestruck teens on the run, one with anorexia, the other with OCD and really bad daddy issues. It’s rather striking, and occasionally breathtaking, work. Elsewhere, Humanoids has a $50 version of the classic Moebius/Jodorowsky sci-fi mash-up The Incal, which is much more reasonably priced than that $100 slipcased version they put out earlier in the year. Finally, the always reliable Sunday Press Comics has Forgotten Fantasy Sunday Comics:1900-1915, an oversized hodge-podge of early 20th century strips by such folks as Winsor McKay, Lyonel Feininger, George McManus and many more. The book features all of Feininger’s Kin-Der-Kids and Wee Willie’s World, which is a real treat if you haven’t been exposed to that material before.

Graeme McMillan

The More Than Complete Action Philosophers

It’s the fifth week of the month, so of course, it’s surprisingly quiet. That means my $15 will go towards the latest issues of series I’m already getting: Batman Incorporated #7, Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #11 (which is, unless I’m wrong, the epilogue to the War of the Green Lanterns, the final part of which — Green Lantern #67 — has slipped deadlines and won’t ship for another two weeks. Good planning, everyone) and Xombi #4 (all of which are DC and $2.99).

If I had $30, I’d probably make a point of adding the first issue of Paul Jenkins’ All Winners Squad: Band of Heroes mini (Marvel, $2.99), the latest Avengers: The Children’s Crusade (#6, Marvel, $3.99, and this has skipped schedule at some point as well, surely…?) and probably The Iron Age #1, the second part — of course, what else do you expect from a first issue — of the series that should really be called Iron Man’s Time-Traveling Marvel Team-Up (Marvel, $4.99).

Splurging, thankfully, is a far easier choice: The More Than Complete Action Philosophers is arguably the most entertaining and amusing way to spend $24.95 this week. If I was rich, I’d buy one for all of you to prove it.

Brigid Alverson

The Sixth Gun #12

If I had $15, I wouldn’t have any trouble spending it on single-issue comics this week: Sixth Gun #12 ($3.99), for some great supernatural-Western action; Richie Rich #2 ($3.95), because I want to see what Ape Entertainment is doing with this relaunch; Skullkickers #8 ($2.99), and Super Dinosaur #3 ($2.99). That leaves a dollar, and that goes toward the next purchase.

If I had $30, I’d add Yakuza Moon: The True Story of a Gangster’s Daughter ($15.99), from Kodansha International (not Kodansha Comics). This is adapted by Sean Michael Wilson, who edited the AX anthology, and it looks like a fascinating read.

Splurge: Farm 54, Galit and Gilad Seliktar’s semi-autobiographical graphic novel about growing up in rural Israel. It’s closer to the literature end of the scale than, say, Skullkickers, but it’s good in a very different way, and I’m looking forward to reading it.

Michael May

Black Widow: Fear Itself #1

If I had $15, I’d start with Wonder Woman #612 ($2.99) to see Phil Hester begin wrapping up JMS’ alternate universe story. Then I’d grab Xombi #4 ($2.99) because John Rozum. I’d also add Richard Moore’s Gobs #1 ($3.99) to console myself (open-mindedly, I promise!) through my Boneyard withdrawal. Finally, I’d top off the pile with Fear Itself: Black Widow #1 ($3.99). I hate that cover, but Cullen Bunn seems to be writing all my favorite super heroes lately and that’s irresistible.

With $30, I’d add Batman: Knight and Squire ($14.99) to the pile because Paul Cornell’s writing an English Batman and Robin sounded like a lot of fun when it was coming out as single issues.

It’s difficult again this week to pick just one splurge item. Graeme’s already mentioned Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey’s More Than Complete Action Philosophers ($24.95) and that’s a temptation. As is the classic Aquaman: Death of a Prince collection ($29.99). And Humanoids has two cool releases this week. There’s The Incal: Classic Collection ($44.95) that Chris mentioned and also Fabien Nury and John Cassaday’s I Am Legion ($19.95). Pressed to make a choice though, I’m going with John Cassaday and psychic Nazis.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #50

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

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

*****

Tim O’Shea

Avengers Academy #15

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

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

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

Michael May

Alpha Flight #1

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

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

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

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

Carla Hoffman

Batgirl #22

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

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

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

Ross Campbell

Remake Special

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

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

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

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

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

After initial plans to go through an un-named publisher fell through, Ramos has decided to self-publish the book in an extremely limited edition of 1000 at this year’s Comic-Con International at San Diego. Created with long-time collaborator Paul Jenkins, FairyQuest was released in Europe almost three years ago, but the duo couldn’t find the right publisher to bring it to the states.

Although best known now for his work on Amazing Spider-Man, Ramos has done numerous creator-owned projects such as Crimson and Out There at DC/Wildstorm, and even an earlier European series called K.

The sneak peeks over the years have kept my motor running, and I’m glad come July I’ll finally be able to get my hands on Ramos’ rarest work.

from Big Numbers #3 by Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiewicz

It is perhaps the greatest comic never published. Intended to be a 12-issue miniseries ambitious and complex enough to make Watchmen look like Wizard of Id on an off day, Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiewicz’s Big Numbers was a Joycean look at life in a small English town as a big-box retailer prepared to set up shop. But this grand fiction-as-fractal-geometry experiment only managed to produce two published issues in 1990 before hitting a massive delay during work on issue #3, losing Sienkiewicz, moving from Moore’s Mad Love publishing imprint to Kevin Eastman’s Tundra, tapping Sienkiewicz’s then-teenaged assistant (and current reclusive Pim & Francie creator and alt-horror superstar) Al Columbia to take over, losing Columbia and all the pages he’d completed, and finally shuddering to a halt.

The exact details of these events have long been a matter of conjecture and dispute, involving as they do some of comics’ major (and in some cases most mercurial) talents: Moore, Sienkiewicz, Columbia, Eastman, then-Tundra editor Paul Jenkins, and the saga’s most reliable chronicler, Moore collaborator Eddie Campbell, who told the behind-the-scenes story as he knew it in his book Alec: How to Be an Artist. Meanwhile, nothing has been seen of the all-Columbia fourth issue, long rumored to have been destroyed in its entirety by the perfectionist artist. Ten pages of issue #3 saw the light of day in the short-lived SubMedia magazine in 1999; that was all that most anyone saw, or even knew for sure existed, until January 2009, when a photocopy of the entire third issue surfaced on eBay with art credited to Columbia. The pages were purchased by Irish bookseller Pádraig Ó Méalóid, who (with Moore’s permission) scanned and posted them on his LiveJournal.

Now Ó Méalóid has returned to the scene of one of comics’ great literary mysteries, and he’s brought along one of the three people best equipped to get to the bottom of things: Bill Sienkiewicz himself. In an essay apparently originally intended for Heidi MacDonald’s blog The Beat but now posted to Ó Méalóid’s blog, Sienkiewicz explains his side of the Big Numbers debacle in detail: the status of Big Numbers #3 (completely finished); the involvement of Al Columbia in the issue (zero, except for maybe a background or two); why he dramatically changed his art style from photorealistic to Sienkiewicz-scratchy between issues #2 and #3 (the prohibitive effort, time, and cost of sustaining his stable of photoreference models, two of whom tragically died and one of whom moved to Germany in the midst of making the comic, plus the opportunity the script for #3 afforded him to make a stylistic shift work for the story); how #3 fell off the scheduling rails (during that time he lost a parent, a relationship, Columbia, and a lot of money); the status of Big Numbers #4 (he hasn’t seen it, but heard (like all of us have) that Columbia destroyed the original pages before they could be published); the status of his relationship with Columbia (they’ve patched everything up; he wishes Al well); and what you’ve likely been waiting for — whether or not he and Moore will ever finish the series (he’d like to!):

To this day, I’ve lamented that Alan and I never finished the series. I actually literally can’t stomach the thought of it remaining a hole in our creative lives, certainly in mine. And honestly, there’s not a week that goes by that I don’t think about completing it, about contacting Alan and saying, “Adult here. What say you? Let’s kick out the jams!” I understand his great disappointment, though I’ve no doubt he’s moved on. And gotten even more brilliant, if that’s possible. I’ve apologized to Alan personally, and to the others, for my part.

Read the whole thing and imagine what might have been.

When Bendis puled him out of the Vault for his New Avengers, the stakes had already been changed.  The balance of good an evil was gone, just an implanted a virus from Mastermind and possible delusion villain The General that created psychological problems and the existence of the Void, which was just another extension of Reynolds himself.  We lost our philosophical battle and our more peacable idea of wrong and right to be able to tear Carnage in half in space.

Okay, there’s nothing wrong with that.  Bendis even brought in Paul Jenkins as a character in the book to explain everything, kind of having him sign off on the project.  Despite his immense power and complexity, the Sentry was going to be an Avenger.  Hey, they’ve worked with gods and demi-gods before, what’s the difference?

The difference is that Loki only guest-villains.  The Void is the Sentry is the Void and if one’s going to live over your roof, the other is sure to follow.  Sentry: Reborn put Jenkins back in the driver’s seat and we were driven back to introspection-ville with some absolutely beautiful work from John Romita Jr.  In this mini, the Void sends Bob on this funhouse chase throuh his own creation, turning the tables on him by saying the Void was the real byproduct of his origin and that the Sentry is just his guilty leavings.  Drinking an unknown serum could take one in either direction, from villany to heroism, and it’s the person in that moment that makes the difference. Peter Parker, all Spider Totem BS aside, could have been anyone. Anyone can be a mutant. Any soldier could have been super, he just had to be at the test at the right time and really want it. Not to get too off-topic, but there is nothing particularly special about a Marvel character for the most part, they are written with everyone in mind.

At the end of this, there is a beautiful farewell where the Void admits to needing him as the Sentry comes to cope without him and the Void is thrown into the sun.  It’s great comics and gets to me every time I read it.

The problem still remains, however: what about Bob?  Well, he comes back to Earth and continues to work as an Avenger as the story needs him to work.  Best used by Bendis as more of a scary cardboard cut-out, if you see the Sentry backlit in a doorway or used in a splash pag, you know you’re doomed; but if he tries to act against you, you can probably outsmart him.  Just trigger his psychosis and leave him babbling in the street, bring up the Void and watch him freeze in terror or run away, mention off-panel that he’s dealing with his agoraphobia or, in Ronin’s case from Dark Reign – The List, wait until something more important in the world is going on and sneak into the Avengers’ Tower right past his cape.  He was recruited into the Mighty Avengers by Stark because he wasn’t a good hero, but he was powerful and I think it does the character a great disservice to be described in such a way.  Besides, a couple issues later when Yelena Belova absorbs the Sentry’s powers and gets her own equal-and-opposite Void, Bob is extremly patient and clever when he tells her he’ll set her free of the Void, but only if she answers their questions.  Incredibly calculating of the man, but in another few issues he’ll be back to his bumbling self.

Since writing for the character, Bendis has wanted a Superman he can play around with and that is not the Sentry.  It’s taken a while (and with decompression coming into play, he can say he’s planned this all along), but we might be returning back to something like the original concept for the guy.  If say, he’d been given a few issues to contain all this story in, maybe it would have been easier to follow.  There are some moments, especially now under the Dark Avengers banner that he seems to be getting that second original concept down (I’d say first but it’s been a long time since we’ve seen the dog), a man with powers of both good and evil and it’s the human at the center that makes the difference.  Lindy Lee, his sad Rapunzel-eque wife who’s haunted the books seems to be taking action in Dark Avengers #9, where action is shooting him in the face.  We’re all smart cookies, we all know that’s not going to work and we know that the Sentry will be back and fine in issue #10.

And after OVER A YEAR of waiting, this shot to the face might just reveal the Void that’s been there all along.