Here’s good news for fans of the television show Smallville who were left without their fix in May when the series went off the air for good: DC announced today that Smallville is coming back as a comic, which will be released first in digital and then in print form. The series will be written by Bryan Q. Miller, who was a scriptwriter for the show, and will pick up where the television story left off. Pere Perez, who worked with Miller on Batgirl: The Flood, will handle the art, and the digital cover above is by Cat Staggs.

DC has an interesting strategy for this comic: It will launch as a digital comic on April 13, with a new digital chapter coming out each week. (No word on pricing or length.) About a month later, it will come out as a print comic, collecting the chapters and adding an episode guide; the first print comic is due out on May 16, and Gary Frank (Superman Secret Origin) will be doing the covers for the print issues.

The weekly chapters are an interesting twist. Not only do they mimic the timing of the original show, they make the comic more of an immediate experience, something people come back to frequently and discuss in real time, as opposed to a monthly event. IDW is doing something similar with its Transformers series Autocracy, publishing an eight-page digital chapter every two weeks, priced at 99 cents. And of course there’s Shonen Jump Alpha, the digital reincarnation of Viz’s Shonen Jump, which publishes a chapter a week of six different manga within two weeks of their Japanese release, with a teen-friendly price of 99 cents per issue (less if you get the yearly subscription).

I spoke to Viz senior vice president Alvin Lu about the weekly chapters at NYCC last year, and he made an interesting point: “Manga is a live medium in Japan,” he told me. “It comes out in popular form every week and is enjoyed at the same time by millions of readers. Creators feed off that energy, and that is the secret of manga’s success.”

Aside from that energy, the weekly chapters are generally priced lower than a comic, and it’s a basic psychological fact that most people will be more comfortable spending 99 cents four weeks in a row than spending $3.99 all at once, no matter how much they get for the money.

Superman

A new book, due out in April, will shed some light on the story of the Superman radio shows that took on the KKK back in 1946—and hopefully straighten out the record once and for all. Several versions of this story have made the rounds over the years, and the basic facts are not in dispute: In 1946, the Adventures in Superman radio show ran a 16-episode arc titled “Clan of the Fiery Cross,” in which Superman took on an organization that had many similarities to the Ku Klux Klan. (You can listen to it here.)

Much of the background material from the shows came from journalist Stetson Kennedy, who infiltrated the Klan and then wrote about it. Kennedy claimed the Superman shows included real Klan code words, causing great frustration to the real Klan leaders, who had to change them after every episode. (Our sister site, Comics Should Be Good, discussed the story as part of their Comic Book Urban Legends series.)

Author Rick Bowers researched the matter at length for his new children’s book, Superman Versus the Ku Klux Klan, and concluded that, although it makes for a great story, it just ain’t so. As he said to J.L. Bell, in an interview at the Horn Book site,

The reality is that “Clan of the Fiery Cross” — while dramatic and to a degree realistic—did not contain actual code words and did not force the Klan to scurry about changing their code words. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge the Superman producers for creating such a powerful program and to give a nod to the anti-Klan efforts of Stetson Kennedy — even if he was prone to exaggeration and tended to grab credit.

The code-words story was included in the first edition of Freakonomics, but the authors amended the story in later editions. Bowers said he began working on his book after that, and the public debate led him to research the matter carefully. The truth, as is usually the case, is more prosaic than fiction—but still pretty good!

Screenwriter Max Landis, whose found-footage superpowers movie Chronicle topped the weekend box office, has released an entertaining 17-minute rant about, and recreation of, the death and return of Superman, featuring appearances by Elijah Wood and Mandy Moore, among others. The original version apparently was 45 minutes long, so what we get here are the highlights — along with a sly plug for Chronicle.

While it seemed DC Comics couldn’t wait to get rid of Superman’s trademark trunks, in Malaysia those underpants are still red-hot.

According to New Straits Times, a suburb of Johor Bahru has been overtaken by fliers advertising “Superman’s Underpants,” billed as a cure for male sexual problems — and the residents have had enough.

“For me this could cause a bad influence among the community,” one retiree tells the newspaper. “Superman fans, especially the men, could be duped into spending thousands of ringgit to buy the product with the assumption that they could gain special powers by wearing them.” He goes on to point out that the product claims to enhance sexual abilities, and has nothing to do with Superman — who we’re pretty sure has that area covered.

So what do Superman’s Underpants actually do? Well, they’re equipped with magnets, and are alleged to cure impotency and enhance penis size. According to the product website, there’s also something called an ego ring, which is … pretty much what you imagine it is (and has nothing to do with Green Lantern).

They sell for between $114 and $294, which leads me to think Warner Bros. is missing out on a lucrative market for penis-enhancing magnetic underwear.

(via io9.com)

An artist's rendition of what the Superman display might look like

If everything goes as planned, by this summer visitors arriving in Cleveland by plane will be greeted by a display marking the city as the birthplace of Superman.

The Plain Dealer reports Cleveland City Council was expected last night to approve a proposal by the Siegel and Shuster Society to install a permanent display in Cleveland Hopkins International Airport honoring the Man of Steel and his creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who dreamed up the superhero as teenagers living in the city’s Glenville neighborhood.

The display, which is expected to cost between $40,000 and $50,000, would include a larger-than-life statue of Superman, facts about his creation and related sightseeing information, all under the familiar logo and the words “Greater Cleveland’s Greatest Hero” and “Did You Know Superman Was Born in Cleveland?”

An anonymous donor has already given $5,000 toward the project, and organizers hope to raise more from Superman fans. Donations can be sent to: The Siegel and Shuster Society, 7100 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio, 44103.

While the initiative was unveiled just this morning, this is not the first time comics publishers have used superheroes to help benefit charities seeking to end hunger and famine in Africa. Although organizations have been collecting donations for famine and disease relief in Africa for decades, one of the worst famines in recent memory occurred in Ethiopia in 1983-1985, which inspired the charity singles “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and “We Are the World” from the music supergroups Band Aid and USA for Africa, respectively.

Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson picked up on the “jam piece” idea for comics: a book featuring numerous creators to raise money for East African famine relief. In 1985, Starlin pitched Marvel’s then-Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter, who recruited Uncanny X-Men editor Ann Nocenti and writer Chris Claremont, and from there, the project continued to expand. Titled Heroes for Hope, the comic featured the X-Men in an adventure that eventually brought them to Africa, where they faced a god-like entity who feeds on human despair. In fact, Starlin details the entire process in a September 2011 blog post that includes a full list of the creative team, which included Stan Lee, John Romita Jr., Harlan Ellison, Frank Miller, Stephen King and Alan Moore.

According to Shooter, the initiative raised more than $500,000. The money was originally intended to go to Oxfam, but because of a disagreement with an Oxfam America representative, the money instead went to the American Friends Service Committee.

In 1986, DC Comics released a similar book, Heroes Against Hunger. The story, called “A Song of Pain and Sorrow,” featured Batman and Superman teaming with Lex Luthor to fight a new villain named The Master, who, much like Marvel’s villain, drew his power from human misery. Starlin and Wrightson were once again instrumental in the organization of the book, with Starlin contributing the overall plot. Heroes Against Hunger also boasted an all-star creative team, including Neal Adams, John Byrne, Howard Chaykin, Jerry Ordway, Andy Kubert and Barry Winsor-Smith. In the 48-page comic, every two pages were handled by a different creative team.

While there are no details on a tie-in book for DC’s current “We Can Be Heroes” initiative, the press release indicates there will be merchandise for sale through WeCanBeHeroes.org, with 50 percent of the purchase price going to famine relief.

Action Comics #5

Welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading. Our guest today is Marc Singer, author of the very excellent book, Grant Morrison: Combining the Worlds of Contemporary Comics, which is an excellent, excellent book that you should read if you’re at all interested in Morrison and his work.

To find out what Singer and other members of the Robot 6 crew are reading this week, simply click on the link below.

Tim O’Shea: If Amazing Spider-Man readers were not already reading Daredevil before this two-part crossover (Amazing Spider-Man 677/Daredevil 8, both written by Mark Waid), the writer sure as hell gave them several

Daredevil #8

good reasons to start reading the book. And for Waid, this must have just been fun to write. In some ways, it read like a throwback to the 1970s Marvel Team-Up issues I grew up reading. In the first part, Waid worked in a scene where Spidey is confused about DD’s secret identity status. Spidey/DD banter is always fun to read, even when it’s marketing work intended to inform a non-DD reader. In the second part, we are given:

1. A Paolo Rivera cover that has me wanting the artist to do a 52-card playing deck of Marvel characters (and a great use of a fire escape for a cover)
2. An exquisite splash page by Kano
3. Waid writes the issue addressing previous plot threads and planting seeds for future issues (a risky approach considering the number of potentially new readers drawn in with this issue) but it works
4. A great billy club meets helicopter scene
5. A smidge more DD/Spidey banter

Amazing Spider-Man 678
This week’s Spidey (Christ, I feel absurd even saying that) offers readers another part one of a two-part story. In the world of neverending event comics (is Fear Itself over yet?), the fact that I get to talk about two two-part stories in one week is a refreshing surprise. If you look back at the number of writers of Spider-Man over the years, there were some writers that seemingly did not know how to write Peter Parker outside of his longjohns. Slott, on the other hand, relishes it. The cast of characters and the scenarios Parker finds himself in, thanks to his Horizon Labs job, allows Slott to stretch his writing muscles. This issue revolves around a time portal doorway that one of his lab associates has developed (Slott, ever the comedic writer, has it be the doorway for the lab’s break rooms. I appreciate Slott and Marvel editorials restraint on this story. A glimpse into the future where New York is destroyed could have easily been stretched out into six parts, so I am appreciative of the fact that this is a fast-paced (so far) two-parter.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents 3
In the third issue of this six-part miniseries, I am pleased to say that writer Nick Spencer surprised me. Admittedly he’s been revamping the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. history throughout his run with the characters, but his reveal at the end of this issue is one I never expected. I have been often on the fence with this series (a fascination with things Wally Wood-related has made me hang in there though). But there is no doubt I would have bought this issue, no matter what, given that I saw Walter Simonson pitched in to do some scenes. (And yeah, I cannot believe I forgot to pick up this week’s Legion of Superheroes 5, a standalone completely drawn by Simonson). On a Simonson-related note, if you are a fan of his like I am, go read the brief interview Josie Campbell did with him for CBR. Even in that brief exchange, Simonson unleashes some great gems of details—about his dad and other things.

Approximate Continuum Comics

Chris Mautner: You know who’s great? Lewis Trondheim, the incredibly prolific French cartoonist. Evidence comes in two recent publications, both autobiographical. The first is Approximate Continuum Comics, an English translation of a six-part series Trondheim published in the 1990s concerning his struggles in the comics industry, desire for success and acclaim and just general angst, anxiety and feelings of self-doubt. It sounds all terribly self-involved to the point of tedium, but Trondheim is simply too skilled a storyteller to allow his own ego to override the quality of his work. Approximate is filled with wonderful visual inventions, like an early daydream about dealing with obnoxious passangers on the subway. More to the point, Trondheim’s self-effacing sense of humor is so charming and revealing that the book never becomes too solipsistic or insufferable. Time has dimmed its

Trondheim continues to reveal his life to readers on a weekly basis over at his Web site (and the NBM blog), most of which has been collected in his “Little Nothings” series. The lastest book, My Shadow in the Distance, offers more of the same, and such a wonderful same it is. The material in Shadows is more one-page humor strips, similar to, say, American Elf, but Trondheim hasn’t lost any of his angst or irritation at modern life and travel. If anything he’s become a more accomplished artist, especially with watercolor, which graces the content of Shadows in lovely wash tones. Plus, it’s really funny.

Do the Gods Wear Capes?

Marc Singer: I’ve just picked up a ton of books, scholarly and otherwise. Right now I’m in the middle of Do the Gods Wear Capes? Spirituality, Fantasy, and Superheroes by Ben Saunders (which is absolutely not about how superheroes are “a modern mythology” and is all the better for it). I’ve also been leafing through Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardrip-Fruin’s Third Person: Authoring and Exploring Vast Narratives, a collection of essays about comics, television, video games, tabletop RPGs, and other media that lend themselves to huge, open-ended narratives. For fun I’ve been reading Kim Newman’s Mysteries of the Diogenes Club, a collection of short stories published by Chris Roberson’s MonkeyBrain Books. Newman has created his own “vast narrative” about the Diogenes Club, a group of occult investigators and secret agents that stretches from Mycroft Holmes to the present day. But I need to clear some of these out of the way, because the book I’m most looking forward to reading is Charles Hatfield’s Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby.

As far as comics go, I’m pretty much a lock for anything Grant Morrison writes, so I’ve been following Action Comics since the big DC relaunch. I have mixed feelings about this one. For all of Morrison’s pre-release hype about writing a working-class “Bruce Springsteen version of Superman,” the comic never really delivered on his promise of an old-school Siegel and Shuster superhero who takes on crooked contractors and greedy mine owners. Hints of that approach were wedged into the first two issues — just barely — before they were shoved out in favor of the kind of ‘definitive’ origin retelling that attempts to cram in Brainiac, Metallo, Steel, and as many other old familiar faces as possible.

On the other hand, social realism has never really been Morrison’s strong suit and he handles the fantasy elements with more confidence. Each issue has been better than the one before it, with the possible exception of the origin story, which manages to do in twenty pages what Morrison once did in four panels and eight words. Still, he writes a suitably heroic House of El and each issue adds some new details that are collectively adding up to a bigger picture. I just can’t shake the feeling that the book’s craft and its ambitions are moving in opposite directions. (And it’s never a good sign when you find yourself looking forward to the fill-in artists.)

Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes was much more to my tastes. I’m not certain this “corporate franchise” phase of Morrison’s Batman mega-narrative is going to amount to much more than a fast-paced team-up book, but with incredibly talented artists like Cameron Stewart and Chris Burnham on board, I don’t care. And Morrison’s compact, modular storytelling lets him work in a wide range of genres without losing focus: any book that can go from St. Trinian’s to Steranko is all right by me.

The Flash

The most pleasant surprise of the DC relaunch has been Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato’s Flash. Manapul’s approach to the Flash — using the character’s speed powers and accelerated perceptions as an excuse to experiment with different ways of representing time and motion on the page — is so perfect that you can’t believe nobody’s tried it yet. At the moment, Manapul’s still deeply indebted to his influences (the most recent issue trades Frank Quitely for J. H. Williams III) but I get the sense that when he fully absorbs their styles and starts creating his own visual idiom, this book is going to look even more amazing than it already does.

Flash radiates a pure joy in being a comic book that, among mainstream superhero books, is rivaled only by Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera, and Marcos Martin’s work on Daredevil. This is another one of those so-obvious-it’s-genius ideas—building a comic around Daredevil’s senses, which forces Waid and company to devise new ways to represent sound and texture on the smooth, silent page. It’s a testament to their skill that they make it look easy.

If you want to talk about sheer joy in comics as comics, it doesn’t get much more ecstatic than the crescendo of creatively designed, emotionally charged pages that Jaime Hernandez builds up to in his final story for the latest volume of Love and Rockets: New Stories. But Jaime’s command of his art—every aspect of his art, from lines to layouts to inks to body language to facial expressions—is so great that a single panel of Reno slouching away into the shadows can be just as breathtaking as the double-page spread that sums up the relationship of Maggie and Ray. A couple of years ago, I was hoping that Jaime’s foray into the loopy superhero sci-fi of the Ti-Girls would lead to a renewed freshness and vitality in his more realistic stories. “The Love Bunglers” delivers, big time. At this point Love and Rockets: New Stories probably doesn’t need any more rave reviews, but Jaime’s work is still the highlight of my comics pile.

DC Comics’ new logo was officially unveiled this morning, followed by the release of mockups showing how the “peel” design would appear on digital devices, collected editions and single issues. However, a closer look at the latter reveals a comics conundrum: a New 52 cover for Batman, with the current creative team of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, is labeled as Issue 708, while George Perez’s Superman #1 cover is numbered somewhere between #700 and #709 (it’s partially obscured, making it difficult to tell). Here’s the thing — despite the New 52 covers, both of those issues were published before the New 52 was announced in July 2011.

Batman #708 was printed in March 2011 during David Hine and Guillem March’s run on the book. Any issue of Superman that begins with “#70_” would had to have been somewhere between June 2010 and March 2011, spanning J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Roberson’s runs. Assuming these are the numberings from March 2011, that would mean the final two issues should be Green Lantern #64 and Wonder Woman #609. Could this be a sign of the New 52 numbering being a last-minute change for DC? Or maybe DC wasn’t letting the outside firm in on its relaunch plans, which could indicate this logo has been in development since well before March.

Then again, it could just be a coincidence, but it is an odd oversight to present a new logo with numberings from issues that hit stores 10 months ago.

Whatever the case, it brings us to the question why the company didn’t roll out its new brand identity in late August, when it relaunched its entire line, or even last month, when it published a mammoth hardcover collecting all 52 first issues – one that now rests on shelves sporting the nearly seven-year-old “swoosh.”

DC’s “peel” logo will make its comics debut in March, when most of the covers presumably will bear the number 7.

Red underwear makes a comeback in 2965

Before we jump into 2012, I have one last bit of business to take care of: toting up my 2011 predictions, and offering a set for the new year.

2011

1. The Green Lantern movie. Last year I predicted that GL would be “more lucrative than Captain America, not as much as Thor.  It ended up making $116 million domestically ($219 million worldwide), well behind Cap’s $176 million ($368M globally) and Thor’s $181 million ($449M globally). Also, it wasn’t as good. I liked it well enough (and from what I hear I may like the Blu-Ray version more), but apparently I was in the minority.

2. Superman and Wonder Woman after JMS. I just had questions for this entry: will Roberson and Barrows stay on Superman? (No.) Will Diana keep the jacket and pants? (No jacket, pants optional.) Finally, I asked “[w]ill sales improve once ‘Grounded’ ends?” Guess that depends on how you define “ends,” because “Grounded” closed out that Superman series; and the next issue of Superman was a New-52 No. 1 which sold almost 100,000 more copies than its predecessor. We may never know what might have happened to Superman without the New 52, but probably not that.

3. Batman: Earth One. I was looking forward to the next “Earth One” release in 2011, and I’m still looking.  [Edited to add:  Of course, DC picked this morning, well after I'd finished this post, to preview both Batman:  Earth One and Superman:  Earth One Volume 2.]

4. All Star Batman/Multiversity/Teen Titans: Games. Last year I had hoped to see all three of these long-delayed projects finally published. However, only Games, started in the late ‘80s and finished over 25 years later, made it across the finish line. Of the remaining two, I suppose we’re most likely to see Multiversity, although its Earth-4 installment may have to compete with an actual Watchmen follow-up.

5. The United Colors of Batman. I was “curious to see what [Batman Incorporated] look[ed] like at the end of 2011,” and now I know: a gigundo $7.99 special issue, a brief appearance from the Batman of Moscow in Batman and Robin, and the ongoing Batwing series. That’s actually not bad for a concept which grew out of Grant Morrison’s conceit that “every Batman story counts,” considering that all those Batman stories must now fit into an arbitrary-seeming five-year history.

6. End of the Archives? Last year I thought the Archives line was being phased out in favor of the hardcover Omnibii, paperback Chronicles, and black-and-white Showcase Presents reprints. Not so fast, my friend — there are more on the way.

7. Reprint floodgates. Were the Sugar & Spike Archives and the Flex Mentallo hardcover (coming in February) really “the first crack in the dam holding back collections of Suicide Squad, Captain Carrot, Secret Society of Super-Villains, and Jonah Hex?” Hmm — kind of. Suicide Squad got one paperback (although the second is at least in limbo) and Secret Society got a Volume 1 hardcover (with Vol. 2 coming in the spring), but still no Captain Carrot or Jonah Hex Volume 2. Still, among semi-obscure ‘70s and ‘80s fare, there was that Firestorm paperback; and collections of I … Vampire! and Night Force are apparently on the way. Good news for the 300 of us on the Internet who care about such things.

8. The changing shape of Events. Last January I thought Flashpoint and the Wonder Woman storyline “Odyssey” contained the seeds of a stealth crossover, and they’d eventually intersect in some kind of big-event way. That didn’t really happen, at least not how I pictured it.

9. The spirit of ‘86. Last year I wanted to see “a behind-the-scenes look at what went into that seminal year,” especially focusing on the revamps of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman supposedly called the “Metropolis Line.” That didn’t happen either, but we did get a whole slew of revamps.

10. DC on TV. I thought things looked good for “Human Target,” “Wonder Woman,” and the proposed “Raven” series. 0-for-3.

* * *

So, for 2012:

1. The Dark Knight Rises. Can it make a skillion dollars? Will it have Robin? Will it have subtitles?

2. The New 52, one year later. The more I think about it, the more I believe the New-52 books will each get at least twelve issues, regardless of sales. If any books are cancelled (and you have to think some of them will be), it’ll be in such a way that DC can claim they “told their stories,” not that readers grew tired of them.

3. The Next 52 (or however many). This is where I mention the promised-but-not-solicited Justice Society series and its Earth-2 setting. More to the point, here DC has a chance to expand the scope of its main line beyond that which made the New 52 a little too familiar. I got into this a little a few weeks back, but that was based on conventional wisdom and a little tea-leaf reading. Maybe a little more originality will work into the next batch of books.

4. Pandora’s playlist. Part of the reason I think the initial New-52 books will all get their twelve issues is this notion that they’re all building to some line-wide event involving the Hooded Woman from the No. 1 issues. DC says to call her Pandora, and she dresses like the Phantom Stranger’s aunt. From her I’m expecting some insight on the fate of the pre-relaunch timeline. Not that I care, of course.

5. More Watchmen. Really, what more is there to say? If the prequel rumors turn out to be true, whatever merits the stories themselves may have will surely be outweighed by the project’s inherent irrelevance. Also, the phrase “naked cash grab” won’t stop popping into my head. Still, there’s time for DC to repurpose the art which has been leaked thus far, and claim it’s all part of some commemorative portfolio. A big part of Watchmen deals with the nature of superhero comics themselves, so naturally it continually risks further exploitation. For characters reworked from their Charlton beginnings, so that DC could subsequently put out Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, The Question, et al., this is somehow ironic, sad, and inevitable, all at once.

6. More multimedia expansion. For various reasons, I haven’t owned a videogame system since my faithful Super Nintendo (almost twenty years ago — yikes!), and haven’t played a game-system kind of game regularly since X-Wing Alliance. Nevertheless, last year I heard nothing but accolades for Batman: Arkham City, which followed the similarly-praised Batman: Arkham Asylum, and which helped cement the Dark Knight’s insertion into another non-comics entertainment area. Although the DC Universe Online game doesn’t seem to have captured the gaming world’s collective heart, it’s still out there too, now free to play. Even if DCUO fades away, surely more Arkham-style games are in development. As for TV, “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” ended its Cartoon Network run, but “Young Justice” and “Green Lantern” will anchor CN’s DC Nation block of … well, a whole lot of different things, perhaps enough to warrant another new show just through the law of averages. Oh, and there have been announcements about new live-action TV series featuring Deadman and The Spectre. I got burned last year on DC’s TV prospects, so I’m not predicting anything about them. One thing’s for sure, though — DC is trying its darnedest to establish footholds in non-comics venues, even if that doesn’t translate into more comics sales.

7. Man of Steel and Green Lantern 2. Carla and I talked about these over the weekend, but I think we’ll learn a lot about the prospects of each by the end of 2012. Specifically, we should know more about whether either of those can replace the Batman (and/or Harry Potter) series as Warner Brothers’ go-to movie franchises. Now, this isn’t quite fair, because there will be another set of Batman movies after Christian Bale takes off his cape. Still, 2013′s Man of Steel is yet another chance for Warners to prove that Superman can be successful without either Christopher Reeve or the particular charms of “Smallville.” From what I have seen, I am hopeful but not optimistic. In fact, if the animated GL series does well enough, it could boost the chances of a live-action sequel, and it’s easier to replace a Green Lantern than it is a Superman.

8. Market share. December’s sales numbers show Marvel reclaiming the largest share of the Direct Market, after four months of coming in second to DC’s superhero titles. This doesn’t shock me, because Marvel just publishes more titles than DC does, and as the initial enthusiasm for the New-52 fades, the numbers tend not to be in DC’s favor. Still, now that DC has had a taste of the top spot, I wonder whether the publisher will start chasing it. Maybe it has started already.

9. Digital effects. Barring some unforeseen collapse, 2012 should provide a year’s worth of insight into DC’s day-and-date digital sales. Whether DC decides to share that with the public at large is another matter. If nothing else, though, digital sales help enforce a stricter shipping schedule for the print books. That could mean more changes in creative teams, whether temporary or permanent, but it could also help foster some every-Wednesday comics-shop habits in those coveted new readers. Of course, digital comics don’t need to conform to standard pamphlet lengths, and if DC decides to offer more digital-only (or at least digital-first) stories, it might open up new avenues for both readers and creators.

And that brings us to …

10. A return to storytelling. I have complained to various degrees about the problems the New-52 relaunch created for us longtime fans. I have also tried hard to be understanding, and to embrace the spirit of freedom and creativity a relaunch encourages. Accordingly, to the extent the New-52 books haven’t themselves embraced that spirit, I’ve been disappointed. If you have the chance to do what you want, you probably need to justify why you do the same old things. Here’s hoping that in 2012, the superhero line uses its still-new freedom wisely, as books like Animal Man, Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, and Batwoman have, and that it cultivates an atmosphere of experimentation. If the DC of 2012 is built on solid fundamentals and good comics, that’ll be the best news I get all year.

Wired’s GeekDad and Underwire blogs have an exclusive first look at Action Comics #5 which, as teased in the issue’s solicitation text, takes us back to doomed Krypton for some “keys facts about Superman’s past” — not the least of which is the apparent fate of Krypto. If you don’t want to know that last detail, you probably shouldn’t click the second link.

Action Comics #5, which features a main story by Grant Morrison, Andy Kubert and Jesse Delperdang, and a backup story by Sholly Fisch and ChrisCross, arrives Jan. 4.

Green Lantern vol. 3 #19

Last week’s post discussed a couple of interrelated topics which I thought deserved a little more attention. One comes out of the idea that there can be a “Superman done right,” and the other deals with the development of a concept over time. Both of these are central to any fan of modern corporately-owned superhero comics, and in fact they inform much of our debates. However, they raise some thorny questions.

First off, the notion of “[character] done right” necessarily implies that the character can be “done wrong.” This is nothing new. Many fans might even say that the “wrong” examples far outnumber the “right” ones. For me, though, the problem comes when the “right” examples vary from the original conception of the character.

We can find examples of this in the various Green Lanterns. Writer John Broome, artist Gil Kane, and editor Julius Schwartz revitalized GL by making him an honest, fearless test pilot; but after a decade of straightforward adventures, Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams turned that on its ear. O’Neil and Adams also created Hal’s new deputy, John Stewart, a passionate architect dedicated to social justice. Nevertheless, for his role on the “Justice League” animated series, John became a hard-edged ex-Marine. This portrayal found its way into the comics, where it superseded John’s original (and somewhat lower-key) background.

Hal’s first backup, Guy Gardner, may have gotten the biggest makeover. Created by Broome and Kane for 1968′s Green Lantern #59, Guy was the one-off star of a story which revealed that he could easily have been top dog in Sector 2814. As you probably know, O’Neil and Adams introduced John after putting Guy out of commission a few pages earlier. Several years later, after a brief stint with a power ring, Guy was left comatose, until writer Steve Englehart and artist Joe Staton revived him in time for Crisis On Infinite Earths. That cataclysm gave Englehart and Staton the opening to make Guy something of a renegade — not quite as bad as Sinestro, but not the most friendly to Hal, John, or their peers. Furthermore, once Guy joined the Justice League, writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis amped up his boorish qualities. Today, all of that has been swirled around and blended into a fairly nuanced personality, but it’s hard to say whether any of it goes back specifically to the brief glimpse readers got in 1968.

Indeed, all three Lanterns trace their roots back to the Golden Age’s Alan Scott, created by Bill Finger and Martin Nodell. Alan literally looks nothing like his descendants: blond with a red, green, and purple costume and a magic ring and battery which didn’t come from the planet Oa. (Well, not directly, and not at first.) So do we judge how faithful Hal, John, and Guy are to Alan? Can we?

It depends on how we view the character of “Green Lantern,” and it brings me to the second prong of today’s post. Although none of us superhero fans are getting any younger, I suspect there are few of us who remember Alan as the only GL. Heck, I wonder how many of us remember a time before Guy or John. It’s not a stretch to suppose that the vast majority of superhero-comics readers see “Green Lantern” as one of DC’s legacies, albeit one which allows (if not encourages) multiple Lanterns to coexist. Put another way, “Green Lantern” isn’t a single character, it’s an idea — hero with magic ring — which runs through decades’ worth of stories and several individual characters. Accordingly, we judge how faithful those characters are to the abstract idea, not necessarily the creators’ intent. Again, we do this in large part because that’s what we know. That’s all we have known. We can try to put ourselves in the place of a reader from the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, whenever, but by and large that’s not our true perspective.

I was reminded of this over the weekend when talking about Star Wars, and specifically how to introduce various younger family members to the Galaxy Far, Far Away. To me, it came down to a couple of factors: the “padawan’s” age, and whether she was interested in the films as one coherent story. Basically, I figured that if a kid didn’t know about a certain big spoiler, she might as well start with Episode I and go all the way through to VI. However, I know that won’t apply in most cases; so generally, I’d start with the 1977 original (as amended, unless one doesn’t mind VHS) before going back to The Phantom Menace. Sure, you have to watch Episode IV twice, but what’s wrong with that?

The larger point, though, is that Star Wars has developed from a single game-changing blockbuster to a familiar, almost constant presence in pop culture. Like many of you, I can remember a world without Star Wars, and therefore I can remember what it was like in the beginning. When I was 8, the only way to see Star Wars was in the theater, and we had to wait a year (uphill, both ways, in the snow) for the first toys. By contrast, today’s adolescents can watch the movies (or the “Clone Wars” cartoons) on the DVD players in their parents’ cars while on their way to Target for the latest action figures and weaponry.

Wow, that sure sounds like Grandpa Simpson, huh? (Speaking of constant presences in pop culture….) I can flip it around just as easily, because those Green Lantern Archives and Showcase Presents are full of stories from before I was born. Fandom has a certain “unearned” quality which is almost unavoidable in such cases, for the simple fact that these longstanding works have become ubiquitous. It was a big deal in 1991 when Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire and Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy’s Dark Empire came out, because Return of the Jedi was eight years in the past and Marvel’s SW comic had been gone for five. Still, what does it matter in the greater scheme of things if Zahn’s novel or the Dark Horse comic were a new fan’s first glimpse at the GFFA? What if today’s fans got hooked first by Phantom Menace or this season’s “Clone Wars?” Without new converts, fandom dies, and the best the old-timers can hope for is that the newbies at least appreciate their roots.

Even so, sometimes those roots are hopelessly tangled. We can’t ignore the shoddy treatment many creators have endured after being cut out of their characters’ successes — but at the same time, we tend only to know these characters in their current forms, in some cases far removed from their first appearances. As a kid, I recognized Superman as drawn by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson, and Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s stories were artifacts of the distant past. Today, I buy Superman comics because of my enduring affection for the character, although that affection comes from having discovered a version of him decades in the making. Regardless, I remain grateful to Siegel and Shuster for their creation, and I want their legacies treated properly.

Thus, I am still trying to work out how to balance my fannish desires with those moral imperatives. Some things, like the Siegel and Shuster estates’ legal rights, aren’t for me to determine. I can control my comics-buying habits, but for various reasons (including this column) I don’t see me boycotting DC anytime soon. Instead, I try to give credit where it’s due while never losing sight of my pastimes’ beginnings. Whether I was there at the start or came in late, I’m one of their historians, and that’s what comes with the job.

Thanks to the ever-resourceful Mike Sterling for the find, you don’t have to burrow through Previews to see DC’s finest the way Superman can see them with his x-ray vision. The vision of a green-tinted skull with the superhero domino mask is frightening in itself.

I, for one, fully endorse this trend and hope the line is successful enough to we can see more shirts in the line. Who wouldn’t want to see how Plastic Man’s skeleton looks when it bends?

You can find images of each shirt after the jump.

*****

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.

OMAC #7

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

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

Ahem.  Away we go…!

HISTORY LESSONS

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

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

THIS AND THAT

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

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

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

COMINGS AND GOINGS

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

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

MINISERIES

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

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

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

COLLECTIONS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * *

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

Remember that unpublished cover Geof Darrow drew for J. Michael Straczynski’s “Grounded” arc on Superman that we posted the other day? Remember Darrow saying to Inkstuds’ Robin McConnell that it never ran as a cover and that “it’ll never see the light of day” despite his “really nice guy” editor’s assurances to the contrary? Good news, Darrow fans: Both Darrow and DC confirm that the finished cover will appear in Superman: Grounded Vol. 2, on sale this Wednesday, Dec. 7. The crazy cat lady will get her time in the sun at last!

I did some for DC Comics and they didn’t run it. I did a Superman cover and they gave me—the editor was a really nice guy, but he gave me some reason why they didn’t run it and I was like “Come on!”

That was recently?

Oh yeah yeah. I liked it. I thought it was funny. It was this whole thing, Superman is on a walkabout, kind of rediscovering America. They asked a bunch of guys to do like—Kevin Nowlan was one of them and they said, you can draw whatever you want. Superman, that’s the thing. He’s rediscovering America. You just can’t show him in New York. So I thought about it. I thought, “Well, flying in front of Mount Rushmore, all this stuff…” I said, “I know!” I drew him having tea with this cat lady in this room, she’s like a little old lady and she’s serving him tea and cookies and he’s sitting on her couch having tea with her and there’s all these cats around and all these pictures of her family on the wall. I thought it was funny! That’s kind of America. They didn’t run it. The issue was supposed to run and they had to change it, it was Lois Lane-centric and they had pffft! I was like…and the editor was a really nice guy, he was very “We’re going to use it someday and blah blah blah.” But I don’t think they ever will, because I’m sure someone will say, “Wait a minute…”

[laughs] “Nothing’s getting hit!”

The other ones are pretty much what you’d thought they would be, him flying with clouds—and they’re all beautiful, I just thought mine was kind of funny. But it’ll never see the light of day.

—Hard Boiled and Shaolin Cowboy cartoonist Geof Darrow reveals his lost Superman cover to Inkstuds’ Robin McConnell. Looks like the Crazy Cat Lady is one villain not even the Man of Steel could defeat.

In all seriousness, though, this doesn’t even scratch the surface of McConnell’s career-spanning interview with Darrow, originally conducted and aired in February and recently transcribed in full on the Inkstuds website. Darrow has stealthily become one of the most influential comics artists in the English-language comics world — recent works by Chris Burnham, Brandon Graham, James Stokoe, Rafael Grampa, Nate Simpson, Ulises Farinas, and Sam Humphries & Steven Sanders all bear his imprint in one way or another — and McConnell’s interview is a treasure trove of anecdotes about Miller, Moebius, Métal Hurlant, The Matrix, and more.

Graded at 9.0, the rare 1938 comic easily surpassed the previous record of $1.5 million set in March 2010 for the same issue, featuring the first appearance of Superman. That copy was graded slightly lower, at 8.5.

Vincent Zurzolo, chief operating officer of ComicConnect/Metropolis Collectibles, told Comic Riffs that the issue that sold this evening — bidding closed at 7:25 p.m. ET — is the best copy of Action Comics he’s ever seen.

“The buyer was extremely excited about the prospect of bidding on this,” he said. “I think he had an adrenalin rush for the last two hours.”

The comic was stolen from Cage’s Los Angeles home in 2000, and discovered in April by an unidentified man who claims to have bought the contents of an abandoned San Fernando Valley, California, storage locker. Although Zurzolo wouldn’t reveal the comic’s previous owner, he did confirm that his company played a role in its recovery.

About 100 copies of Action Comics #1 are believed to exist, but only a handful of those are in good condition.

If the rapid approach of the holidays has pushed you into panic mode, just relax, because you’ve already found the perfect gift for the superhero-comics fan in your life (or, y’know, yourself): a superhero Snuggie, or as the trademark sticklers prefer to call it, a “Comfy Throw Blanket With Sleeves”!

If you can’t fight crime like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman or Spider-Man, you can at least look like them — well, kind of? — while remaining toasty in the comfort of your own beige living room, while sitting on your own beige sofa and watching your own (probably) beige television. Hey, I’m only going by the product photos, which do a better job of advertising furniture than selling one-size-fits-all Snuggies Comfy Throw Blankets With Sleeves using two models and Photoshop.

Batman is out of stock, but you can still get Superman ($30.97), Wonder Woman ($25.99) and Spider-Man ($24.95) while supplies last! Act now and you’ll get … I don’t know, peace of mind? The satisfaction of seeing your loved one smile uncomfortably while modeling, and pretending to appreciate, a garish, yet comfy, fleece shroud? Yeah, probably that.

(via Geekologie)

Wolverine and the X-Men

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

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

Chris Arrant

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

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

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

Graeme McMillan

Flash #3

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

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

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

Chris Mautner

RASL #12

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

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

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

Michael May

Justice League Dark #3

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

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

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

Because a Crisis On Infinite Earths homage would have been too predictable

At first I wasn’t especially excited about too much in DC’s February solicitations. However, the more I looked around, the more optimistic I became. Six months into the New 52, some connections are starting to gel, and their interactions (well, as far as what you can glean from the ad copy) seem more organic. As always, there were a few pleasant surprises in the collected editions, and some details from which to spin hopeful speculation.

But enough with the purple prose — let’s hit the books!

TO UNLIMITED AND BEYOND

The gee-whizziest news of the February solicitations has to be the digital-first format of Batman Beyond Unlimited. I have not been the quickest to adapt to digitally-conveyed comics, mostly because my personal technology level hasn’t caught up. However, I do read a number of webcomics, as well as newspaper strips online, and if the price were right, I’d gladly sample BBU’s features on my computer before picking up the print version. Having Dustin Nguyen and (yay!) Norm Breyfogle involved doesn’t hurt either.

FAMILY AFFAIRS

I like the Legion pretty well, but surely I am not the only one who gets hives reading about the “suspiciously different versions” coming soon to Action Comics. Weren’t we past that…?

Nevertheless, there is a nice sense of connectivity in February’s Super-family titles. Although I am not tired of Springsteen Supes by any means, the thought of Krypto-Armor Superman trying to save his younger self from the Anti-Superman Army (again, with the Legions’ help) is a pleasingly retro idea, even if it does echo that one issue of All Star Superman. Likewise, Supergirl showing up in Superman and Superboy, and the Maid of Might having to cope with the effects of blue-sun radiation, all help bring our favorite Kryptonians together. In particular, I thought this week’s Supergirl used Superman effectively to explain not only his mission, but her relationship to it.

Similarly, February’s issues of Voodoo, Stormwatch, and Grifter will try to (re-)establish a little WildStorm corner of DC’s superhero line — which then, I presume, can reach out to more recognizably-DC books like Suicide Squad. I’m actually reading Stormwatch and Grifter, and I liked Sami Basri’s work on Voodoo, but I’m still not sure this will get me to pick up the latter regularly. The first issue didn’t do much for me, and subsequent solicits haven’t changed that.

THE DEEP BENCH

Bleeding Cool had a good rundown of creative-team changes in the February solicitations, so I will note only a few of them. I’ll miss Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan on Justice League International, but I’m eager to see Nicola Scott and Trevor Scott finishing George Pérez’s Superman breakdowns, and Chris Sprouse and Karl Story should be good as always on Legion of Super-Heroes. Also, it’s not really a creative-team shift, but February’s Batwoman #6 marks the debut of Amy Reeder and Richard Friend in the rotation as regular art team; and Sam Kieth draws a sequence in THUNDER Agents #4.

CALLBACKS

Under different circumstances, I’d hope that the invitation to “[l]earn the origins of Central and Keystone City” in The Flash #6 would be a reference to “Flash Of Two Worlds.” However, with (apparently) no superheroic Golden Age in the New-52′s history, there would be no Golden Age Flash to reintroduce. Otherwise, I’m not sure the Flash especially needs a “character-in-its-own-right” setting like Gotham or Metropolis. Central City is nice, I’m sure, but as long as its topography is conducive to super-speed action, it doesn’t have to do much more.

Almost a year ago, posting about The Atlantis Chronicles, I wondered if Geoff Johns’ Aquaman work would compel DC to reprint Peter David and Esteban Maroto’s excellent 1990 miniseries. Since the solicit for Aquaman #6 now links the continent’s sinking to Mera’s past, I am less confident about such a reprint.

The mention of Pozhar, in the solicit for Firestorm #6, gives me hope that DC will reprint much of John Ostrander’s late-‘80s run on the book’s predecessor. Ostrander introduced Pozhar (and other assorted Soviet-era characters), but they then faded into deep obscurity. It’d be nice to have a Showcase Presents John Ostrander’s Russian Firestorm to get re-acquainted.

I’m not so sure the giant bat of All-Star Western #6 is the same giant bat which figured so prominently in Bruce Wayne’s return to the Bat-books last year. Jonah Hex isn’t a pushover, but I doubt he could permanently put down a nigh-immortal critter created by Darkseid. Still, I suppose this is why we have All-Star Western and not a relaunched Jonah Hex — to give Jonah the flexibility to wrassle with fantastic monsters.

CHECKING IN

While I have not read any issues of Captain Atom past the first, I remain a bit curious about its place in the New 52. Accordingly, I’m guessing — based on nothing concrete beyond the solicitation — that the “strangely similar” threat and the “ending you’ll never see coming” have something to do with his counterpart(s) across DC’s Multiverse.

I have also not returned to Deathstroke after issue #1, but it looks like the solicit for #6 will touch on Slade’s ex-wife and late son, whose stories were told in the pages of the Wolfman/Pérez Teen Titans. Adeline should be pretty much the same: an Army officer assigned to shepherd young Slade through his training, the two fell in love, even without watching the Captain America movie. However, it’ll be instructive to see how the inevitable revisions to Grant’s Ravager origin affect Slade’s motivations. Grant first appeared in November 1980′s New Teen Titans #1, as a selfish creep whose life was ruined (collaterally, of course) by the embryonic team’s fight with Gordanian slavers. Accordingly, in #2, when Deathstroke turned down The HIVE’s contract to kill the Titans, the HIVE turned to Grant. They made him a super-soldier, but at the cost of his remaining youth: he literally burned himself out trying to kill the Titans. Raven gave him a final moment of peace by showing him the illusion that he’d succeeded, but Deathstroke swore vengeance upon the Titans for his son’s death, and accepted the contract the Ravager didn’t complete. Thus, without a Teen Titans to destroy, I’m wondering how the new origin will play out.

POTPOURRI

Did I miss something a year ago? Wasn’t DC Universe Online Legends just an extra-long miniseries? The solicits for February’s issues make it sound like things are about to wrap up, but there’s no indication the series is about to end. I haven’t been reading it, so I have no feelings one way or the other. Still, if it’s an ongoing, it’s kind of nice to think that DC has another “classic-style” title. Ironic, too, that the classic style may be limited to tie-in books like DCUOL, Batman: B&B, and Young Justice.

Not to be unreasonably pedantic about the solicit for Green Arrow #6, but if the touch of “monstrous half-man” Midas “can melt anything,” wouldn’t that necessarily include Green Arrow?

Last month I had a chance to get a little ahead on my posting, so I speculated about the possible fates of Krypto and Wally West before realizing I had to write about the January solicits. That post got bumped back a week, but just about the time it went live there were big stories about both. And that might have been okay, but two weeks ago I mused about a Challengers of the Unknown revival, and here they are in February’s DC Universe Presents #6. Time to buy a lottery ticket, I guess — although I feel more like Gardner Fox dreaming of Earth-Two….

READ ‘EM UNDER A BLUE MOON

I almost forgot to mention the handful of DC titles shipping on one of the rarest direct-market events, the February Fifth Week.  This quirk of the retail calendar can only happen on February 29, and with the New-52′s strict four-week schedule it won’t spill over into week 5.  Thus, 2/29/12 will offer a more eclectic lineup:  DC Universe Online Legends #24, Batman:  Odyssey vol. 2 #5, Batman Beyond Unlimited #1, The Shade #5, THUNDER Agents #4, Legion:  Secret Origin #5, Tiny Titans #49, Looney Tunes #205, Gears Of War #22, Uncharted #4, Spaceman #4, Scalped #56, and Unwritten #34.5.

COLLECTIONS

Probably a lot more people have read Batman: Son of the Demon since it was reissued recently, but I think this is the first time in a long time that its follow-ups have been reprinted. I liked SOTD well enough, although it wears its ‘80s influences proudly. Bride of the Demon doesn’t stand out as much, probably because it doesn’t have the hook of Batman and Talia’s child, and otherwise it’s another Bond-influenced Rā’s al Ghūl story. However, Birth of the Demon focuses squarely on the Demon’s Head, telling his origin in detail. Plus, the present-day framing sequence is pretty rough on Batman, and it’s all depicted in spectacular fashion by Norm Breyfogle. Therefore, I endorse the Bride of the Demon omnibus collection. Like a wise man once said, two out of three ain’t bad.

Speaking of spectacular depictions, the Legends of the Dark Knight hardcover series is turning into something routinely recommendable. April’s Jim Aparo volume seems like an especially good value, reprinting twenty-two issues of early-‘70s The Brave and the Bold in full color for $50.00. If DC sticks with the Aparo series and finishes out B&B (which ended with #200), it’d probably only take another couple of volumes, and you’d be left with a very nice run of team-ups.

I have to admit, I was surprised that the second New Teen Titans Omnibus got as far as “The Judas Contract.” (I thought that would come in Volume 3.)  However, as I keep saying, it’s best to read the Wolfman/Pérez run as a cohesive whole, not a series of discrete arcs. You can’t really appreciate the four issues of “Judas Contract” without the rest as context, blah blah blah, you’ve heard this before. Anyway, for just $75.00 retail, here’s your chance. I do hope DC has a Volume 3 waiting, because that would take us through Wonder Girl’s wedding in #50 and Raven’s transfiguration in the second series’ #5.

Glad to see another Flash Archives on the horizon, mostly because it helps justify my buying the previous five. However, it also includes “Doorway to the Unknown” from issue #148 (November 1968), a spooky little tale (atypical for the series) reprinted a couple of times, which I remember fondly from one of the big 1970s “Best of DC” tabloids.

Finally, this month’s surprise reprint is Black Orchid, a 3-issue Prestige Format miniseries from (as the solicit says) the pre-Sandman Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. According to his contemporaneous Amazing Heroes interview, at the time Black Orchid was a character so obscure that when he pitched the miniseries to editor Karen Berger, she thought he was saying “Blackhawk Kid.” Batman and Lex Luthor appear briefly, but McKean’s art is the real draw (as it were), taking readers from gloomy, monochromatic streets to the lush, colorful rainforest. This miniseries led to an ongoing series, and (I think) to the character even appearing in Ostrander’s Suicide Squad. She’s popped up here and there recently, so it’s not like there has been a great clamor for her return, and this may just be DC’s latest attempt to squeeze more money from Neil Gaiman fans. Regardless, it’s not a bad try.

* * *

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