Tank you, friends, wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you: Graeme looks back, in anger.

I'm just about to head out to the grand old world of oral surgery, where my gum will be cut open so that the remains of a shattered tooth can be chiseled out of my skull, only to be replaced by new bone to be injected in there in some kind of weird liquidized form or something. Not that I've been thinking about this too much or anything. But I tell you this to give you warning that I wouldn't be surprised if I end up happy with pain drugs for the next couple of days, so don't be too shocked if I happen to not have any reviews up until Sunday again. Then again, I may be fine and writing tomorrow. Who knows?

Being a child of the '90s in oh so many ways, I don't think it's exceptionally unexpected of me to admit that TANK GIRL: THE GIFTING #1 has been one of my more long-awaited books of the year to date (Really, it's this, Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together and Laika as my holy trinity of books I have been eagerly awaiting since they were announced). Hell, even before I was a child of the '90s, I was a child of the '80s, going to the Glasgow Comic Art Convention and being scared of and in love with the Tank Girl lookalikes staffing the Deadline table at the same time. Not only was the idea of the long-lost Alan Martin coming back to the character that he co-created exciting, but I'm a big fan of Ashley Wood's artwork. So what could go wrong?

That's a pretty good question, as it turns out. The issue was, I think, just Okay, and I'm not entirely sure why. It's not that Alan Martin's writing has become any less irreverent or wrapped-up in its own pop-cultural world (More Monkees references from the man who introduced me to "Circle Sky"! Of course!) than it was in his heyday - It's also, refreshingly, free of the pastoral hippiness that marked the downfall of the character for me around the start of the '90s when she was still in Deadline - and Ash Wood's art is as beautiful and grubby as ever; his linework can be wonderfully cartoony and expressive at times, even if he's a little too fond of the zip-a-tone effects. But, for some reason, it doesn't work in the way that I'd been expecting. Maybe it's a fault of my expectations? I was, I admit, hoping for something that would be as adventurous and original as the character seemed when I first read her, almost twenty years ago, something that would be anarchistic and amusing and as contemporary and immediate as Hewlett and Martin were way back when, and that's possibly something that nothing could live up to.

Not that I'm the only one at fault, though - Martin's (enjoyably) stubborn attempt to keep to the format of the original stories has worked against the book as a whole, as the incredibly short, throwaway stories run up against each other without the tonal counterbalance that the other strips in Deadline used to provide; there's nothing more serious or more fulfilling in the book, and so every story seems even lighter and more throwaway. It's a shame, and something that makes me wish that there was some kind of modern equivalent to Deadline these days to act as the home to these strips, instead. Or maybe that's just nostalgia talking one more time, in the same way that it made me pick up the book in the first place...

Hibbs Burbles on

A few quick hits: SUB-MARINER #1: I like the old school logo. I find it funny that he looks like Black Adam on the interior. It opens at the end (I think), and another town full of people is killed, and there's a lot of posturing about Atlantis/Human politics, and have I told you how bored I get by anything involving Atlantis? It also has just about the most boring last page I've ever seen in my life. Thank god it is just a mini. EH.

GREEN ARROW #75: I also dislike "Will you marry me?" cliffhangers that then promise to resolve somewhere else. It worked oh so well for the Dick/Babs thing, didn't it? Other than that, this is basically fine -- the Deus Ex Machina towards the end largely feels organic, and Deathstroke actually feels competent for a change, so, yeah, an easy OK.

NOVA #3: Definitely my favorite "Initiative" crossover yet -- there's well rounded motivations at play, and just the right blend of action and pathos. While I'm not so sure I'll care any more once we get back out into space, these last two issues have been really terrific, and if you're looking for solid superhero action and characterization, this is certainly a book to watch. VERY GOOD.

WORLD WAR HULK #1: I quibble with a few things: a) how is Jen She-Hulk again? Did I miss something? Is it just because SH's own book is about a month off publication schedule? b) We didn't get to see the fight between BB & Hulk (especially after that "I want to hear you scream!" line), just the resolution. But there's no clarity as to what happened after that. Did he kill BB? Throw him in prison? Just walk away laughing "See, told you!", or what? c) I really wanted to see Hulk rip off Stark's head and shit down the stump. Could just be me, however. Despite those quibbles? Yeah, just what I wanted from a big crossover thingy -- punching and shouting and hitting. But I want to see the RESOLUTIONS as well.Still, for the nonce, I'll go with VERY GOOD.

What did YOU think?

-B

Though to us he seems preposterous: Graeme looks at Marvel's "no hype, no BS".

So, this was the solicit for NEW AVENGERS #31:

"No hype! No BS! The most important last page of any Marvel comic this year! Do not miss it!"

And this is the last page from that very issue - Wong and Jessica Jones talking about what has just happened to the team:

Jessica: Are they okay? Is my husband okay?
Wong: I think so.
Jessica: You think?
Wong: They're alive.
Jessica: Okay, then.

And then Jessica and Luke's baby opens his eyes in what may be shock and looks a bit green. The end.

Holy crap, that's definitely the most important last page of anything I've read in a long time. I mean, jeez, a baby opens their eyes? I can't stand the excitement!

(To be fair, there's already a lot of speculation as to what the baby's opening their eyes may mean, but a lot of it seems to be grasping at straws in order to make it seem important and meaningful, as opposed to a ridiculous tease. But who knows? It looks like it'll be something down the road...)

Oh, alright; what the solicit is clearly referring to was something that happened a couple of pages earlier, and I'm not really going to spoil that even though I really want to. What that page shows is a "shocking" twist that has been rumored on these comic internets since New Avengers: Illuminati #1 came out, and despite said rumor being around for months, I'm still somewhat stunned that Marvel appears to be going for it purely because it's such a dumb idea. Suffice to say, not only has the countdown to undoing Civil War probably just begun, but it also appears that Marvel has moved on from aping DC's Legends miniseries to aping their Millennium miniseries instead (They apparently remembered the order of the '80s crossovers badly; Invasion came after Millennium, but World War Hulk arrived in stores this week).

Surprisingly, though, the shitness of the most important ending of any Marvel book this year isn't the most shocking thing in this issue, though. I don't know if anyone noticed the anger at Marvel's recent solicitation of a future issue of Captain America that showed a black man (the Falcon, for those who are wondering) on fire for being racially insensitive, but it appears that it's just part of a current meme at the House of Ideas; this issue sees Luke Cage being set on fire by Elektra. Because, you know, Elektra is all about setting people on fire, being a ninja and all. The entire scene sticks out due to its strangeness - it's a page long, and doesn't seem to have any purpose or point within the larger story whatsoever; Elektra fights Luke, says "I'm going to light you on fire," and then she does. Am I missing something here? Is this some kind of metatextual or pop-cultural reference that I'm unfamiliar with, or just tasteless?

Overall, the disconnected, uncertain, sloppiness of that scene feels indicative of the issue as a whole; after a strong run on the book from the Civil War tie-ins onwards, this is the first Eh issue in a while, and a sad signpost for where the Marvel Universe is going next.

Arriving 6/13

A more reasonable looking week, for a change. AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL #9 AMORY WARS #1 (OF 5) ARCHIE & FRIENDS #110 ARCHIE DIGEST #235 AVENGERS CLASSIC #1 BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #6 BATMAN STRIKES #34 BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #152 BLACK DIAMOND #1 (OF 6) BLADE #10 BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL #126 BPRD GARDEN OF SOULS #4 (OF 5) CABLE DEADPOOL #41 CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK #14 CONAN & THE MIDNIGHT GOD #4 (OF 5) COUNTDOWN 46 DELPHINE #2 DMZ #20 DOMINION #2 (OF 5) DRAIN #4 ELEPHANTMEN PILOT EXILES #95 FABLES #62 FRANKLIN RICHARDS WORLD BE WARNED #1 FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #21 GEN 13 #9 GREEN ARROW #75 GREEN LANTERN CORPS #13 GRIFTER MIDNIGHTER #4 (OF 6) HACK SLASH SERIES SEELEY CVR A #2 HAWKGIRL #65 HERO BY NIGHT #4 (OF 4) INDIA AUTHENTIC KAALI #2 JLA CLASSIFIED #39 JUSTICE #12 (OF 12) KABUKI REFLECTIONS #8 KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #127 LOVE THE WAY YOU LOVE #4 LOVELESS #18 MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR #25 MARVEL ILLUSTRATED TREASURE ISLAND #1 (OF 6) MYSTIC ARCANA MAGIK NEW AVENGERS #31 CWI NEW TALES OF OLD PALOMAR #2 NEW X-MEN #39 NOVA #3 CWI ONE LAST SONG #1 (OF 6) PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #8 CWI PVP #34 SAMMY THE MOUSE GN SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #176 STAR WARS LEGACY #13 STAR WARS REBELLION #7 STORMWATCH PHD #8 STRANGERS IN PARADISE #90 SUB-MARINER #1 (OF 6) CWI SUPERMAN BATMAN #36 TAG CURSED #4 (OF 5) TANK GIRL THE GIFTING #1 TRIALS OF SHAZAM #7 (OF 12) WORLD WAR HULK #1 (OF 5) WWH

Books / Mags / Stuff AGENCY TP ANGEL AULD LANG SYNE TP AVIARY BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL VOL 17 TP PERFECTION OF ANATOMY CHRONICLES OF CONAN VOL 12 BEAST KING OF ABOMBI TP CINEFEX #110 JUNE 2007 CONAN HALL O/T DEAD & OTHER STORIES VOL 4 HC DEATH JR VOL 2 TP DEVILENGINE GN DRIFTING CLASSROOM VOL 6 TP ESSENTIAL MARVEL TWO IN ONE VOL 2 TP FABLES VOL 9 SONS OF EMPIRE TP FANTASTIC FOUR OMNIBUS VOL 2 HC FANTASTIC FOUR VISIONARIES JOHN BYRNE VOL 7 TP GOLGO 13 VOL 9 GN GOTHAM CENTRAL VOL 5 DEAD ROBIN TP GRAPHIC CLASSICS VOL 14 GOTHIC CLASSICS HELLBOY ANIMATED VOL 2 JUDGEMENT BELL TP HULK PLANET HULK HC JACK KIRBYS FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS VOL 1 HC JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA VOL 1 HC MOME VOL 8 GN NAOKI URASAWAS MONSTER VOL 8 TP PERHAPANAUTS SECOND CHANCES TP RE-GIFTERS SAM NOIR VOL 1 RONIN DETECTIVE TP SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE ATOM VOL 1 TP SIZZLE #34 (A) SONIC THE HEDGEHOG ARCHIVES VOL 3 TP STAR WARS CLONE WARS ADVENTURES VOL 8 TP THUNDERHEAD UNDERGROUND FALLS GN (RES) TOYFARE TRANSFORMER MOVIE TOYS CVR #120 TREASURY VICTORIAN MURDER VOL 9 THE BLOODY BENDERS HC VIDEO WATCHDOG #130 VIDEO WATCHDOG #131 WHAT IF EVENT HORIZON TP

What looks good to you?

-B

And I know no-one can do me no harm: Graeme loses his Initiative.

There was a moment where AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #3 seemed to hint at an interesting direction for the Marvel Universe. Spider-Man was being attacked by War Machine and the new, teenage, Lizard, and for the second time in a month, Dan Slott attempts to address the fans who've been left disturbed by what's going on in Marvel's post-Civil War world:

Spider-Man: "I mean, what's your problem? It's like you care more about taking me in that - - "

War Machine: "Oh, we're not here to take you in, Peter. You see... You've been using your powers irresponsibly. And we're here to take them away from you. That's what our weapons do, Parker. That's their sole purpose. But don't worry. We have no intention of leaving the world without a Spider-Man..."

I read that, and thought: "Wait, that last line is really kind of scary in all the right ways. Are they going to try to clone him, like they did Thor? Or is there some kind of evil master plan that's going to try and recreate the superpowers of all the unregistered heroes in people who toe the party line? That's a really rather bold direction to go in..." Not that it's a direction that I necessarily think that they should go in, nor one that I particularly like, but it's a really interesting idea for the entire line (And compare and contrast that to DC's superhero universe, which right now seems to be especially directionless as a line even as they synch their whole line up with Countdown, and everything feels like the build-up to Infinite Crisis, but less so, again); it's one that clearly and definitively makes those in authority in the Marvel Universe the bad guys, and that seems very classic Marvel, in a way, all about the underdog and the little guy, and on that level it does appeal to me in a "getting Marvel back to its roots" way.

And so, obviously, that's not what was going on there at all. Instead, it was a lead-in to the fact that SHIELD agents are now using the Iron Spidey suits as "Scarlet Spiders" - which again, is an interesting idea, but seems disappointing because it's much less of an interesting idea than what I'd been hoping for. In a way, it crystalizes what's wrong with this series in general for me (and, in many ways, Marvel's current books overall) - Willing to hint at moral questions about its characters in passing, but unable or unwilling to actually try and address them in any meaningful way. Partially, this may be because we're in the "second act" of whatever story Marvel thinks it's telling, and partially because this lack of resolution allows Marvel to please/frustrate/tease both sides of the issue as long as they want. Keeping everyone happy without keeping anyone happy may make much business sense, but in terms of storytelling, it makes for pretty Eh reading.

Boxing's been good to me, Howard: Graeme jabs quickly.

DAREDEVIL: BATTLIN' JACK MURDOCK #1: Kate doesn't really pay that much attention to what I review, unless it's something that she wants to read herself (See: almost everything that Brian K. Vaughan writes, or Jeff Smith's Shazam!) or something completely objectionable - The last page of Justice League #7, with the Black Canary/Power Girl splash page had her asking me "Why do you read these dumb booby superhero comics anyway?" - but upon seeing the cover of this pointless-flashback-book, she got very concerned at what was apparently going on. "There's a lot of blood there. Why is everyone bleeding so much?" she asked.

Because they're boxing, and in this book, boxing is pain is a metaphor for life. Which is painful and miserable, apparently.

The problem with this book isn't that it's bad, because it isn't, really - There's nothing that you can point to and say definitively that it doesn't work - but because it's a vacuum of pointlessness. Not only was no-one asking for a book based around the history of Daredevil's dad, but there's nothing in the execution of the idea that makes you think that maybe you were wrong and this book should exist after all. It's the comic book equivalent of eating your greens when you're a kid, in a way: Something that you know you should enjoy more, but can't quite bring yourself to do nonetheless. Entirely Eh.

POS Follies: Part 2

Rob had to help his sister move this week, so I did two back-to-back full days at the store today (well, "am still doing", technically), which I haven't done in a while. It is really good for me, honestly -- got caught up on buckets of stuff in filing and sorting and making sets or whatever. But I'm now very very tired. James Kochalka came by on his way to his event tonight at Giant Robot, and we chatted for a bit. He's a really terrific guy, and he did some really color nice sketches in two volumes of his books on the shelves. I'm not going to tell you which books they are, in the hopes that they'll end up with some unsuspecting soul whose day is then utterly made.

I've installed all of the POS hardware now at this point, with the sole exception of the "pole display" (will actually be countertop) -- the bit that shows the customer how much is due, etc. Didn't really want it underfoot for the next x weeks it's going to take to get everything finished before POS launch.

I'm not sure I hooked it all up CORRECTLY, however, since I don't really have the software yet to test it all. I have a demo version of MOBY downloaded and installed, but the PDF manual that came with it is a couple of builds out of date, and I can't really piece together what I'm doing on my own. I had sorta hoped I'd've been able to get away without training, but I think now that's a bad idea.

Problem is, that's going to add MORE time to the implementation, since I either need to go to St. Louis, or have them come here. Plus it'll be another, say $500, for travel and lodging that I didn't want to spend. Ah, c'est la guerre.

The next major step is going to be the evil one -- building our initial inventory file. There's something close to 10,000 individual items we carry (not counting single back issues, or sets or quarter books, or whatever), and even if it only took me 1 minute to get each item into a database, that's something like 20 8-hour days, right?

What I'm trying to do is to arrange to get the "pre-populated" database BEFORE I actually get the final version of MOBY, so I can massage it in excel or something -- it's much easier to use Excel to "globally" change 2-3 parameters for all of the, say, ESSENTIAL volumes to be what I want, then it would be to rebuild all that data from scratch. I'm waiting to hear what my real options are here, because I'll cry if I have to build this thing from scratch.

Until then, I'm kinda in limbo -- many people are commenting on the new computer, but it's kind of just an internet-surfing paperweight at the moment, since I can't do any POS with it just yet. I'm sure I'm beginning to inculcate some bad habits (NO SURFING AT WORK, DAMN IT!), but hopefully by Monday I'll know the shape of what my next 2 or so months shall be.

It's really crazy running 2 parallel systems at once -- running stuff through the cash register at the same time I try to set up POS, and I'll be really REALLY glad when the system is fully in and running, and a lot of the stupid time wastes in my week will go away (to be replaced by new ones, I'm sure)

Anywhere, so that's where I'm at.

(in case you cared)

-B

But who's counting?: Graeme continues weekly.

Here's the thing, Paul Dini and the rest of the writers who put together COUNTDOWN for our entertainment each and every week: If you're ending an issue with the death of a character, and another character asking what that death means for the universe, it's be really, really nice for the next issue (#47, for those who're counting) to have some attempt at follow-up on that question. The most surprising thing about this issue was that - opening dream sequence and background newspaper headline aside - there wasn't even any mention of the death of Lightray at all in the issue, which completely undercut any potential drama or tension from last issue's cliffhanger. Apparently, it's so unimportant that you can afford to ignore it immediately afterwards, after all.

The second-most surprising thing about the issue is that it undercuts the drama of another comic that's not even coming out for months, by showing us not only that Black Adam gets his powers back by the end of his upcoming miniseries, but also that (a) he doesn't want them, (b) he gives them away to Mary Marvel, and (c) his magic word is, somehow, "Shazam" again (after it apparently being "Sorry" at some point - So not only does Adam find his new magic word, but apparently he also manages to change it back at some point). There's something really depressing about seeing one of the smart and relatively upbeat 52 climaxes (Changing Black Adam's magic word as an alternative to killing him, so that he can learn humility and humanity again seemed relatively upbeat to me, at least) undone within two months, and with such a bland return to the status quo. Never mind doing so three months ahead of the series that's meant to be the one that explains why such an undoing occurs in the first place.

Otherwise, Countdown continues along its merry path the same as before: A disjointed collection of scenes that, issue on issue, fail to build any drama or character empathy. Events happen slowly - the Rogues scene this issue really should've appeared in the first month of the series, considering that it was the one that introduced the characters and gave their motivations - and without meaning or weight. It's not just that this series has failed to learn from the lessons of 52, it's that it reads much worse than 52 did, as if 52's successes have been forgotten as well as its mistakes. Awful.

My second number two reference of the day: Graeme goes indie.

SUPERIOR SHOWCASE #2: I can't work out if the existence of this book is pragmatism on the part of Adhouse - realizing that perhaps the best way for an indie anthology to survive in this market is for it to be a superhero anthology - or a failure of the comic readership en masse. Or, perhaps, somewhere in between but touching on both bases. Nonetheless, it's not too surprising that this second issue is Good but wildly uneven, with the worst strip tending to be the most traditional and reverential to the source material.

That strip, depressingly, is Farel Dalrymple's "The Awesomest Super Guy, Hollis, in: Shadowsmen". I'm a massive fan of Dalrymple's artwork - there's something about the way that everything seems offkilter and handmade, especially when coated in the texture that he works into his shading that really makes me very happy indeed - but it's wasted on this story that's just kind of pedestrian; not only is there no twist on the formula that he uses, but it's a pretty tired formula. If you're going to essentially do a Batman story and play it relatively straight, then it's not enough for the twist to be that the hero isn't Batman but a slightly overweight guy called Hollis, you know? Or maybe I'm missing something else from the experience.

Likewise, Joey Weiser's "The Unremarkable Tree Frog" is somewhat underwhelming, but for less obvious reasons. It's got a smart central idea (superheroes as fandom, with all the social anxieties and outcasting that comes along with that), but doesn't really do anything with it, and is too short for the lack of action to be any kind of lengthy commentary about the mundane, eventless nature of reality (Yes, I said it was too short to be something lengthy. There was a real point in there as well, however, I promise); instead, it's just... there. Which, admittedly, may be a point in and of itself.

Maris Wicks' "A Long, Strange Trip," meanwhile, takes a well-worked idea and, through playing it an off-beam version of straight, makes it into something curiously enjoyable and fun: "The human body is policed by superheroic versions of natural bodily functions!" There's an innocence about it that reminds me of James Kochalka's stuff, but without the self-satisfication and smugness that ruins the majority of his work for me, and it's that innocence that both makes the story work and is missing in the other, less successful, stories. The moral, then, may be this: If you're going to do superheroes, make them innocent. Or make them bodily functions. Everything else pales in comparison.

Surprise Surprise: Graeme's favorite book of 6/6.

Okay, so ever since I started doing these reviews semi-daily, I've kind of drifted away from the whole PICK OF THE WEEK/PICK OF THE WEAK thing. It's mostly because, well, who really wants to wait until Tuesday for me to tell you what I thought the worst book that came out the previous Wednesday had been? But my favorite book this week is so out of left field, so surprising, that I really had to share. This week's PICK OF THE WEEK, people? SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #3.

No, really.

It's not because of the Spider-Man J strip, I have to admit (For those who haven't seen Spider-Man J, it's this weird little manga version of Spider-Man that bears little resemblence to the original Spider-Man outside of his costume and the names of the characters. It's charming enough on its own, but nonetheless, somewhat weird when included in an anthology like this). Nor is it anything to do with the Scorpion back-up strip, where Fred Van Lente's new version of the character fights the new Venom, who used to be the old Scorpion, back when the old Venom was still the one that's in the new movie. Or whatever (Although, again, that strip is fine enough). It's not even - despite my secret love for the strip - the Mini Marvels strip that closes out the issue.

No, there are three reasons why I found myself unexpectedly falling in love with this comic.

The first is that it reprints What If... #1, which I have a really strong nostalgic bond with, having read possibly six pages of it at most reprinted in a Marvel UK comic when I was a kid. Luckily, the story itself stands up to such strong critical scrutiny and actually surpasses it, being surprisingly good - Roy Thomas using his continuity powers for good entertainment, if not the good of the world in general, in a story that pretty much boils all of the fun and potential of the entire What If series into one shot (Especially fun is the care that the Watcher takes to explain the concept so that even the dumbest reader ever could get it: "One of your mortal poets, Robert Frost, has spoken beautifully of the 'road not taken' - - the chance missed, the decision deferred").

The second is that, let's face it, 104 pages for $4.99 is a pretty good deal in anyone's eyes. Especially when there isn't an actively bad strip in there at all.

But the third reason is the main reason: The cover feature, which teams movie franchises Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four up again, is really, really amazing. It's not so much the writing of Paul Tobin (although that manages to keep things both simple and moving nicely; it feels as if it's written not for comic book fans but just casual readers, which is rather refreshing) but the stunningly beautiful artwork of Pierre Alary and Jean Paul Fernandez, both of whose names I'm completely unfamiliar with, that makes the story so memorable. The art is cartoony in a European style unlike anything else in American mainstream comics right now, and it's a style that completely suits the characters as much as it amuses and surprises the eye; the characters seem individual and full of life in a way that the regular books miss for the most part (It has, in a way, the sensibilities of a genetic mix of Bruce Timm and Fabio Moon, if that makes sense). I have no idea where this team came from or where they're going to appear again, but their much-too-short take on the characters in this issue is something that elevates the entire book to a Very Good for me. People who like to see some really nice art, who don't care too much about continuity and who like dumb old reprints - This book is for you. Trust me, I know.

The Search for the New: Hibbs does a review (oh my!)

NEW WARRIORS #1: In the post-CIVIL WAR Marvel U, Marvel is trying their damnedest to spin-out a whole lot of new franchises. There's this, the AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE (which is going to need a new logo in a few months, when the "The Initiative" cover banner gets played out), the soon-to-launch not-CHAMPIONS, and so on. This is a smart move, I reckon -- trying to build new franchises by playing out on the end of CIVIL WAR, without having those be "cross overs", or be part of an "event", per se. Marvel really appears to be looking forward, while, to my eyes, DC is right now looking inside.

The "New Warriors" is an odd attempt -- while there's probably some certain amount of nostalgia for the name (I've been having far too many conversations lately where someone says to me "yeah, Darkhawk was totally my favorite character as a kid" -- when did I become so OLD?!?!), but until the very last page there's absolutely no relation to the former incarnation in any way shape or form. For those of us too old to really care much about "Heroes For The 90s", that last page was kind of "Ugh, not that guy, the lamest of the lame... and we're talking about a team with Speedball on it, for gods sake!" And for those readers new to the Marvel U, who might have possibly been brought in by CIVIL WAR, the reveal is probably "Who 'dat?"

I only bring that up because it is strange, to me, to launch a book with such a nostalgic name (and loaded, too, in the context of CIVIL WAR), then not have that be an effect on your first 21 pages of story, really.

There's two plot threads here, really -- first off you've got the unnamed kid on the cover being a clandestine super-hero, followed by several pages of procedural stuff. This is all fairly uninspiring, especially with the 3/4 page reveal of New Warriors graffiti that is staged in such a way to lead me to beleive everyone else in the scene is literally blind, and ends with a line that no detective would ever say.

There's also a long meandering plot involving "Sofia", apparently a depowered mutant of some kind, though there's no narration here to indicate who she might be. I'm thinking I very vaguely remember her from NEW X-MEN (not the Morrison version) -- could she be a Guthrie sister? I suppose it doesn't really matter THAT much, but without some sort of context, I kept thinking "am I SUPPOSED to know this cipher-girl?"

There's one more character -- Barnell Bohusk, who really has the most awesome name ever, and who I remembered readily -- but I think the decision to make him a pretty boy from a CW network show is a really bad one. We've not seen any other purely-physical mutations be reversed, and even if his was, you'd think he'd stay ugly in any case...

There's nothing wrong with this first issue (except I don't think those checking it from nostalgia are going to be rushing back), really, in a technical sense. It reads adequately, the art is fine. But I did very much keep thinking "and why do I care?" as I read it. 22 pages of story, and reasonably dense story at that, and I don't really know what the premise is, yet. I don't really care about the characters at all, because there's nothing memorable about their circumstances. And I pretty much have no reason to pay another $3 for issue #2 unless I care why "He rides a skateboard.... at night!" isn't dead.

Which I can't say has spent even a pico second in MY brain at least.

Overall: Very EH, which is hardly what you want from a brand new monthly ongoing title.

What did YOU think?

-B

I was hoping for "Foggy" or better, not "Black": Graeme starts the week all over.

Whenever a creator talks about a new project in the context of their old ones, I always get oddly nervous. I can't help it; I start to fear the worst. Grant Morrison's pre-release interviews for The Filth mentioned it being the flipside of The Invisibles, and I shuddered ("I like The Invisibles, I thought it was good. Doesn't the flipside mean that it'll be bad?"). When Garth Ennis talked about The Boys "out-Preacher-ing Preacher," I knew it was the end (if only because it seemed as if Ennis was believing his own hype). And, when the hype for Warren Ellis's BLACK SUMMER #0 started namedropping The Authority, I was convinced that things couldn't be good.

Black Summer, for those who don't know, is Ellis's return to superheroes of his own accord (as opposed to his return to superheroes as lured by Marvel's truckloads of money and personal connections to Mark Millar and Brian Michael Bendis). In a text piece at the back of this short first issue - despite it being a #0, it's quite clearly the first chapter of the story and not just filler preview meaningless - Ellis describes it as being "a political take on superhero fiction" like Authority and Stormwatch, and that's both true and somewhat misleading. Yes, it's very much in the same mindset of Authority (and, somewhat interestingly, surprisingly reminiscent in a way to the "Coup D'Etat" crossover that the Authority participated in, years after Ellis left that series), but to call it political feels false. The set-up is that the most powerful superhero in the world has, essentially, murdered the President and his flunkies because they lied to the world in order to get permission to invade Iraq, but there's something... I don't know... non-political about that for me, these days, if that makes sense - Maybe it's my filthy liberal spider-sense working overtime or something, but it feels like a curiously safe, toothless, position to me: Not only is the idea that the President et al lied to get us into Iraq a fairly well-accepted one (or, at least, a non-sensational one) amongst the left-leaning amongst us, but the right-leaning have the comfort blanket of the superhero quite clearly being a murdering psychopathic bastard undermining democracy to offset any claim against Bush and his cohorts. Yes, yes, I know that it's moral ambiguity and grey areas and all of that, but I couldn't help but feel that it was also straddling the political fence and playing it safe, at the same time. I want my political fiction to pick a position and argue it out, you know?

Ignoring the political aspect, this is pretty much what you'd expect from a Warren Ellis superhero book - the cynical smoking bastard who's really a secret idealist, the hokey sciencetalk ("John, what I'm talking about is a second cerebral cortex. Let me put it this way: In the future, will five senses really be enough?"), the romanticized superhero with impossible ideals... Ellis, for all his bluster and true hatred of what the superhero genre has done to the market, clearly loves the genre in and of itself, I think, and he tends to do - if nothing else - interesting work in it. It gives his writer's tics something to work against, and reins them in. Give him a good artist (and Juan Jose Ryp is definitely a good artist) and enough space to work in, and at the very worst, you're not going to bored. This isn't the very worst; as a shorter, cheaper opener issue, it's too short to make any grand pronouncements as to how the series is going to work overall, but this in and of itself was a Good tease for the future, and worth your 99c.

My first thought of the day

I'm doing my cycle sheets (counting the comics we've sold in the last week) [and, God, I can't wait until I never need to do this ever again when POS comes in] {or, at least, being able to spot check inventory at least}, and, jesus, COUNTDOWN is seeing some brutal drops. We lost ANOTHER (nearly) 25% between weeks 3 and 4. This *could* be because it was such a small week o' comics last week, and maybe people are just not coming in, but the other piece of data is that we sold NO copies of week 2 or 3 either this week. That's really really not good.

I'm going to give it one more week before I totally freak out, but right now? The Great Disaster COUNTDOWN is counting down to appears to be the sales of COUNTDOWN...

-B

No time for love, Dr. Richards: Graeme gets the silver.

Firstly, isn't SFO big? I always used to think of it as a fairly small airport, but then last night, I ended up doing laps of the building when a number of snafus sent me from terminal 1 to terminal 3, and then back again, while meeting my vacationing father off his flight. Of course, in a perfect world, parents give you the correct arrival time and flight number, and airlines wouldn't tell you that it can't be them, it's actually another airline you're probably looking for, necessitating said airport laps, but since when did we live in a perfect world?

SILVER SURFER: REQUIEM #1: So, picking this up at the store last week, I pointed out to Hibbs that the cover had the same design and logotype as Spider-Man: Reign. "I can't wait to read about Norrin Radd's Power-Cosmic-Sperm," I said. Little did I know that this really would turn out to be a story about how the Power Cosmic was, indeed, killing poor Norrin. Admittedly, there's no cum-related incidents, but it's only the first issue. There's still time.

Here's the thing, though; Marvel Knights is obviously becoming the imprint for Marvel to push what they've decided are their more prestige and self-important projects featuring their superheroes, between this and Reign. It's just somewhat strange that the first two projects were both in some sense about the twilight days of the characters - I wonder if someone at Marvel feels as if the only way to tell a timeless story about someone is to make it happen at sometime outside of when they were at their best?

(DC does the same thing in reverse, of course; they'd rather go back to "Year One" at any given opportunity.)

That said, this is a perfectly respectable first issue - I had an issue with J. Michael Straczynski's plodding narration (Ending the issue with "I am dying" three times felt like overegging the pudding to me, if you can forgive the food metaphor. I know what JMS was going for, but it seemed off for some reason), but Kate - who ended up reading the book after falling for Esad Ribic's admittedly beautiful painted artwork - pointed out that the Silver Surfer is meant to be a bit over the top and pretentious, and she's kind of right - despite just being entirely set-up. Despite the protestations of the characters, I don't believe that the story really is going to end with the Surfer dead, but I'm sold on the idea that the characters believe it, which is enough to start with. There's more than enough potential for this to go off the rails at any moment (and with the cover for the next issue featuring Spider-Man, I actually somewhat expect it to), but for now? It's a high Okay.

Arriving 6/6

2000 AD #15352000 AD #1536 2000 AD #1537 2000 AD #1538 30 DAYS OF NIGHT EBEN & STELLA #2 A G SUPER EROTIC ANTHOLOGY #59 (A) ALIEN PIG FARM #2 (OF 4) ALL NEW ATOM #12 AVENGERS INITIATIVE #3 CWI BATTLESTAR GALACTICA #10 BATTLESTAR GALACTICA CYLON APOCALYPSE #4 BETTY & VERONICA #227 BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #175 BIRDS OF PREY #107 BLACK SUMMER #0 (OF 7) BREATHE CVR B #2 (OF 4) BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #4 COUNTDOWN 47 DANGER GIRL BODY SHOTS #3 (OF 4) DAREDEVIL BATTLIN JACK MURDOCK #1 (OF 4) DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER BORN #5 (OF 7) DARKNESS LEVEL 4 DALE KEOWN CVR A DEATH AND THE MAN WHO WOULD NOT DIE #1 (OF 4) DETECTIVE COMICS #833 DYNAMO 5 #4 EXTERMINATORS #18 FEAR AGENT LAST GOODBYE #1 GHOST IN THE SHELL 1.5 HUMAN ERROR PROCESSOR #8 (OF 8) GHOST RIDER TRAIL OF TEARS #5 (OF 6) HARD BULLIED COMICS #4 HULK AND POWER PACK #4 (OF 4) INVINCIBLE #42 (NOTE PRICE) IRON MAN #18 CWI IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN #9 JACK OF FABLES #11 JONAH HEX #20 JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #258 JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #131 JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #34 LONE RANGER #6 LONERS #3 (OF 6) LOONEY TUNES #151 MAD MAGAZINE #479 MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #28 MARVEL ZOMBIES ARMY OF DARKNESS #4 (OF 5) MIDNIGHTER #8 MS MARVEL #16 CWI MYSTIC ARCANA BOOK OF MARVEL MAGIC NEW WARRIORS #1 CWI NIGHTWING #133 OMEGA FLIGHT #3 CWI (OF 5) OUTSIDERS #48 PS238 #23 PUNISHER #48 RAISE THE DEAD #3 SADHU #8 SCALPED #6 SIMPSONS SUMMER SHINDIG #1 SOCK MONKEY THE INCHES INCIDENT #4 (OF 4) SPAWN #168 SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #3 SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE #19 STARSHIP TROOPERS ONGOING CVR A #1 STRANGE EMBRACE #1 (OF 8) STRANGE GIRL #17 SUPERGIRL #18 SUPERIOR SHOWCASE #2 SUPERMAN #663 SUPERNATURAL ORIGINS #2 UNCANNY X-MEN #487 WARD O/T STATE #2 (OF 3) WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY #7 WITCHBLADE PUNISHER WITCHBLADE TAKERU MANGA #4

Books / Mags / Stuff ALIENS VS PREDATOR OMNIBUS VOL 1 TP ALTER EGO #69 ANIMATION MAGAZINE JUNE 2007 #173 ARCHIES CAMP TALES VOL 1 TP BATMAN TURNING POINTS TP BULLET POINTS TP CATWOMAN WHEN IN ROME TP CIVIL WAR IRON MAN TP CIVIL WAR MARVEL UNIVERSE TP COMICS JOURNAL #283 COMPLETELY DOOMED TP DOCTOR WHO THE FLOOD TP DRACULA VS KING ARTHUR TP ESSENTIAL SILVER SURFER VOL 2 TP FANTASTIC FOUR INHUMANS TP FORTEAN TIMES #224 FUN NEVER STOPS ANTHOLOGY OF COMIC ART 1991-2006 SC GEORGE W BUSH & WEAPONS OF MASS DISTRACTION T/C SET I SHALL DESTROY ALL THE CIVILIZED PLANETS SC INTERNATIONAL STUDIO #4 KEEPERS OF THE MASER VOL 7 YOUNG QUEEN HC LEES TOY REVIEW JUNE 2007 #176 MAN CALLED KEV TP MPD PSYCHO VOL 1 TP OLD BOY VOL 6 TP SEVENTH SHRINE TP SHINY BEASTS GN TRANSFORMERS MOVIE PREQUEL TP TRANSFORMERS MOVIE TP WIPE THAT CLOCK OFF YOUR FACE HC YOUNG BOTTOMS IN LOVE GN

What looks good to YOU?

-B

Look, up in the sky: Graeme celebrates 850 glorious years.

It's the start of another week - The start of the longest week in the world if you're me (but that kind of griping should really be saved for the middle of the week, I'm sure). So let's begin with a nice, refreshing dip into the anniversary pool, shall we?

ACTION COMICS #850: A story so big that it took three writers to tell it! Somehow, having not paid too much attention to the credits of this before I read it - I was happy enough to see Renato Guedes on artwork again; he's slowly becoming one of my favorite artists working in superhero books these days, and his Supergirl concept art that's been floating around the internet recently has made me excited about the idea that there may be a Supergirl comic out there soon for people who aren't fans of Michael Turner and/or stick figure big-eyed blondes - the fact that this was written by Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza and Geoff Johns seemed wrong, somehow; it doesn't read in an incredibly patchwork manner (despite the patchwork, flashback-nature of the story - There's a unity of purpose and tone here), or as if three different writers were involved. Nonetheless, there's a temptation to look at various scenes and look for fingerprints ("That part where Superman talks about being visited by the Legion of Super-Heroes, and the current-Legion - Waid's version - say that they've never visited Superman? That's got to be Geoff Johns." And so on), and in writing that, I'm suddenly reminded of 52, and the way that this issue is reminiscent of that series, both in terms of groupwriting and continuity injokiness. This is somewhat smoother than that weekly juggernaut, though, in that the writing still manages to have an individual voice that evaded 52, and that there's - somewhat obviously - a clearer throughline and clarity of purpose on a single issue than 52 weekly ones.

Anyway, getting back to the comic itself instead of digressing aimlessly: This is a surprisingly effective anniversary issue, acting as both an introduction to Superman and Supergirl to new readers (if there are any? Not that this issue doesn't deserve them, but I'm just wondering whether the 850th issue of anything would be something potential new readers would pick up. Hey, DC? You should make this your Free Comic Book Day book next year) and, maybe more interestingly, an introduction to longstanding readers to the post-Infinite Crisis history of Superman - There's a lot of backstory clarification here, which has become more welcome than may have been expected in the last year or so of not only the Superman titles, but also the current Justice League/Justice Society crossover. Most importantly, though, it still reads well - it's very much a continuity fix and clip show, sure, but there's fun and value in and of itself.

It's an old-fashioned anniversary issue, in many ways; it doesn't kill off any major characters or go for the big change in the status quo, but instead celebrates the past and reminds you why you liked the characters in the first place. It hits the main points of who everyone is and why they do what they do, and sets up all the relationships between everyone, and does it all with some very good art (and also very good coloring). Overall, then, a wonderfully enjoyable Very Good issue that won't change the world, but doesn't feel the need to, anyway.

Read the color supplement, the TV Guide: Graeme, 5/31, part four...

If it's Sunday, then it's time for me to catch up on random things that I won't be talking about elsewhere across the week...

DAREDEVIL #97: It's only when I type that out that I realize how close we are to the 100th issue; I knew it was coming, I've seen the double-page cover in the solicits and all, but somewhat refreshingly, the story in this issue is entirely devoid of dramatic "the tension is building towards something big that's going to happen in three months' time" moments. Not that there's no tension here at all; just the opposite, in fact - It's just that all of the tension is for drama that's a lot more immediate. Is Brubaker so kill-happy after killing off Captain America that he's going to kill off Matt's wife? What's going on with the magic smelly woman? Who do I have to threaten to get a Brubaker-written Dakota North series (Yes, I was one of the few who read her first series, waaaaay back when)? It's not all drama, though; there's also humor in the reason why the cops don't unmask Matt when they arrest him (He gets arrested for Civil War/Initiative-related reasons that don't seem too obtrusive, happily enough. I hope there's a sales bump for the scene, nonetheless) and in Foggy's appearance. Between this, Captain America and Criminal, Ed's so on his game these days that I'm almost tempted to check out his Uncanny X-Men after all. It goes without saying that Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano's artwork is as effective as ever, so you can consider this a safe Very Good.

GREEN LANTERN #20: There are two things that save this from being Geoff Johns' uncomfortable fanfic made public ("Why doesn't every woman in the universe love Hal Jordan as much as I do? I know! I'll make that a plot point in the actual comic!") - the sense that he's actually going somewhere with the Green Lantern/Sinestro/Zamaron Corps storylines, and more tellingly, artist Daniel Acuna's attractively-sloppy art, which manages to be sketchy and convincingly finished at the same time, and gives the story much more credibility than it probably deserves. Okay, but if regular artist Ivan Reis had drawn this, as much as I normally like his stuff, his idealized-realism would've shot that down a couple of ratings...

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #6: I can't quite tell if there's self-aware humor in this issue (I'm pretty sure there are shots at Kingdom Come and old Legion stories) or just some kind of pre-exemptive snark strike at those who don't love what Geoff Johns loves, but even that's not enough to save what feels pretty much like extended filler so that Brad Meltzer gets to finish the story over in Justice League. There's even more continuity self-love with the Triplicate Girl appearance (And, appallingly, I fell for it, thinking to myself "Wait, wasn't she Duo Damsel by the time Dawnstar joined the team...?" I am nerd, hear me moan), and the reveal of the final time-tossed Legionnaire was unexpected, but still... Eh.

If my response to The Lightning Saga is any indication of how other JLA and Legion fans are feeling about the story, then I'm sure that somewhere in DC's hallowed headquarters, there's a team of crack scientists wondering just how a story with so many of the right ingredients is leaving the target audience so cold...

Why couldn't I live that "ultimate power corrupts absolutely" one, instead: Graeme on DC 5/31

Well, this week has pretty much officially kicked my ass. It's mostly work-related stuff - in fact, I think it's entirely work-related stuff, now that I come to think about it - and as such completely disinteresting to all of you, but I just want to announce that Stan Lee had it right: That great power? Really does come with great responsibility.

Let's lose ourselves in the world of DC continuity, shall we?

AMAZONS ATTACK! #2: You know what I'm bored of? Fake "Oh no, we've killed off Superman's Ma and Pa" cliffhangers. Guess what, DC? We know that they're somehow fine - We've survived The Kingdom and Our Worlds At War, both of which (as far as I remember) featured exactly the same ending to this issue at one point or another - "Kansas is aflame! Superman rushes off, griefstricken!" - so it just doesn't work anymore. It's one of a few bum notes in this overall Okay second issue. Will Pfeifer's script is pretty sound overall, and Pete Woods' art is really great, but there's something disconcerting about seeing the return of "Why is this happening? See Another Comic #7! - Ed" footnotes not once but twice. Have I been so mollycoddled by modern superhero comics that the prospect of plots flowing between books, or is it just that I'm annoyed when it happens in scenes that don't seem to have any other purpose in the book other than to drive people to those other comics?

COUNTDOWN #48: I really like Adam Beechen's writing normally - Sorry, people who want to kill him because of Batgirl - but the last page of this issue has ridiculously clunky dialogue: "...I think Lightray's dead. But how... how is that even possible?" "I... I don't know, Jimmy. What does it mean for the universe... when a god dies?" I don't know, Superman, but I do kind of feel that your incredibly melodramatic question - and, in fact, that entire ending, which reads as if it was meant to be a shock and surprise - would have had more power had the cover of this issue not read "Death of a New God" and had you standing over Lightray's corpse. Elsewhere in the issue, it's still as if the series hasn't found its feet yet, but it's (dare I say it) improving slowly. There's nothing here that matches the joy that marked 52's best stuff yet (although Jimmy Olsen's various super powers appearing and disappearing comes close), but this Okay issue did mark the first time that the series didn't feel like a terrible mistake, which has to count for something, right?

TEEN TITANS #47: All-new! All-continuity! Not only tying up their own loose ends, the Teen Titans seem to be becoming the go-to characters to get everything else tied in as well - The main thrust of the issue is following through from Countdown #51 and 48, and ends with the start of an Amazons Attack! crossover. Which, in one way, is kind of cool for the continuity nerds - Now you can work out the timeline for all these events in the DC Universe, finally - but on the other hand, it feels as if the lead characters are just guest-stars in their own book (especially as, of the three main characters in the Countdown-related plot, only one is a regular in this series); the Titans-related scenes feel tacked-on and superfluous, which is somewhat depressing. But then again, this kind of thing is what the kids want... Eh.

On a related note, how bad is it that I was still tempted to pick up the first 52 trade this week, despite having bought the singles, just because I wanted to read whatever extras were included...?

Spam Filters and such

I set my spam filter pretty high -- not all the way to max, but up there, because, with a (very) public email address, I easily get 2-300 messages a day some days. I religiously check my spam folder 2-3 times a day before deleting, but I'm scanning for "names I know", and if I don't know your name, I'm not going to notice you've gone into spam, right?

What made me think of this is that I recently emailed someone with a clear "internet pseudonym" at their Last Known Public address, and I started to get frustrated that I hadn't heard anything back. And then I thought, well damn, maybe it got trapped in spam and I never knew because I don't know the person's real name (I'm only seeing names in my list, not titles -- life is, actually, too short to do it any other way)

Anyway, the upshot is, if you sent me an email, and I didn't respond at all, maybe give the store a call at 415-863-9258 and leave a message (if I'm not there) with your name and "Hibbs said so on the internet, which I know sounds crazy, but is true", then send me another email 24 hours later, and I'll know to be looking for your actual real name within the spam folder.

-B

How about a review?

Post Jeff Irony #2 -- he's not here this week, my first solo 8 hour day in a while, and none (not one) of the usual Friday night regulars came by to hang out. Guess I know who the Popular Kid is now (*sniff*) However, Skip Tuttle DID come by -- I haven't seen him in 6 months at least -- but, of course, he came by to say goodbye to Jeff *double sniff*

DRAWING FROM LIFE #1: Jim Valentino's had a pretty interesting career, really -- doing pretty much the definitive superhero parody with normalman, being the One-Of-These-Things-Is-Not-Like-The-Other member of the original Image 7, and so on, but I've always been way more partial to his autobio stuff, really. He was doing it earlier than most guys, and he neither seemed to flinch OR pander.

The problem is that's he's not much of an artist. Don't get me wrong -- he's a pretty reasonable CARTOONIST, but there's more than a few pieces here that I would have liked to see a more ... dunno, "assured", maybe? line on.

Everything in this first issue reads really well, but that Valentino's art hasn't really grown at all in the last 20 years works against it on the flip test (We've not sold a single copy as of yet, though I ordered 10 because I personally like his auto-bio writing) -- he's got some better tricks with use of negative space and what not, but his underlying rendering sadly works against the content in most cases.

The weirdest thing for me is that this is billed as all new material, but it looks really old -- not just because of Valentino's basic craft, but also because it's not really "cleaned up" -- you can see the lines in many word balloons, for example, that I assume are badly erased hand lettering marks. In the 21st century, that doesn't look quaint -- it looks sloppy.

Despite that, I still largely recommend the issue -- I think its stronger stuff than, say, TRUE STORY, SWEAR TO GOD, and there's a nice denseness in the sheer number of stories on display here. I really would like this to sell, because I'd much much MUCH rather be reading this than 80% of the we've-grown-past-superheroes-but-the-market-demands-them output of the Shadowline.

Still, I say: Solid GOOD, and if you like auto-bio, and, especially, comics industry-related auto-bio, this should be in your reading stack.

What did YOU think?

-B