PANEL: Mom's Cancer

Mom's Cancer
By Brian Fies
March 2006, Image (Harry N. Abrams)

LINK: Establishing Shots #7

My latest column is up at PopCultureShock, a month late and on a completely different subject than I'd originally intended -- NY Comic-Con is kind of a dead topic now -- but worth reading nonetheless!

Establishing Shots #7: It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp
You Gotta Love 'em or Leave 'em Alone

I want to get back to how I felt the first time I read Batman as a kid, or Skyscrapers of the Midwest as an adult -- that sense of unequivocal joy that comes from reading a story well-told, with characters who stick with you long after the comic is put away. Back to pimping my favorite comics -- whether that's Elk's Run or Son of Vulcan -- in the hopes of inspiring at least one other person to read them. Back to reading engaging coverage of comics I may have missed the first time around, piquing my interest and convincing me to check something new out -- like Alex Robinson's Box Office Poison or Corey Lewis' Sharknife.

Back to appreciating comics for being the amazingly flexible art form it is, offering the ability to tell stories ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime, the mainstream to the niche; and back to appreciating the privilege it is to have the opportunity to write about them, not simply out of obligation, but out of sincere passion.

I also announce my still unnamed review column -- where's the suggestions, opinionated blogiverse? -- and officially introduce Kevin as our Managing Editor. Go, read, comment!

Ye Olde Comick Booke Meme

From Ye Olde Comick Booke Blogge, via Chris @ 2 Guys...

Hypothetical situation: Due to diminished readership and rising paper costs, it has been decided only fifteen comic titles will be published from this day forward. You have been charged with the decisions of which titles shall be printed and what creative teams will be assigned to them...

What fifteen comic books will we find on the racks next month and who will be the creative teams behind them?

This is kind of tough since I still tend to favor characters over creators -- except in the case of creator-owned series, which I've excluded from this wish list -- but here's what my mash-up publisher's slate would look like:

Adam Strange, written by Andy Diggle, art by Pascual Ferry
--Their mini-series, before the ending was waylaid by Infinite Crisis, was one of the best superhero space operas I'd read in a long while. I'd love to see it return as an ongoing, full supporting cast intact.

Batman, written and art by Matt Wagner
--Batman and the Monster Men has been great, and I'd love to see Wagner on Batman on a regular basis.

Gotham Central, written by Lawrence Block, art by Michael Lark
--Lawrence Block is my favorite mystery/detective novelist, and paired with Lark, Gotham Central would be even better than it was.

Jonah Hex, written by Phil Hester, art by Nick Stakal
--Loved their team-up in Western Tales of Terror a while back, and Hex could use a little indie jolt.

Suicide Squad, written by Greg Rucka, art by Georges Jeanty
--I like Rucka's novels more than most of his recent comics work, but I think Suicide Squad would be right in his wheelhouse. Jeanty's clean pencils and ability to handle large casts will be a perfect complement.

Teen Titans, written by Scott Beatty, art by Keron Grant
--Beatty has a great handle on sidekicks, and Grant's manga stylings grew on me over the course of their Son of Vulcan mini-series and would be perfect for attracting fans of the cartoon.

Astonishing X-Men, written by Fabian Nicieza, art by Steve McNiven
--You gotta have the mutants represented, and I love what Nicieza's doing on the Thunderbolts. McNiven's one of the few fan favorite artists I really dig, and did a good job with a large cast on his New Avengers stint.

Captain America, written by Ed Brubaker, art by Sean Phillips
--Brubaker has made me a fan of the only character I've ever been less interested in than Superman, and re-teaming him with Phillips would give this series the perfect visual tone.

Heroes for Hire, written by Reginald Hudlin, art by Jamal Igle
--Hudlin does the fun stuff well, so I'd love to see his take on Luke Cage, Iron Fist and the Daughters of the Dragon, holding it down in NYC. Igle knows how to draw black people in more than two variations, so he'd be a perfect match.

Moon Knight, written by Doug Moench and Charlie Huston, art by Bill Sienkiewicz
--Old school meets new school, as drawn by Moon Knight's definitive artist.

Power Pack, written by Marc Sumerak, art by Gurihiru
--Something for the kids, and Nickelodeon, but fun enough for all ages. Must include the Franklin Richards backup stories.

X-Factor, written by Peter David, art by Kano
--You need the darker side of the mutant world to balance out the more fun Astonishing, and PAD's Madrox is too good a character to let go.

Conan, written by Kurt Busiek, art by Cary Nord
--Licenses are a must, especially when they're good, and this is a good series.

G.I. Joe: America's Elite!, written by Joe Casey, art by Stefano Caselli
--Ditto.

Micronauts, written by Rick Remender, art by Tony Moore
--Fear Agent has been a lot of fun, so I'd love to see these two let loose on the Microverse.

LINK: Isotope Legal Download Fest

A Week-Long Celebration of the Future of Comics
w/ Previews from Oni, Top Shelf, AdHouse & More



In celebration of the overwhelming response to their offering all of their exclusive sneak peeks of upcoming books, the Isotope is doing something a little special as they lead up to the Alternative Press Expo and the awarding of the 2006 Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics this weekend... and that's a week-long Legal Download Fest featuring books from the fine folks at Oni Press, Top Shelf, Silent Devil Productions, Boom! Entertainment, and AdHouse Books.

All week long, only at the Isotope!

LINK: Moench and Huston talk Moon Knight

It's like one of the best Marvel Team-Ups ever, and I'm totally jealous that ComicFoundry got it instead of me:

THE CONVERSATION // CHARLIE HUSTON
DOUG MOENCH

There's a lot of great back-and-forth between the two of them, and Moench provides some interesting background on the original Moon Knight series, including sales figures from its canary-in-the-coal-mine shift to a direct market-only series, and insight into Bill Sienkiewicz' development from a Neal Adams clone to the signature style he's known for today. The conversation kicks off with a really awkward moment that reflects really badly on Marvel:

MOENCH: You know what? I got a phone call yesterday from a guy who was saying he was just in a comic shop and he saw one of those giant black-and-white phone books, "The Essential Moon Knight." Do you guys know about that?

HUSTON: I’ve got it right here, man.

MOENCH: You’re kidding.

HUSTON: Yeah.

MOENCH: When did that come out?

HUSTON: January or February.

MOENCH: They didn’t send me a copy!

HUSTON: They didn’t send me a copy either. I had to go down and pay for it myself as well. They don’t send shit, man.

MOENCH: Oh, the sent me copies of "the Essential Ghost Rider," for christ’s sake. C’mon.

C'mon, indeed! That's really lame. I'm just thankful it's Huston penning the new series and not Bendis or, god forbid, Millar. It'd be amazing to see Moench do an Annual, especially if they got Sienkiewicz to draw it, though I wouldn't hold my breath. I mean, not sending him a copy of Essential Moon Knight? Makes me wonder how royalties work on those things...

LINK: Marvel Writer's Meeting

Chris, of 2 guys buying comics, is f'n hilarious!

Fly On The Wall, Vol. 2: Marvel Writer's Meeting
SETTING: Ritzy hotel room in Manhattan
PLAYERS: Joe Quesada, Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, Ed Brubaker

...

JQ: Anyway, Mark, how's the Civil War coming along?

MM: Oh, it's great. Really great. Lots of superheroes, you know.

ALL: (silence)

JQ: (looks expectantly at Millar) Yeah, but how's the story?

MM: Oh, it's great. Writes itself, you know. Superhero Registration Act and all, you know.

EB: How is that different than the Mutant Registration Act?

JQ: Ed, please. You're not helping.

EB: I just want to know---

MM: I can handle this, Joe. It's different because it's not just mutants this time!

ALL: (silence)

Chris pulls no punches, while nicely absolving Brubaker of any guilt -- notice how Bru got away from DC right before the Infinite Crisis crossover-by-committee clusterfuck kicked into high gear, and how his Marvel titles are some of the best stuff they're publishing right now? -- and effectively offers an on-point overview of the current state of the Marvel Universe. With loads of snark, of course.

The finanical sites need to pick this up for their MVL feeds.

On The Shelves: 4/5/06

Support GOOD Comics! Try something new EVERY month.

Here's my weekly look at select comic books being released Wednesday, 4/5/06. The full shipping is list available at ComicList.

[NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure to take advantage of it. If not, find another one; or try Khepri.com or MidtownComics.com]

PICK OF THE WEEK


Revolution On The Planet Of The Apes #3

ADHOUSE BOOKS
Superior Showcase #1, $2.95

The follow-up to last year's FCBD standout, Superior Showcase #0 (which was a spinoff of the unfortunately out-of-print Project: Superior), AdHouse presents another trio of quirky tales featuring "heroes that are super." My favorite this time around is Mike Dawson's bittersweet "Ace-Face vs. The Target", starring Ace-Face, the Mod with the Metal Arms. Check out his web site for a sneak peek at Freddie and Me, "the epic story of my lifelong obsession with the rock band Queen." Queen was the first band I ever saw in concert, way back in 1980 when The Game was released and Another One Bites the Dust was my favorite song. The Game was my first LP, and the concert tickets were freebies I got through a summer science program I was in, so it goes without saying that I'll be checking out Freddie and Me. Who says nostalgia is dead?

AMAZE INK (SLAVE LABOR GRAPHICS)
Emo Boy #6, $2.95
Little Scrowlie #13, $2.95
Next Exit #8, $2.95

I'm not really SLG's target market -- despite 15 Minutes and Vaistron -- but I love a good fight, and SLG Editor-in-Chief Jennifer de Guzman vs. Punk Planet has been an interesting, if rather one-sided, dustup.

DC COMICS
Batman And The Monster Men #6 (Of 6), $3.50
Detective Comics #818, $2.50
Ex Machina #19, $2.99
Hellblazer Papa Midnite TPB, $12.99
Infinite Crisis #6 (Of 7), $3.99
Jonah Hex #6, $2.99
Teen Titans #34, $2.50

So far, One Year Later has kind of fizzled for me, not generating any significant interest in anything new beyond some of the Bat-family becoming readable again, and the pleasant, if somewhat flawed, surprise of Blue Beetle #1. Having it kick off before the end of Infinite Crisis has also lessened my interest in that story, too, as whatever affect it may have on the DCU is muted somewhat by knowing all the major players are back in play one year later. I mean, does anybody really think Superman is going to stay de-powered? And does anybody really care that Super-clone is dead? It's that sense of "meh" that's keeping Jonah Hex on my pull list.

DEVILS DUE PUBLISHING
GI Joe Americas Elite #10, $2.95

Chugging along monthly with solid storytelling and perfectly complementary artwork. It may not be pushing comix forward, but it's a solid read that I look forward to each month.

I BOX PUBLISHING
Thieves & Kings #48, $3.50

I bought the Vol. I TPB a while back but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Certainly seems right up my alley, though. Anyone out there reading it want to pimp it?

MARKOSIA
Dark Mists Bumper Edition, $4.95

This collects the first two issues originally published by AP Comics, but the 3rd issue came out a few weeks ago so it's awkward timing. Nevertheless, it's a pretty good read and was a smart pick-up for Markosia, as the eventual TPB should have a solid shelf life. If #3 is still on the shelf at your LCBS, they're both worth picking up before then.

MARVEL COMICS
Moon Knight #1, $2.99
Moon Knight Finch Sketch Variant #1, $2.99
Young Avengers #11, $2.99

Finally, Moon Knight Returns. Fuck yeah! Already read the first issue via PDF and Huston does a great job setting the table while Finch pulls off his best work yet. Still not a fan, but credit where due. And I'll be killing comics by picking up the cover price variant, too! I'm going to miss Young Avengers when it's on hiatus, but it's been shipping so sporadically lately that I might not even notice!

MR COMICS
Revolution On The Planet Of The Apes #3 (Of 6), $3.95

I love what these guys are doing with this series and hope it sells well enough that they can do more with it. One of the few indies that really give a bang for your buck as the higher cover price is balanced by meaty extras.

TITAN PUBLISHING
Writers On Comics Scriptwriting SC (New Ptg), $16.95

This is an excellent read for both comics fans and aspiring writers, and was one of the first comic Books I read when I started buying comics again. It was the Grant Morrison interview that led to an Invisibles TPB being my first exposure to his work and tainted my opinion ever since. Not sure what the "New Ptg" includes, but Amazon still has what appears to be the first printing at a nice discount.

Magazines
Prism Comics Lgbt Guide To Comics Magazine 2006, $5.95

I'm a fan of demographic marketing as I recognize the desire to see familiar representations of life in my escapist fantasy, so I'm curious to see what falls under Prism's umbrella, and how accessible it is to a hetero reader. EDIT: Just realized this might read as somewhat contradictory, or simply confusing. What I meant was, while I am a fan of demographic marketing, I always find it interesting to see just how targeted a particular thing is and whether or not there's any appeal beyond its target audience. ie: Crash was clearly targeted at an urban audience (some have cynically argued specifically at the Hollywood audience who would be voting in the Oscars), but its subject matter wasn't so esoteric as to be completely inaccessible to a broader audience. Brokeback Mountain, on the other hand, attempted to market itself as a "universal love story" in order to overcome its perception as "the gay cowboy" movie and reach a broader audience. Ironically, in doing so, it may have won the battle at the box office only to lose the war at the Oscars.

PopCultureShock Update #513f

Slowly but surely, I'm getting back on track over there. A huge help in that regard was finally finding a managing editor, Kevin MacDonald, who saw my posting on The Engine and endured a grueling interview process that included publicly, and intelligently, talking comics while drinking in an Irish pub. Equally important, though, is that he's actually a production editor by day, working for one of the major publishing houses here in the City. He'll be taking over coordinating and editing approx. 60% of our columns, while I finally turn my attention to getting our reviews up to snuff. Yay, Kevin!

Speaking of reviews, Johnny Bacardi has worked out nicely -- check out his latest Revue, now running on 1st Mondays -- and I'm planning to join him with my own monthly review column, starting in two weeks. (Suggestions for the column's name? Winner will get something comic-related!) I've also moved Greg Burgas' Comics You Should Own feature to the 2nd and 4th Monday slots, so now Mondays will once again always feature reviews. Standalone reviews are the next thing to figure out, but they will be limited to OGNs and TPBs.

Beyond reviews, once Kevin has his sea legs, I plan to jump back into doing interviews and features again, with a ridiculous backlog of people and comics I want to cover. Free Comic Book Day looms on the horizon and I'm debating whether or not I want to do another marathon review of everything being released. Last year's coverage was a case of biting off more than I could chew and resulted in multiple 3am nights! It was fun, though, and I discovered several gems because of it, so it'll be hard to resist this year.

Finally, on the relaunch/redesign front, there's nothing new to report. Work continues behind the scenes to make sure when it goes live, it's actually ready to go live.

PS: Had the pleasure of meeting Johanna Draper Carlson last week, and she is as nice and straightforward in person as she is on comicsworthreading.com. At one point, she asked about PCS, and why I do what I do for free, and I told her it's basically to keep the writing juices flowing until the day I have the time to devote my energies to my own writing. It's a lot easier to bang out a review of something than it is to carve out a couple of hours a day dedicated to my own fiction writing. That said, there's days -- like last Friday, perhaps -- where I question the sanity of it. Figuring out a way this weekend to work it into my taxes certainly helped. This year, I just need to figure out a way to make it come out profitably!

PANEL: Jova's Harvest #3

Jova's Harvest #3
By Steve Uy
March 2006, Arcana Studio