Persepolis

Legal | The trial resumed today, if only briefly, in Tunis for the president of a Tunisian television network accused of “insulting sacred values” when he aired the adaptation of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. Tensions were so high in the courtroom that proceedings were postponed until April. The Oct. 7 broadcast resulted in an attempted arson attack on the network’s offices and the arrest of some 50 protesters. Nessma TV President Nebil Karoui, who apologized in October, is charged with “insulting sacred values, offending decent morals and causing public unrest” because of the outrage triggered by a scene in Persepolis showing God, which is prohibited by Islam. [AFP]

Organizations | Stumptown Comics, the organization that puts on the Stumptown Comics Fest every year in Portland, Oregon, has added three new members to its board: Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Charles Brownstein, Boilerplate co-author Anina Bennett and editor Shawna Gore. [Stumptown Comics]

Awards | The First Fictions literary festival and the publisher Myriad Editions announced the winner of its First Graphic Novel competition: Gareth Brookes, whose graphic novel The Black Project will be published next year by Myriad Editions. Blogger Richard Bruton notes that the shortlist of seven graphic novels was so strong that one judge, Bryan Talbot (Alice in Sunderland) felt they were all “worthy of publication.” [Forbidden Planet]

The Massive

Creators | Brian Wood talks about his upcoming Dark Horse series The Massive. [Biff Bam Pop!]

Creators | Shane Houghton and Matt Whitlock discuss their work on BOOM! Studios’ Peanuts comic book. [Biff Bam Pop!]

Creators | In an interview tied to the upcoming release of the George Lucas film Red Tails, Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder (who worked on the film) reflects on his life in comics and the end of Boondocks: “My issues were totally about: one, I just burnt out on the strip and the deadlines were brutal. Two, I didn’t feel like there was much of a future in print. I thought I needed to quit because I saw the newspapers slowly going away. I didn’t want to be caught off guard. I felt more comfortable being a screenwriter, and as I learned how to become a producer, it seemed like a more natural fit for me than cartooning.” [Comics Alliance]

Goliath

Creators | Tom Spurgeon talks to Scottish writer and artist Tom Gauld, whose Goliath, which retells the Biblical story of David and Goliath, is due out from Drawn & Quarterly in a few weeks. Gauld’s work is not well known in the U.S., but he deserves to be; it’s worth clicking over just to see the art. [The Comics Reporter]

Creators | Writer and editor Shaenon Garrity makes her list of the best cartoonists of her generation, by which she means cartoonists born in the 1970s. That’s a fairly broad range and includes Craig Thompson, Gene Yang, and Chris Onstad, among others. [comiXology]

Creators | Michael Cavna interviews CW Cooke, the writer of the Steve Jobs bio-comic — the Bluewater one, not The Zen of Steve Jobs — about the challenges of writing about such an iconic and polarizing figure. [Comic Riffs]

Criticism | Sexism in Tiny Titans? It’s different from the type you find in adult comics, but J.L. Bell notices that the girls do a lot of babysitting—and the boys do almost none. [Oz and Ends]

Retailing | Darrin Williams, owner of Comic Envy in Asheville, North Carolina, answers questions about comics, why he became a retailer and his approach to Free Comic Book Day: “It’s a program that started about 10 years ago, and each year it has been the biggest day of the year for me. Ostensibly, it is designed to promote comics in general and get new readers in. All the publishers put out ‘free’ books, but it still costs the shops. I try to go pretty deep, but I run out of books. I think it’s successful, and I try to do stuff above and beyond. I’m working on a puppet show and lining up a kid-friendly band. I want it to be an event.” [Asheville Citizen-Times]

Friends With Boys

Comics | Faith Erin Hicks discusses the role of “acting” in comics: “I remember when I was drawing the final episode of my old webcomic, Demonology 101 (the 5th episode). That episode ended up being something like 100 pages more than all the other episodes, because that was when I started to explore the idea of acting in comics. I wanted to spend time on characters’ emotional reactions and inner thoughts in the comics, so everything ended up being much more decompressed. I had to give space to the characters, so they could react to a cruel/funny/sad comment by another character, or silently work through their inner struggles. That episode was the first time I connected drawing comics with the idea of myself as a director: the characters were my actors and I was directing them in a performance. And it was up to me to make sure that their performance supported the story to the best of my ability.” [Friends With Boys]

Comics | The Mindless Ones annotate the gigantic last issue of the pre-New 52 Batman Incorporated. [The Mindless Ones]

Creators | Gary Mann posts an appeal for help for colorist Tom Ziuko, who is facing serious health problems with no insurance and limited financial resources. [20th Century Danny Boy]

Commentary | David Brothers recommends Giannis Milonogiannis’ Old City Blues, which is now available on comiXology. [ComicsAlliance]

Events | Floating World Comics in Portland, Oregon, will host artwork from Emi Lenox and Natalie Nourigat beginning Feb. 2. [Floating World Comics]

And the fact that so many newspapers continue to re-run old strips of Schulz’s so long after his death instead of filling that valuable (to cartoonists) space with something—anything—else is about as eloquent expression of the regard Schulz is held in as anything I could pound out in a few sentences here.

Do note that, when Schulz passed away, no descendant of his or hand-picked assistant/apprentice took over the strip for him—Peanuts not produced by Schulz was apparently judged so wrong it wouldn’t even be attempted, better to just have folks re-read older strips than attempt new ones by someone else.

That was a big part of the reason I was so shocked when Boom Studios announced a new ongoing Peanuts comic book series on their Kaboom kids imprint. They had previously produced an original graphic novel based on a new animated special which itself was pieced together from Schulz strips—last spring’s Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown—but this seemed like something pretty different. It wasn’t a media tie-in or a one-off lark project, it was going to be something rather sustained.

Now, when I say “shocked,” I must admit that I didn’t drop my coffee cup on the kitchen floor, upon which it shattered with a crash. My jaw may have dropped—but only slightly. I did not scream a strangled cry, although I’m pretty sure I thought, “Why?”

As I said, there didn’t seem to be much appetite for a new Peanuts in the newspaper comic strip market, and Fantagraphics has already devoted itself to a remarkable curation and collection process with their Complete Peanuts program, making every Schulz strip ever available in beautifully designed and printed hard covers that look handsome on a shelf and are widely available at libraries. Why make a comic book, featuring new material? Who would have the audacity to publish it, and to tell those stories? And who would it be for? What demand would it meet?

Getting answers to these questions proved remarkably simple: All I had to do was read the first issue.

It’s definitely worth noting that the series is hardly Schulz-free. In addition to bearing his full name above the logo and a drawing of his on the covers, the first issue reprints a few classic Peanuts strips. These are three in number, and each fill-up a whole page, so they are presumably Sunday strips.

The rest of the book is filled with two new stories, one written and penciled by Vicki Scott and the other written by Shane Houghton and drawn by Matt Whitlock. Neither attempts to ape the comic strip format at all, and are in the same style and format of the previous Boom graphic novel.

The panels are big—there are even a few splashes—and the colors are bright. The lay-outs are inventive, and seem to be almost flagrant in their resistance to confining grids, with inset panels of various shapes (square, circle, explosion, light bulb) and implied panels separating action into distinct moments, as in a scene where Charlie Brown sings a song, eleven Charlie Browns all drawn in sequence, standing before bars of music drawn in waves behind him. They are also rather action-packed for Peanuts stories, with a lot of running, yelling, screaming and some chasing—as with Warm Blanket, the comic book reads a lot like a comic book based on a cartoon instead of a comic book based on a comic strip.

This is a distinction that might not mean a whole lot to that many people, but reading it I got the feeling that I was reading a new comic book series based on the Peanuts animated cartoons, not the Peanuts comic strips. Sure, the former is ultimately based on Schulz’s work, but the fact that the comic book had more aesthetically in common with the animation than the strip was comforting. Those were always works of collaboration, after all, whereas the strip was always just Schulz, from increasingly scribbly line to dialogue balloon tail.

Therefore, whereas a new comic strip by anyone other than Schulz would feel wrong, a new comic book in the spirit of the animation? I’m fine with that. Heck, I kind of welcome it.

Those of us who care about such things can quibble over the quality of the endeavor. It’s very much an old-school gag comic, of the sort DC’s Tiny Titans and some of the Archie Comics are the only real practitioners of left. Some of the gags are very short, as in the Schulz reprints, and some are longer, short stories, but they’re gag-oriented ones.

Are they funny, or relevant? They didn’t crack me up or anything, but I thought they were well done, and I could definitely see them appealing to kids. And that, I think, answers the most pressing of my original questions about the comic, the question of why do it at all, and who is it to be for.

It’s probably not for  comic book or strip critics or aficionados—although it’s definitely worth checking out just to see how Boom approached a difficult task—nor is it for people like me who tend to think, think and over-think such things.

It is, however, definitely for those who like Charlie Brown and Snoopy, who are familiar with them from cartoons as much as from the funny pages, and can read.

It is, in short, Peanuts for peanuts. And that’s an audience that can always use more high-quality comics addressed to them.

Peanuts #1

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

Tim O’Shea

Sweet Tooth #29

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brigid Alverson

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

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

Chris Mautner

Studygroup Magazine

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

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

Richard Alf

Passings | Richard Alf, who as a teenager fronted the money for the first three years of San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con, the annual event that later became Comic-Con International, passed away Wednesday from pancreatic cancer. He was 59. Alf, who co-chaired the first convention in 1970 and became chairman the following year, later opened Comic Kingdom in North Slope, a business he sold by the end of the decade. [U-T San Diego, Mark Evanier]

Conventions | iFanboy, San Francisco’s Isotope Comics and Grant Morrison are teaming up for MorrisonCon, which will feature “A once in a lifetime opportunity to see Grant Morrison and 9 hand picked comic creator superstars, all together for one weekend, one time only.” They’ve released few details so far, but the website says it’ll occur next fall. [MorrisonCon]

Awards | Comic-Con International is now accepting submissions for the 2012 Eisner Awards, which will be presented in San Diego in July. The deadline for submitting materials for consideration is March 6. [CCI]

Legal | Former comics retailer Michael George, who was convicted of the 1990 murder of his first wife and given a life sentence in November, has asked the judge to acquit him or order a new trial. George’s lawyer filed documents last week that claim there was weak evidence and improper tactics during his second trial. They also plan to appeal the case. [WDIV]

Dragon Lady Comics

Retailing | Toronto’s Dragon Lady Comics will close in early February after nearly 34 years in business, a move the store’s manager attributes to rising rent and slowing sales. [The Joe Shuster Awards, blogTO]

Creators | Brandon Graham delves into his process for Prophet, the upcoming Image Comics relaunch of the old Rob Liefeld property. [Warren Ellis]

Creators | Collaborators Shane Houghton and Matt Whitlock chat briefly about BOOM! Studios’ new Peanuts series. [LA Weekly]

Comics | Chad Nevett provides a supplemental reading list for the Joe Casey-written Vengeance, for anyone “wanting to know the background on various characters and concepts Joe Casey is using in that series.” [GraphiContent]

A snippet from Peanuts 1 (Art by Vicki Scott/inked by Paige Braddock)

Did you pick up Peanuts 1 yesterday? If you love all ages books, you should have. The first issue of this ongoing KABOOM! monthly features new stories by Vicki Scott, Paige Braddock, Shane Houghton and Matt Whitlock–and original Charles Schulz stories of course. In fact, Braddock wears many hats on this project. First off, she is the creative director of Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates. Secondly Braddock (also creator of the ensemble comedy comic strip, Jane’s World) inks the stories, as well provides colors on the cover. Anytime an all ages title like this new release from the KABOOM! gang (in partnership with Peanuts Worldwide) comes out, I want to shout it from the rooftops. On a personal level, I am overjoyed to interview Braddock in this brief email interview, as I have been a fan of her work since her days many, many years ago–on staff as an illustrator at my local newspaper, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. As much as I wanted to interview her some about Jane’s World and The Martian Confederacy (her collaboration with Jason McNamera), I opted to make the focus of today’s interview on Peanuts. My thanks to Braddock for her time.

Tim O’Shea: Were you involved in selecting the other writers of the stories, such as Shane Houghton and Vicki Scott?

Paige Braddock: Shane Houghton was selected by Boom, but I was familiar with his other work on Reed Gunther. Shane also did some test pages for Boom and we reviewed those at the studio. I met Vicki Scott during the Happiness is a Warm Blanket graphic novel project. It’s a funny story actually… I had met her husband, Bob, who was at the time an animator at Pixar. I knew his work and contacted him about working on the graphic novel. He was pretty busy so he suggested that maybe his wife could help out. I was thinking to myself, his wife?! Then of course his wife, Vicki, turned out to be this incredibly talented artist. Since that first project, she and I have collaborated on a couple of children’s books based on the Peanuts characters. Vicki also turned out to be quite gifted at writing and capturing the “voice and tone” of these characters.

O’Shea: What is the key to capturing the spirit of the classic Peanuts tales without blatantly trying to copy the late Charles Schulz?

Braddock: I think we are still working very hard to figure that out. Part of the equation is taking stories from the comic strip and adapting them by creating more cinematic scenes and character images from maybe a different viewpoint. Keeping true to the stories while creating art scenes and staging that you might not encounter in the comic strip. We’re also doing some short original stories which we review by committee here at the studio to make sure we stay on model. Lex Fajardo is the project manager for these books. He and our art director, Iain Morris, contribute in keeping us on track. Once we’ve run a story and thumbnails through our proofing process here we send them to Boom for their editorial review. This series really is a group effort. We also include some “pure Schulz” work in each issue. There are at least 3 Sunday comics that run in each monthly book. We figure most kids don’t read newspapers so at least this will give them a chance to encounter Schulz, unfiltered by other writers and artists.

O’Shea: I always thought the coloring on Peanuts Sunday strips were distinctly unique, are there certain colors that you avoid when telling a Peanuts tale?

Braddock: If you look at collections, like the 25th anniversary Peanuts book, the Sunday color is really vibrant and sort of unpredictable. I think Schulz wasn’t afraid to use bright colors or to use them in an unconventional way. Like, a pink sky, for example. Erin Samuels, who worked with Schulz has done the color Sunday work for at least the last 15 years. I think she’s done a good job of following his lead. For the comic books, we’ve had a lot of discussion about color. Just simply as a result of size and print quality we can do more with color for the comic books than we can do in newsprint, which tops out at 150 dpi. The majority view is that we’d like to push the envelope a little in terms of color and application (textures, fades, ect.) but we don’t want to use too many gimmicks that would distract viewers from Schulz’s simple character design. It’s going to be a balancing act for sure. When I first started working here at the studio I did some one-on-one Sunday color work with Sparky (Schulz). I was the first one to really use the computer to enhance the color on the strip. Sparky definitely was open to experimentation. He wanted to try things that I would have thought were too “out there,” but he clearly liked trying new things.

O’Shea: What makes the Peanuts universe (and its characters) so timeless?

Braddock: The short answer I think is “universal themes.” Schulz tapped into some collective experience that enables Peanuts characters to resonate just as much with a school teacher in Iowa as a business man in Japan. That’s a pretty amazing feat. I personally think it’s not just the universal themes, but the depth in which he deals with them. Schulz managed to achieve a certain level of depth within the discourse in the comic strip, without it seeming forced or trite. Peanuts seems real. I think it seems so real because Schulz put so much of his personal feelings, insecurities and doubts into each character. It seems real because it is real, if that makes sense. That sort of authenticity takes personal bravery and I think his vast readership obviously appreciated that authentic, voice.

O’Shea: How hard was it to work on the Peanuts story in between the other projects you are working on?

Braddock: It’s actually been a lot of fun. For me, this job started out as an art job. I was hired by Schulz to do illustration work. The job got sort of side tracked after Schulz retired, and I was asked to do a lot more “direction” and less hands-on artwork. So I’m really glad to be finally back to doing what I was hired to do. After 12 years at the studio, I’m a lot better at drawing the characters than I was when I started.

O’Shea: Anything we should discuss that I neglected to ask you about?

Braddock: There hasn’t been a Peanuts comic book series since Dell published comics back in the 1960s. As a fan of both comic books and Peanuts, I’m glad that comic shops will once again have Peanuts on their shelves. As a comic reader, I think Peanuts will be a breath of fresh air in terms of material that’s suitable for all ages. Some of the super hero stuff has gotten so dark and violent that speaking as a comic book fan, I’m glad there will be a “happy” alternative on the shelf.

The Season's Finest

… [T]here were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

– Luke 2: 8-14 (King James Version)

If you are inexorably compelled to top off that passage with “And that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown,” join the club. As well, if you’re wondering how this relates to DC Comics’ superheroes, fear not — we’ll get there. (And if you don’t celebrate Christmas, don’t worry — I’ll try not to prosletyze.)

* * *

Each of us, as we age, edits our tastes; revising and, inevitably, revisiting them. For me, it came down to “I liked this before — why shouldn’t I like it again?” Over the years I have been through this process with pretty much everything which entertained me as a youngster: comics, music, D&D, even the big things like Star Trek and Star Wars. (While my Star Wars sabbatical only lasted from 1984-87, it still felt like an eternity.)

Naturally, when I decided I was going to get serious (relatively speaking) about religion, I took a second look at how I’d been celebrating Christmas. Along the way I winnowed down the number of Christmas specials I watched — not quite in an ideological-purity way, but by and large that’s how it turned out. The cuts were pretty brutal, especially on the animated side, because most of them dealt with the more secular aspects of the holiday: Santa, reindeer, snowmen, and a non-denominational “attitude of gratitude.” Nothing wrong with any of that on its own, of course; but to me it didn’t seem particularly Christmas-y. In fact, for a number of years only “A Charlie Brown Christmas” made the must-watch list, mostly for Linus’ recitation from the Gospel of Luke. Again, I wasn’t condemning Rudolph and Frosty to the fiery pit — I just didn’t feel like I was missing out on any lessons about Jesus’ birth if I failed to watch ‘em each year.

Accordingly, since then I have tried hard to set aside twenty or so minutes for the simple, affecting tale of an alienated boy struggling to find his place in the confusion of the Christmas season (and not, I should mention, seeking solace in a Red Ryder BB gun). Not only does it point the way to a key Scriptural lesson, it also reminds me of Charles Schulz’ singular view of the world, and how he was able to communicate that vision so skillfully for almost the last fifty years of his life. Of course he did it through the modest medium of comics; and of course his work both elevated and transcended that medium. When I watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (which I realize isn’t comics, but close enough for our purposes), I see the genius that was Peanuts; and it warms my heart almost as much as the holiday sentiment does.

* * *

Lately, though, part of me wants to see a more baroque, retro-gonzo, Morrison/Quitely-esque Nativity account. Page One: a handful of silent, dark panels show shepherds keeping watch. Open up pages 2 and 3 for an eruption of radiance, as the angel makes ‘em sore afraid for three-quarters of the splash and calms ‘em down in inset panels running along the right side. Pages 4 and 5 up the ante even more with another two-page spread: the Heavenly Host exploding with light and fanfare over the dark desert, praising God and singing the most beautifully unearthly music any human had ever heard. I know the music is a tall order for print, but sometimes you just want to go all-out.

Sometimes, too, you want to make your pastimes fit where they might not ordinarily go. Hearing Luke’s account, it’s hard for me not to be reminded of the Kents finding baby Kal-El on the bleak Kansas plains. In John Byrne’s 1986 revision, the Kryptonian pod landed just before a Snowstorm of the Century conveniently trapped much of Small County in their homes, and gave Martha time to explain why no one saw her pregnant. Moreover, the ‘86 origin included an outer-space battle between the Green Lantern Corps and the Manhunters, the latter trying to claim Kal-El for their own. I like to think they fought close enough to the Earth that the green Oan energy could be seen from the ground, not unlike the angels’ display over Bethlehem.

That’s probably wishful thinking on my part, though. In terms of Biblical parallels, the Superman legend tracks closer to Moses than Jesus, and it’s only superficially similar at best. Superman may come “from above,” but his mission is based squarely on terrestrial ethics. In fact, Wonder Woman is more of a messianic figure, since it’s pretty much her job to bring Amazonian values to Patriarch’s World. Her classic origin is both mythic and poignant, but if one is looking for Christian parallels, the New-52 revisions are certainly helpful (besides being “in character” for the Greek gods, of course). The Christian Nativity is its own thing, just as Superman’s and Wonder Woman’s origins are largely their own, regardless of the connections we readers try to make.

Nevertheless, we make these connections, because we want our pastimes to be meaningful beyond their escapist thrills. When Superman died and returned, it wasn’t to save DC-Earth from its sins. (Instead, it helped propagate the sins of ‘90s excess.) However, those storylines helped reinforce those easy, familiar parallels. What, then, does that make the New-52 Supes? Is he “Buddy Christ,” the user-friendly Jesus for the 21st Century?

Actually, if we’re talking about periodic revisions, Superman is closer to Santa Claus. Snopes.com describes the latter as

a hybrid, a character descended from a religious figure (St. Nicholas) whose physical appearance and backstory were created and shaped by many different hands over the course of years until he finally coalesced into the now familiar (secular) character of a jolly, rotund, red-and-white garbed father figure who oversees a North Pole workshop manned by elves and travels in a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer to deliver toys to children all around the world every Christmas Eve.

Thus, one was inspired by a real person — a wealthy orphan, as it happens, whose fortune helped him do good — and one sprung from the imaginations of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, but the intervention of “many hands” shaped both irrevocably. While the illustrator Haddon Sundblom drew iconic images of Santa for the Coca-Cola Company, and pencillers like Wayne Boring and Curt Swan set the style for Superman for decades, the looks of both characters had already been fairly well-established. We don’t see too many revisions to Santa’s look these days, and I suspect that before too long, the New-52 Superman will revert to a more classic appearance as well.

* * *

In a way, this is what puzzles me about people who say they don’t “get” Superman and Wonder Woman. I understand that it’s easier to grasp the ideas behind Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash. Under their abilities and gear, they’re just guys, driven by relatively mundane mindsets. Superman and Wonder Woman are allegedly more obtuse because they represent higher ideals. Well, what about Santa? His mission of omniscient compassion and annual rewards (coupled these days with a dollop of economic stimulus) is just as lofty, but no one looks to relaunch him every few years.

Now, you may say that Santa is hardly as complex as either the Last Son of Krypton or the Amazing Amazon, and there is some truth to that. However, with Superman and Wonder Woman, it’s possible as well to go overboard on complexity — to bend over backwards to make them “relevant” or “realistic” at the expense of what made them appealing initially. And this, too, is part of the reason no one looks to relaunch Santa — because Santa’s audience is self-renewing, and never really goes away.

Similarly, there will always be an audience for Superman, and that audience will know, deep in its collective heart, when Superman is done right. When that happens, whether it comes from Siegel & Shuster or Morrison & Quitely or Christopher Reeve, it’s one of the most special things on Earth. Superman is one of those rare creations of fiction which, like Charlie Brown and Santa Claus, has transcended its original state to become an icon of something pure and true. After that point, tweaking tends to yield diminishing returns. We “know” Superman like we know the others, because he speaks to the best parts of ourselves.

Accordingly, this time of the year it doesn’t take much to trigger my sentimental impulses. For me, the best trappings of Christmas are the most primal, the most elementary: the dark desert, the angels, the shepherds, and of course the Child. The primal Superman elements do the same: the costume, the transformation, the powers. Adding too much else threatens to obscure them.

Introducing his ultimate Superman story, Alan Moore referred to “a perfect man who came from the sky and did only good.” Whoever that is for you, I hope this season inspires you to do the same. After all, that’s what Christmas is all about.

BLAMMO #6

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

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

*****

Michael May

Amulet

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

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

Chris Mautner

Things I read recently:

Feynman

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

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

Carla Hoffman

Defenders

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

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

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

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

Brigid Alverson

Habibi

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

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

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

Tom Bondurant

Manhunter

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

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

Tim O’Shea

Action Comics #4

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

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

X-Club

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

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

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

Geoffrey Golden and Amanda Meadows

Hark! A Vagrant

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

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

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

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

Pogo

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

1. What comic-related gift or gifts would you recommend giving this year, and why?
2. What gift (comic or otherwise) is at the top of your personal wish list, and why?

Ho-ho-hopefully you’ve gotten the chance to check out the previous three installments. If not, it isn’t too late:

Part 1: Jim McCann, Matt Kindt, Daryl Gregory, Jim “Zub” Zubkavich, Jamie S. Rich, Ryan Cody
Part 2: Jeff Parker, Tim Seeley, Ross Campbell, Kody Chamberlain, Ian Brill, Jamaica Dyer
Part 3: Mike Carey, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Kagan McLeod, Kevin Colden, Thom Zahler, Van Jensen

And here is today’s round-up …

Joey Weiser

1. For the kids (or kids-at-heart): Okie Dokie Donuts by Chris “Elio” Eliopoulos – One of my favorite books of the year. Each page is crammed to the brim with kinetic artwork and fun comics!

For the art lover: “Behold! The Dinosaurs!” print by Dustin Harbin – Absolutely gorgeous print featuring one of my favorite subjects: Dinosaurs!

For the comic strip enthusiast: Mickey Mouse by Floyd Gottfredson – Super engaging strips that are full of life and very funny. I’m very glad that Fantagraphics is publishing these.

For the manga reader: Cross Game by Mitsuru Adachi – A recent series that I’ve been infatuated with after having it recommended to me by several friends. A manga with a very welcoming atmosphere and tons of heart.

For the indie-minded: A few comics from Blank Slate Books: Dinopopolous by Nick Edwards and The Survivalist by Box Brown – Two great-looking books from a publisher that might be off some folks’ radars at the moment. I haven’t even read these yet, and I feel confident recommending them!

2. Well, my dad has a long-standing tradition of giving me a volume of the Complete Peanuts collections for birthdays and holidays, so I’ve got that covered. Let’s see…

I suppose there are a few Japanese imported books that would make the top of my list of things I’ve had my eye on, but haven’t had the chance/extra cash to buy for myself. These fall under the category of “Things That I’m Not Likely to Stumble Across In-Person and Say, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to get that!’” Two that come to mind are One Piece Green, a “databook” which contains a treasure-trove of sketches and notes from Eiichiro Oda from the years leading up to and during his epic manga series One Piece. I’ve also been eyeing some Shigeru Mizuki (Gegege No Kitaro, Onward Towards Our Noble Death) yokai encyclopedias that pop up on eBay. Those look Beautiful with a capital B!

Joey Weiser is the creator of Cavemen in Space, Monster Isle, The Ride Home and Mermin. He also writes the Spongebob Squarepants comic.

Christos Gage

1. I never met a kid who didn’t love Owly. Great, sweet all-ages stories told all in pictures, so perfect for youngsters learning to read. I love it, too.

2. Original comic art is always at the top of my list. Several artists I work with have already given me wonderful gifts this year, so I’m all set!

Television and comic writer Christos Gage has written GI Joe: Cobra, Numb3rs, The Man With No Name, Area 10 and Deadshot, among others. His current projects include Avengers Academy and Angel & Faith.

Chris Roberson

1. I think the best gift anyone could give any comic fan is a nice big stack of comics they haven’t tried before. When I was 12, one of my uncles went last-minute Christmas shopping at the local grocery store, and just bought me a copy of every new title on the newsstand, about a dozen in all. I was already a comics fan, but had only tried a handful of those titles, and in the end I became an ardent follower of at least a couple of them. And even though it only cost my uncle about seven bucks (this was 1982, after all), I still remember that as being one of the best Christmas presents I ever got.

2. I get to work in comics for a living. What more could I possibly want?!

New York Times-bestselling writer Chris Roberson is best known for his Eisner-nominated series iZombie (co-created with artist Mike Allred), the Fables’ spinoff Cinderella mini-series, and his work on Superman, Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes and Elric: The Balance Lost, all of which are available for digital download. His latest project is the modern fantasy series Memorial, which debuts this month from IDW.

Caanan Grall

1. All my picks are good for kids and adults. Also, I’m not super up to date on the comic world, so a lot of my picks may be old.

Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson. This is the best comic strip around right now, by far. It’s so far ahead of the rest of us, I lost track of Mr. Thompson’s footprints long ago. It focuses on four-year-old Alice Otterloop and her family and friends, and is crammed with whimsy, and multiple one-liners per strip. There’s three collections out so far, and a Treasury edition.

BOOM!’s Don Rosa Donald Duck volumes (two so far!) I grew up reading and collecting the old Disney Gladstone comics, and the issues where Don Rosa’s stories popped up were easily the most read between me and my brother. We used to fight over who owned each one! And now, here they are–not spread out over tons of single issues where you have to go looking for them–but in concentrated volumes of storytelling gold.

(Ditto to Fantagraphics’s Floyd Gottfriedson Mickey Mouse and Carl Barks Donald Duck libraries.)

Stardrop by Mark Oakley. Okay, I may be a little biased here because I know Mark, but if you all knew him too, you would buy his book, he’s just that nice. However, even if I never met the guy, I would love Stardrop. It follows a refugee alien princess who runs away from home to Earth, where she constantly challenges the way we humans have organised our world with her naive, yet ridiculously insightful, outlook.

Reed Gunther by Shane and Chris Houghton. I’ve been getting these in the single issues, but I believe the first volume just came out with issues 1-5 in it. Gunther, about a bear-riding cowboy, captures all the spirit of classic comics like Tintin and the aforementioned Barks, and is destined to sit alongside them. It’s funny, action packed, and even poignant sometimes when Reed the outdated cowboy makes it to New York City.

Loves and Capes by Thom Zahler. I’ve only read the first two, but there are three volumes of this brilliant superhero series. I know The Big Two have a monopoly on super heroes, but this series from IDW–while it trades on a reader’s knowledge of the tropes laid out by those Big Two–consistently does the genre better. Mostly by staying light and funny, and portraying fantastic characters with realistic relationships. ‘Will They, Won’t They?’ is such a tired drama cliche, so it’s nice to see stories where ‘They Will’ is enough.

Salt Water Taffy by Matthew Loux from Oni. 4 volumes so far, with one to come! It’s kinda like Enid Blyton, the Hardy Boys and all those great old kids adventure series, but this time, they’re comics. With a twist of the supernatural.

Cursed Pirate Girl by Jeremy Bastian. I can’t imagine what it was like being a kid, back in the day when things like The Wizard of Oz, or Alice in Wonderland were brand new to the world, but Pirate Girl at least gives us some idea. This comic is, quite simply, a work of art.

The Stuff of Legend by Mike Raicht, Brian Smith and Charles Paul Wilson III. There’s two volumes of this out so far from Th3rd World Studios, and if ‘Toy Story meets Lord of the Rings‘ isn’t enough for you, I’m not sure what is.

And lastly, an item that’s not a comic… The Secret of Kells on DVD (or Blu Ray, if DVD isn’t sharp enough for you and you want already rich studios to have more of your money.) This actually came out a couple of years ago, but was released a little more widely when it was nominated for an Academy Award earlier this year. It’s an Irish animated movie set in, I guess, the 6 or 700s, about an apprentice illuminator and his curiosity with the forest, his friendship with a woodland sprite, and also about invading vikings that offers up some of that slightly horrific vision that kids might be scared of, but secretly totally love.

2. I don’t have any one thing on my personal wish list. Just more art supplies so I can keep making comics.

Caanan Grall does the Eisner-nominated Max Overacts at occasionalcomics.com and has been published by DC Comics under their once-awesome, so-underrated-it-died, Zuda imprint. While Celadore may not be on anyone’s wish list, the first Max volume will be out next year, so maybe then Santa will fill out an order form or two.

Kerry Callen

1. I like giving gift certificates from my local comic shop. If the person getting it already buys comics, they love it and might try something new. If they don’t already buy comics, they might get a book, shirt, or such, while the shop has a potential new customer. A couple of caveats though, I have to know the person well, and I wouldn’t give a gift certificate to a less-than-pleasant shop. If a gift certificate seems too “commercial” for you, buy a friend a Tokidoki Marvel Frenzies Blind Box Figure. They’re adorable!

2. I’m eyeing an iPad to be included on my Christmas wish list. I’m not really tempted to read new comics on it, but I have hundreds of out-of-print 1940′s comics (non-DC, non-Marvel) in digital form with no comfortable way to read them. Plus, an iPad would make me one of the cool kids!

Kerry Callen is the creator of the indy comic Halo and Sprocket, and currently creates popular comic book spoofs on kerrycallen.blogspot.com.

Faith Erin Hicks

I always try and give graphic novels as gifts to my family every year (last year I gave my mom How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden, and there were a bunch of other graphic novels whose names escape me right now … all I know is that I dropped $100 on a stack of graphic novels at my local comic store), but sadly due to work and distance I won’t be seeing them this Christmas. Nevertheless, here is my doozy of a suggestion for the open-minded, possibly comic appreciating reader in your family: the Fullmetal Alchemist box set.

Fullmetal Alchemist is my favourite manga, hands down. A taunt, funny, deeply moving, character filled story of an epic clash between good and evil, moral right and wrong, and family relationships. It’s beautifully illustrated; the author, cow-avatared awesome lady Hiromu Arakawa has an innate grasp of how to draw an exciting fight scene, as well as character emotions, both over the top funny and subtly sad. I heart this manga so much. And now Viz has released a convenient box set containing all 27 volumes (plus a light novel), all nicely packaged in a pretty carrying case that I’m sure plays heavenly music when you open it. I own all the FMA volumes already, but I kind of want this box set, just because it looks so cool. I’d recommend this gift not only for the younger reader in your life (maybe someone looking for a series to read after Bone), but also for comic creators, as it’s a masterfully crafted comic, well worth studying.

The gift I want for myself this year is a pair of proper jogging shoes. I started jogging back in April, and am still using the $4 sneakers I bought from the Salvation Army, because I wasn’t sure if jogging was something I was going to stick with, and didn’t want to shell out money for shoes that would sit in my closet. But now I’ve made running a part of my routine, so it’s time for some proper shoes. I hate exercise. I like that my career (comic drawing art monkey) lets me sit on my ass all day. But as I’ve started doing comics full time, and gotten older, well, it became a necessity to start some kind of exercise routine. I want to be in comics for the long haul; I want to be drawing them until I’m 90, and I know how bad sitting on my butt all day drawing away can be. I figure if I invest an hour a day on getting out of that chair and sweating a bit, I’ll be a much happier 90 year old, drawing comics in my hovering robot house in the clouds (in this future we all have jetpacks but that technology is slowly being replaced by teleportation).

Faith Erin Hicks is the creator of The War at Ellsmere, Zombies Calling, The Adventures of Superhero Girl and the upcoming Friends with Boys.

Dean Haspiel

1. I wish I had the time to give individual attention and say why I dug these comix but I don’t. Too busy meeting deadlines while developing the need for new ones and creating free content for me to express myself and for you to enjoy. I’m sure I accidentally left off a bunch of comix I loved this year but please trust that this list furnishes some of the very best comics published in 2011 that I actually found the time to read, admire, get energized by and enjoy.

Scalped by Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera [Vertigo]
Daredevil by Mark Waid, Marcos Martin, and Paolo Rivera [Marvel]
Godzilla: Gangsters and Goliaths by John Layman and Alberto Ponticelli [IDW]
Planet of the Apes by Daryl Gregory and Carlos Magno [Boom!]
Zegas #1 by Michel Fiffe [Copra Press]
The Mighty Thor [Omnibus] by Walter Simonson [Marvel]
MUSH! Sled Dogs with Issues by Glenn Eichler and Joe Infurnari [First Second]
Twisted Savage Dragon Funnies, curated/edited by Michel Fiffe, written & drawn by various [Image]
Strange Tales, Vol. 2, edited by Jody LeHeup, written & drawn by various [Marvel]
The Cardboard Valise, by Ben Katchor [Pantheon]
Richard Stark’s Parker: The Outfit by Darwyn Cooke [IDW]
Green River Killer by Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case [Dark Horse]
Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory (Olympians) by George O’Connor [First Second]
The Wrong Place by Brecht Evans [D&Q]
Genius Isolated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth by Dean Mullaney & Bruce Canwell [IDW]
Mister Wonderful by Daniel Clowes [Pantheon Books]
The Someday Funnies, curated/edited by Michel Choquette, written & drawn by various [Abrams ComicArts]
Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge [Amulet Books]
Night Business #4 by Benjamin Marra [Traditional Comics]
The Influencing Machine, Brooke Gladstone on the Media, illustrated by Josh Neufeld [Norton]
Animal Man by Jeff Lemire and Travel Foreman [DC]
All-Star Superman [paperback] by Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely [DC]
The Marvel Art of John Romita Jr. [Marvel]
Bored to Death, season 2 [HBO]

2. I’m nine pages away from finishing my current gig; drawing Godzilla Legends #5 for IDW. I have a bunch of pitches in editors and publishers hands and I hope to score new work for 2012. Wish me luck. Meanwhile, on Nov. 1, I helped launch TripCity.net, a new, Brooklyn-filtered literary arts salon, a place where I get to flex my multimedia muscles with a group of talented individuals. We just started, so, give us a chance and take a gander. Please give Trip City the gift of your time and attention. If you like it, please share it. It’s free and we hope you’ll pick up what we’re laying down. Be sure to swing by on Dec. 6 when I debut my new Billy Dogma comic, “The Last Romantic Antihero.” Thanks and Happy Holidays!

Dean Haspiel is the creator of Billy Dogma, artist on Cuba: My Revolution and Emmy winner for his work on HBO’s Bored To Death.

Following the announcement of the creators for their new Peanuts ongoing series, BOOM! Studios has announced variant covers for the first four issues available to comics retailers as order incentives. The covers feature Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and Snoopy as they first appeared in the comic strip reproduced directly from Charles Schulz’ original panel art.

The first Peanuts miniseries, which BOOM! confirmed will be published as a series of miniseries a la Hellboy, will hit stores in January. Check out the other covers after the jump.

*****

Peanuts #1

BOOM! Studios has announced the creators for their upcoming Peanuts comic book, which will feature both new stories and reprints of strips by creator Charles Schulz.

The ongoing series, which was announced last summer as a part of their KABOOM! kids line, will feature new stories by Vicki Scott (Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown), Paige Braddock (Creative Director at Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates, Jane’s World, Martian Confederacy), Shane Houghton (Reed Gunther) and Matt Whitlock. Scott and Braddock worked together on a story that appeared in #0 preview issue that was released earlier this month.

This isn’t the first time Charlie Brown and the gang have appeared in comic book form, and it isn’t even the first time they’ve appeared in comics done by someone besides creator Charles Schulz. As detailed on Comicartville.com, the Peanuts characters appeared in numerous comics in the 1950s and 1960s, some of which were reprints of newspaper strips, some new stories by Schulz and some by artists who worked for him.

“I’ve always been under the impression that Charles M. Schulz always drew and directly supervised all aspects of his strip and characters, so this was something of a surprise,” wrote Dr. Michael J. Vassallo on Comicartville.com. “From a variety of sources, I learned that these DELL issues were produced by a crew of artists working for Schulz and who did advertising artwork for him. The main artist was Dale Hale. This information has been confirmed for me by the late comic strip art collector/historian/agent Mark J. Cohen, who was gracious enough to ask Charles M. Schulz over dinner about his contribution to those Dell issues. Mr. Schulz enumerated that he did the very first one himself with Jim Sasseville doing the next few and Dale Hale doing all the rest.”

This first issue of Peanuts ships in January.

Explorer: The Mystery Boxes

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

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

Amulet

Explorer: The Mystery Boxes - With the Flight anthologies done, the all-ages version, Flight Explorer has morphed into this. I expect it to be as lovely as its predecessors and especially like the Mystery Box theme.

Archie

Jinx – J Torres and Rick Burchett’s graphic novel aimed at tween girls.

Kevin Keller, Volume 1 and Kevin Keller #1 – Archie collects the first appearances and mini-series of their major, gay character and also launches his ongoing series.

Ardden

Flash Gordon: Vengeance of Ming – The third volume in Ardden’s Flash Gordon series.

Ferals

Avatar

Ferals #1 – David Lapham writes werewolves.

Atmospherics, Color Edition – Warren Ellis and Ken Meyer’s re-mastered and newly painted story about a woman who’s either a disturbed witness to a UFO attack or a heroin-using serial killer.

Bongo

Simpsons Illustrated #1 – Bongo launches a Best Of series collecting material from various Simpsons titles.

Boom!

Steed and Mrs. Peel #1 – Reprinting Grant Morrison and Ian Gibson’s 1990 Eclipse Comics story of the other Avengers.

Peanuts #1 – Kicking off the regular, monthly series with new stories as well as reprints of Schulz’s Sunday strips.

Campfire

Jungle Book - Campfire’s artwork can often be perfunctory, but I like the whimsy of Amit Tayal’s cover for this one.

Cartoon Books

Bone: Quest for the Spark, Book 2 – The second installment in Tom Sniegoski’s series of novels set in Jeff Smith’s world (with illustrations by Smith himself).

Lobster Johnson: The Burning Hand

Dark Horse

Lobster Johnson: The Burning Hand #1 – Mike Mignola’s pulp hero returns for a five-issue mini-series.

The Monstermen and Other Scary Stories - I love Gary Gianni’s linework anyway, but I especially dug his Corpus Monstrum/Monstermen stories that appeared for a while as back-up features in Hellboy comics. This volume features Gianni’s tuxedo-wearing, medieval knight fighting zombie cowboys, squid pirates, abominable snowmen, and mustachioed skulls.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – War #1 – I’m pretty much done with the Star Wars Expanded Universe, but if you’re not or are curious about it, Dark Horse is billing this as a major jump-on point to the part that covers the ancient period of the Star Wars galaxy.

Compleat Terminal City - All fourteen issues of Dean Motter and Michael Lark’s retro-scifi/noir series.

Mighty Samson: Judgment - Probably as close as we’re going to get to a Thundarr the Barbarian comic.

King Conan: The Phoenix on the Sword #1 – This four-issue mini-series adapts Robert E Howard’s first Conan story.

Dark Horse Presents #8 – Features a BPRD eulogy for Hellboy and a new Tarzan story.

DC

Justice League #5 – Looks like the team’s finally together.

Frankenstein vs. OMAC

Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE #5 and OMAC #5 – As a faithful reader of Jeff Lemire’s Frankenstein, I”m actually kind of excited that this will give me some motivation to check out OMAC, which I’m hearing good things about.

Xombi - The biggest casualty (for me, anyway) of the New 52 gets its collection.

Drawn and Quarterly

Goliath - The David and Goliath story told from Goliath’s viewpoint through the filter of corporate bureaucracy and presented in a lovely, minimalist style.

Dynamite

The Lone Ranger #1 – I tried Dynamite’s first Lone Ranger series, was disappointed that it wanted to stretch the familiar origin story into a multi-issue arc, and immediately dropped it. Assuming that won’t be the case this time – and noticing that it’s written by Ande Parks, whose writing I’ve enjoyed very much on other things – I’m up for another try.

First Second

Olympians, Volume 4: Hades, Lord of the Dead – The latest in George O’Connor’s wonderfully exciting and insightful review of the the most important characters from Greek mythology. Hades has always been a favorite of mine, so I’m especially looking forward to this one.

Silence of Our Friends - “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Edmund Burke is supposed to have originated that quote, but it was driven home for me by Vicente Amorim’s 2008 film, Good about good Germans who were too afraid of the Nazis to assist their Jewish neighbors in WWII. But even that gave me some comfortable, historical and geographical distance from the people and events it was talking about. I expect that Silence of Our Friends, about the civil rights movement in the ’60s, will hit even closer to home.

The Sincerest Form of Parody

Fantagraphics

The Sincerest Form of Parody: The Best 1950s MAD-Inspired Satirical Comics - I can’t decided if I’m more interested in the historical context of what folks were parodying in the ’50s or just looking at some cool Jack Davis and Kirby art that I’ve never seen before.

Hermes

The Phantom: The Complete Sundays, Volume 1: 1939-1943 – I like daily strips too, but Sunday comics are the best.

Humanoids

Whispers in the Walls – Guillermo del Toro’s co-writer from The Devil’s Backbone goes solo on this tale of horror at a Czechoslovakian children’s hospital in the late ’40s.

IDW

Infestation 2 #1 – Since I’m not a zombie fan, I passed up the first Infestation even while I was loving the idea of connecting all those weird, incongruous universes. This time around it’s Lovecraftian demons, which is not only a more appealing concept to me personally; it also makes a lot of sense from a dimension-crossing standpoint. That something exists tying 30 Days of Night and Dungeons and Dragons together with Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles gives me all the joy I’ll ever need.

Danger Girl: The Danger-Sized Treasury Edition - I’ve been wanting to check out Danger Girl for a while now. This collects the first three stories to get me started.

Danger Girl: Revolver

Danger Girl: Revolver #1 – And here’s the new story.

Womanthology: Heroic - The controversial Kickstarter sensation comes to life.

Doctor Who #13 – Occasionally I have to break my rule about only mentioning new series. Josh Fialkov’s taking over Doctor Who for four issues to put the Doctor in 1941 Casablanca is one of those occasions. It starts here.

Steve Canyon, Volume 1: 1947-1948 - I read these stories when Checker published them and was eager for more. Unfortunately, Checker quit, but now Milton Caniff’s globe-trotting pilot is at IDW in a great-looking hardcover.

Image

Fatale #1 – Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ supernatural noir comic has everyone’s mouths watering, including mine. I’d buy it for the “Beauty” cover alone, though the “Beast” one looks cool too.

Prophet #21 – Two of my favorite artists, Brandon Graham and Simon Roy are collaborating on this, with a cover by Marian Churchland. That’s the exact opposite team of whatever I expected from a continuation of a Rob Liefeld book. Seriously: good on Liefeld. I’m also impressed that he’s not just starting the numbering over again with #1. Seems like that would be the obvious thing, especially with the book going in such a new direction, creatively, but it’s because it’s surprising and counter-intuitive that I like it. And it’s not even like he’s cashing in on a milestone issue-number. If my calculations are correct, he’s counting two mini-series (one, ten-issues; the other, nine), a one-shot, and an annual to get to 21. If this is what we can expect from the new Extreme, and apparently it is, my interest is piqued.

Whispers #1 – I find the Luna Brothers interesting enough that a new, supernatural thriller by one of them gets a check-out.

The Intrepids

The Intrepids, Volume 1 - Teens vs mad scientists (and a cyborg bear).

Marvel

Scarlet Spider #1 – The latest spin-off for the Spider-Man franchise.

Amazing Spider-Man #677 and Daredevil #8 – I like a couple of things about this crossover. First, like DC’s Frankenstein/OMAC one, it’s pretty unobtrusive. Second, Mark Waid’s writing both parts of it.

Alpha Flight #8 – SOB! I’ll miss you, Alpha Flight!

Wolverine and X-Men Alpha and Omega #1 – I’d usually feel ungenerous towards a mini-series spin-off of a comic that’s only four issues old, but Brian Wood is writing it and that bears looking into.

X-Men Legacy #260.1 – Christos Gage takes over from Mike Carey. I’m sad to see Carey go, but intrigued to see what Gage has planned. I hear good things about his Avengers Academy.

Daredevil by Mark Waid, Volume 1 - Waid and Paolo Rivera’s critically acclaimed run for trade-waiters.

Moonstone

The Big Book of Kolchak: The Night Stalker – Collects the first seven, long-out-of-print Moonstone Kolchak stories.

Oni

Possessions, Volume 3: Better House Trap - Sadly, it’s only recently that Ray Fawkes’ name has been on my radar. Now that it is, I want to check out his slapstick series about a possessed little girl trying to escape the loving, nurturing environment of the haunted house that traps her.

Wasteland

Wasteland #33 – Oni is celebrating Antony Johnston’s post-apocalyptic series’ going monthly with a $1 kick-off issue. I’ve fallen extremely behind in reading it, but it was one of my favorite comics at the time I decided to trade-wait it.

The Avalon Chronicles, Volume 1: Once in a Blue Moon – I’m a sucker for stories about young people who get transported to magical worlds where they discover things about themselves. Especially ones as nicely drawn as this one.

Papercutz

Monster Mess - Lewis Trondheim’s story of two kids who discover their ability to bring monsters to life (and have them fight each other) just by drawing them.

Putnam

Fangbone! Third-Grade Barbarian, Volumes 1 and 2 - It’s a cute enough concept, but Michael Rex’s art and Fangbone’s deadly serious expression on the covers are what sells it.

Russ Cochran

Sunday Funnies #1 – This is kind of brilliant. I’ll just let the publisher describe it:  ” A monthly, 32-page, full-size comic section containing historic Sunday pages from as far back as 1895, and including favorites such as Gasoline Alley, Little Nemo, Krazy Kat, and many other classic Sunday pages that you’ve probably never seen before. Each issue … will be a full-size 22″x16″ comic section, containing full page Sunday comics in full color. These pages are coming from the archives of Ohio State University, which, thanks to Bill Blackbeard, has the largest and most comprehensive collection of Sunday comics in existence. The retail price will be $10 and I will be selling subscriptions, 12 monthly issues for $100.” Should go well next to Wednesday Comics collections.

Bettie Page in Danger

SHH

Bettie Page in Danger #1 – Even more brilliant. A fumetti using real Bettie Page photos to tell a story about the pin-up queen’s career fighting zombies, mad scientists, and other naked ladies.

SLG

Sparko – This sounds a little like Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere with the Thames replacing London’s Underground. I don’t mean to make that sound like a bad thing. Coming from SLG and including a murder mystery, goth goblins, and a pickpocket named Belle, I trust that it’s not.

Tor

Girl Genius Omnibus, Volume 1: Agatha Awakens – The Hugo-winning, steampunk webcomic gets the deluxe hardcover treatment.

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

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

Graeme McMillan

It’s a slow week, this week; if I had $15, I’d use it to catch up on some recent enjoyments like Action Comics #3 (DC, $3.99) and OMAC #3 (DC, $2.99), two of my favorite titles from the New 52 relaunch–OMAC in particular has been a really weird and wonderful joy–as well as the final issue of Marvel’s great and sadly underrated Mystic revival (#4, $2.99). I’d also see if the parody-tastic Shame Itself #1 (Marvel, $3.99) lives up to its potential, because “Wyatt Cenac + Colleen Coover” sounds pretty promising to these ears.

That said, if I had $30, I’d put Shame Itself back on the shelf and pick up Tharg’s Terror Tales: Necronauts & A Love Like Blood (Rebellion, $19.99) instead, a collection of two 2000AD horror serials illustrated by Frazer Irving (One of which is written by John Smith, a favorite writer of mine from the days when I was reading 2000AD regularly). It’s early work from the artist, but what little I’ve seen of both makes it look well worth buying.

When it comes to splurging, I have to admit that the Joe The Barbarian Deluxe Hardcover (DC, $29.99), but I think if I had extra money, I’d just pick up some more individual issues: BOOM!’s Peanuts #0 ($1) and Betrayal of The Planet of The Apes #1 ($3.99) and Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men #1 ($3.99) and Villains For Hire #0.1($2.99), amongst others.

Brigid Alverson

No Longer Human

If I had $15: For the second week in a row, Vertical gets first dibs on my money; last week it was Drops of God, and this time I’m lured by the first volume of Usamaru Furuya’s No Longer Human. This book is a personal favorite of Vertical marketing director (and former blogger) Ed Chavez, and Ed’s picks are always stunning. Based on a semi-autobiographical novel, No Longer Human is the story of a young man who cannot shake his own alienation from the rest of the world. It’s supposedly a great work but also depressing, so to shake off the blues, I’ll spend my last $3.99 on issue #2 of Roger Langridge’s Snarked. His charming rascals-and-the-princess story is sure to bring a smile back to my face.

If I had $30: I’d go for a little more silliness with James Kochalka’s Dragon Puncher #2 ($9.95), the followup to his eminently silly Dragon Puncher #1. Kochalka does silly with an edge of surreal that makes it absolutely delightful. I’ll cut that up with American Vampire #20 ($2.99), and wind up with the first issue of the Peanuts ongoing comic, which is priced at a recession-friendly $1.

Splurge: There are a lot of temptations on this week’s list, but I’m leaning heavily toward Abrams, which has some interesting collections out this week. Government Issue: Comics for the People 1940-2000s is a collection of government-issued comics by the great (Will Eisner, Walt Kelly) and the obscure. It looks like a steal at $29.95. Somewhat pricier at $55 is The Someday Funnies, a collection of the Rolling Stone’s comics section that features a different set of iconic creators–Art Spiegelman, R. Crumb, Harvey Kurtzman. Also a must have for me. And finally, I’ll stagger over to the Dark Horse section and grab the original graphic novel Hellboy: House of the Living Dead ($14.95), which sends our eponymous hero south of the border for a fight with a Frankenstein monster–a perfect post-Halloween treat.

Chris Mautner

Ganges

If I had $15: I managed to pick up a copy ahead of time, but Ganges #4 seems to me to be the obvious choice for the $15 and under crowd, continuing everyman Glenn Ganges’ attempts to get some shuteye. This time he attempts to find a really dull book and the results are hugely entertaining.

I’d also at least peruse through John Marz’s Heaven All Day, about a lonely factory worker and an abandoned robot whose lives intertwine, which looks interesting.

If I had $30: I’d get Usumaru Furuya’s No Longer Human, for all the reasons Brigid mentioned. I’m really happy to see Furuya get some love on these shores, as I’ve admired his work since the Secret Comics Japan anthology came out from Blast Books all those years ago.

Splurge: That Joe the Barbarian anthology is certainly on my Amazon wish list, and that Abrams anthology of government-issue comics looks intriguing as well, but my splurge money this week would have to be spent on Color Engineering, Yuichi Yokoyama’s neon-pop colored collection of short comic adventures, and Someday Funnies, a mind-boggling anthology, literally decades in the making, featuring contributions from just about every major cartoonist of the 1970s, like Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby, Moebius, Rene Goscinny, and on and on and on and on. This could well be the great lost treasure of the ages. Or not. I can’t wait to find out, though.

Michael May

Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes #1

If I had $15, I’d go back for a couple of series I’m enjoying and try three new ones. Action Comics continues to exceed my expectations (especially in comparison to the gloominess of Superman), so #3 ($3.99) is an easy decision in spite of the price. I’m also enjoying Avengers 1959, a series that Howard Chaykin is especially perfect for, to I’ll grab the third issue ($2.99) of that as well. I guess I missed the first issue of Fear Itself: The Fearless so I’ll need to find some money for that, but #2 ($2.99) is definitely going home with me this week. I didn’t read Fear Itself, but I’m fond enough of some of the characters in The Fearless that I’m going to want to at least check this out. Finally a couple of new titles from BOOM! have caught my eye. I love their Planet of the Apes ongoing, so I’m eager to see if they can nail it again with Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes #1 ($3.99). And having just watched It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on Monday, I’m also excited about Peanuts #0 ($1). A big part of me just wants to read the Fantagraphics collection again, but for a buck I’m happy to see what cartoonists Ron Zorman and Vicki Scott have in mind.

With $30, I’d add another new BOOM! series (they’ve got a lot of cool stuff this week), 7 Warriors #1 ($3.99) because I love comics about ass-kicking women. IDW’s Jack Avarice is the Courier #1 ($3.99) kicks off what sounds like a fun, weekly comic for the month of November, so that’s mine too. Then I’d top off the pile with a couple of X-Men books because X-Men: Regenesis reminded me that I’ve been wanting to learn more about the Dani Moonstar character. She’s in New Mutants #33 ($3.99) and–according to Regenesis–will also be on Cyclops’ team in Uncanny X-Men #1 ($3.99).

There’s a lot to splurge on this week. Dragon Puncher, Volume 2 ($9.95) sounds fun (and inexpensive). 30 Days of Night: Night Again ($17.99) pairs Joe Lansdale with Sam Keith on a horror comic and that’s a combination I’d want to read with or without a recognizable brand in the title. Nordguard, Volume 1 ($19.95) is about a team of anthropomorphic sled dogs, and that also sounds cool. My top pick though is influenced by my recent mainlining of the last three BPRD books. I’m all about the Mignolaverse right now, so the Hellboy vs Frankenstein’s Monster story in Hellboy: House of the Living Dead ($14.99) is what I’m craving.

Chris Arrant

Fear Agent #32

If I had $15, I’d spend the first little bit on the bittersweet finale of Fear Agent, #32 (Dark Horse, $3.50). This long-running series was made longer by the delays in the final arc as the creators were pulled away for work at Marvel, so I’m glad this Wednesday to finally get it all. I’m just as excited to find out the ending as I am to have a complete collection to re-read over the weekend. Next up would be another creator-owned book, Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley’s Invincible #84 (Image, $2.99); I’m still not sure about the Viltrumite-living-on-Earth vibe (I never liked Alien Nation), but I’m willing to give this duo the benefit of the doubt for a while longer. Finally would be a double-shot of DC’s New 52, Action Comics #3 (DC, $3.99) and Animal Man #3 (DC, $2.99).

If I had $30, I’d snag a third DC book–Swamp Thing #3 (DC, $2.99)–before buying the auspicious new #1 of Uncanny X-Men (Marvel, $3.99). Count me in the camp as one who things the renumbering is ill-advised, and factor than in with the nonplussed nature of Greg Land’s current work and yet I’m still buying this just to see what Kieron does with it. His finale of Uncanny X-Men caught me off-guard with how good it was, so he’s got my money here. Last up would be Kevin Huzienga’s Gagnes #4 (Fantagraphics, $7.95). I’ve been waiting for this one awhile, and glad to see it. $7.95 might seem like a lot for a 32 page book, but Huzienga’s craft really makes it worth it. It’d also be an ideal palette cleanser in case I read some unexpectedly bad books.

If I had the cash to splurge, I’d go for DC’s Joe The Barbarian Deluxe Edition(DC/Vertigo, $29.99). Yes I have it in singles, but I’m the type that’d re-buy things like this in a more lasting edition because it looks good and so I have an excuse to give away my singles to someone who might dig the series.

JK Parkin

Six Guns #1

If I had $15, Ganges #4 ($7.95) would be at the top of my stack. I think the third issue of Kevin Huizenga’s series was either at the top of my list of favorite comics of last year, or at least very near the top, so this is one of my most anticipated releases not just for this week, but probably this year. I’d also get Andy Diggle and Davide Gianfelice Six Guns #1 (Marvel, $2.99); the Daredevil: Reborn team reimagines several of marvel’s Western heroes in a modern setting, and based on their track record I’m looking forward to it. I’d round it out with Animal Man #3 (DC Comics, $2.99).

If I had $30,. I’d add a bunch of my regular ongoing favorites: Swamp Thing #3 ($2.99), Boys #60 ($3.99) and New Mutants #33 ($2.99), and would then add the Our Love Is Real one-shot ($3.99) if I didn’t already have it in digital form. But what the hell, we’re assuming I live in a hypothetical world where I can only spend $30 on comics anyway, so let’s pretend I didn’t have the money to download it previously. Can we also pretend I’m a viking?

Splurgewise, my peers have mentioned a lot of nice stuff, so I’ll just point out the second volume of Super Pro K.O. ($11.99), the follow-up to what proved to be a fun first volume by Jarrett Williams.

The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths

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

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

Ape

Puss in Boots Movie Prequel – I don’t care for movie prequel comics as a rule, but swashbuckling cats are awesome in any incarnation. As long as these are fresh gags and not just ones warmed up from Shrek, I expect to enjoy this.

Archaia

Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths, Book 1 - I just introduced my son to The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth a couple of weeks ago, so this is great timing. He had the same questions about The Dark Crystal‘s world that I always do, so I’m looking forward to seeing Archaia’s take on answering those. Totally feel like the world’s in good hands with this publisher and these creators.

The Sigh - If Archaia’s snagging Marjane Satrapi’s (Persepolis, Chicken With Plums) new book has been reported already, I missed it. I’m surprised that wasn’t bigger news.

Siegfried, Volume 1 – I’ve been meaning to read P Craig Russell’s Ring of the Nibelung adaptation for years, so I think this might be what pushes me to finally do it. It would be fun to read Russell’s and compare it to this version by Alex Alice.

Bone: One-Volume Color Edition

Boom!

Seven Warriors #1 – Francis Manapul draws this story of seven warrior-women who fight to save the king of 6th-century Libya from the armies of the Persian and Byzantine empires.

Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes #1 – I’m absolutely loving Boom’s ongoing Planet of the Apes series, so I expect to also like this mini-series set during the events of the ’68 film and featuring Dr Zaius.

Operation: Iron Cross #1 – Boom’s already got my attention this month, so this WWII spy thriller also stands out.

The first volumes of Stan Lee’s Soldier Zero, Stan Lee’s Starborn, and Stan Lee’s The Traveler - After Graeme’s warm recommendation of Boom’s Stan Lee line, I want to check them out. And at $10 each, these are made for checking.

Peanuts #0 – I’m still curious to know who the creators on this are, but the idea of new Peanuts material is exciting and Boom has a good record for getting this kind of thing right.

Cartoon Books

Bone: The One-Volume 20th Anniversary Slipcased Color Edition - The affordable version I’ve been waiting for. It’s still $150, but that’s money well spent on a book this good-looking.

Dark Horse

House of Night #1 – Ordinarily I wouldn’t be excited by yet another vampire story set at yet another school for supernatural teens. And indeed, I haven’t paid any attention to the series of YA novellas this is based on. It’s Joëlle Jones and Karl Kerschl on the art that sells it.

Uncharted

Avatar: The Last Airbender, Volume 1 – The Promise, Part 1 – Aang’s adventures continue as written by Gene Yang (American Born Chinese).

Brothers of the Spear Archives, Volume 1 - Collecting the back-up stories to Dell’s Tarzan series featuring art by Jesse Marsh and Russ Manning. I haven’t read this stuff, but it’s ’50s jungle adventure, so I imagine that the standard warnings about racist characterizations apply.

Disney Comics and Stories Classic Characters #5: The Phantom Blot – We usually stick to comics in this column, but a Phantom Blot statue warrants an exception.

DC

Uncharted #1 – The treasure-hunting game that most makes me want to buy a PS3 becomes a comic with a Hollow Earth story.

Dynamite

Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist #1 – Dynamite puts their spin on the universe’s greatest space pulp hero.

EC

EC Archives - I know that EC’s been reprinting archive editions of Weird Science and Two-Fisted Tales for a little while now, but this is the first time I’ve noticed their getting a whole Previews page to themselves to advertise it.  Very eye-catching.

Mr Twee Deedle

Fantagraphics

Mr. Twee Diddle: Raggedy Ann’s Sprightly Cousin – The Forgotten Fantasy Masterpieces of Johnny Gruelle – I almost drowned in the amount of praise Fantagraphics poured on Gruelle’s work in the ad, but simply looking at the cover, it appears to be justified.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, Volume 2: The Mad Scientist/Mummies on Parade – Even if I wasn’t already turned on to the awesomeness of Jacques Tardi’s Belle-Époquian heroine, “Mummies on Parade” would be enough to necessitate this purchase.

Athos in America – Jason returns to The Last Musketeer and includes other Jasony stories like “The Brain That Wouldn’t Virginia Woolf.”

Gumby Comics

Gumby’s Spring Specials Collection – I haven’t read these, but if they’re anything like the Gumby Summer Specials by the same creative team (Bob Burden, Steve Purcell, and Art Adams), they’ll be worth having.

IDW

Jack Avarice is The Courier #1-5 – I like the idea of a mini-series told in weekly installments over a month. That sounds cool and exciting, especially when it’s a spy/voodoo action-adventure thriller thingy.

Rocketeer Adventures, Volume 1 - The anthology about everyone’s favorite jetpack-wearing hero by everyone’s favorite creators is finally collected. I say “finally” like it’s been a huge wait only because it’s felt that way.

Hawken

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Micro-Series #1: Raphael - IDW’s determined to get me back into TMNT again. It’s working.

Godzilla: Goliaths and Gangsters – The Monster Island crime story is collected.

Godzilla: Legends #1 – TMNT isn’t the only IDW license getting a series of spotlight issues. In this one: Anguirus vs Destoroyah.

30 Days of Night: Night Again - The Joe Lansdale/Sam Kieth mini-series gets a collection.

Hawken #1 – IDW’s not going to let Oni and Image have all the Western weirdness with The Sixth Gun and Deadlands. And I can’t think of many artists I’d rather see do this kind of story than Tim Truman.

Shaman’s Tears - It’s been more than a decade since I read this story by Mike Grell, but my memory is that it was one of my favorite of Image’s second wave of creator-owned series. The other being Jerry Ordway’s WildStar, in case anyone wants to reprint that.

Image

Guns and Dinos #1 – I’m rooting for the dinos.

Mudman #1 – Paul Grist has a new superhero comic. That’s all fans of Jack Staff need to know.

Giant-Size Elephantmen #1 – I’ve got some catching up to do on Elephantmen and this inexpensive collection (three issues for $6) looks like a good place to jump back in.

Super Dinosaur

Girls: The Complete Collection – I got into the Luna Brothers’ creepy series late and always meant to go back and read the earlier issues, because it was really very good. It was underrated (the title and the abundance of naked women understandably leading many readers to think it was just about gratuitous nudity), but it’s a serious horror story with an unsettling vibe similar to something by Charles Burns.

Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors, Volume 1 – This collection was difficult to wait for, so I’m glad it’s here.

Reed Gunther, Volume 1 – Same with this one.

Super Dinosaur, Volume 1 – And this one too. Especially this one, ’cause I read the first issue and was immediately anxious to read the next. Fantastic, all-ages fun. Image is going to kill my wallet in November, but I’ll be smiling as I bury its poor, leather corpse.

Marvel

Northanger Abby #1 – Jane Austen’s parody of a gothic romance novel is as sensational as any actual gothic romance novel. I love Janet Lee’s work and am looking forward to this adaptation, but there’s a part of me that wishes Marvel had gone for a Haunted Love/House of Secrets vibe with it.

Six Guns #1 and 2 – It’s too soon to say that Western comics have made a comeback, but I’m really excited that we’re seeing so many of them lately. Even modern ones like this. Andy Diggle seems perfect for it too.

Victor Von Doom #1 – Doom’s early days as illustrated by Becky Cloonan. Thank you, Marvel.

Skaar: King of the Savage Land

Skaar: King of the Savage Land – Ka-Zar vs Son of Hulk, dinosaurs, and some giant robots.

Oni

Salt Water Taffy, Volume 5: Caldera’s Revenge, Part 2 – Jack and Benny continue trying to survive ghost ships and evil whale hunters.

Papercutz

The Smurfs, Volume 9: Gargamel and the Smurfs – I recently read one of Papercutz’ Smurf volumes to see what the fuss is about. I never really enjoyed the cartoon as a kid and I stayed far, far away from the movie, but Peyo’s comics are so well-liked that I got curious. And they’re really good. They remind me of what I loved about Casper when I was a kid: fantastic creatures having adventures in a forest fantasy world and occasionally learning some nice lessons about how to get along with other people. I’m looking forward to reading more.

That’s it for me. What are you looking forward to?

Peanuts #0

Their Disney comics may be all but gone — and they will be gone after October — but BOOM! Studios’ kids line, kaboom!, isn’t going away. Joining Snarked!, Wordgirl and the other post-Disney era of kid’s comics from the company will be an ongoing Peanuts series.

The book follows BOOM!’s Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown, a graphic novel adaptation of the TV special by the same name. They’ll kick it off with a $1 “zero” issue this November, and the regular series will kick off in January.

“It’s a daunting task to follow in the footsteps of a master,” BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon said in a press release. “But with the team we have assembled and the guidance of the folks at Peanuts Worldwide and Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates, we’re confident that we’ll be delivering to fans the best Peanuts monthly comic book series anyone could imagine.”

Unfortunately the press release makes no mention of the “team” they have assembled to work on the comic. It does note that these will be new, original stories, rather than reprints of any previous Peanuts material. You can find the release after the jump.

****

August 24th, 2011 – Los Angeles, CA – Happiness is a monthly comic book series, Charlie Brown! PEANUTS debuted at BOOM! Studios’ all-ages imprint KABOOM! this past spring with the first PEANUTS graphic novel HAPPINESS IS A WARM BLANKET, CHARLIE BROWN. Now, thanks to a recently signed partnership with Peanuts Worldwide, Snoopy and the gang are back in a monthly comic book series kicking off this November with a special #0 — for only a buck —featuring a new original story and supplementary material that will provide a sneak peek at the series launching in January!

“We were honored to publish the first PEANUTS graphic novel HAPPINESS IS A WARM BLANKET, CHARLIE BROWN this past spring and now we are doubly honored to publish a new PEANUTS monthly comic series,” BOOM! Studios Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ross Richie said. “The team at PEANUTS have entrusted us with these characters and we aim to do everything we can to honor the memory and the characters of Charles Schulz.”

“It’s a daunting task to follow in the footsteps of a master,” BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon said. “But with the team we have assembled and the guidance of the folks at Peanuts Worldwide and Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates, we’re confident that we’ll be delivering to fans the best PEANUTS monthly comic book series anyone could imagine.”

Launched this past spring, KABOOM! is the brand new name for BOOM! Studios’ three year old all-ages imprint previously known as BOOM Kids! This year has seen KABOOM! launch with the premiere of the PEANUTS graphic novel, followed closely by an all new original series by fan-favorite Roger Langridge entitled SNARKED, and this month will see the release of Scholastic’s WORDGIRL.

Amazing Spider-Man #666

Publishing | Sales of comic books and graphic novels in July fell 6.17 percent versus July 2010, with dollar sales of comic books sold through Diamond Comic Distributors falling 4.27 percent and graphic novels falling 10.10 percent year-over-year. Unit sales for comics were only down slightly, at .52 percent, which ICv2 points out “indicates that comic book cover prices have in fact declined. The problem is that circulation numbers have not risen enough to make up for the decline in revenue from lower cover prices.” Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man #666, which kicked off the “Spider-Island” event, was the best-selling comic of the month, while League of Extraordinary Gentlemen III Century #2 from Top Shelf topped the graphic novel chart. John Jackson Miller has commentary.

Marvel saw a slight increase in its dollar market share for July when compared to June, while DC’s jumped from 28.03 percent in June to 30.55 percent in July. IDW, the No. 5 publisher in terms of dollar share in June, moved to the No. 3 position in July. The top seven publishers were rounded out by Image, Dark Horse, Dynamite and BOOM! [ICv2]

Darkwing Duck #18

Publishing | BOOM!’s Disney comics officially end in October with the publication of DuckTales #6 and Darkwing Duck #18, for which the solicitation says, “This is it fans, the last Disney single issue from KABOOM! has arrived. It’s the end of an era as we say goodbye to Disney at KABOOM!” [Comics Continuum, via]

Conventions | The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York will hold the 10th annual MoCCA Fest on April 28-29, the same weekend the Stumptown Festival will occur in Portland, Ore. Heidi MacDonald has commentary. [Convention Scene]

Creators | Brian Heater talks to artist Joseph Remnant about illustrating Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland after Pekar passed away last year. [The Daily Cross Hatch]

Comics | Robert Stanley Martin has posted the results of the Hooded Utilitarian’s International Best Comics Poll, which were voted on by 211 editors, journalists, academics and retailers (including Robot 6 contributors Sean T. Collins, Chris Mautner and Matt Seneca). Topping the list is Peanuts, followed by Krazy Kat, Calvin and Hobbes, Watchmen and Maus. [The Hooded Utilitarian]

Organizations | Derek McCaw interviews Dr. Mauricio Heilbron, the Hero Initiative’s medical consultant. [Fanboy Planet]

FreakAngels

Webcomics | Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield’s long-running FreakAngels webcomic has reached its conclusion. [Warren Ellis]

Webcomics | Doug TenNapel has brought his webcomic Ratfist to an end after 150 episodes, and he reveals that a print version is in the works. [Ratfist]

Retailers | San Francisco-based toy and comics retailer Neon Monster will close down its brick-and-mortar shop on Aug. 7 and its online store on Aug. 14. [Neon Monster, via Twitter]

Reviews | Cartoon Brew rounds up commentary on BOOM!’s third DuckTales comic book in a post titled “Is This the Worst Disney Comic of All-Time?” Per CB poster Amid: “Panels are flipped and repeated, characters speak to other characters that aren’t even drawn into the comic, backgrounds appear to be drawn by a twelve-year-old in MS Paint, and even the cover is an uninspired swipe of an earlier Daan Jippes cover.” The comic even inspired one fan to write a song about it. [Cartoon Brew]

Manga | The four-woman manga supergroup CLAMP is resuming work on Legal Drug after an eight-year hiatus. The series was published in the U.S. by Tokyopop, and there is no word yet on whether the new volumes will be published here. [Anime News Network]

Comics | Sean Kleefeld shows off some new pieces of original comics art he just picked up. [Kleefeld on Comics]

Fandom | Chad Rouch remembers the day his brother tossed Captain America’s shield out of a moving car. [Orlando Sentinel]

First, there’s a new the Peanuts website, which is very nicely designed and gives you a daily Peanuts strip (the same one that’s in the paper, I’m guessing, but my paper doesn’t get Peanuts) as well as links to Peanuts merchandise, character profiles and video clips, and a page for the Charles M. Schultz museum. It’s a good start, and I hope they continue to add content.

The second part of the push is digital comics and e-books. The first product to launch was Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown, an original graphic novel published by kaboom!, the kids’ imprint of BOOM! Studios, which is available both in print and digitally via comiXology and a special Peanuts app (not in the iTunes store yet, as far as I could see). There are more original graphic novels on the way.

But wait! There’s more! iVerse is putting together a collection of Peanuts strips that will be available via the iTunes store, while Happiness is a Warm Blanket and the classic Happiness Is a Warm Puppy will soon be available for the Nook and Nook apps. Capcom subsidiary Beeline is developing a freemium game for smartphones and tablets, due out this fall. The Peanuts folks are spreading their product out among a number of different digital providers, rather than sticking with just one for all their needs, which is an interesting strategy (probably hedging their bets).

Also, Snoopy has his own Facebook and Twitter. That’s standard, of course, but the rise of Snoopy is one of the things I liked the least about Peanuts. Snoopy is cute and bland. Charlie Brown is neurotic and interesting. I’d follow his Twitter: “Sitting by myself in the cafeteria again.” “Off to play some football with Lucy. Maybe she’ll let me kick it this time!” “Ow! My stomach hurts!” The older Peanuts had some bite to it, and it would be nice to see the rights holders of this leading global multimedia property find a little room for that. Happiness is seeing your own insecurities and fears of failure reflected in a cartoon character, Charlie Brown!

Justice League

Publishers | DC Comics have released details on the midnight release of Flashpoint #5 and Justice League #1 on Aug. 31. The publisher is offering a free over-ship of Flashpoint #5 for retailers who order 125 percent of their order for Flashpoint #1, and the publisher has noted that that these are the only two DC titles shipping that week that can be sold at midnight. The promotion is only available to U.S. and Canadian accounts; due to the Aug. 29 bank holiday, the midnight sale option will not be available to UK retailers. [ICv2]

Legal | Michael Dean looks at the recent ruling by New York federal judge Colleen McMahon that the family of Jack Kirby has no claim to the copyrights of the characters he co-created for Marvel. Dean notes, “Some legal observers were expecting Marvel to be the second major comics-publisher domino to fall when Toberoff filed on behalf of the Kirbys, but there is a key difference between Kirby’s comics work and Siegel’s: It was well established that Superman already existed as a full-blown character concept before Siegel and Joe Shuster pitched him to DC, whereas Kirby, who died in 1994, did most if not all of his Marvel work on assignment from the publisher. In the case of work for hire, the Copyright Act defines the instigating employer/publisher as the Author of the work.” [The Comics Journal]

Howard the Duck

Creators | Former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter recounts his first meeting with writer Steve Gerber, which involved a “low key” argument about mature content in mainstream comics. In a second post, he talks about working with Gerber later as his editor. [Jim Shooter, Part 1, Part 2]

Creators | In a video interview with Wired, Grant Morrison says publishers need to “let the artists go crazy, let the writers go crazy” and get back to big ideas in order to address declining print sales. [Underwire]

Webcomics | The entrepreneurial side of webcomics is the focus of this Boston Globe story featuring five Massachusetts artists who are making it on their own, without newspaper syndication. [The Boston Globe]

Creators | Khursten Santos takes a long, fond look at manga creator Iou Kuroda. Only one of Kuroda’s works, Sexy Voice and Robo, has been translated into English and that’s out of print. As you will see from this article, that’s a shame. [Otaku Champloo]

Conventions | Michael Bonesteel previews the upcoming Wizard World Chicago show that runs Aug. 11-14, stating that comics are “still holding their own amid the hoopla and Hollywoodization of the event.” He talks to two comic artists who will attend, Don Kramer and Ivan Brunetti. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Conventions | Erin Finnegan posts the audio of her Unusual Manga Genres podcast from Otakon; she has a slide show to go with it, too. [Ninja Consultant Podcast]

Conventions | Physics Today reporter Charles Day shares what he found when he attended the San Diego Comic-Con with the intent to “hunt for physics in and around the conference hall.” [Physics Today]

Appreciation | Ben Morse sings the praises of 1602: Fantastick Four, a comic he dubs “underrated.” [The Cool Kids' Table]

Reviews | Robert Colvile looks at Grant Morrison’s new book Supergods. [Telegraph]

Reviews | Aaron Zenz and his 11-year-old daughter Gracie review Fantagraphics’ The Complete Peanuts collections. “My goal is to read all of the Peanuts comics ever made. That’s my dream,” Gracie said. [Bookie Woogie, via 4thletter!]

Craft | Fluffy creator Simone Lia explains how to draw bunnies. [The Guardian]

BOOM! Studios sent out both their Comic-Con International exclusives and their booth/panel schedule yesterday. They include variant cover editions of Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown, Planet of the Apes (with a movie cover) and Duck Tales. The Duck Tales cover, a “homage” to Nintendo Games, is very tongue-in-cheek, considering many have compared the Kaboom! logo to the Nintendo logo.

They’ll also have Mark Waid and Shannon Wheeler signing, respectively, Definitive Irredeemable Vol. 1 and I Thought You Would Be Funnier. And a lot of other creators. Check out their booth schedule after the jump.

*****

Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown

SCHEDULED SIGNINGS & PANELS
BOOM! Studios Booth #2743

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 – 5pm – 9pm

All Day Sketching – Travis Hill, Allen Gladfelter & Shelli Paroline
All Day Signing – Michael Alan Nelson, Johanna Stokes
6:00 – 7:00pm – Chris Roberson signing ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST & STARBORN
7:00 – 8:00pm – Mark Waid signing DEFINITIVE IRREDEEMABLE CCI EXCLUSIVE (Available only during signing times!), INCORRUPTIBLE & THE TRAVELER

Thursday, July 21, 2011 – 9am – 7pm

I Thought You Would Be Funnier

All Day Sketching – Travis Hill, Allen Gladfelter & Shelli Paroline
All Day Signing – Michael Alan Nelson, Johanna Stokes
10:00am – 11:00pm – Planet of the Apes in Comics Present and Past with Editor Ian Brill & Writer Daryl Gregory Room 5AB
11:00am – 12:00pm – Chris Roberson signing ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST & STARBORN
1:00 – 2:00pm – Warren Spector signing DUCKTALES
2:00 – 3:00pm – Shannon Wheeler signing I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE FUNNIER CCI EXCLUSIVE (Available only during signing times!)
3:00 – 3:50pm – Mark Waid signing DEFINITIVE IRREDEEMABLE CCI EXCLUSIVE (Available only during signing times!), INCORRUPTIBLE & THE TRAVELER
4:00 – 5:00pm – BOOM! IRREDEEMABLE/INCORRUPTIBLE Panel with Mark Waid Room 32AB
4:00 – 5:00pm – Tad Stones, Ian Brill & James Silvani signing DARKWING DUCK
6:30 – 7:30pm – Indie Comics Marketing 101 with BOOM! Marketing Director Chip Mosher, Sam Humphries (writer, OUR LOVE IS REAL, CBGB, creator, MySpace Comic Books), Laura Hudson (editor-in-chief, Comics Alliance), J.K. Parkin (managing editor, Robot 6 at ComicBookResources.com) and Ben McCool (writer, CHOKER, CAPTAIN AMERICA , FEAR ITSELF: THE HOME FRONT) Room 8
9:00pm – ?:??am – BOOM!’s 6th Year Anniversary Party, Hilton San Diego Bayfront Odysea Bar, 1 Park Blvd., San Diego, CA 92101. Come one! Come all! Open invite to professionals and fans alike!

Friday, July 22, 2011 – 9am – 7pm

All Day Sketching – Travis Hill, Allen Gladfelter & Shelli Paroline
All Day Signing – Michael Alan Nelson, Johanna Stokes
11:00am – 12:00pm – Warren Spector signing DUCKTALES
12:00am – 1:00pm – Mark Waid signing DEFINITIVE IRREDEEMABLE CCI EXCLUSIVE (Available only during signing times!), INCORRUPTIBLE & THE TRAVELER
1:00 – 2:00pm – Bob & Vicki Scott signing HAPPINESS IS A WARM BLANKET, CHARLIE BROWN CCI EXLCUSIVE (Available only during signing times!)
2:00 – 3:00pm – Shannon Wheeler signing I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE FUNNIER CCI EXCLUSIVE (Available only during signing times!)
3:00 – 4:00pm – Tad Stones, Ian Brill & James Silvani signing DARKWING DUCK
4:00 – 5:00pm – Blake Masters signing INSURRECTION v3.6

Planet of the Apes

Saturday, July 23, 2011 – 9am – 7pm

All Day Sketching – Travis Hill, Allen Gladfelter & Shelli Paroline
All Day Signing – Michael Alan Nelson, Johanna Stokes
10:00 – 11:00am – Mark Waid signing DEFINITIVE IRREDEEMABLE CCI EXCLUSIVE (Available only during signing times!), INCORRUPTIBLE & THE TRAVELER
11:00am – 12:00pm – Bob & Vicki Scott signing HAPPINESS IS A WARM BLANKET, CHARLIE BROWN CCI EXLCUSIVE (Available only during signing times!)
12:00 – 1:00pm – Warren Spector signing DUCKTALES
1:00 – 2:00pm – Chris Roberson signing ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST & STARBORN
2:00 – 3:00pm – Shannon Wheeler signing I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE FUNNIER CCI EXCLUSIVE (Available only during signing times!)
3:00 – 4:00pm – Bob & Vicki Scott signing HAPPINESS IS A WARM BLANKET, CHARLIE BROWN CCI EXLCUSIVE (Available only during signing times!)
4:00 – 5:00pm – Mark Waid signing DEFINITIVE IRREDEEMABLE CCI EXCLUSIVE (Available only during signing times!), INCORRUPTIBLE & THE TRAVELER
5:00 – 6:00pm – BOOM! Studios/KABOOM!/BOOM! Town Panel with Founder & CEO Ross Richie, Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon, and Marketing & Sales Director Chip Mosher Room 9

Sunday, July 24, 2011 – 9am – 5pm

All Day Sketching – Travis Hill, Allen Gladfelter & Shelli Paroline
All Day Signing – Michael Alan Nelson, Johanna Stokes
9:30 – 10:30am – Bob & Vicki Scott signing HAPPINESS IS A WARM BLANKET, CHARLIE BROWN CCI EXLCUSIVES (Available only during signing times!)
11:00am – 12:00pm – Mark Waid signing DEFINITIVE IRREDEEMABLE CCI EXCLUSIVES (Available only during signing times!), INCORRUPTIBLE & THE TRAVELER
1:30 – 2:30pm – Editing Comics the BOOM! Studios Way Room with Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon as well as writers Chris Roberson (Starborn, iZombie, Superman), Daryl Gregory (Planet of the Apes, Dracula Company of Monsters), and Michael Alan Nelson (28 Days Later, Dingo, Hexed) Room 23ABC

With that in mind, and since I’m always fascinated by this sort of cross-pollination, I thought I’d make a quick (and by no means definitive) list of some songs based on or about some beloved comic book characters. As a self-imposed caveat, I tried to stay away from theme songs or film contributions, so as much as I love The Ramones’ version of “Spider-Man,” I’m keeping it off the list for that reason.

Oh, and don’t forget to offer you’re own picks in the comments section …

1. Evangeline by Matthew Sweet

Sure, anyone can make up a song about Superman or Wonder Woman, but if you really want to establish your nerd cred, you need to write a song about a comic book character so long-forgotten even serious fans would need ten minutes or so to scratch their heads before saying, “Oh yeah, her.” So it was with Gen X songsmith Matthew Sweet, who penned a rather plaintive paen (“as sung by Johnny Six” the liner notes helpfully tell us) to the “sexy, killer vigilante nun” created by Chuck Dixon and Judith Hunt back in the heady days of the 1980s for Comico Comics. It’s a rather irresistible song — arguably one of Sweet’s best — as the singer looks at the figure he has placed on a pedestal and begs her to forget about all that “marriage to God” nonsense and give him the time of day, at least for a little bit. The fact that it features a really killer hook doesn’t hurt matters much.

B-Side: It’s not comics specifically, but the videos to Sweet’s Girlfriend and I’ve Been Waiting contain snippets from the anime Space Adventure Cobra and Lum, respectively.

2. Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me) by XTC

Many of us look to our comic book heroes for inspiration during our seminal years, though I’m willing to hazard a guess that few took our cues from grizzled World War II sergeants. That’s not the case with the lead singer of this jaunty new wave ditty, who seems to be operating under the delusion that behaving like the seminal Joe Kubert character will help him with the ladies. “If I could only be tough like him then I could win my own, small, battle of the sexes,” he opines. Good luck with that buddy.

B-Side: That’s Really Super, Supergirl, from the bands Skylarking album.

3. Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron by the Royal Guardsmen

Copyright issues are always a tricky landmine to walk through when paying homage to one of your favorite characters via song. Not that it was an initial concern for The Royal Guardsmen, who recorded their 1966 tribute to that “funny looking dog with a big black nose” and his seemingly never-ending battle with Baron von Richthofen only to be served with legal action by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and his syndicate. The latter won the suit, but allowed the band to keep performing so long as they received all publishing revenues, ensuring that future generations could enjoy quirky pop songs about airplane-flying canines.

B-Side: Knowing a good thing when they saw it, the Guardsmen penned several other songs about Snoopy as well (with Schulz’s blessing), including the oddity Snoopy’s Christmas, which finds the beagle and Red Baron exchanging holiday pleasantries.

4. Superman’s Song by Crash Test Dummies

As a general rule, I don’t much care for songs about Superman, as they tend to be a lazy out for songwriters to pen asinine excuses about why it’s OK that they’re big, fat wussies. This song, however, from the Crash Test Dummies’ first album, is a notable exception, as it offers a salute to the man in blue, yellow and red that is both wistful and a bit tongue-in-cheek, reminding us that while “Tarzan wasn’t a ladies man,” “Superman never made any money saving the world from Solomon Grundy.” Yeah, it’s cheesy at times, but its elegiac tempo keeps it from getting too gimmicky and pushes through the novelty to create a bit of genuine earnestness.

B-side: If you really need another song that about Superman, there’s always the Kinks’ Superman would fit the bill nicely, though it isn’t really about him so much as about how great it would be to be like him.

5. Magneto and the Titanium Man by Paul McCartney

It’s a well-recorded fact that Macca is a fan of Jack Kirby’s work, enough so that he paid homage to some of the King’s characters via this ditty. In the song, the titular characters, along with the Crimson Dynamo for some reason, engage in gossipy behavior, accusing the singer’s beloved of robbing the local bank. All is resolved in the end, however, though not perhaps to Magneto’s satisfaction. Like most of McCartney’s stuff during this period, it’s pretty frothy, inconsequential material, but it’s certainly better than just about anything on Pipes of Peace.

B-side: Macca didn’t write any more songs about Marvel Comics characters, but the band Suicide did pen a rather nifty tune about Ghost Rider, “motorcycle hero.”

6. Ghost World by Aimee Mann

Apparently Mann is quite the alt-comix aficionado. For one thing, she had Seth design her Lost in Space CD. Prior to that, she penned this tribute to Dan Clowes’ graphic novel concerning teen-age ennui. While the song doesn’t match the book lyric for panel, it manages to mirror the general themes and tone of the book rather well, especially in the chorus where Mann declares “I’m bailing this town or /tearing it down or/ probably more like hanging around.”

B-side: Um … did you know Guided By Voices wrote a song about Matter-Eater Lad?

Borders

Retailing | Bankrupt bookseller Borders Group said in court papers filed Friday that it will name a stalking-horse bidder by July 1, with an eye toward completing the sale of all of its assets by the end of July. The Detroit News spotlights the two private-equity firms that have placed bids to buy at least a majority of the book chain’s 416 remaining stores: Phoenix-based Najafi Cos., which owns the Book of the Month Club, Columbia House and BMG; and Los Angeles-based Gores Group — the likely stalking-horse bidder — whose investments include Alliance Entertainment and Westwood One. [Reuters, The Detroit News]

Legal | Peanutweeter, a blog that combined frames from Charles Schulz’s Peanuts strips with real, out-of-context tweets, has been taken down by Tumblr as the result of a Digital Millennium Copyright Act complaint from Iconix Brand Group, which acquired a majority stake in the Peanuts assets last year. One blogger, however, argues the blog should be considered fair use. [RIPeanutweeter, Boing Boing]

Retailing | David Ranii looks at how some North Carolina comic stores are weathering the recession. [The Charlotte Observer]

Geoff Johns

Creators | The Detroit Free Press profiles native son Geoff Johns. [Detroit Free Press]

Creators | Heath McCoy profiles artist, and Calgary native, Fiona Staples ahead of her Joe Shuster Awards win: “So many (artists) get disappointed, because they really wanted to work at Marvel or draw Batman or that sort of thing, and that only happens for a fraction of them. It’s not the most practical goal … You sort of get tunnel vision fixating on these things … My goals are just set in terms of the level I want my art to be at.” [Calgary Herald]

Comics | BBC News Scotland spotlights Spirit of Hope comic produced by the U.K. nonprofit group Comic Book Alliance to benefit earthquake victims in Japan and New Zealand. [BBC News]

Comics | Roger W. Rautio Jr. of Canton, Ohio New York, hopes to establish a permanent Comic Book Hall of Fame. He just needs money and a location. [Watertown Daily Times]

Broadway | Julie Taymor, who was fired in March as director of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, is alarmed that the producers consulted focus groups for their overhaul of the $70-million musical: “Shakespeare would have been appalled. Forget about it. It would be impossible to have these works come out because there’s always something that people don’t like.” [The New York Times]