MAJOR PUBLISHERS
MARVEL COMICS
ALLIGATOR LOKI HOLIDAY SPECIAL #1 ($6.99): ALLIGATOR LOKI: HOLIDAY SPECIAL #1 collects #13-24 of the Infinity Comic series for the first time in print, along with a new holiday story Alyssa Wong and Bob Quinn. "Join Alligator Loki and his many, many, many friends — from the X-Men to the Young Avengers to several symbiotes — as they romp across the Marvel Universe, sowing chaos and camaraderie in equal stride," the PR says. It looks like he stole Thor's goats!
Anyway, Alligator Loki was such a revelation in Loki the TV show that I'm delighted he's making the transition to print. All this cross-pollination can only be a good thing, and Alligator Loki's existence is objectively awesome.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #263 FACSIMILE EDITION ($4.99): More black costume.
HELLVERINE #1 ($4.99): I'm glad they're doing something with Daken, because he really brought nothing to the table after his Daddy issues were resolved. (And they felt manufactured, anyway — things that could have been resolved with a 10-minute conversation instead of 10 years of combat.) I also have questions about Daken's look. Unless he was born with that weird mohawk-y haircut and tattoos, how do they remain? We have seen Wolverine grow all of his hair back in minutes, so if Daken had his hair cut that way, it should grow back before he left the salon. Similarly, tattoos shouldn't take. The healing factor would replace all the "damaged" skin cells within minutes. Human bodies don't treat tattoos as damage, but the Marvel healing factor treats all changes as damage and repairs everything — even things the human body is incapable of repairing, like teeth.
“I was writing Wolverine, and I was writing Ghost Rider," writer Benjamin Percy said. "Of course I was going to bring them together. The Weapons of Vengeance storyline was a monstrous hit, in part because Geoff Shaw and I introduced the Hellverine, a version of Logan with a flaming skull and flaming claws. The fan enthusiasm was such that a Marvel Legends toy was announced and a spin-off limited series got greenlit. I had so much fun expanding the mythos of the demon Bagra-ghul and finding a way to not only bring Akihiro back from his savage death in Sabretooth War, but to explore some fresh possibilities for a complicated character I've always loved. And now? There's more mayhem and occultism and hellfire on the horizon. I'm grateful to readers and retailers for their support, because a Hellverine ongoing is coming your way. I'm joining forces with powerhouse artist Raffaele Ienco, and we've got huge, horrifying plans for the Hellverine and his role in the 616.”
MSH SECRET WARS #12 FACSIMILE EDITION ($6.99): Last issue. I can see the appeal of reprinting entire runs of famous comics for those that didn't buy them the first time around. I mean, if I had collected Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #1-6 and 8-12 as back issues, it would be very satisfying to slide MSH Secret Wars #7 Facsimile Edition in that hole. I do wonder about the utility of getting entire facsimile runs instead of collections, though. They're both reprints, so why not get the one that's easier to read and store?
Of course, I'm saying this as someone who bought original copies back in 1984. I know I'd feel differently if I didn't have those issues at all.
TVA #1 (OF 5, $4.99): The TVA is apparently expanding its tolerance of variants, and is recruiting various characters whose worlds have been destroyed, like Super-Soldier Peggy Carter. Sounds like they're riding the popularity of Loki and What If? on TV, but it's a pretty wide-open concept that isn't limited to what we've seen on TV. And yes, Miss Minutes finally gets her close-up.
“I love this idea," Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige said. “It’s just as cool for us to see our work in comics as it is to bring the work of comic book creators to the big screen.” Oh, Kevin Feige, you always know the right thing to say.
DC COMICS
ABSOLUTE BATMAN #3 ($4.99) Looks like Bruce and Alfred will finally team up, as we knew they would. "Plus, discover the dark secret that will rock Bruce to his core and make him question everything ..." Well, it's not like that hasn't happened routinely to Original Flavor Batman.
CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN #1 (OF 6, $3.99) "Ace Morgan, June Robbins, Prof Haley, Red Ryan, and Rocky Davis must team with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the League to seal the rifts that threaten the galaxy." The Challengers always kind of stood alone in their original Silver Age series, as if superheroes didn't exist. They crossed over with Doom Patrol once, but that was another title that didn't work and play well with the capes-and-cowls side of the line.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #9 FACSIMILE EDITION (OF 12, $3.99): See my remarks about Secret Wars above.
DC FINEST: CATWOMAN -- LIFE LINES TP ($39.99) collects Catwoman (first series) #1-4, Catwoman (second series) #1-12, Catwoman Annual #1, Batman/Catwoman: Defiant #1 and stories from Action Comics Weekly #611-614 and Showcase '93 #1-4. This isn't my favorite period of the Feline Fatale, even though it's essentially when she went A-list with her own series the first time. Bad Girls, what can I say? Anyway, wake me up when they get to Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke.
GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW: WORLD'S FINEST #1 (ONE-SHOT, $5.99) teams the Hard-Traveling Heroes against Deathstroke, which seems a mismatch. Wilson is bringing a sword to a power ring fight. TBH, Green Lantern could beat Deathstroke from orbit. But I'm sure he'll present a challenge, because writers. And there's a Flash back-up, which reverses the natural order of things! Green Lantern is supposed to be a Flash back-up! I have the '70s back issues to prove it!
NEW GODS #1 (OF 12, $3.99): The description puts most of the New Gods we know on Earth, but Bleeding Cool and CBR say that the New Gods are the bridge between the All In universe and the Absolute universe. If you're reading Absolute Batman, Absolute Superman and Absolute Wonder Woman, you'll want this book, too.
SUPERMAN: THE 100 PROJECT TP (HERO INITIATIVE, $14.99): All covers, but for a good cause.
WONDER WOMAN 16 ($4.99): Guest-starring Detective Chimp.
IMAGE COMICS
FREDDIE THE FIX (ONE-SHOT, MR, $7.99) is by Garth Ennis (The Boys, Preacher) and Mike Perkins (Bat-man: First Knight, Swamp Thing).
Freddie the Fix is your basic Hollywood fixer — the guy who makes potential scandals involving Hollywood stars disappear. Only this Ennis tale posits werewolves, vampires, zombies, aliens, bogeymen, predators and other things that go bump in the night. Which means Freddie's job is that much more complicated. But he's a pro, and we follow him through his latest case — involving vampires, gill-people and more — which turns out to be a big one.
Is it good? Yes. It's by Ennis, whose plotting, pacing and dialogue are second to none. I will note for the record that there were a couple times that Freddie survived by writer's fiat, but hey, that's comic books all over. It didn't yank me out of the story far enough that Ennis couldn't drag me back in.
And the art is sublime. There's obviously a lot of photo reference going on for the main characters, but what's not so obvious is who the subjects are. Unlike many artists, Perkins takes care to change his photo reference enough to disguise its origins. Take Freddie, for instance. Here I see a little Don Cheadle, there a little Idris Elba. Or do I? It's the same with other characters, where I think I see a famous face, but just can't put my finger on it.
All in all, it's a fun book, and it's recommended.
“Everyone likes a bit of Hollywood dirt now and again — a little filth, a little squalor, a little wrongdoing amongst the movie star magic,” Ennis said to Popverse. “But how would you like it if it was your job to clean it up? And even worse, if it was movie monsters you were dealing with, not stars? Well, that’s what Freddie does for a living. And the multi-talented Mike Perkins and I are going to show you all the gory details. Check out Freddie the Fix, coming soon.”
G.I. JOE #2 ($3.99): Joshua Williamson (Duke, Cobra Commander), artist Tom Reilly (Duke) introduce Cobra Commander's new special operatives unit, the Valkyries. They don't appear to be at all snake-themed, which must violate some sort of supervillain rule. Cobra Commander will probably hear about this at the supervillain union meeting.
HORIZON EXPERIMENT: MOTHERFU*KIN MONSTERS (ONE-SHOT, MR, $3.99) is by playwright, TV writer/producer (The Handmaid's Tale) and comic book writer J. Holtham (Epitaphs From the Abyss, Bishop, Night Thrasher) and Michael Lee Harris (creator of Black Hitler and Choco Leche).
A blerd who's a new freshman at an elite upstate New York college is visited by his cousin, her girlfriend and the girlfriend's roommate. They're invited to a (white) frat party, and it turns out Delta Delta Delta is sacrificing Black people to some dark god or other, to gain dark power to wipe out Black people.
I won't say what happens next, but Horizon Experiment's purpose is to put "marginalized" (i.e., non-white, non-straight) people at the center of stories where they're not usually the protagonists. Horror movies, Holtham points out, is "a pretty white space," where Black people are usually sidekicks, and/or don't make it past the first reel. (Jordan Peele exempted, one would think. But I digress.) Anyway, you can probably guess that our heroes DO make it past the first reel, and as this is a pilot story, will continue in an ongoing should that occur. (Although I do worry about the chihuahua, Muffin, whose situation isn't good.)
As a white person, I admit to some discomfort at how awful the white people are in this story, and I cringe at many of the things coming out of their mouths. But, I have to admit, it's not undeserved. Not all white people are like the boys of Delta Delta Delta, but far too many are. And Holtham makes the most of the dialogue, shorthanding a lot of points in a small space. His pacing is spot on, too, as if he's been writing comic books forever.
On the downside, there's no ending. (Pilot, remember?) And I'm not crazy about Harris' eccentric, cartoony art style. I'd probably learn to enjoy it in an ongoing. But in a one-shot, I didn't have sufficient time to grow accustomed to it.
"I'm a longtime horror head," Holtman said. "I saw Evil Dead II in an old grindhouse in Queens and it rocked my world. Of course, though, we all know the trope: The Black folks die first. I wanted to make a world that works for Blerds, Black witch girls, and all the kinds of Black folk we don't get to see. I was that Black kid in the lily-white college town, which can be a horror story of its own. When Pornsak asked me to join The Horizon Experiment, Blerds fighting zombies was the first place my mind went. Michael Lee has been a dream collaborator. Pushing the gore, pushing the cool, bringing all the Blackness to the page. I can't wait for people to see what we've made."
"I didn’t realize how much I needed Motherfu*kin’ Monsters in my life,” said Harris. “It’s rare that we get to see fun horror from this perspective and I am thrilled to be a part of it! J penned a unique story that I got to bloody up and I can’t wait for you all to read it!"
"Motherfu*kin’ Monsters looks and feels like no comic you've ever read before because J. and Michael Lee are two voices unlike any others working in comics,” editor Pornsak Pichetshote said. “J.'s a successful playwright, screenwriter and TV producer, so it's been thrilling to watch him do comics. And there are things Michael Lee's doing in Motherfu*kin’ Monsters that I've never seen done before. His command of the medium is that unique, so it's a treat seeing what he and J. can do with their powers combined."
ROCKETFELLERS #2 ($3.99): If you missed the first issue, the Rocketfellers are a family from the future hiding from political enemies in the good ol' days of 2024. (Soon to be 2025, I guess.) This issue contains a two-page spread referencing Ghost Machine's four universes, which I've discussed before. Here, I'll let the PR do the explaning this time:
"Written by Peter J. Tomasi and Francis Manapul, with art by Manapul and lettering by Rob Leigh, this second issue unveils the villains' search through all four corners of Ghost Machine’s realities — including those of the American history of hidden heroes 'The Unnamed' (with Geiger, Redcoat and Junkyard Joe), the sci-fi breakout hit Rook: Exodus, the twisted terrors of Hyde Street ... and The Rocketfellers’ own 'Family Odysseys' with ... Hornsby & Halo."
“The amount of effort everybody put into those panels is inspiring,” Manapul said.
“Aside from loving the pure artistry of each of the artists, it also hammers home to me — and I hope the readers — how wonderfully distinct the entire line of books coming out from Ghost Machine is, and what a wide breadth of genres and compelling characters that are incredibly brought to life by the passion of their creators,” Tomasi said about the collaboration.
For the record, the guy at top with the helmet and gun is Rook, to the immediate right is something from Hornsby and Halo, the guy fighting Civil War soldiers is Redcoat, the guy in the cloak with the two-headed wolf is Geiger, Junkyard Joe is at far left, and the woman stacking jars and the Boy Scout are from Hyde Street. I don't know who the woman at the podium is.
DARK HORSE
STAR WARS: HIGH REPUBLIC PHASE III — WEDDING $1 (ONE-SHOT, $5.99): I'm not reading any of the Star Wars: High Republic material that's running across various media, and more than one comic book publisher. It's just too much like work. But if you're in the mood for a wedding, here ya go.
YELLOW GN ($24.99) is written and drawn by Jay Martin. I think the writing is stronger than the art, and I think with a different artist I'd like it better.
As it is, it's a pretty good read. It's about a Southern teen, Nick Carson, who gets drafted in the second American Civil War. The book isn't about the war, which is pretty much like the first Civil War — North vs. South — only with modern weapons. It's about Nick, who deserts in the Carolinas, and tries to reach Indianapolis on foot, where his former girlfriend fled. (She's Black, so you can understand why she'd flee a second Confederacy.) It's basically a post-apocalypse story, as the war has left the countryside he traverses blasted, abandoned and collapsing. It's without power or food, but with the occasional survivor, refugee or military patrol — people who are almost always dangerous. It's The Walking Dead without zombies, and as longtime viewers of the show know, those stories almost always depict the living as worse than the dead.
As to the title, it refers to Carson being branded a coward for desertion — a description he believes. Given that even our hero doesn't think of himself as a hero, the underlying question is whether we are all animals at heart, or if we can embrace the better angels of our nature. This question has been examined in literature for centuries, and I have read many of those works, so seeing the pageant play out again was almost never surprising, but almost reassuring.
The downside, as I said, is the art. It doesn't seem polished enough for a work this long and self-serious. You can judge for yourself from the preview below:
DYNAMITE
GARGOYLES WINTER SPECIAL #1 ($5.99): I'm not a Gargoyles reader, but Dynamite sent such a nice preview I thought I'd share it.
"Everyone's fan-favorite dog-like Gargoyle, Bronx, will find himself amidst a blanketing blizzard exploring the streets of New York City," the PR reads. "But when a family is trapped under the sheets of snow, it's up to him to save the day!"
SWEETIE CANDY VIGILANTE VOL 2 #6 (OF 6, MR, $4.99) features an appearance by Flaming Carrot, his first appearance with non-Bob Burden characters since 1994 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Flaming Carrot #1-4). Burden also contributes Cover B, which I think is an homage to one of his own covers, the second issue of Flaming Carrot Comics at Image, where FC was carrying his Baloney Gun.
I haven't been reading this series, but I read this one. Sweetie, who's apparently part of a magical candy-making family, because of course, hosts a Christmas party. Her supporting cast is there ("Pixie Stix," "Candy Wolf," some others), along with some of Santa's reindeer, the Great Pumpkin, the Easter Bunny, Little Red Riding Hood (who just goes by "Red") and Flaming Carrot. The latter doesn't do much, but there's a reference to a previous Candy/Carrot team-up that's never been published (and may yet be). Wolf tells Pixie about when Candy and Santa dated, and why they broke up. (It involves Elf on a Shelf.)
I was a bit surprised. I assumed from some of the covers that this would be a Bad Girl book, but Candy is depicted as, well, sweet. What I considered revealing clothing is probably just an exaggeration of typical teen-girl attire, which I imagine is the book's target audience. (Well, a lot of teen boys, too, for a variety of reasons.)
THUNDERCATS #11 ($4.99): Declan Shalvey (The Terminator, Mystique) and Drew Moss launch a new story arc. This one features Lion-O taking on Mumm-Ra in the Black Pyramid, previously discovered by WilyKit and WilyKat. Man, I wish I was making up these names, which are a bit silly to this old man. But then, I was born too soon to watch ThunderCats on TV and never developed any nostalgia for it. Readers younger than me will almost certainly feel differently.
"It’s been an amazing experience, from the initial enthusiasm, to the amazing sales, to the actual feedback from readers," Shalvey said. "Couldn’t be happier with how things have gone. Currently I’m having to switch things up as the original plan was to do a year-long reboot, but with the sales momentum being so strong, we now have at least another year on the book. We really have found a great groove, and getting to continue this book is a golden opportunity to see how that collaboration evolves."
MORE COMICS
ALLEY OOP AND THE MINOTAUR TP (Manuscript Press, $19.99): Comic-strip collectors' alert!
ALLEY OOP: THE ICE AGE TP (Manuscript Press, $27.50): Comic-strip collectors' alert!
BRITISH INVASION HC (NBM, $34.99): I take anything NBM releases seriously and always take a look at it. In this case, it's British pop culture from the early 1960s to present. I would probably buy it if I hadn't lived through it already. Like Agent Kay, I have many copies of the White Album.
CARAVAGGIO: THE PALETTE AND THE SWORD BOOK 1 TP (OF 2, Fantagraphics, 64 pages, $19.99): Here's something you don't see every day: a graphic novel tribute to a great painter by a modern master. Evidently the "bawdy, swashbuckling" Italian painter is the idol of current Italian artist Milo Manara, whose own work could be described as "bawdy," if you were prone to understatement. This is also the first volume of a new line at Fantagraphics, The Milo Manara Signature Edition. If you're a Manara fan, I don't see how you can resist. Here's a PREVIEW.
CHRIS MOULD'S WAR OF THE WORLDS GN (Faber and Faber, $27.99): A new version of the H.G. Wells classic is always worth a mention. The art's too scritchy-scatchy for my taste, but here's a LOOK. And here's ANOTHER, in case it's your cup of tea.
COLLECTED CRIMEHOT VOL 1 (OF 2, Silver Sprocket, MR, $29.99): Crimehot. Artnot.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN: THE ORIGINAL MARVEL YEARS OMNIBUS VOL 3 HC (Titan, MR, $125.00): I erroneously ran the preview last week, with the Savage Sword of Conan: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 3 HC, which has been bumped to this week anyway.
What I said then is still true: I know the face of John Buscema's Conan as well as I do members of my own family. That's how specific it was.
CORPSE BLADE VOL 1 GN (OF 3, $12.99)
DAMNED (Fantagraphics, $6.99): This is by Eric Haven, but it's reminiscent of Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes, Gilbert Hernandez and select other indie artists from the '80s and '90s. I need a name for this kind of ironic, faux-retro art. Anybody got one?
EC EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #6 (OF 12, Oni Press, $4.99): Announced creators for this issue's three stories are writers J. Holtham (Horizon Experiment); Matthew Rosenberg (Uncanny X-Men, DC vs. Vampires); and Tim Seeley (Local Man); and artists Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead) and David Lapham (Stray Bullets)
EVERFROST TP (Black Mask, MR, $16.99): I don't have anything to say about this book, which "exists delightfully at the intersection of science fiction and fantasy," because I've never seen it or read the four-issue series it collects. But I found previews of al four issues at the Black Mask site, and I have to say the art is awesome. Here's the first issue preview:
FAIRY TALE TEAM-UP: ROBYN HOOD & RED AGENT #1 (Zenescope, $6.99): More tales of girls not dressed warmly enough for this weather.
FLASH GORDON QUARTERLY #2 (Mad Cave, $5.99): This is one of the grown-up titles from Mad Cave, not the children's version from Papercutz.
FORGOTTEN RUNES: WIZARD'S CULT TP (Titan, $17.99)
KAMEN RIDER KUUGA VOL 8 GN (Titan, MR, $12.99): "Kuuga" puts me in mind of a car horn in a Laurel & Hardy short (KOOO-gah). Maybe in Japan they sounded different.
MARTIN SCORSESE GN (Titan, MR, $29.99): I like Scorsese movies. I don't need to know about him personally. The people behind the art, to me, are never as interesting as the art itself. (Your mileage may vary.)
MARVEL COMICS LIBRARY: AVENGERS 1963-1965 HC (Taschen, $80.00): This is a smaller, cheaper version of the $200 monolith I have on my bookshelf.
MARVEL COMICS LIBRARY: SPIDER-MAN 1962-1964 HC (Taschen, $80.00): See above.
METAL WARRIOR PSKYDIN'S DESCENT BOOK 1: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS (OF 9, Z2 Comics, $19.99): I had no idea what this was, so I Googled. This is what I could find:
There's a guy in San Diego with a micro-brewery, which finances his heavy metal band, which apparently doesn't release albums and do tours, but instead pretends it's made up of fictional characters in outer space. Metal Warrior "shreds across the galaxy," and the songs are about their adventures. Which are also chronicled in graphic novels. And this is one of them. With a 7-inch vinyl record included, by Metal Warrior.
I have no idea if it's good or bad. I'm just amazed that it exists.
MINKY WOODCOCK: THE GIRL CALLED CTHULHU #3 (OF 4, Titan, MR, $3.99): The art still doesn't stir me, but any story that combines H.P Lovecraft and Aleister Crowley is worth my time.
MISSING ON THE MOON #1 (OF 4, Mad Cave, $4.99) is a crime noir (or "neon-noir," they call it) that takes place in a city on the Moon. A washed-up P.I. investigates the disappearance of a millionaire's daughter in what is clearly an alternate timeline, since this takes place in 1997. I love me some crime noir, and the art is nice, but the chances my LCS will have shelf copies is approximately zero.
Off-topic: I've never been able to push "noir" through my Li'l Abner accent without sounding like a hayseed, and now I'm confronted with "neon-noir." That's just cruel.
MONDAY: A COMIC APOCRYPHA GN (Uncivilized Books, $29.99) is a "metaphysical slapstick comic" by Andy Hartzell, which takes place on the eighth day of creation. You know, after the first six days, when God created everything, and after the seventh day, when He rested. And He makes something new in the Garden of Eden on the second Monday, which alarms both the snake and Adam and Eve. But they're reluctant to intervene, because "messing with the creative process is a dangerous business." OK, that's funny no matter what your religion.
MOORCOCK'S ELRIC VOL 5: NECROMANCER HC (Titan, MR, $19.99): I've already read all these books from when they were originally published, but dang if the art doesn't make me want to buy them a second time, to have them on my bookshelf instead of in a longbox.
NEW YEAR'S PREY #1 (American Mythology, $4.99): There's a thing that's only allowed to feed once a year. Generally at parties, where people are dressed up and drunk. Yes, American Mythology has managed to find a way to tell a New Year's Eve horror story! And I like the punny title.
NEXUS: SCOURGE #1 (OF 2, Alien Books, $4.99): This is a Nexus story without Steve Rude. That's like a Rocketeer story without Dave Stevens. What's the point?
RESURGENCE #4 (OF 4, $4.99): My LCS pulled the first issue for me, and then seemed to forget I wanted this.
ROCK & ROLL BIOGRAPHIES: LINKIN PARK (MR, $3.99): Just what it says it is.
RUR GN (Rosarium Publishing, $32.99): I've never read the original novel, so this would be all new to me. The art's not to my taste, but my tastes aren't universal.
SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN #6 (OF 6, MR, $6.99): This is the final issue of this series for now. There's only been one collection so far, of issues #1-3, which I reviewed (positively) earlier. I'll do the same for issues #4-6 when that collection arrives.
SHADOWMAN: SOUL EATERS #3 (OF 4, Valiant, $4.99): More "Resurgence."
SOMALI AND THE FOREST SPIRIT VOL 1 GN (Titan, $12.99)
STAINLESS STEEL RAT COLOR OMNIBUS TP (Rebellion / 2000 AD, $33.99): I read some of this when it was being reprinted in the '70s. And the question I've always had is, "Does the Stainless Steel Rat look like James Coburn on purpose?"
THREE STOOGES: NEW YEAR'S NITWITS #1 (American Mythology, $4.99): I'm glad Stooges not associated with Iggy Pop have found their way into the 21st century, but comic books isn't where they shine. As The Baron said, the appeal of the boys was that they were live-action cartoons. If they're cartoon cartoons, what's the point?
WAR ON GAZA (ONE-SHOT, Fantagraphics, $12.99): Joe Sacco is pretty good at this comic book/current events/op-ed thing, but it's not like I don't have enough to be depressed about.
WORKING FOR GOD IN A GODLESS WORLD VOL 1 TP (Titan, $12.99)
WORLD OF ARCHIE JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #146 ($9.99)
Full story:
WRONG EARTH: DEAD RINGERS #5 (OF 5, Ahoy, $3.99): I really should get a collection of these Dragonfly stories.
ZOO JITSU FIGHTERS #1 (OF 4, Icon Heroes, CVR A, KOHSE, $10.00-$25.00): Six expensive variants of a book that was released only last week. SIght unseen, I put this in the same category as Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters and Pre-Teen Dirty-Gene Kung-Fu Kangaroos.
Replies
"I also have questions about Daken's look. Unless he was born with that weird mohawk-y haircut and tattoos, how do they remain? We have seen Wolverine grow all of his hair back in minutes, so if Daken had his hair cut that way, it should grow back before he left the salon. Similarly, tattoos shouldn't take. The healing factor would replace all the "damaged" skin cells within minutes. Human bodies don't treat tattoos as damage, but the Marvel healing factor treats all changes as damage and repairs everything — even things the human body is incapable of repairing, like teeth."
Are you thinking again, Skipper?
Minutes of internet research tell me that "Kuuga" can mean "egg(s)" or "sky; emptiness". Make of that what ypou will.
Are you thinking again, Skipper?
Whoops, my bad.
Minutes of internet research tell me that "Kuuga" can mean "egg(s)" or "sky; emptiness." Make of that what you will.
An air omelet, I suppose. But seriously, I am curious now if Japanese car horns in the early part of the last century sounded different than American ones, to avoid sounding like existing words. I mean, tooting "eggs" at someone who's in your way probably doesn't have the desired effect.
I've no idea, really. I do know that Japanese onomatopoeia is very different from ours. "Meow" is nya", or woof" is "wan wan", for example.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #9 FACSIMILE EDITION (OF 12, $3.99): See my remarks about Secret Wars above.
I'm considering buying #11-12 (my two favorite issues of the series) when they get to that point to store with my sundry other "crises".
NEW GODS #1: If you're reading Absolute Batman, Absolute Superman and Absolute Wonder Woman, you'll want this book, too.
The "absolute" titles aren't really clicking with me as I'd hoped, but I was planning to give this one a try anyway out of curiousity.
I have many copies of the White Album.
Do you have the Esher Demos? It's the entire album remastered, plus demo version of all the songs plus Sour Milk Sea, Junk, Child of Nature, Cirlces, Not Guilty and What's the New Mary Jane.
NEXUS: SCOURGE #1: This is a Nexus story without Steve Rude.... What's the point?
Steve Rude Nexus without Mike Baron is pretty pointless, too. YMMV
WRONG EARTH: DEAD RINGERS #5: I really should get a collection of these Dragonfly stories.
You should. There have been four so far. Be sure to start with the first one.
I'm considering buying #11-12 (my two favorite issues of the series) when they get to that point to store with my sundry other "crises".
Like the White Album, I have multiple copies of "Crisis" in different formats, including the original comics. One day I'll have to decide which one to keep, and sell the rest. Speaking of The Beatles:
Do you have the Esher Demos?
If I had heard of them, I had ignored them. ("What, they want us to pay for something recorded on a tape deck now?) But I Googled them, and they do sound like something I'd like to have. I ordered the 50th Anniversary edition, and I'll probably listen on YouTube before it gets here.
That reminds me: I still have to watch the documentary on Disney/Hulu. I thought it would depress me, but my sister assures me it won't.
Steve Rude Nexus without Mike Baron is pretty pointless, too.
I wonder how it is that they're both doing separate versions. I assume they share the rights, and the contract must be pretty flexible. Either that, or we're about to see one of them sue the other.
This "New Gods" series will be volume 5. Volume 1 was the 1970s Orion-centric Jack Kirby series that was resumed years later in Gerry Conway penned issues which are now largely disregarded as an alternate continuity. Volume 2 was almost entirely a reprint series, with one important exception in the last issue. Volume 3 ran from 1989 to 1991 and was something of a follow-up to "Cosmic Odyssey".
Volume 4 ran from 1995 to 1997 and became a John Byrne series with #12, while also following up on Takion's recently-cancelled series. At the time, Byrne was also writing and penciling Wonder Woman. Volume #4 ran up to #15 and then was cancelled, alongside a rather mediocre "Mister Miracle" series, in order to open the way for a very similar "Jack Kirby's Fourth World" series, also by John Byrne, which soon enough became something of a companion title to both Wonder Woman and the "Genesys" event. It very much followed up on the plots of "New Gods" Vol 4 and went on up to #20, being then followed up by Walt Simonson's "Orion" series.
Then end result is that - surprisingly given how strongly DC has embraced the characters since the 1980s - it has been well over 20 years since the latest Fourth World-oriented series ("Orion #25", published in 2002). They have been pretty much everywhere, all the time. But they have not have had their own ongoing.
I am not the greatest Fourth World fan (or, indeed, the greatest Jack Kirby fan), but I think that this is a wise move. The New Gods ought to be somewhat removed from everyday stories, and it makes perfect sense to have them bridging the two continuities at this point in time.
Thanks for the rundown, Luis. There's a lot of New Gods that I disliked after buying it, or actively avoided. Anything that turns them into superheroes, basically. As you say, "The New Gods ought to be somewhat removed from everyday stories."
I liked Jim Starlin's Death of the New Gods...
...and Tom King's Mr. Miracle...
...and Michael Allred's Bug.
Don't forget Infinity Man and the Forever People.
On second thought, do forget Infinity Man and the Forever People.
I honestly had not learned of that book before now. A 2014-2015 series by DiDio and Giffen, I see. This cover reminds me of the style of M.A.D. parodies.
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