Indoor Baseball

Do you have rooms in your house that aren’t used? I do. My formal living room is one of those rooms. It has a dormered ceiling that’s 12 feet high. It’s a complete waste of space and insures the room stays ice-box cold all winter long. But, the high ceiling makes the room look very impressive. The room would probably look more impressive if it had furniture in it. Needless to say, we barely use it.

Boy uses it more than anyone. He’s turned it into his indoor basketball court. He goes into the room and throws the ball at the wall for hours. Yes, hours. Of course, Tiny who wants to be as good as her big brother at everything, occasionally uses the room too.

The other day, while making dinner, I heard Tiny bouncing the ball all over the room. Eventually, she called Boy into the room. Because he’s nice, he went. Shortly thereafter, Boy returned, rolling his eyes. Then Tiny called Girl into the room and soon she returned rolling her eyes. Finally, Tiny called Wife into the room. By the time Wife returned, I couldn’t take it anymore. “What is going on in there?” I asked.

Wife explained that Tiny was practicing throwing and she was throwing the ball over everyone’s head. As Wife finished explaining, I got the call.

I went to the living room and asked, “What’s going on, Little Girl?”

Tiny explained, “I can throw the ball super high! I threw the ball over Boy. I threw the ball over Girl. I threw the ball over Wife. You’re the biggest so now I have to throw the ball over you!”

This may come as a surprise but I tend to be slightly silly at home. So when Tiny told me to stand there, I extended both my arms as high about my head as I could. “No Daddy! Arms down.” Tiny said.

Then we went through a couple of iterations of what arms down meant. I put my elbows in the air. I put my wrists in the air. I put animals in my hands at my shoulders. It took a while for us to agree what to agree what ‘down’ meant. But, finally, I put my arms down. Tiny leaned back to throw, and just before she launched the ball, I jumped into the air as high as I could. “No Daddy! No jumping either.”

I could tell Tiny was getting frustrated so I stopped and just stood there. So, Tiny leaned back to throw the ball and suddenly I saw a little gleam in her eye. She leaned back a little farther than usual and threw the ball as hard… and as straight as she could.
Let me tell ya, that child is going to be quite a pitcher some day.

IDW Preview Review for February Part 2 of 2

PART 2 AS PROMISED

FROM THE ASHES
Written, art and cover by Bob Fingerman.
Bob Fingerman's speculative memoir (starring Bob and his wife Michelle) set in a post-apocalyptic and nuclear ravaged New York City is a surprisingly perky take on Armageddon. A hip satirical romp though Manhattan's ruins, From the Ashes is a new spin on the old autobiographical comics genre. 160 pages, $19.99.
Lee: This is a book I cannot wait for. I think of this as the capper of Fingerman’s horror trilogy with Recess Pieces, Connective Tissue, and now this. The first two were great and I bet this will be good too. Comix does Zombies. You can’t go wrong.
Jim: I’m totally unfamiliar with this material and therefore this does not generate any excitement for me, but I love how varied IDW is making their line of books and comics.

GRIMJACK OMNIBUS
Written by John Ostrander, art by Timothy Truman.
The entire original John Ostrander/Timothy Truman GrimJack run, from its very beginnings in Starslayer to the first 21 issues of First Comics' solo title. BlacJacMac! Bob The Watchlizard! Goddess! Gordon Munden! They're all here in all their amazing glory! The creation that made comics superstars of Ostrander and Truman, now all gathered in one stellar Omnibus edition! 400 pages, $24.99.
Lee: I wish I knew if this were b&w or color. I’m betting b&w because shorter, more expensive color trades have already been done. Since I have those I won’t be getting this but it’s great material if you haven’t read it yet. Ostrander creates a excellent science fiction private eye. And this is some of Truman’s best art too.
Jim: I have the shorter more expensive trades and if this is in color I will be crying. Not really because the trades I have are high grade paper and I suspect this will not be.

MUNDEN'S BAR: ALL-STAR, ALL-NEW, ALL-STRANGE
Written by John Ostrander and Martha Thomases, art by Skip Williamson, William Messner-Loebs, Marc Hempel, Joe Staton, Joanna Estep, Hilary Barta, Chris Burnham, Mark Wheatley and Norm Breyfogle, cover by Marc Hempel.
Return to the nexus-point of Cynosure, GrimJack's own Munden's Bar, for a slew of brand-new, never-before-printed stories produced by comics' most creative talents‹including Skip Williamson, John Ostrander, William Messner-Loebs, Marc Hempel, Joe Staton, Hilary Barta, Mark Wheatley and guest-starring Wolverine MacAlistar, Jesus Christ, Del Close, the Frankenstein Mobster, and more! Cutting-edge heroic wackiness, as only found at Munden's! 104 pages, $17.99.
Lee: The Munden’s Bar backups from Grimjack were always good. And, many of the artists who did stories took the chance to really try new things. With this line up of artists, I’m sure this will be very, very good material!
Jim: Munden’s Bar was a place where a lot of different people got a chance to tell a story or two. A nice melding of new and old and almost had an underground feel to it sometimes.

WEEKLY WORLD NEWS #2
Written by Chris Ryall, art by Alan Robinson, covers by Alan Robinson and Thom Zahler.
In the second chapter of "The Irredemption of Ed Anger," the first-ever Weekly World News comic series, Ed hits the road in his attempt to discredit Bat Boy and runs into Manigator and Nessie the Lake Erie Serpent, even as Chaos Cloud gives him a nightmare at 20,001 feet...! Bonus back-up: more classic articles from the Weekly World News! 32 pages, $3.99.
Jim: Doing all the things to make them financial sound allows them to do fun books that I’m not sure anyone other then Dark Horse would dare to take a shot at.
Lee: This just looks like fun.

Jim: When you add in Grimjack, Locke & Key, Ben Templesmith’s work, Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson, Fallen Angel, Angel, Transformers, Bloom County collections and more you can see why IDW has become one of the big names outside of Marvel and DC.
Lee: Yep, with all that talent I see the IDW review continuing to be part of the monthly preview-review cycle. And, I see myself spending more and more money with them this year.

IDW Preview Review for February Part 1 of 2

Jim: As promised we have moved to IDW for awhile instead of Image. Image will be in the indies preview review. Now as this is for February, the solicitations of new stuff are very light, but we can pick some of their regular material to talk about.
Lee: There isn’t much new stuff but since it’s IDW it’s all new to us. And based upon what I saw in the Image previews… this was an excellent choice.

MERCY THOMPSON: MOON CALLED #1
Written by Patricia Biggs and Derek Ruiz, art and cover by Clint Hillinski.
Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson is a talented Volkswagen mechanic living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington. She also happens to be a walker, a magical being with the power to shift into a coyote at will. Mercy's next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a bus for a vampire...
This is the world of Mercy Thompson, one that looks a lot like ours but is populated by those things that go bump in the night. And Mercy's connection to those things is about to get her into some serious hot water...
Moon Called faithfully adapts Patricia Briggs' first Mercy Thompson novel to comics. Prepare to see the fantastic characters and supernatural settings that have made her novels a hit with fans worldwide come to four-color life! 32 pages, $3.99.
Jim: This is part of what IDW does. They go out and try to pick up highly popular material from other genres and put it into a comic book format. For myself this is material that I would skip but many of these smaller publishers has gotten smart and are not depending on just direct market comic books stores for building an audience.
Lee: I just hope this is better than the Anita Blake poop that Marvel is abusing the fans with. That stuff is so bad this can’t help but be better.

G.I. JOE COBRA II #2
Written by Mike Costa and Christos N. Gage, art by Antonio Fuso, covers by Howard Chaykin and Fuso.
General Hawk's new operative has found Chuckles... who's in no mood to be rescued. And considering how his last handler ended up, maybe she should take his advice and leave him alone. Meanwhile, delve deeper into Cobra's twisted inner circles as Tomax and Xamot are called before the high command. 32 pages, $3.99.
Jim: A big IDW coup was getting the GI Joe license. They have gone full force with it and personally I’m not a Joe fan, but the first mini-series about Cobra was very good and I’m looking forward to more with the second mini.
Lee: This is another tough choice for me. I want to like Joe but it’s so dense and mired in it’s own universe that I’m very, very hesitant to get into it. People who like it love it, but I’m still not sure.

CLASSIC G.I. JOE VOLUME 7
Written by Larry Hama, art by Marshall Rogers, Danny Bulanadi, William Johnson, Ron Wagner, Russ Heath and Andy Mushynsky, cover by J. Scott Campbell.
More classic G.I. Joe action in this seventh collection of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero! Including the issues "Beginnings and Endings," "Manuevering for Position," and "Into the Beach," read along with the action as the G.I. Joe team battles Cobra around the globe. 232 pages, $19.99.
Jim: I give IDW props for printing of all the old material in affordable collections also, both Dark Horse and IDW respect that the fans would like to have these collections and they appear to listen.
Lee: I agree, but this is still junk. Memories of this Joe version are what keep me from getting into the new series.

STAR TREK:DEEP SPACE NINE: FOOL'S GOLD #3
Written by Scott & David Tipton, art by Fabio Mantovani, covers by Sharp Brothers, David Messina.
As the temperature rises aboard Deep Space Nine, Captain Sisko, Kira and Odo come closer to getting to the bottom of the mystery. Can Sisko calm the volatile situation and restore order before another riot breaks out? And what does Garak have to do with all that has transpired? 32 pages, $3.99.
Jim: Another huge franchise license deal is Star Trek. Right now IDW maybe single handedly keeping the franchise out there ever month. They do all the various iterations of the series and jump on the movie from this year with both feet.
Lee: This is all you because this is a franchise I really don’t care about. But, there’s a market because IDW is doing lots of it.
Jim: Actually this is not even me, I enjoyed the latest Star Trek movies, but the comics never got my attention. I think it is because the comics are never considered actual canon in the Star Trek Universe.

DAN DECARLO: JETTA
Written, art and cover by Dan DeCarlo.
Dan DeCarlo's futuristic curvy teenage girl Jetta zoomed through the future a full decade before Judy Jetson. In the 1950s, the fan favorite artist, beloved for his portrayals of Betty and Veronica, Josie and Sabrina The Teenage Witch, delineated the madcap adventures of Jetta, "Teen-Age Sweetheart of the 21st Century" with obvious delight. The comics, collected for the first time in their entirety and in living color will be accompanied by a revealing introduction by Craig Yoe. There will also be a bevy of rare unpublished original art and photographs. Plus, as a highly desirable bonus, Jetta pinups by top comic book artists and Hollywood animators. 104 pages, $21.99.
Jim: This is another part of the IDW puzzle. They publish a lot of other books that are related to comic or comic strips. Dan Decarlo is the name when it comes to Archie comics and pulling this type of collection plays to a certain crowd and further enhances IDW’s reputation as a publisher, not just a comic book publisher.
Lee: I’m pretty interested in this. I like all sorts of old comics but I really love the 50’s humor titles. I probably love it because there is so little of the material reprinted that I can’t be burnt out on it. The art by DeCarlo is just an added bonus. I’m not sure yet but if indies are light then I’ll get this.

This is a little bit of a shorter post as we were conflicted as to whether this one was too big or too small with breaking it into two parts. As we both feel there is so much out there to follow, shorter is better then too long, so we erred on making this two posts. Part 2 tomorrow.

Dark Horse Preview Review for February

Jim: A friend of mine who works for a smaller comic publisher stated that they do not launch anything in January and February. This is typical because January and February are normally horrible sales months, but it is a self fulfilling prophecy with nothing new on the shelves. Hell one series could be trotted out. A long winded intro to Dark Horse following suit and therefore February is a thin month.

Lee: It only looked thin to you! Looks like a very good month to me.

THE BOOK OF GRICKLE
Graham Annable (W/A)
On sale Apr 7, b&w, 200 pages, $17.99 HC, 5 3/4" x 8 1/4"
Get ready for the most extensive journey ever into the brilliant mind of Graham Annable! A classically trained animator with credits in film (including as a storyboard artist on Coraline), television, and video games, Annable has for years spent his free time creating some of the funniest, most poignant comics anywhere. As befits his animation background, Annable’s fluid art pulses with life, in stories that practically jump off the page. Alternately poetic and hilarious, Grickle presents a strange twist on the everyday with heart and humor. If you’ve experienced Grickle before, this is the greatest collection yet. If you haven’t, there’s no better introduction than Book of Grickle! Grickle was named one of Wizard’s Top 25 indie books everyone must read! The best of Grickle, plus new and rarely seen material! Graham Annables’s Grickle strips were selected for Houghton-Mifflin’s 2008 edition of Best American Comics. Introduction by Jeff Smith!
Jim: I read the solicitation and I thought this looks like a Lee book. It was given awards, should have great art and is offbeat. It screamed LEE BOOK.
Lee: Oh yeah, this totally and utterly screams me! But everyone knew that. I love the art and the humor looks good to. I’m sold.

BUCK ROGERS FROM RETRO A-GO-GO
On sale Feb 24
Buck Rogers 1930’s Collection Frame $31.99
Buck Rogers 25th Century Frame $31.99
Buck Rogers Collage Frame $31.99
Buck Rogers Logo Belt Buckle $21.99
Buck Rogers Ray Gun Belt Buckle $21.99
Dark Horse is proud to introduce a stunning line of officially- licensed Buck Rogers accessories, produced by our friends at Retro-A-Go-Go for the modern space traveler! High quality stainless steel card cases to carry all your off world identification. Highlight the keys to your rocket car with our Art Deco inspired key chains. Or decorate your moon base with one of the stylish and functional photo frames! Buck Roger was ahead of his time, and guess what? He still is!
Jim: This is just a partial listing of the collectibles they are producing. Two points about this stuff. Number one Dynamite is publishing the comic and Dark Horse is doing the collectibles, how did that happen? The second point I find these to be pointless collectibles and even more of a waste then action figures and I own way too many of those.
Lee: Don’t forget that Hermes Press is doing the hc’s collecting the actual newspaper strips. What a total licensing mess. I wonder why no one has made Buck Rogers action figures? I need a new Twiki.
Jim: Thank god I know what Twiki is or otherwise I was worried that is was some euphemism.
Lee: Twiki was an euphemism. What are you talking about?

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #32: TWILIGHT part 1 (of 5)
Brad Meltzer (W), Georges Jeanty (P/Cover), Andy Owens (I), Michelle Madsen (C), and Jo Chen (Cover)
On sale Feb 3, FC, 40 pages $2.99 Ongoing
Faster than a speeding—you know. More powerful than a—yeah, one of those. Able to leap tall . . . castles in a single bound. Still working on that x-ray-vision thing. In the aftermath of battle with Twilight’s army, Buffy has developed a host of new powers, but when will the other shoe drop, and will it be a cute shoe, or an ugly one? Still reeling from the losses of war, Willow goes looking for missing allies and discovers a horrifying truth about several of the Slayer army’s recent ordeals.Series artist Georges Jeanty, acclaimed novelist and comics writer Brad Meltzer (The Book of Lies, Identity Crisis), and executive producer Joss Whedon begin the buildup to Season Eight’s climax in the storyline that finally reveals the identity of Twilight! The storyline revealing Twilight’s true identity! Eisner Award-winning series.Best-selling author Brad Meltzer joins Buffy Season Eight!
Jim: When Brad writes a DC book the sales go through the roof, this is already a great selling book for Dark Horse and I believe cracked the top ten one month. I’ll be curious to know if Buffy fans care about Brad writing this or not.
Lee: I’m not a fan of Mr. Meltzer’s writing so I’ll be passing. But I wonder if his name will draw some non-Buffy people to the book.

THE COMICS: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF COMIC STRIP ART
Jerry Robinson (W), Walt Kelly (A), Winsor McCay (A), Milt Caniff (A), Hal Foster (A), and others
On sale Apr 14, FC, 296 pages $24.99 TPB, 9" x 12"
From Jerry Robinson, legendary creator of the Joker, seventy-year veteran of the comics industry, and prominent figure in monthly books, daily strips, and comics journalism, comes a comprehensive history of the truly American art form! The Comics is a fully reworked and updated edition of the 1974 classic that chronicles the origins and evolution of comic strips, from prior to the Yellow Kid through today, and highlights the game-changing contributions of such creative luminaries as Milton Caniff, Walt Kelly, Hal Foster, and Winsor McCay, among countless others. A fascinating resource of enduring excellence for fans of the art form, historians, and casual readers alike, this edition has been extensively revisited by Robinson and tells the stories behind the newsprint page. The Comics is an authoritative history of the medium from living legend Jerry Robinson! Other books by Jerry Robinson include the biography Skippy and Percy Crosby and The 1970s: Best Political Cartoons of the Decade.

Jim: Fully reworked from the 1974 edition? How? The vast majority of these people are dead now; did he hold a séance for updates? I never got the 1974 book, maybe I will pick this up.
Lee: This is a very interesting selection because I’m not sure what to make of it. Back in 2006, Brian Walker did two books of over 300 pages each titled “The Comics: Before 1945” and “..:Since 1945.” They are huge retrospectives on newspaper strips that are fantastic. Yes, I’ve read both. How can this book, which is half the page count compare? The books I was talking about are here

DEVIL #1 (of 4)
Torajiro Kishi (W/A) and Madhouse Studios (W/A)
On sale Feb Feb 3 FC, 24 pages, $2.99 Miniseries
Manga artist Torajiro Kishi (Maka-Maka) and blockbuster anime studio Madhouse (Trigun, Paprika, Ninja Scroll) love comics. So much so that they’ve decided to publish an original, Western-style comic exclusively with Dark Horse! Enter Devil, a thrilling, sci-fi take on the vampire genre. A virus is raging across the planet, turning people into bloodsucking superhumans referred to as “Devils.” Most victims die within days, sometimes months, but there’s a new strain, a new class of Devil that threatens to overtake mankind with power and bloodthirst. This new class of Devils derive from an experiment to clone a virus victim, and it looks like science has created a true monster this time. Can Takimoto and the Devil Investigation Section of the Tokyo police force stop this societal scourge? We’ll just have to see. Exclusive comic specifically for the American audience and only available from Dark Horse! This disease will devour mankind.
Jim: I blame the popularity of Twilight for this type of material getting green lighted. Speaking of Twilight are half the guys in that movie ambiguous in their sexuality. What happened to the rough and tumble movie stars like Bruce Willis and Clint Eastwood.
Lee: It’s not that they’re ambiguous; it’s that they shave their chests. Real men aren’t meant to be that hairless.
Jim: If true, why do you know that?
Lee: Same reason I know about Twiki. I just know 'things.'

EERIE ARCHIVES VOLUME 4
Various (W/A)
On sale Apr 14, b&w, 260 pages, $49.99, HC, 8 3/8" x 10 7/8"
Join Frank Frazetta, Steve Ditko, John Severin, Gene Colan, Angelo Torres, and other legendary artists for an eerie excursion through the haunted halls of comics history, as Dark Horse Comics unleashes the fourth big volume of Eerie magazine archives. Vampires, ghouls, werewolves, and ax-wielding maniacs are only the beginning of the thrills you’ll find inside this huge collection crafted by the most gifted storytellers the medium of comics has ever known. You’ll get 260 pages of luridly luscious artwork collected into a magazine-sized, dust-jacketed hardcover. This series has appeared multiple times on the New York Times Bestseller List. Eerie Archives Volume 4 contains bonus color pages.
Jim: I love these Archives. They contain some terrific work and are really the true inheritor of the EC type of material that was killed. Even better I plan to take the plastic off one or two of these puppies really soon.
Lee: I still love these but you have to be a real die-hard collector to get these collections. They can’t be read in one or two sittings but they are fun over time. If you’re wondering, start with the first collection because it’s still the strongest.

THE TALE OF ONE BAD RAT
Bryan Talbot (W/A)
On sale Apr 28, FC, 136 pages, $19.99, HC, 7" x 10"
Helen Potter lived a happy life until she got lost in a nightmare of sexual abuse. Now she’s on a journey, a journey which takes her through urban and rural England along the same path that another Potter, Beatrix Potter, once took. Across the decades, two lives touch, and Helen discovers that the strength of two is far greater than one. Bryan Talbot constructs a very special story in The Tale of One Bad Rat, which immediately endears the reader. The victim of childhood sexual abuse, Helen Potter becomes the armored knight before her own personal demons in this story of heroism and courage. This new deluxe hardcover edition features a new foreword by Neil Gaiman, updated background material, plus entirely new color separations that better highlight the dazzling artwork of this acclaimed, Eisner Award winning graphic novel. “A story of strength and pain and survival.” —Neil Gaiman “Thoroughly excellent.” —Alan Moore
Jim: I read this a long time ago and it was a very powerful story and extremely well done.
Lee: I missed this along the way but I’ve always heard great things about it. It might be time to finally get a copy.

WONDERMARK VOLUME 3: DAPPER CAPS & PEDAL-COPTERS
David Malki (W/A)
On sale Apr 7, FC, 96 pages, $16.99, HC, 8 3/4" x 8 1/2"
It’s Wondermark time again! Come along for the ride as Dark Horse returns to David Malki’s silly, bizarre, and hilarious world that’s not quite present day, not quite the Victorian era, and not like anything else you've seen before. (Unless you’ve read the previous Wondermark books, of course!) This newest volume of the Eisner-nominated series contains over one hundred comic strips originally published in The Onion and on wondermark.com, plus many pages of additional material by creator David Malki. More than just webcomic collections, the Wondermark books have been praised for their magnificent design and loads of extra content for casual readers and superfans alike. New installments of Wondermark appear twice weekly at wondermark.com, along with a hilarious blog from David Malki! The Wondermark site enjoys over 140,000 unique visitors per month. Wondermark is nationally syndicated in the print edition of The Onion, enjoying a circulation of over 700,000! Visit Wondermark here
Lee: I feel like we’ve talked about this before but I can’t seem to locate the post so we’ll talk about it again. Or for the first time in case I’m wrong. It’s definitely strange. It’s definitely funny too. It’s in the Onion, how can it not be good!
Jim: I don’t think we have ever talked about this before, but just because the Onion has it is not an automatic, but it does give it some additional street cred.

Jim: Maybe not as thin as I was expecting going in, but still not a big month for anything really new.
Lee: Not lots and lots of new stuff, but the things that are there are good. I’m looking forward to all of this.

Best and Worst of Last Week

To be totally accurate this post should be called best and worst of what I read last week as I never even read about 12 books off my list last week. This is due to the same lament I have been singing for awhile but it is true. The volume of work at my paying job is at an all time high and sadly we are down one person. Onto the best and worst!

THE BEST

Jonah Hex #50 – Writer Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, Art Darwyn Cooke, Colors Dave Stewart. This book brings Jonah back into the stories that I like, one and done. At best Jonah can have a two issue story, but the previous six part “epic” felt too dragged out. This issue we start with Tallulah Black and Jonah doing some bounty hunting together. After a roll in the hay, Tallulah takes off. Jonah is given an assignment to capture or kill 50 men who had obviously done someone with money some wrong. (Side note: The story of the 50 feels like a plot thread to be explored at some later date.) Tallulah we find has gone off to quit the life and settle down. We find out later she is pregnant with Jonah’s child. The tale ends tragically, but it is done with a lot of emotion and a ton of action. The art is pure Darwyn Cooke and with his animation style sometimes this type of story is not a perfect fit, but Cooke makes it work so well that it is a thing of beauty and a joy to behold.

JSA All Stars #1 – Writer Matthew Sturges, Art Freddie Williams II, Colors Richard and Tanya Horie. I love the JSA and seeing a second ongoing series that splits the group into two parts is fine by me. Number one the group is so large they need to be split into two groups or at least have two ongoing series to allow each member a little more face time. Also with the writing team of Willingham and Sturges each taking a book I would hope the two titles will synch up pretty well. This issue we see that Magog is the team leader on the field and that most of the younger members of the JSA have split off with this group. It appears Power Girl is still the leader at their (new) headquarters, but Magog is the field general. The JSA in this book is heavily action driven and given how little many super heroes ever battle bad guys in a slug fest anymore I’m happy to see this. I liked all the little characterization bits and I thought the art was decent. Normally I love Freddie, but I think he needs a little more time on a group book as I do not believe he has ever done this type of comic before. Finally they are going to have to work really hard to make me care about Magog, but DC is pushing the crap out of this character by giving him an unlimited series and making him one of the team leaders of the JSA.

THE WORST

Baltimore City’s Mayor being convicted of stealing gift cards meant for the poor. Way to represent Ms. Dixon.

QUICK HITS

Absolution #4 (of 6) – Another strong issue in this series. I like how it appeared that John was going to give up to the police but instead escaped. The next two issues should be great.

Blackest Night The Flash #1 (of 3) – This was a good start that not only added some bits to the Blackest Night story it also added quite a bit to the whole Flash Rebirth story which has not completed yet.

Blackest Night Wonder Woman #1 (of 3) – The best Wonder Woman book I have read in a very long time. Diana was portrayed the way that feels right for her and she is powerful and decisive, every inch a hero.

Dark Avengers Annual #1 – Interesting story and the new Captain Marvel, but what a horrible costume. Also I thought he was from a different universe and this story sort of indicated that and then did not. What was a shocker was seeing Steve Rogers back as the end page for this story, with Bucky next to him as Cap. Shouldn’t this reveal be in Cap’s own mini-series.

Echo #17 – This issue we learn about the beta suit and just how powerful it is. It was actually a big favorite for a friend of mine. While I enjoyed it, I thought it was a slow issue of the book and a needed one so we understood more about what the suit was and what type of power the suit has.

Fall of the Hulks – Alpha – A waste of paper in many ways. I very tired of these retro-cons that Marvel is doing. It is not just retro-conning Jason Todd to have red hair; Marvel has these long untold secrets that have been going on forward. The Illuminati was one of them and now a group of bad guys has been planning stuff for years and years and they created the Red Hulk.

Scalped #33 – I love this series and this issue is no exception as we are building up to the conclusion of this arc in the next issue. All the players are coming together and it feels like the culmination of the entire series.

Seige The Cabal One Shot Writer Brian Bendis, Pencils Michael Lark, Inks Stefano Guardino, Colors Matt Hollingsworth. I choose this book because I keep hoping Marvel is going to end the Dark Reign and saw this book as the beginning of the end. I was expecting some great things from this book as I love Michael Lark’s art and it was great, also Bendis usually does well with the bad guy side of things. It was a waste of good art and yet another $4 waste of paper. I should know better. Bendis is a master at many things. Number one he has been fantastic at bringing the Marvel universe back to a more cohesive style. You can read almost every Marvel Universe book (outside of the X-Men) and know that they are occurring in the same time frame. This has not happened since the days when Stan Lee was orchestrating and writing or scripting almost the entire line. This has it pluses and minuses, but overall I see Bendis as the architect behind it. Bendis also has some great overall ideas. Finally Bendis can drag out a story and a plot point like no one else and he can have some really clunker moments when it comes to characterization. See my full review here.

Thor #604 – Not a bad follow up to JMS, but it is fast becoming just another Marvel book at the same time.

Shorter post, but probably closer to what I would want on an ongoing basis, just hopefully with a tighter quality.

DC Earth One – Commentary

DC’s big announcement today was pretty damn cool and pretty much a “what the heck” are they doing kind of thing for me.

The announcement is DC is planning a series of OGN about Superman, Batman and maybe other heroes with continuity that starts today.

It is the Ultimate Universe idea being done as a series of graphic novels and it has some incredible talent attached to it for the first two offerings. The Superman novel is by J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis, the Batman book is by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank (who have become one heck of a team).

The cool side is the fan who likes seeing characters made new again and this is the best way to start over. This gives them a clean slate with no prior continuity to weigh it down. Ultimate Spider-Man had a great run and was usually a lot of fun. Of course Bendis made him 15 forever and was just rehashing old Stan Lee / Steve Ditko ideas by mining them for gold by twisting them a little, but even with those feelings I had about the book, it read well and was often a lot of fun.

So, on the plus side we have an OGN which should mean complete stories being told and some extremely strong talent behind these books which should mean some highly entertaining reads.

On the “what the heck” I have some questions. First we are still having Johns and Frank redoing Superman’s origin story in comics. Once this is traded and put on bookshelves won’t the JMS product and this be confusing to people. I state this because doing this as a series of OGN mean that DC is playing away from the direct market stores and is trying to gain entry into the regular book store market. I can assure you that Twilight, Harry Potter and other series are doing far better monetarily then Superman and Batman are in the comic stores. This is a big move away from the direct market and another nail in the coffin for that market place.

Now that I type this the whole thing actually makes a hell of lot of sense. The future of the market and the best way to exploit these characters is in the larger market place. A $25 hardcover with application for e-readers and the possibility of putting these out on the worldwide market makes a lot of sense. Putting high quality talent behind these books also makes senses as if you are going to go for the gusto. If they can generate sales in the hundreds of thousands and then do a soft cover version and e-reader version and then release a new one every six months or so, they could make more money on one OGN then they could on 12 months of the comic book.

If I’m close to being right this is DC’s move to get away from the direct market and try to strike it big in the wider publishing arena. As always they look for the direct market to underwrite their endeavors, as we comic fans will order enough to at least cover the cost of paying the creators page rates and publishing costs for the direct market edition of the books. Digital comic delivery, moving to OGNs, a tough economy the direct market place has its work cut out for it to survive 2010.

What I’m Getting Wednesday December 9

This is one of my smallest weeks in a very long time. Add into that I have not even finished reading last week’s books and the fact that I’m so pressed for time lately (work, holidays and an upcoming vacation) and this column may be a little sparse. Also there is not a single major launch this week.

DC has plenty of Blackest Night cross over books with Adventure Comics #5, Booster Gold #27, Doom Patrol #5 and Rebels #11 to lead the way. I have been enjoying most of these cross over books, but I think DC went a little too far with Blackest Night. The counter argument could be that many of DC’s second tier books could use a boost with a little bit of attention and BN may give it to them. Of these books I’m looking forward to Rebels the most as I want to see how DC handles the yellow ring he gained last issue.

The Bat family only gives us two books this week with Batgirl #5 and Red Robin #7. So I guess that makes it teen week for the Bat family of books. Hard to believe we are already at issue #5 for Batgirl. I’m enjoying Stephanie being Batgirl and I hope her turn as the character last a long time.

The rest of DC for me this week is Action Comics #884, Secret Six #16 and Shield #4. I love Secret Six and Black Alice is looking to be a member of the group, which is fine by me. Gail I believe created Black Alice and I like her a lot. She is not really 100% a villain, but she would be a great addition to this group.

From Vertigo we have the one launch of a brand new title this week on my list Daytripper #1 (of 10). This time I’ll use DC’s official solicitation text (is nostalgic for me to do this yet?) and it says “Brazilian wonder twins Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá are back writing and drawing in a hauntingly lyrical series set in their native Brazil. With DAYTRIPPER, they follow in the tradition of Craig Thompson, Paul Pope and David Mazzucchelli – cartoonists at the top of their game making comics about the quiet moments that ask big questions.Brás de Oliva Domingos is an obituary writer with a famous father, a career he hates, and tons of questions. How does a person become a successful writer? How does a man get out of his father's shadow? But those concerns will dwarf the surprise he'll find in the first issue – a twist both he and readers will never see coming, which will grow into a mystery about the meaning of life itself.” Not too ambitious to tackle the meaning of life, right?

The other category is very small this week with only Astounding Wolf Man #20, BPRD War on Frogs #4 (of 4), Farscape Dargo’s Quest #1 and Walking Dead #68. Even on a short week Robert Kirkman has two books he is writing on my list. Robert has to be one of the busiest guys around with Geoff Johns and Brian Bendis fighting him for who is writing the most books. Astounding Wolf Man is wrapping up with issue #25 and I will miss the book, but it was on the quirky side and I assume sales were not as strong as they would have like and Kirkman says a good end point was coming up anyway.

Next we turn to Marvel and again not a big list. We have Invincible Iron Man #21, New Avengers Annual #3, Ghost Riders Heavens of Fire #5 (of 6) and Realm of Kings Imperial Guard #2 (of 5) out of the regular Marvel Universe. Of those I have to say I’m looking forward to the ROK title the most. DnA have been doing a great job making the cosmic side of the MU exciting and right now the more from that side the merrier.

The last book for me this wee is from Marvel’s Max line and it is PunisherMax #2. First off I’m not sure what else Marvel even has in the max line, but this was a great start to the re-launched series as Aaron and Dillon should have a lot of fun with Frank Castle. I’m curious to see how the max line Kingpin plays out and if he can survive an encounter with Frank.

That’s it for what I’m getting this Wednesday, come back next Monday and we will do this again next week.