always makes me laugh

dc announces new batman, superman serial graphic novels

So, this is a neat idea. DC is taking their most recognizable characters in Batman and Superman, and their best strength just now in graphic novels, and putting them together. Supposedly about twice a year, we'll get Superman and Batman original graphic novels set in their own specific universe (Earth-One) with their own set of rules and characters. J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis are handling the Superman books, while Geoff Johns and Gary Frank are on Batman (nerd squeal).

They're starting from the beginning with these characters, so I can't say I'm looking forward to seeing Bruce Wayne's parents die again or the Kents finding a spaceship in a cornfield for the nth time (especially after Johns/Frank's Secret Origin). The new Alfred shows some promise, though, and as Johns told AICN, the first Batman: Earth One book will feature a completely new villain. I love the idea of bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase "tradewaiting", so I'm game for these books, for at least the first volume.

yesterday's pull list

I'm a little behind recently -- my trips to the local shop have been erratic since I've been poorer than usual lately. But ho! My seasonal gig should ensure that I'm back on track, and with school ending next week, I shan't think I'll have much to do (unless we're counting Family Time or whatever). My aim is to increase the frequency of posting on this blog, but we'll see.

BN Flash #1
Cinderella #2
Scalped #33
Sweet Tooth #4
Boys #37
Empowered one-shot

I also ordered a copy of the limited I Kill Giants special over-sized hardcover edition from Amazon, which I'm told is back-ordered. I'm a tad worried I missed out on that one.

Oh, and I usually don't give thoughts on actual comics I've read in these posts, but I wanted to mention my glimmer of hope that The Boys is back on track. This latest issue featured some great work from both Ennis and Robertson. I kind of groaned a little inside at the prospect of another origin story issue, but it was a pretty charming little yarn.

darwyn cooke does jonah hex

I can't say I'm very familiar with Jonah Hex. I know that it's DC EIC Dan DiDio's personal fave (and it's probably him that's keeping it from cancellation), and that Josh Brolin will probably be great in the Megan Fox-tainted movie. This week's issue 50 looks like a good point to jump on though, especially with Darwyn Cooke's art and Dave Stewart's colors. Cooke shared his thoughts on the character in a recent CBR interview:

I'm old enough to have read the original "Weird Western" when I was kid. So I was already really well-versed in Jonah, and when those guys started doing it, I was like, "Wow, more power to you." And as soon as the chance came, I got one [issue] under my belt, and it went really well. So, soon after we were done that one, we started making plans to do something else, and by the time we got around to it, it looked like #50 would be a great place to do it. Jimmy knew he could get us some more pages to do a more involved story, so there we were.

I mean, I love the guy. He's a lot like this other fella, Parker. He's a very seductive character. He's easy to start admiring and liking. And then you see him so do something horrible and it snaps you back out of it. There's a schizophrenic nature to these characters that I really get into to.

Parker, huh? What's that guy up to these days? The Hunter sure was great...

I'm just getting going on the second book now. It's a lot easier going into this one. Wes sort of got the impression that we're clicking with some people, and ["The Hunter" has] certainly been successful enough for us to be able to pursue another. So right now, it's pretty great because it's less "prove-this-is-viable." Now it's, "OK. Make it sing.

We're using parts of "Getaway Face," so the story has continuity. But when we sat and looked at the fact that we've got four of these to do, those two just really seemed like they could be put together for one. And the second two we do are two of the strongest books he wrote, and we want to make sure we're doing the great stuff.

In "The Outfit," we're tying up the whole premise, and everything is sort of laid down in stone. Then, the other two books concentrate more on an actual robbery.

The Outfit is definitely up there with Habibi for my most anticipated books of 2010.

for rick

I may or may not spotlight a few more webcomics on this blog in the coming weeks, but I figured this was too good to pass up.


(click to embiggen)

free jeff lemire sketches

A while back I took advantage of Jeff Lemire's kindly offer for free sketches to anyone who sent him a copy of the first issue of Sweet Tooth. I sent in both mine and my roommates' and got this in return:

As if that wasn't enough, he was even cool enough to sketch in a copy of The Nobody, as well!

The promotion's over now, but I'm glad I got mine in. More creators should do this stuff. Mostly because I'm greedy.

pull list 11/18

Flash Rebirth #5
Air #15
Viking #4
Wolverine Weapon X #7
Irredeemable #8

Miight take a peek at Adventure Comics #4, cause I dig both Superboy Prime and Blackest Night (boy, that sure looks awful when I type it out like that). Also borrowing Remender/Tony Moore's FRANKENCASTLE/Punisher #11 with fierce intensity -- thanks roomie! And man, Pluto Vol. 6 comes out this week! I'm officially three volumes behind. How awful.

Spider-Man robs restaurant, no comment from friend President Obama

So here in my home city Tacoma, WA this News Tribune headline hit the interwebs today:

Man wearing Spiderman mask robs Sixth Avenue restaurant

A man wearing a Spiderman ski mask robbed a pizza restaurant at gunpoint Monday night.

The robbery occurred between 7:10 and 7:15 p.m. at Papa Murphy's, 2024 Sixth Ave., Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

The bandit robbed the employees, then fled. No one was injured.

A police dog searched for the suspect but did not find him.

The robber was described as a black man in his 20s and 6 feet tall, Fulghum said. He wore dark clothes, gloves and the mask.

Johnny Ryan's "Prison Pit": a journey into utter insanity

Okay, so I always knew something was a little off about Johnny Ryan. Yes, he's drawn Dr. Strange fucking an inter dimensional portal and yes he's drawn the Twin Towers having sex. But nothing Ryan has done thus far has prepared you for Prison Pit. Those comics are funny. Morbidly, darkly funny. But funny all the same. Prison Pit is something else entirely.

Chapter one (simply titled "Fucked") begins with our unnamed hero being shoved into the titular pit by two guards. "Okay, Fuckface, take one big step forward," one of them says. "Or do you want to do this shit the hard way?" Being a Johnny Ryan comic, obviously Fuckface wants to go with the latter option... right after he scratches his nuts. Once he lands in the pit, the remaining 100 or so pages are devoted to chronicling the many battles Fuckface finds himself in upon his arrival.

The comic reads like it was drawn and conceived by a 13 year-old kid. A very, very deranged 13 year-old kid. It's drawn with the gusto of somebody just having fun. You can tell he was very much enjoying himself as he conceived this insane world. And if you thought the fight scene in They Live was uncomfortably long, wait until you read the 28 page fight in chapter two (entitled "Mega-Fucked"). Ryan's creativity knowns no bounds when it comes to ways of disemboweling weird alien creatures. He could probably fashion himself a lucrative second career as a consultant on horror movies and/or why not just let him write the script to the next Aliens movie and watch as the MPAA starts crying blood.

And while unhinged violence and depravity are of course never a bad thing, too much of it on the other hand can get a little... well, strangely boring. You should be able to fly through this book. There isn't a whole lot of dialogue and even when there is it's of the "Rip this dickhead's eusophogus out and bring it to me!" variety. But eventually maiming and decapitating things get old and once you get over the bloodshed there isn't a whole lot left to enjoy.

That being said, I wish Dawn and I hadn't been sick and missed it when Mr. Ryan was at Fantagraphics in support of Pit. This photo probably sums it up best:



3/5

mad (x-)men

The internet must know that Rick and Dawn just started watching Mad Men (and that I'm finally catching up on the 3rd season), because this amusing Marvel mash-up has been hitting blogs all over the place. Geoffrey Golden and Jordan Monsell did a bang-up job on these caricatures and descriptions -- they really nailed it in matching each cast member to their corresponding mutant.

Those are my two favorites above, but you can see six more here and here.

pull list 11/11

Batman + Robin #6
Green Lantern Corps #42
DMZ #47
Fables #90
Unwritten #7
Walking Dead #67
Deadpool #17
Punisher MAX #1

Good stuff this week. Even more spilling into the "will check out eventually" pile, including Warren Ellis' Supergod, David Lapham's Modern Warfare 2 mini and the new Vertigo OGN Luna Park.

john cusack in preacher movie?

Huh. io9 interviewed John Cusack recently, and he had this to say about a possible upcoming project:

Are there any [comic book movies] you've seen floating around in Hollywood that you'd like to see made? Yeah, I can, there was one or two that I heard of that sounded really cool. One of them was about, I think... it's a vampire and a killer, and they're on the road, and it's this really strange story. I thought that sounded pretty cool.

Who would you want to play?

I'd say either the vampire or the priest. One of those two guys.

I don't know. Isn't Cusack a little old at this point for Jesse Custer? I would say he's better off as Cassidy, but can he pull off an Irish accent? Will he bring over his presumably phone-in performance from 2012?

I guess we're kind of grasping at straws here anyway. io9 even admits that they don't even know whether Cusack had been offered anything, or whether he'd just heard the idea buzzing around, or even if the script is finished. We'll just have to wait and see, though. And it may be a very long time.

first four stray bullets issues free, original art for sale on david lapham's website

David Lapham's got a new website, and, as you can guess, he's got the first four issues of Stray Bullets up to read for free, along with a random selection of art for sale. Most notable is the entirety of Stray Bullets #12, which marks the first time any original SB art has ever sold away from its owner. Besides that, you've got some cool random stuff from Young Liars, his 30 Days of Night mini, the Mystic Comics one-shot and even a couple cool Batman shots like this one:



I need to win the lottery something fierce, here. Or at least Mr. Lapham could and just spot me the money.

wolverine charity artwork on ebay

Comics-based charity Hero Initiative started posting a few of its special Wolverine: Weapon X sketch covers on eBay this week. Besides the sweet Colleen Coover spread above, you can find other issues with hand-drawn covers by John McCrea, Lenil Francis Yu, Howard Chaykin, and tons more. It doesn't look like they're all up (makes sense not to flood auctions all at once), but you can see a bunch more over at CBR.

Here's my favorite of the bunch, by Skottie Young:

pull list 10/4

Sweet Tooth #3
Cap: Reborn #4
Ghost Riders #4
Boys #36

Looking to save money, I'm going to try out the Fables/Cinderella and Deathlok minis before I actually subscribe to them and pay for six or seven issues each. This is a revolutionary concept to me. Somehow my comic shop got in issue 2 of Strange Tales, so I'm hoping that number 3 will be there today as well.