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Comics for 4 January 2012

ACTION COMICS #5
ALTER EGO #106
ANIMAL MAN #5
ANNOTATED SANDMAN HC V1 (MR)
ARTIFACTS #13 (OF 13)
ATLAS UNIFIED #1
AVENGERS ACADEMY #24
AVENGERS ANNUAL #1
AVENGERS DEFENDERS WAR TP NEW PTG
AVENGERS X-SANCTION #2 (OF 4)

BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT HC V1 GOLDEN DAWN
BATMAN THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE TP
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA ORIGINS OMNIBUS TP
BATWING #5
BETRAYAL O/T PLANET O/T APES #3 (OF 4)
BIONIC BOOK RECONSTRUCTED SC
BLOOD RED DRAGON #3
BOYS #62 (MR)
BPRD HELL ON EARTH TP V2 GODS AND MONSTERS
BRODYS GHOST ONE SHOT

CHARLIE ADLARD CURSE O/T WENDIGO TP
CHARMED #17
CLASSIC MARVEL FIG COLL MAG #162 KARNAK
CLASSIC MARVEL FIG COLL MAG #163 HYDRO MAN
CLASSIC MARVEL FIG COLL MAG SPEC MODOK
COLD WAR #4

DC COMICS THE NEW 52 PRESENTS THE DARK #1
DC SUPERHERO FIG COLL PHANTOM STRANGER
DC SUPERHERO FIG COLL MAG #97 CHEETAH
DC SUPERHERO FIG COLL MAG SPECIAL CLAYFACE
DEFENDERS #2
DETECTIVE COMICS #5
DUKE NUKEM GLORIOUS BASTARD TP

EC ARCHIVES HAUNT OF FEAR HC VOL 01
EC ARCHIVES VAULT OF HORROR HC VOL 02
EERIE ARCHIVES HC VOL 09
ELISABETH SLADEN AUTOBIOGRAPHY HC
ELRIC THE BALANCE LOST #7
ENDERS GAME ULTIMATE COLLECTION TP

FATALE #1 (MR)
FEAR ITSELF FEARLESS #6 (OF 12)
FEAR ITSELF PREM HC
FEARLESS TP VOL 01
FERALS #1 (MR)
FLASH GORDON ZEITGEIST #2

GFT MYTHS & LEGENDS #11
GI JOE VOL 2 ONGOING #9
GODZILLA KINGDOM OF MONSTERS TP VOL 02
GODZILLA LEGENDS #3 (OF 5)
GRAVEYARD OF EMPIRES #3
GREEN ARROW #5

HAWK AND DOVE #5
HELLRAISER #9 (MR)
HELLRAISER MASTERPIECES #5 (MR)
HULK #47
HUNTRESS #4 (OF 6)

ILLUSTRATORS IN & OUT SC
INNER SANCTUM GN
IRREDEEMABLE #33
IZOMBIE #21 (MR)

JURASSIC PARK DANGEROUS GAMES #5 (OF 5)
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #5

KATO ORIGINS TP VOL 02 HELLFIRE CLUB

LADY DEATH (ONGOING) #13 (MR)
LIFE WITH ARCHIE #16
LIL DEPRESSED BOY #8

MAGNETO WAS RIGHT RED T/S
MARVEL PREVIEWS JANUARY 2012
MEN OF WAR #5
MODERN MASTERS SC VOL 27 RON GARNEY
MUDMAN #2

NOWHERE MAN #1 (OF 4)

OMAC #5

PEANUTS #1 (OF 4)
PENGUIN PAIN AND PREJUDICE #4 (OF 5)
PUNISHER #7

RACHEL RISING #4
RED LANTERNS #5
ROBOCOP ROAD TRIP #1 (MR)

SALEMS DAUGHTER HAUNTING #4
SCHOOL BITES SPECIAL SEMESTER COLL TP
SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU #17
SCOURGE #6
SCREAMLAND DEATH O/T PARTY TP
SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY TP VOL 01
SHINKU #4 (MR)
SOULFIRE VOL 3 #6
SPIDER-MAN MASQUES PREM HC
STAND TP VOL 02 AMERICAN NIGHTMARES
STAR TREK LEGION OF SUPERHEROES #4 (OF 6)
STATIC SHOCK #5
STORMWATCH #5
SUPER DINOSAUR #7
SUPERNATURAL #4 (OF 6)
SWAMP THING #5
SWEET TOOTH #29 (MR)

TANK GIRL BAD WIND RISING HC
TANK GIRL CARIOCA #3 (OF 3) (MR)
THE LONE RANGER #1
THEATER #4 (MR)
THOR DEVIANTS SAGA #3 (OF 5)
THUNDERBOLTS #168
TIMELINK UNOFF UNAUTH GT CONTINUITY DR WHO SC
TRUE BLOOD FRENCH QUARTER #5 (OF 6)

UNCANNY X-FORCE #19.1
UNCANNY X-MEN #4

VALEN OUTCAST #2
VAMPIRELLA VS DRACULA #1
VESCELL #5 (MR)
VILLAINS FOR HIRE #2 (OF 4)

WARLORD OF MARS DEJAH THORIS #9 (MR)
WITCHBLADE #151
WITCHFINDER TP VOL 02 LOST AND GONE FOREVER
WOLVERINE AND X-MEN ALPHA AND OMEGA #1 (OF 5)

X-23 #20
X-CLUB #2 (OF 5)
X-FORCE HC VOL 02
X-MEN #23 XREGB

YOUNG JUSTICE RED ARROW 6-IN AF

ZORRO RIDES AGAIN #7 (OF 12)

This is a copy of the list at memphiscomics.com. Arrivals at your LCS may vary.

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The big story of 2011: DC's gigantic gamble

By Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

As we look back on 2011, there is little doubt what comic-book story was #1: DC’s re-launch of its entire superhero universe in September.

 

12134123262?profile=originalEven in retrospect it’s hard to believe they did it. Never before has any publisher – perhaps any business – canceled its major product line and started it over from scratch. Especially when you consider that Detective Comics – for which DC Comics took its name – had an unbroken run back to 1937, and that Action Comics had the highest numbering of any current American comic book (#904). Those little pieces of history are now gone, as even those two venerable books were re-started at #1 in September.

 

You can imagine the sheer hysteria that gripped comics fandom when “The New 52” titles were announced in May. We fans couldn’t comprehend why DC would take such a risky step. We absolutely freaked out. “What was DC afraid of?” we wailed, for we were certain that only the threat of imminent demise could force such a move. Was digital destroying the print market? Had Warner Bros. given its comic-book arm an ultimatum? Was this the last gasp of a dying industry? Since nobody believed DC’s official reasons for doing it – vague, unconvincing corporate-speak that I have already forgotten – the rumors ran wild.

 

And it worked.

 

All of The New 52 titles sold out in September, and DC was #1 with a bullet. In October, it was a rout: DC’s share of dollar sales was 13 percent higher than arch-rival Marvel’s, and DC had 51 percent of the entire industry in units sold!

 

Best of all, the rising tide has begun lifting all boats. DC may be enjoying the lion’s share of the market pie, but their wild gamble has also made it a bigger pie for everyone. Sales of comics are up across the board, putting a lot of grateful comic shops thoroughly in the black.

 

Stories this big usually don’t happen in the comics industry, but this one surely did. And there were two more nearly as big in 2011.

 

12134124455?profile=originalOne is the strip-mining of comic-book concepts and characters for other media. It’s been going on for years, but 2011 was a particularly good year – or a bad one, depending on your point of view.

 

The most obvious example was the five superhero movies of 2011, whose combined budgets could probably feed Bangladesh for a year. X-Men: First Class was both a critical and commercial success, and seems to have rebooted the franchise. Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger hit big enough for sequels, and also helped set the table for 2012’s The Avengers, which could also be a franchise. Green Lantern was deemed a flop, but it probably broke even and Warner Bros. is still thinking sequel. Even the superhero-slash-comedy movie, Seth Rogen’s The Green Hornet, made $220 million worldwide.

 

On Broadway, the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is playing to packed houses, making money despite its bloated $70 million budget and so many delays, injuries, cast and crew changes, rewrites and other problems it became a skit on Saturday Night Live, a punchline on late-night TV and a New Yorker cover. Even now its troubles aren’t over; former director Julie Taymor is suing the producers on the grounds that they’re using her artistic contributions without payment.

 

12134124662?profile=original

In videogames, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Batman: Arkham City were two of 2011’s biggest releases. And while Warner Bros. has had trouble getting a live-action superhero movie franchise off the ground, the Warner Home Video unit had two hits in 2011, Green Lantern: First Flight and Batman: Year One.

 

12134125458?profile=originalThe Big Bang Theory, which we geeks can thank for helping mainstream our obsessions, has entered its fifth season. The second-season premiere of AMC’s The Walking Dead garnered more adults 18-49 than any other drama in basic cable history, and it’s already been renewed for Season 3. The Super Hero Squad Show, Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Young Justice cartoons had new episodes in 2011, joined by Green Lantern, plus The X-Men, Iron Man, and Wolverine anime.

 

One last big story is the huge growth of digital comics in 2011. All of the major publishers are moving to same-day release of print and digital comics, with Marvel bringing up the rear in February 2012. This may turn out to be the biggest story of 2011 in the end, but for now all we can say is “to be continued.”

 

Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics@aol.com.

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Deck Log Entry # 135 Merry Christmas 2011!

12134027688?profile=originalChristmas Eve, 1944.

 

Peace on Earth and good will towards man never seemed farther away.  The world was still at war, and what would become known as the Battle of the Bulge was in its second week of savage conflict.  It was Germany’s last desperate attempt to take over Europe---a massive offensive through the Ardennes mountain region of Belgium.  American G.I.’s whom, a few weeks ago, thought they might make it home for Christmas were now embroiled in the bloodiest fighting they had seen in three long years.

 

If there was any safe haven amidst all this horror, a German woman, Elisabeth Vincken, and her twelve-year-old son, Fritz, were in it.  They had taken refuge in a small hunting cottage deep in the Hürtgen Forest.  It was all they had left after an Allied bombing raid had destroyed their home in Aachen, along with most of the city.

 

It was just the two of them.  Elisabeth’s husband, Hubert, had been ordered to serve with the civil-defence guard for the town of Monschau, five miles away.  They had meagre supplies.  For light, a few candles.  For heat, a single fireplace.  For food, some eggs, a few vegetables, mostly potatoes, and a rooster that they were trying to fatten up for a special dinner to celebrate the day that Mr. Vincken returned.

 

12134173656?profile=originalThe war, it seemed, was all around them.  Elisabeth and Fritz could hear the pounding of field artillery, the rumble of bombers overhead, the hammering of gunfire, and the screams of men fighting and dying. 

 

 

 

The noises of war had been constant for the nine days since the Germans had launched their offensive, but on this Christmas Eve night, a lull fell over the countryside, and Elisabeth and Franz were grateful for the serenity of quiet.  For them, that was Christmas miracle enough.

 

Then the stillness was interrupted by a knock at their cabin door.  Believing that his father had returned, young Fritz jumped up excitedly, only to be restrained by the firm, gentle hand of his mother.  Elisabeth blew out the candles and cautiously opened the door.

 

She saw standing there two men, carrying---more like dragging---a third man.  Blood from a bullet hole in his leg had left a crimson trail in the snow.  They wore helmets and uniforms.  But they were the wrong kinds of helmets and uniforms.

 

Americans!

 

None of the three men looked older than twenty.  They were pale, with faces lined with dirt and desperation, and they shivered in the freezing cold.  They carried rifles and appeared to be at the very limit of human endurance.  They could have forced their way into the shelter of the cabin.  But they did not.

 

Instead, they looked at Elisabeth Vincken with pleading eyes.

 

12134173885?profile=originalAfter a long moment, Elisabeth Vincken said “Kommt rein,” and stood aside to let the solders enter.  They carried the wounded man, who looked more dead than alive, inside and laid him down on Fritz’s bed next to the kitchen.

 

Neither Elisabeth nor Fritz spoke English, and none of the Americans spoke German.  Mrs. Vincken then tried French.  One of the soldiers knew enough of that language to get by.

 

During the fighting, he explained, they had gotten separated from their outfit.  They had wandered lost in the ice-covered woods for the last three days, without food, hiding from the Germans.

 

Elisabeth told them to warm themselves by the fireplace, while she tended to the other soldier’s leg wound.  She tore up a bedsheet to make bandages.

 

To feed the hungry men, Fritz was sent to get a half-dozen potatoes from the larder, while his mother dispatched the rooster and prepared it for the cooking pot.  In an hour, the tiny cottage filled with the aroma of hot food.

 

Fritz was setting the table when another knock came at the door.

 

 

 

12134174876?profile=originalMrs. Vincken answered the knock, and was met by four more soldiers in uniform.

 

The uniform of the Wehrmacht.  German ground troops!

 

Elisabeth’s face turned white.  Fritz, standing behind his mother, froze with fear.  Even at his age, he knew that sheltering enemy soldiers was considered treason, and at this stage of the war, collaborators were treated harshly.  His mother could be shot.

 

Mrs. Vincken stepped outside, slowly closing the door behind her, and greeted the German soldiers.  They, too, were hungry and cold and, if anything, were even younger than the American G.I.’s.  One of them, a corporal, told Elisabeth that they had gotten lost and asked if they could rest inside until morning.

 

Certainly they could, she told them.  “But,” she added, “we have three other guests, whom you may not consider friends.”

 

“Who’s inside?” demanded the corporal.  “Americans?”

 

The soldiers swiftly unslung their rifles.

 

Elisabeth met the Germans’ now-wary eyes with a stern glare.  “Listen,” she told them.  “You could be my sons, and so could those in there.  A boy with a gunshot wound, fighting for his life.  His two friends, lost like you, and just as hungry and as exhausted as you are.”

 

The corporal started to speak.

 

“This one night,” said Elisabeth, raising her voice, “this Christmas night, let us forget about killing.”

 

 

 

12134178062?profile=originalThe German soldiers stared at her in awkward silence.  Before they could say anything, one way or the other, Mrs. Vincken pointed to a small shed and told the men to put their weapons in there.  Reluctantly, they did so.  Then Elisabeth invited them to go inside her home and sit down to dinner.

 

The German soldiers entered the cabin.

 

Seeing the Wehrmacht uniforms, the G.I.’s instantly grabbed for their rifles.  Until a sharp cry from Elisabeth stopped them cold.  She spoke to the G.I. who understood French.  He translated for the other two Americans. 

 

With uncertainty on their faces, they handed their rifles to Elisabeth, who put them out in the shed with the others.

 

The air was thick with tension as two groups of enemies who had been taught and trained to kill each other sat down to dinner.  Forced to sit shoulder to shoulder at the small table, or only a few feet across from each other, they glared back and forth with uncomfortable suspicion.  To soften the mood, Elisabeth introduced the Americans to the Germans. 

 

The American who spoke French was Jim.  The wounded man’s name was Harry.  The other G.I. was Ralph.

 

Gradually, the men from the other side began to speak.

 

The German soldiers were young, indeed.  Two of them, Heinz and Willi, were only sixteen.  The corporal was the veteran, at twenty-three.  All four were a long way from their homes.

 

From Fritz’s bed, Harry moaned painfully.  One of the German soldiers went over to the bed, sat down, and put on his eyeglasses.

 

“Do you belong to the medical corps?” asked Mrs. Vincken.

 

“No,” he replied, “but I studied medicine at Heidelburg until a few months ago.”

 

He examined Harry's wound and redressed it.  Then, in rough English, he explained to the other G.I.’s that there were no signs of infection.  “He is suffering from a severe loss of blood.  What he needs is rest and nourishment.”

 

The German corporal “suddenly remembered” a bottle of red wine he had in his ruck sack.  Heinz produced a loaf of rye bread from his, and they handed them over.  In return, Ralph dug out a can of instant coffee from his pack.  The booty was added to their Christmas “feast”.

 

12134179700?profile=originalOne of the Americans and one of the Germans pulled the bed alongside the short, narrow table and a plate was set for Harry.  Mrs. Vincken poured him a glass of wine.  Then dinner was served.

 

Elisabeth said grace.  It was the same simple prayer that Fritz had heard his mother speak over every meal.  “Komm, Herr Jesus.  Seien Sie unser Gast.”  But this time, he noticed, there were tears in her eyes.  Looking around the table, the boy saw the war-weary soldiers blinking back tears, as well, their thoughts of people and places far, far away.

 

It didn’t take long for the seven starving soldiers to go through the chicken soup, roast potatoes, rye bread, and pineapple pudding.  By the time their plates and bowls were empty, the atmosphere in the little cottage had lightened considerably.  Warm food on a cold night has a way of doing that.

 

Afterward, the men exchanged cigarettes---Ecksteins for Chesterfields---and shared a smoke. 

 

 

 

12134174876?profile=originalThe soldiers grabbed whatever open spots there were to found, huddled up in their winter coats, and got as comfortable as they could.  They were so bone-tired that sleep came quickly.

 

By daybreak, Harry had regained enough strength to be moved.  Mrs. Vincken prepared for him a glass of the wine sprinkled with some sugar.  Using a couple of poles and Elisabeth’s best tablecloth, the German soldier who had studied medicine constructed a stretcher for him.

 

The others enjoyed a breakfast of oatmeal and instant coffee.  Then, it was time to go.

 

Jim pulled out a map and the German corporal traced out a route for him.  Translating, the English-speaking one told him, “Continue along this creek, and you will find the 1st Army rebuilding its forces on its upper course.”

 

“Why don’t we head for Monschau?” asked Jim.

 

“No,” said the German.  “We have retaken Monschau.”

 

To make sure they could find their way, the German corporal gave his field compass to Ralph.

 

12134178101?profile=originalElisabeth returned their weapons to them, and standing in front of the small cabin which had been their brief sanctuary from the crucible of war, the Americans and the Germans shook hands.

 

“Merry Christmas!”

 

Fröhliche Weihnacten!

 

“I hope someday you will return home safely to where you belong,” said Elisabeth Vincken.  “May God bless and watch over you.”

 

 

 

They disappeared in opposite directions, and Elisabeth Vincken never saw any of them, again. 

 

A few weeks later, Hubert Vincken returned to his family, safe and well.  He and Elisabeth remained happily together for another nineteen years, until his death in 1963.  She followed him three years later.

 

As for young Fritz, he grew up and followed his father’s trade as a baker.   In 1958, he got married and moved to Hawaii, where he established his own bakery shop.  Eventually, he became a U.S. citizen.

 

12134182295?profile=originalFor decades, Fritz had wondered over the fates of those seven soldiers who had come knocking on his mother’s door on that Christmas Eve in 1944.  In 1973, Readers Digest published Fritz’s first-hand account of that night. After that, it would surface occasionally, usually as a human-interest piece by a local news station.  One year, reporter Rod Ohira wrote it up for the Honolulu Advertiser.

 

In March of 1995, the story was mentioned on the television series Unsolved Mysteries, which led to Fritz getting the answer to his lifelong question, at least, in part.  He was contacted by the resident chaplain of a nursing home in Maryland.  The chaplain told Fritz that he knew a man who had been telling the same story.

 

In January, the following year, Fritz Vincken visited the Northhampton Manor Nursing Home in Maryland and was reunited with Ralph---Ralph Blank, former soldier in the 181st Infantry, 8th Division.  When Ralph opened a box and pulled out the compass that the German corporal had given him fifty-two years earlier, tears welled up in both men’s eyes. 

 

“Your mother saved my life.”

 

 

 

For all of her days, whenever she talked of that night, Elisabeth Vincken would say, “God was at our table.”

 

For those of Christian faiths, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of their saviour.  Men of other religions observe their own holy days with equal reverence.  That is as it should be.

 

But there is something about the season of Christmas that transcends religion.  It’s an ephemeral, almost electric feeling that fills the air and imbues us with a greater sense of kindness, of cheerfulness, of kinship.  We regard each other less by our differences and more by our common humanity.  For one brief time of the year, we . . . all of us . . . those of all faiths and those with no religion . . . are joined together by one profound spirit of good will---the Christmas spirit.

 

It was there, sixty-seven years ago, in that small forest cottage in the midst of a world war.

 

To-day, at this time of times, on this day of days, and for many more of them, may the Spirit of Christmas be at your table.

 

 

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From Cheryl and myself, to all of you, our fondest wishes for a Merry Christmas, and many more of them!

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By Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

Still looking for the perfect gift for the geek in your life? Here’s our third and last round of suggestions:

 

* Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human by Grant Morrison (Spiegel & Grau, $28) is a book that’s as hard to categorize as its author.

 

12134169891?profile=originalMorrison has succeeded critically and financially in the comics world with his eclectic writing, which combines a healthy love for superheroes, an unbridled imagination, fierce intelligence and a comprehensive literary background. In Animal Man, he wrote himself into the story and made the lead character aware that he was in a comic book. He wrote Doom Patrol as a surreal, Dadaist fantasy with a transvestite street, nightmarish men made of scissors and a painting that swallowed Paris. He put Batman through a chemical-induced mental breakdown that incorporated many of the weirdest, mostly ignored stories from the character’s 72-year history. And he wrote a love letter to the Man of Steel called All-Star Superman which many consider the ultimate statement on the character, and has already been made into an animated movie.

 

Now comes the book Supergods, which is a sort-of history of comics, a sort-of Morrison biography and a sort-of meditation on the underlying meaning of superheroes, spirituality, magic and the human journey. And it’s clear that this Scotsman has pondered more about American pop culture than most Americans.

 

But he also brings the wealth of a UK education, readily making references to everything from old English kid-lit to ancient Roman philosophers. And when Morrison wasn’t sending me to Google to look those up, he was dropping words that required me to dust off the dictionary.

 

Comics fans have always yearned for their little hobby to be taken seriously. We may not have the words for it, but we know there’s a wealth of psychological, social and philosophic elements behind the capes and cowls of our super-powered vigilantes just waiting to be mined (and explained to us). Recent years have seen steps taken in that direction, with the advent of university classes on Alan Moore’s Watchmen and a raft of academic books about comics. Now Morrison has taken that effort a quantum leap forward, giving us a book that offers erudite analysis leavened by genuine affection for the superhero genre. It’s a smart read, but also a fun one.

 

12134171062?profile=originalMeanwhile, two classy coffee-table books have been released just in time for the holidays by DK Publishing for the Star Wars and movie-monster fans lurking among us.

 

* The Star Wars Character Encyclopedia ($16.99) is exactly what it says it is, a book featuring brief curricula vitae of more than 200 characters from the film series. It begins 2-1B (a surgical droid) and ends with Zuckuss (a Gand bounty hunter), with entries for both specific characters and generic representatives of various races.

 

Each page depicts a single character, with short lists, biographies, descriptions – whatever is appropriate – plus important weapons or alien appendages pointed out for special mention. For new fans it’s a colorful compendia of exciting possibility; for veterans it’s a handy reference for the name of that droid that’s on the tip of your tongue. It’s not comprehensive or deep – it mainly hits the highlights – but there are other books for that.

 

12134170899?profile=original* The other glossy tome is Monsters in the Movies ($40), an affectionate collection of evil selected by popular filmmaker John Landis (Animal House, An American Werewolf in London). Landis explains in the foreword that these are his favorite monsters, not a comprehensive list of them, but never you mind – chances are his favorites are yours, too.

 

Landis breaks the book down into 15 chapters, each devoted to a category of killer. Each chapter begins with a one-page overview of the topic at hand, usually containing both explanation and history, followed by pages of pages of things that go bump in the night. Each page is a montage of movie stills – lots of stills, because as a fan himself Landis knows what we want – with extended explanatory captions.

 

Despite Landis’ disclaimer, I didn’t notice an obvious lack of any of the monsters I know, and learned about a bunch I’d never met. Now that Monsters in the Movies has alerted me to their existence, I want to track down their movies and indulge in a little scary fun – after I stock up on wooden stakes, silver bullets and , of course, a bigger boat.

 

Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics@aol.com.

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Comics for 28 December 2011

30 DAYS OF NIGHT ONGOING #3

ALL STAR WESTERN #4
ALPHA FLIGHT #7
AMERICAN VAMPIRE #22 (MR)
ANGEL & FAITH #5
ANNE RICE SERVANT OF THE BONES #5 (OF 6)
ANNIHILATORS EARTHFALL #4 (OF 4)
ANOTHER TIME ANOTHER PLACE QUANTUM LEAP SC
ANTHOLOGY OF GRAPHIC FICTION HC
AQUAMAN #4
ARCHIE #628 (ARCHIE MEETS KISS PT 2 )
ARTIFACTS #12 (OF 13)
AVENGERS CHILDRENS CRUSADE #8 (OF 9)
AVENGERS SOLO #3 (OF 5)

BART SIMPSON COMICS #66
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #4
BETTY & VERONICA BATTLE OF THE BFFS
BLACK PANTHER MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE #527
BLACKHAWKS #4
BROADCAST TV DOODLES OF HENRY FLINT SC (MR)

CAPTAIN AMERICA #5
CAPTAIN AMERICA #6
CAPTAIN AMERICA AND BUCKY #625
CHASE TP
COMIC ART PRICE GUIDE 3RD ED SC
COVER GIRLS OF THE DCU STARFIRE STATUE
CROSSED BADLANDS OPENING SALVO (MR)

DC COMICS PRESENTS BATMAN BLAZE OF GLORY #1
DC COMICS PRESENTS BATMAN URBAN LEGENDS #1
DC COMICS PRESENTS ELSEWORLDS 80 PAGE GIANT #1
DC COMICS PRESENTS LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #2
DC UNIVERSE ONLINE LEGENDS #20
DEADPOOL #48
DMZ #72 (MR)
DOROTHY AND WIZARD IN OZ #4 (OF 8)
DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS #14

ESSENTIAL SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 07 NEW ED
EXTINCTION SEED #1 (OF 6)

FATHOM VOL 4 #3
FF #13
FLASH #4
FRENEMY OF THE STATE #5 (OF 5)
FURY OF FIRESTORM THE NUCLEAR MEN #4

GAME OF THRONES #4 (MR)
GEARS OF WAR #21 (MR)
GENERATION HOPE SCHISM TP
GIG POSTERS SC VOL 02
GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS #4
GREEN WAKE #8 (MR)

HACK SLASH #11
HAUNT #20
HONEY WEST SC
HOUSE OF MYSTERY TP V7 CONCEPTION (MR)

I VAMPIRE #4
INCORRUPTIBLE #25
IRON MAN 2.0 #12

JOE HILL THE CAPE #3 (OF 4)
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #4

KICK-ASS 2 #6 (MR) (OF 7)
KIRBY GENESIS CAPTAIN VICTORY #2

LEGION SECRET ORIGIN #3 (OF 6)
LENORE VOLUME II #4
LOBO UNBOUND TP (MR)

MARVEL MINIMATES AGE OF X BOX SET
MARVEL VS CAPCOM MINIMATES SERIES 1 ASST
MEDITERRANEA #6 (OF 14)
MICE TEMPLAR VOL 3 #6
MIGHTY THOR #9
MMW GOLDEN AGE MARVEL COMICS TP VOL 01
MONOCYTE #2 (OF 4)
MUPPETS PRESENTS TREASURE OF PEG LEG WILSON

PREVIEWS #280 JAN 2012

RED SONJA #61
ROBERT JORDAN WHEEL OF TIME EYE O/T WORLD #18
ROOTS OF THE SWAMP THING TP

SAVAGE HAWKMAN #4
SECRET AVENGERS #20
SECRET AVENGERS TP V2 EYES OF DRAGON
SHAKY KANES MONSTER TRUCK GN
SIMPSONS SUPER SPECTACULAR #14
SKELETON STORY #6 (OF 6)
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #232
SPACE WARPED #6 (OF 6)
SPACEMAN #3 (OF 9) (MR)
SPAWN ORIGINS TP VOL 13
SPIDER-MAN #21
STAR TREK ONGOING #4
STAR WARS CRIMSON EMPIRE III EMPIRE LOST #3 (OF 6)
SUPERMAN #4
SUPERMANS GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE ARCHIVES HC V1

TEEN TITANS #4
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MICRO SERIES #2
TERRY MOORE SKETCHBOOK V1 HOT GIRLS & COLD
THE GUILD ZABOO #1

ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #5
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #5
UNCANNY X-MEN #3 XREGB
UNCHARTED #2 (OF 6)
UNWRITTEN #32.5 (MR)

VENGEANCE #6 (OF 6)
VOODOO #4

WALT & SKEEZIX HC VOL 05 1929-1930
WARLORD OF MARS #14
WITCH DOCTOR RESUSCITATION ONE SHOT

X-MEN AGE OF X TP
X-MEN LEGACY #260 XREGG
X-MEN SCHISM HC

Copied from the list posted at memphiscomics.com. Arrivals at your LCS may vary.

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Jack Kirby, Kurt Busiek and Aristotle


12134168489?profile=original
I wanted to like the new Dynamite series, Kirby Genesis.  It’s written by one of my favorite writers, Kurt Busiek.  It features covers and art direction by the incredible Alex Ross.  And it contains all of Jack Kirby’s crazy creations from late in his career:  Captain Victory, Silver Star and so on. 

               The series started off on the right foot.  There was a zero issue which introduced many of these characters to unfamiliar readers through sketches and short bios.  We met characters like the Midnight Swan for the first time and caught glimpses of new designs for more-established characters like Captain Glory.  

               The story also started well.  Kurt Busiek introduced us to a trio of normal humans: the slightly awkward teenager Kirby Freeman, his gorgeous next-door neighbor Bobbi Cortez and her father, the former cop, Jake.  They were our eyes and ears into this wonderfully weird world. 

Plus, Busiek gave us a reason for all of this weirdness.  Jack Kirby had once contributed a drawing for a NASA.  The drawing was rejected.  But Busiek posed a hypothetical scenario.  What if Kirby’s drawing had been included on the space probe?  And what if all of this weirdness was drawn to our world in response to this weirdness?  It was a simple concept that explained the sudden appearance of so many different aliens at once.  The unusual earth creatures and cultures were the cherry on top, drawn out of hiding at just the right time. 

               Unfortunately, the story hasn’t held together.  Four issues in and the plot is all over the place.  The three 12134168865?profile=originalmain characters are completely separated.  One of them, Bobbi, has been taken over by the strange entity of the Midnight Swan and hasn’t appeared as herself in several issues.  There have been scenes in space and scenes in the past, scenes without any of our supposed point-of-view characters. 

               I understand the desire to capture the craziness of Jack Kirby.  His mind was full of ideas, overflowing with imagination.  But Genesis hasn’t captured it as much as it has become caught up in it.  It’s being tossed around like the inside of a tornado and nothing is holding together.  We still need a lens through which to view the wild and crazy creations of Jack Kirby.  Genesis started out with one, but lost it.  It lacks focus.  It lacks cohesion.  It lacks… unity. 


Back in the Golden Age- not the Golden Age of Comics but the original Golden Age of Greece- the philosopher Aristotle wrote a theory of aesthetics known as the classical unities.  He argued that drama should be unified in three specific ways: action, place and time.  Drama should have unity of action- one main plot with few or no sub-plots.  It should have unity of place- all of the action should occur in a single physical space.  And it should have unity of time- all of the action should occur within a single day.

  12134169860?profile=original             Aristotle’s rules for drama can be unnecessarily restrictive.   They certainly weren’t followed by all of the authors in his own age.  However, the classical unities can be important guidelines for creating a cohesive story. 

The unity of time doesn’t have to be confined to a single day or the unity of place to a single setting.  Yet a good story will still follow the principles that underlie the unities.  For example, the musical Rent restricted its story to a single year rather than a single day.  It also took place in one city, New York, and in one neighborhood.  Rent had unity of time and place, even though its unity was a little broader than one day and one location.   Those unities helped the story hold together.  They gave it cohesiveness so that it was one interlocking story rather than multiple stories tacked together. 

               That’s where Kirby Genesis has gotten off track.  There’s nothing holding the story together.  The only unity is that the characters were all created by Jack Kirby.  That’s not enough.  There’s no unity of place- the characters are scattered all over the planet.  There’s no unity of time- flashbacks are taking place in the past and plots in the present are moving forward at vastly different paces.  There’s no unity of action- there’s no one story!  There’s not even a limited set of stories as the series has gotten away from its three central characters.  The series is now balancing six or seven separate stories, some of which don’t even have a tangential connection to the others.

A writer might be able to ignore one or even two of Aristotle’s classical unities.  But when a writer abandons all three unities, the story becomes a jumbled mess.  And that’s the case with Kirby Genesis.  It’s not a story.  It’s a jumbled mess.  And that’s too bad. 

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Comics for 21 December 2011

ACTIVITY #1
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #676
ANITA BLAKE CIRCUS DAMNED SCOUNDREL #3 (OF 5)
ARCHIE & FRIENDS #159
AVENGERS #20

BACK ISSUE #53
BALTIMORE VOL 01 THE PLAGUE SHIPS TP
BATMAN #4
BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE STATUE BY PAT GLEASON
BATMAN INCORPORATED LEVIATHAN STRIKES #1
BATMAN ODYSSEY VOL 2 #3 (OF 7)
BETTY & VERONICA #257
BIRDS OF PREY #4
BLONDIE HC VOL 02
BLUE BEETLE #4
BOYS BUTCHER BAKER CANDLESTICKMAKER #6 (MR)
BPRD HELL ON EARTH RUSSIA #4

CAPTAIN ATOM #4
CARTOON NETWORK 2 IN 1 BEN 10 GENERATOR REX TP
CATWOMAN #4
CLASSIC MARVEL FIG COLL MAG #160 BLACKHEART
CLASSIC MARVEL FIG COLL MAG #161 PUPPET MASTER
CLASSIC MARVEL FIG COLL MAG SPEC ODIN
COBRA ONGOING #8
CONAN ROAD OF KINGS #11
CRIMINAL MACABRE OMNIBUS TP VOL 02

DAKEN DARK WOLVERINE #18
DAREDEVIL #7
DARK HORSE PRESENTS #7 (MR)
DARK SHADOWS #2
DARKNESS #96
DC BLACKEST NIGHT FIG COLL MAG #15 LYSSA DRAK
DC BLACKEST NIGHT FIG COLL MAG #16 ARISIA
DC COMICS PRESENTS THE KENTS #2
DC SUPERHERO FIG COLL MAG #94 HOURMAN
DC SUPERHERO FIG COLL MAG #95 BATGIRL
DC SUPERHERO FIG COLL MAG SPECIAL MR MXYZPTLK
DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #4
DEADPOOL MAX 2 #3 (MR)
DEFENDERS COMING OF DEFENDERS #1
DEFENDERS STRANGE HEROES
DESTINATION MOONBASE ALPHA UNOFF UNAUTH GT
DOC BIZARRE MD HC
DOCTOR WHO ONGOING 2 TP V2 WHEN WORLDS COLLID
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS DRIZZT #4 (OF 5)

END OF NATIONS #2 (OF 4) (RES)

FABLES #112 (MR)
FANTASTIC FOUR #601
FEAR ITSELF FEARLESS #5 (OF 12)
FORMIC WARS SILENT STRIKE #1 (OF 5)

GENERATION HOPE #14 XREGB
GHOSTBUSTERS ONGOING #4
GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #173
GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO TP VOL 03
GIANT-SIZE GFT 2011 HOLIDAY
GODZILLA KINGDOM OF MONSTERS #10
GRAPHIC CLASSICS GN VOL 22 AFRICAN AMERICAN
GREEN HORNET #20
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #4

HELLBLAZER #286 (MR)
HELLRAISER MASTERPIECES #4 (MR)
HULK #46

INCREDIBLE HULK #3
INFESTATION OUTBREAK TP
INFINITE TP VOL 01
INVINCIBLE #86
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #511

JOHN CARTER A PRINCESS OF MARS #4 (OF 5)
JUSTICE LEAGUE #4

KEVIN SMITH BIONIC MAN #5
KEY OF Z #3 (OF 4) (MR)

LADY MECHANIKA #3
LAST BATTLE ONE SHOT
LEGION OF MONSTERS #3 (OF 4)
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #4
LIL DEPRESSED BOY TP VOL 00
LOCUS #611

MASS EFFECT INVASION #3 (OF 4)
MEMORIAL #1 (OF 6)
MMW GOLDEN AGE USA COMICS HC VOL 02
MOONSTONES MODERN MYTHS BLACKEST TERROR #1

NEAR DEATH #4
NEW MUTANTS #35 XREGB
NIGHTWING #4

OFFICER DOWNE BIGGER BETTER BASTARD ED HC (MR)

PLANET OF THE APES #9
PUNISHERMAX #20 (MR)

QUALITY COMPANION SC

RATFIST TP
RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #4

SAVAGE DRAGON #177
SERGIO ARAGONES FUNNIES #6
SIEGE HC
SIMPSONS COMICS #185
SIX GUNS #3 (OF 5)
SOLOMON KANE TP VOL 03 RED SHADOWS
SONIC UNIVERSE #35
SPEED RACER CIRCLE OF VENGEANCE #2 (OF 4)
STAR WARS KNIGHT ERRANT DELUGE #5 (OF 5)
STUFF OF LEGEND JESTERS TALE #3 (OF 4)
SUPERGIRL #4

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ONGOING #5
THE IMMORTAL DEMON I/T BLOOD #1
THUNDER AGENTS VOL 2 #2 (OF 6)
THUNDERBOLTS #167
TINAS MOUTH EXISTENTIAL COMIC DIARY GN
TINY TITANS #47
TINY TITANS TP VOL 06 THE TREEHOUSE AND BEYOND
TRANSFORMERS DEATH OF OPTIMUS PRIME (ONE SHOT)

ULT COMICS SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 03 DOSM PRELUDE
ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #5
UNCANNY X-FORCE #19 XREGG

VAMPIRELLA #12
VENOM #11
VERTIGO RESURRECTED SGT ROCK HELL HARD PLACE

WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #51 (MR)
WOLFSKIN TP VOL 02 HUNDRETH DREAM (MR)
WOLVERINE #20 XREGG
WOLVERINE AND JUBILEE CURSE OF MUTANTS TP
WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #3 XREGG
WOLVERINE PUNISHER GHOST RIDER OFF INDEX MU #5
WONDER WOMAN #4

X-23 #19
X-FACTOR #229 XREGG
XENOHOLICS #3 (MR)

YOUNG JUSTICE #11

Note: I copied this list from memphiscomics.com. Arrivals at your LCS may vary.

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Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

We’re entering the home stretch on the holiday season, and I’ve yet to scratch the surface on potential gifts for the beloved geeks among us. Here are some more:

 

12134167052?profile=original* Archie Comics has been aggressively pushing the envelope the last few years, and one of the biggest headlines was when it posited two futures for Riverdale’s favorite redhead, one in which he marries Betty and another in which he marries Veronica (collected last year in the Archie Marries … hardcover and The Archie Wedding: Will You Marry Me? trade paperback). Those twin stories have continued in the new Life with Archie magazine, which are also being collected, and the first TPB of those tales has hit the bookstores.

 

Like the magazine, Archie: The Married Life Vol. 1 ($19.99) alternates between “Earth-Veronica” and “Earth-Betty”. I find this a little disorienting on first read, because there are enough similarities in both universes as to cause occasional confusion as to which alternate future you’re reading about. (In both, for example, Veronica’s father is up to something nefarious, and in both Midge Klump dumps the hot-tempered Moose Mason and marries Jughead.) The simple solution there, of course, is to simply read the stories from each “Earth” successively, not alternately. Problem solved.

 

And it’s worth the effort, because this is really fun stuff. OK, “fun” as in: Wow, this is grim. It’s the same old Archie, blundering through one problem after another, only now those problems are serious grown-up stuff like money problems, marital friction, death and unemployment. If that sounds terrible, it’s not -- I discovered that my love for the Riverdale gang is just as strong as it was in my teens, and I’m eager to see how the qualities that made me love them then (loyalty, courage, clumsiness, etc.) will help them beat the big, bad world outside the safe confines of Riverdale High.  Because you know they’ll win: It’s Archie!

 

It’s also fun to see the characters finally grow. Jughead falls in love, Mr. Weatherbee courts Miss Grundy, Moose takes anger-management classes, Dilton becomes … well, we don’t know about Dilton yet, but it promises to be good. There are hints that in both universes that Dilton the grown-up scientist has become aware that the universe is actually a multiverse, with different dimensions containing every Archie story ever written, no matter how contradictory, from spy spoofs (Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.) to superhero spoofs (Pureheart the Powerful). Now Prof. Doiley is lurking in the background, orchestrating events. But to what end?

 

Perhaps we’ll find out in Vol. 2. In the meantime, Archie: The Married Life Vol. 1 is an excellent read, abetted by top-flight superhero creators like Norm Breyfogle, Paul Kupperberg and Michael Uslan.

 

12134167293?profile=originalAnd speaking of things most of us grew up with, DC Comics has just released the Spy vs. Spy Omnibus ($49.99), containing every single cartoon of that name by creator Antonio Prohias for MAD magazine.

 

And as much as this book functions as a “Spy vs. Spy” collection, it’s also a celebration of Prohias, who fled Cuba after Fidel Castro took a strong dislike to his editorial cartoons. Finding safe haven among “the usual gang of idiots” in New York, Prohias turned his political experiences into one of the most beloved and long-running gags at MAD. So, located amid the shenanigans of the white-coated Spy and the black-coated Spy (and occasionally the female gray-coated Spy) are behind-the scenes artwork, Prohias family photos and essays on the great man by his friends and contemporaries, like Art Spiegelman and Sergio Aragones.

 

It’s a comprehensive and beautiful package, well worth the $50 (“cheap!”).

 

Another comprehensive package is going to take a bit longer to collect: the complete “Peanuts” library from Fantagraphics. Dedicated to collecting Charles M. Schulz’s beloved comic strip chronologically, Fantagraphics is releasing two books a year, with the project slated to finish in the next decade or so.

 

12134167879?profile=originalWhile the entire collection isn’t practical as a holiday gift, a couple of those books might be. Especially since pairs are released in boxed sets – after their release as “singles” – for $49.99. Currently the collection has progressed to the early 1980s, where the strip is at its peak, with beloved late-comers like Woodstock and Peppermint Patty already aboard, replacing some of the earlier, mostly forgotten characters like Violet and Shermie.

 

There’s nothing that says “holidays” like the Peanuts gang. Didn’t all of us watch A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving a thousand times?

 

Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics@aol.com.

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By Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

From Christmas to Kwanzaa, the holiday season provides an occasion for just about anyone of any faith to please the geek in their life with an appropriate gift. But what to get? Fortunately, the publishers are aware of the opportunity, and put their best foot forward this time of year.

 

12134164876?profile=originalFor example, the biggest event in comic books in 2011 (and possibly ever) was DC’s simultaneous re-launch of 52 titles in September. But even though the bulk of these books were $2.99 – the low end of the scale for comics these days – most would find it financially imprudent to buy all those first issues. To the rescue comes DC Comics: The New 52 Omnibus ($150).

 

Yes, that’s a lot of money. But it’s also a lot of book – 52 comic books, weighing in at more than seven pounds! And it’s cheaper than if you bought the comics individually. Plus, it’s a really nice package, a hardback with slick paper and vibrant colors.

 

As to the contents, it’s a mixed bag, like all anthologies – some books will stir your imagination, others will leave you cold. But all of these books are DC’s best effort: its finest editors, writers, artists, inkers, colorists and letterers doing their absolute utmost on a huge, make-or-break roll of the dice. DC’s creators won that bet for the publisher with top-flight work that has succeeded financially, critically and creatively.

 

That’s what you’ll be getting in this Omnibus, which alone makes the book worthy of your shelf. It’s also the foundation for DC’s superhero titles for the foreseeable future, the blueprint of tomorrow. And as much as it points to the future, the first issues of “The New 52” are also important historically – a huge event that will grow in funnybook legend and fanboy myth.

 

All of that is contained in DC Comics: The New 52 Omnibus. No wonder it’s so heavy!

 

12134165089?profile=originalSpeaking of funnybook legends, Carl Barks is revered among comics fans for decades of work on Disney’s ducks (1942-66). He not only expanded Donald and his three nephews from one-note humor characters to multi-dimensional adventurers, but created and developed Uncle Scrooge, as well as much of the Disney duck mythos, like the Beagle Boys, Gyro Gearloose and Gladstone Gander. Barks worked anonymously in the Disney empire, but was nonetheless known among fans as “the good Duck artist,” who alternated between long, globe-trotting adventure stories and shorter, humorous domestic antics.

 

Barks’ work has been reprinted often, but sporadically. There has never been a comprehensive effort to archive his work … until now. Walt Disney’s Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes” ($24.99) begins an ambitious publishing plan by Fantagraphics to capture all of Barks’ duck work on slick paper between hard covers with lushly restored printing and coloring.

 

This first volume finds the master at his peak: 1948-50. The lead story is a 32-page rip-snorter that takes Donald and his nephews to a lost Incan city where the inhabitants all speak English with a Southern accent. (Why? Read the story!) The rest of the book is filled with short humor tales set in Duckburg, Calisota; one-pagers pitting Donald against Huey, Dewey and Louie; extensive notes on each story; and a long essay by comics academic Donald Ault.

 

It is, quite simply, a gem. Every comics fan of any age will love this book.

 

12134166057?profile=originalAnother must-have for serious comics fans is Eureka’s Graphics Classics Volume Twenty-Two: African-American Classics ($22.50).

 

From slavery to Jim Crow to the Civil Rights era, no group in America has been so harshly oppressed as African-Americans. Which makes it all the more remarkable that their literature is so full of life, love and laughter.

 

That doesn’t mean there’s no tragedy in this book, wherein today’s top African-American creators adapt stories and poems by African-Americans 1891-1931. Several stories would break the hardest heart. But it’s hard not to laugh out loud when Zora Neale Hurston has two black men arguing that the other’s state has the worst white men (and their own the best), or when Leila Amos Pendleton imagines a 1922 black society’s unique take on “Cleopatra” (“She orta lef dem wimmin’s husbands ‘lone.” “Maybe if her Ma had lived she woulda been a better girl.”)

 

This book is fascinating glimpse into a perspective and an era that’s largely unexplored in comics. It will be an education for many, but as school goes it’s painless and fun.

 

Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics@aol.com.

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12134145089?profile=originalPart I

 

Last week, I started a two-part column on the greatest comic book characters of the 1950s and ‘60s.  These kinds of lists are always less the definitive end of the conversation than the start of one.  So keep reading to find out if your favorite heroes made my list, and feel free to respond with your different opinions. 

 

51.  The Jaguar (Archie, 1961): The Jaguar is a wonderful example of Silver Age excess.  He might have looked cool in his sleek red costume, except for the matching 12134145286?profile=originaljaguar belt and boots.  His mystical belt gives him the power of the jaguar, which somehow includes the power of flight.  He might have been a formidable foe, but he followed Superman into stories of domestic deception.Yet despite his flaws- or perhaps because of them- the Jaguar is a fun and memorable character.

12134144880?profile=original 



52.  J. Jonah Jameson
(Marvel, 1963): I’ve learned to appreciate J. Jonah Jameson over the years.  At first, I found him annoying.  But I’ve grown fond of his bombastic style, his belligerent attitude and even his brush-cut.

 


53.  
Josie and the Pussycats (Archie, 1963): Dan DeCarlo introduced this power trio girl band into the world of Archie, inspiring girls with their independent attitude while enthralling boys with their cat-print bathing suits.  Forget the Go-Gos and the Spice Girls- the Pussycats were there first.


12134146060?profile=original12134146266?profile=original54.  Kang the Conqueror
(Marvel, 1963): Arguably the Avengers’ greatest foe.  Kang the Conqueror is a time-travelling villain who attacks the present in order to establish and preserve his empire in the future.  He overmatches the heroes with advanced technology and an intense drive to succeed.

 


55.  Kid Flash
(DC, 1959): He’s just a normal kid.  He’s not an orphan.  He’s not an addict.  He’s a nephew who likes to hang out with his uncle, and whose uncle happens to be a superhero.  Wally West was always one of the most likable sidekicks.  And, by reversing the Flash’s color scheme, he always had one of the most likable costumes as well.

 


56.  The Kingpin
(Marvel, 1967): The Kingpin is a great villain, whether he’s giving trouble to Spider-Man, Daredevil or anyone else.  He has a distinctive look, with his bald head, 12134146474?profile=originalwhite coat and formidable size.  He portrays menace, while mostly getting others to do his dirty work.  He’s the Godfather or the Teflon Don of comics.

 

 

 

 

 

57.  Krypto the Super-Dog (DC, 1955): Everybody loves dogs. 
That goes double for dogs who wear a cape and can fly.

 

 

 

 


12134146867?profile=original
Side-bar: The ‘50s were a good decade for animal heroes.  Rex the Wonder Dog and Detective Chimp were introduced to comic book fans before Krypto came along.  Then Ace the Bat-Hound, Streaky the Super-Cat, Comet the Super-Horse and Beppo the Super-Moneky followed in Krypto’s paw-prints.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12134146294?profile=original58.  Lana Lang (DC, 1950): Lana Lang was the last character to make the list as she’s little more than your standard ingénue.  However, she’s become an indelible part of the Superman canon and her presence added all kinds of possibilities for romantic triangles and entanglements.

 

 

12134147088?profile=original59.  Legion of Substitute Heroes (DC, 1963): They’re (almost) everybody’s favorite underdogs.  They were turned down by the Legion of Super-Heroes because their powers are (mostly) useless.  But they don’t give up easily.  They formed their own team and proved that determination is just as important than ability.

 

 

Side-bar: Comedy doesn’t translate well across eras.  I like the Substitutes, even though they were often played for laughs.  But few of the other humorous characters provoke even a chuckle.  With apologies to Forbush Man, Herbie the Fat Fury and the Inferior Five, you had to be there and I wasn’t. 



12134147672?profile=original12134147892?profile=original60.  Loki (Marvel, 1962)

61.  Magneto (Marvel, 1963): Here are a couple of classic villains who have pestered Thor and the X-Men from the beginning.  Loki is the master trickster.  He’s a manipulator, a liar, an uncertain ally and a dangerous foe.  The first Loki appeared in Marvel’s Venus stories in 1949, though he bore little resemblance to the later version we all love to hate.  Magneto is a megalomaniac.  He perceives himself as the victim because of his tragic 12134148654?profile=originalchildhood during the Nazi regime but he learned the wrong lessons.  Striking first and preaching subjugation of his adversaries, he has become the enemy he hated.



12134148498?profile=original62.  Martian Manhunter
(DC, 1955): The Manhunter from Mars is a man without an era.  He’s too late for the Golden Age and too early for the Silver Age.  On the bright side, he’s one of the most powerful characters in comics, with a wide array of powers that puts even Superman to shame.



63.  Marvel Girl
(Marvel, 1963): She became a much more interesting character- and was also blessed with a much better nom du superhero- in the hands of Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum and John Byrne.  Whether she’s Marvel Girl, Phoenix or the Dark Phoenix, Jean Grey belongs on this list.


12134149473?profile=original64.  Marvelman (L & M, 1954): Legal opinions may vary.  When DC bought the rights to Captain Marvel from the faltering Fawcett Comics company, the British license holder forged on with their own Captain Marvel imitation named Marvelman.  He shouted Kimota! (“atomic” backwards) instead of Shazam!  He also became an international sensation in the 1980s due to writer Alan Moore, though he had to be called Miracleman on this side of the Atlantic.

12134150054?profile=original


65. Mary Jane Watson (Marvel, 1966): You hit the jackpot, Tiger!

12134149899?profile=original66. Metal Men (DC, 1962): The Metal Men are a great group.  They have a cohesive unity, but also individual identity.  If I wanted one representative, I could have chosen the stuttering Tin, the surly Mercury or the sultry Platinum.  But, like the table of elements, they’re better when they’re all together.

 

Side-bar: In general, I like teams and DC had a lot of them during the Silver Age.  But I find a lot of the groups from this era to be indistinguishable from one another.  They would wear identical uniforms and have only the most basic of personalities.  Fans who grew up during this time may disagree but I have no room (and little patience) for the Challengers of the Unknown, the Secret Six or the Sea Devils. 


12134150296?profile=original67. Metamorpho (DC, 1965): It’s not easy to take this many disparate elements (pun partially intended) and pull them together into a look that works.  Ultra the Multi-Alien failed but Metamorpho succeeded.  He looks great.  He’s incredibly powerful.  And his working-class demeanor, in spite of his world adventurer status, resonates with fans.

12134150891?profile=original68. Mr. Fantastic (Marvel, 1961): He may be the leader of the Fantastic Four but he’s often the least-appreciated character.  He’s the brains behind the outfit but he’s sometimes socially awkward, which is off-putting to fellow characters and fans alike.  However, Mark Waid’s classic run showed the depth and strength of the character like never before.

69. Nick Fury (Marvel, 1963): A character so great he could 12134151660?profile=originalhave made the list twice.  As Sgt. Fury, Nick led the Howling Commandoes during World War II.  As Commander Fury, Nick led the super-spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D.

 

Side-rant: Who cares what S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for?  It’s a holdover from an era when, for some weird reason, everything had to have an acronym: S.P.E.C.T.R.E., The Man from U.N.C.L.E., T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and so on.  I hope the new James Bond movies never try to define Quantum as Q.U.A.N.T.U.M.  It’s completely unnecessary.  It’s entirely possible to name an organization Shield or Quantum or Thunder without having it be an acronym. 

12134151877?profile=original12134152656?profile=original70.  Nightshade (Charlton, 1966)

71.  NoMan (Tower, 1965): People tend to forget this but the Silver Age was more than just Marvel and DC.  Charlton, Tower and others got into the superhero scene.  Nightshade was part of Charlton’s Action Hero line appearing in Captain Atom stories before starring in her own back-up strip.  She has since been eclipsed in the public consciousness by her stand-in, Silk Spectre of the Watchmen, but she’s still appearing in DC Comics such as Shadowpact and Secret Six.  NoMan was arguably the most interesting Thunder Agent.  He could project his mind into a series of android bodies, and would ditch one body for another when it ran into trouble.

12134152864?profile=original72.  Nukla (Dell, 1965): This may be the most obscure character I picked for this list.  Nukla starred in only four issues for Dell, a company known better for their Disney comics or for their wrong-headed superhero/horror monster mash-ups.  But Nukla, aka test pilot Matthew Gibb, was a pretty cool character and cool artists like Dick Giordano and Steve Ditko contributed to his adventures.

 

Side-bar: In part one, I admitted I like the underdog.  Well, I like obscure characters for many of the same reasons.  I would have loved to include more in the list.   Nemesis and Magicman (Adventures into Unknown and Forbidden Worlds) have interesting looks but they’re better known for appearing on cool covers than for starring in good stories.  Private Strong was an interesting addition to the Archie superhero canon, but he was mostly a mix of Captain America and the Shield. 

Charlton’s Nature Boy was a late entry to the mid-‘50s superhero revival but despite some great John Buscema art he was a holdover from the Golden Age with a set-up similar to Captain Marvel’s Shazam. 12134153073?profile=original



73. Poison Ivy
(DC, 1966): She’s such a classic Batman villain that it’s almost hard to believe she wasn’t added to his cast of rogues until the mid-‘60s.

 

12134153863?profile=original74. Professor X (Marvel, 1963): Over the years, the X-Men have tried to outgrow their founder, teacher and mentor.  He’s been killed off, sent into outer space and voluntarily imprisoned.  But he keeps coming back.  After all, it’s his name and his dream.

12134154297?profile=original 

75. The Question (Charlton, 1967): The man without a face.

 

12134154862?profile=original76. Quicksilver (Marvel, 1964): There had been plenty of speedsters in comics before Quicksilver came along.  There was even another Quicksilver at Quality.  But no one was ever as conflicted or complicated as Pietro Maximov.  He’s an overprotective brother, an evil mutant, a hero, a rogue, a jealous husband, a devoted father, an Avenger and an X-Man.

 

12134155266?profile=original77. Ralph and Sue Dibny (DC, 1960, ‘61): Ralph wasn’t the first extendable superhero, but he stretched the boundaries of the genre.  He was among the first to reveal his identity to the world.  He was among the first to treat his wife as an equal partner and not a sidekick (with a tip of the cap to The Thin Man’s Nick & Nora Charles).  He was more of a detective than a superhero.  And while he had a sense of humor about his powers and himself, he more than a jokester.

 

12134155691?profile=original78. Rawhide Kid (Marvel, 1955): The last of Marvel’s Big Three western heroes, the Rawhide Kid is Johnny Bart.  He wears a distinctive white hat and like a lot of cowboys, he was an outlaw for a crime he didn’t commit.

 

12134155894?profile=original79. Richie Rich (Harvey, 1953): This list may be full of superheroes but few characters are as famous as Harvey’s poor little rich kid.  Richie Rich was a superstar.  He was kind to his servants, his friends and even his enemies.

 

80. Rick Jones (Marvel, 1962): I know people make fun of him.  I’ve done it myself.  But in all honesty, Rick is much more than a hanger-on or a superhero groupie.  He initiates a lot of the action.  He helps out despite having no powers.  He’s partnered 12134156484?profile=originalwith the Hulk, the Avengers, Captain America and Captain Marvel.  That’s pretty impressive for someone who started out by wandering into a place he didn’t belong.

12134157492?profile=original


81.  Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Archie, 1962): Another Dan DeCarlo creation for Archie Comics.  Sabrina is the wholesome face of the world of witchcraft, dealing with typical teen problems like adults who don’t understand you and atypical problems like spells that go awry.

 

12134156694?profile=original
82.  Saturn Girl (DC, 1958): My daughter is a big, Saturn Girl.  Probably because she wears pink.  I’m a Saturn Girl fan too but that’s because she’s the calm heart of the Legion of Superheroes.  Cosmic Boy, or the latest winner of some fan poll, may be the official leader but Saturn Girl is the glue that holds the team together.

12134158053?profile=original 

83.  Scarlet Witch (Marvel, 1964): Scarlet Witch is a testament to character growth.  She started out a wilting flower, sheltered by her brother and cowed by Magneto.  She was made an Avenger and quickly became one of the team’s most stalwart members.  She’s been a lover and a mother.  She’s grown more and more comfortable with her ethnic roots (she was raised as a gypsy).  And, recently, she’s become more conflicted, mysterious and possibly evil.12134158082?profile=original

 

84.  Sgt. Rock (DC, 1959): Arguably the greatest war character ever created for comics.  Sgt. Rock is the stoic leader of Easy Company.  Yet despite his brusque exterior, he has a big heart.

 

12134158699?profile=original85.  Sif (Marvel, 1964): Too easily underrated by fans and ignored by Thor, the recent movie showcased her true potential.

 

 

12134158890?profile=original86.  Silver Surfer (Marvel, 1966): One of the coolest characters ever created.  He has shiny silver skin.  He rides a surfboard through space.  He works for one of the greatest powers in the universe and wields cosmic power of his own.

 

 

 

12134159090?profile=original87.  Sinestro (DC, 1961): One of DC’s greatest villains.  The former Green Lantern shows that even law & order can be dangerous when taken to extremes.  He’s a fascist, but a fascinating one.

 

12134159295?profile=original88.  Spider-Man (Marvel, 1962): One of the greatest characters ever created.  Peter Parker is the hard-luck hero who learned that great power requires great responsibility.  He perseveres against impossible odds, while cracking one-liners and keeping a brave stance.

 

12134159871?profile=original89.  Spy vs. Spy (EC, 1961): You don’t have to know their names in order to understand the depth of their rivalry.  The animosity between these two spies has given rise to countless amusing encounters.  And, despite their simple features, their geometric faces convey a lot of emotion.

 

 

 

12134159882?profile=original90.  Supergirl (DC, 1958): The classic ingénue.

 

 

12134161057?profile=original91.  The Thing (Marvel, 1961)

92.  Thor (Marvel, 1962): They’re two of the toughest guys around.  One is the Norse God of Thunder who fights with a war hammer that no one else can pick up.  The other is an everyman made of rock who fights with his fists, though he has more trouble overcoming his low self-esteem.

 

 

12134161463?profile=original

93. Turok (Gold Key, 1954): There’s a long list of characters who star in jungle stories.  There’s even a pretty good crowd of characters who star in dinosaur stories.  But Turok is one of the best.  The Son of Stone is a master hunter in any location and in any age.

12134161288?profile=original94.  Ultra Boy (DC, 1962): I love his self-esteem.  Ultra Boy considers himself one of the big boys even though the limitations on his powers (he can only use one at a time) mean that he’s often caught out of his weight class.  Yet that utter confidence, that supreme belief that he’s as good as anyone, is charming.

 

 

12134161670?profile=original

95.  The Vision (Marvel, 1968): You’ll believe that an android can be more interesting than a man.  The Vision predated Star Trek’s Data by decades as an android who wondered what it would be like to have human emotions and then had trouble understanding them once he got them.

12134161695?profile=original96.  The Warriors Three (Marvel, 1965): The three Norse Warriors make for great supporting characters.  They’re distinct and easily recognizable.  They have strong personalities with just enough depth to keep them from being mannequins.  And now they’re movie stars.  They’re Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg (aka Errol Flynn, Charles Bronson and Falstaff).

 

12134162660?profile=original

97.  Wasp (Marvel, 1963): I’ve always liked characters that enjoy being superheroes.  Wasp is one of those.  For her, the life of a superhero was one big lark.  She delighted in designing new costumes.  She had a blast hanging out with the boys.  But while she didn’t mind making a few jokes, she was never a joke herself.  She was smart, and made a great team leader when given the chance.


12134162856?profile=original98.  Wendy the Good Little Witch (Harvey, 1954): Harvey had one of the best stables of kids’ characters.  After starting out as a companion to Caspar the Friendly Ghost, Wendy graduated to her own series in 1960.

 

12134162881?profile=original99.  Wonder Girl (DC, 1965): She was too interesting to be a younger version of Wonder Woman for long.  Donna is a strong, confident, young woman.  She’s a great friend and an even better ally.

 

 

12134163495?profile=original

100.  Zatanna (DC, 1964): The backwards writing is kind of annoying but everything else about Zatanna is alluring.  She’s smart, spunky and has a better sense of humor than most superwomen.  And, oh yeah, she knows magic.

 

 

Final Side-Bar: When you’re creating something like this, you always set out with the intention of creating the perfect list.  But, of course, it’s never definitive.  Other people will obviously disagree with you.  And, in retrospect, you may wonder yourself why you picked one character over another.  When I look back at my earlier lists, I’m surprised at some of the characters I didn’t include.  I hadn’t read any Scott Pilgrim yet but he’d easily make the ‘90s/’00s list now.  I thought I had included Gravity but I guess I didn’t.  Ana was right that I should have included Big Barda in the ‘70s/’80s list.  And I was so sure I had included someone from Alpha Flight that I mentioned it in a side-bar but apparently I didn’t.  Either Heather Hudson or Northstar must have fallen out between a first draft and the final.  I expect that will happen with this list as well.  I’ll probably change my mind in six months.  So don’t be afraid to tell me who you would have included instead. 

 

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Comics for 14 December 2011

27 SECOND SET #4 (OF 4)
68 JUNGLE JIM ONE SHOT
7 WARRIORS #2 (OF 3) (MR)

ABSOLUTE PROMETHEA HC VOL 03
AIRBOY PRESENTS AIR VIXENS #1
ALL NEW BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #14
AMERICAN VAMPIRE #21 (MR)
ARCHIE CYBER ADVENTURES TP
ARKHAM CITY STAFF T/S
ATOMIC ROBO GHOST OF STATION X #4 (OF 6)
AVENGERS 1959 #4 (OF 5)
AVENGERS ACADEMY #23
AVENGERS X-SANCTION #1 (OF 4)

BALTIMORE CURSE BELLS #5
BATGIRL #4
BATMAN AND ROBIN #4
BATMAN ARKHAM CITY SER 1
BATTLE SCARS #2 (OF 6)
BATWOMAN #4
BLACK PANTHER MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE #526
BLUE ESTATE #8 (MR)
BONNIE LASS #4 (OF 4)
BTVS SEASON 9 FREEFALL #4

CARNAGE USA #1 (OF 5)
CLIVE BARKER OMNIBUS TP

DANGER GIRL ARMY OF DARKNESS #4
DAOMU #8 (MR)
DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER WAY STATION #1 (OF 5)
DC COMICS PRESENTS BATMAN THE SECRET CITY #1
DC UNIVERSE ONLINE LEGENDS #19
DEADPOOL MAX TP NUTJOB (MR)
DEATHSTROKE #4
DEMON KNIGHTS #4
DOCTOR WHO ONGOING VOL 2 #12

ESSENTIAL RAWHIDE KID TP VOL 01
EVERLAST HC

FABLES TP VOL 16 SUPER TEAM (MR)
FANTASTIC FOUR DIGI SPIDER BLK T/S
FARSCAPE TP VOL 06 COMPULSIONS
FEAR ITSELF FEARLESS #1 (OF 12) 2ND PTG
FLASH GORDON COMIC BOOK ARCHIVES HC VOL 05
FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE #4

GARTH ENNIS COMPLETE BATTLEFIELDS TP V1 (MR)
GEARHEARTS STEAMPUNK GLAMOR REVUE #1
GHOST RIDER #7
GODZILLA LEGENDS #2 (OF 5)
GREEN HORNET TP VOL 03 IDOLS
GREEN HORNET YEAR ONE TP V2 BIGGEST OF ALL GAM
GREEN LANTERN #4
GREEN LANTERN SER 5 FIGURES
GRIFTER #4
GRIMM FAIRY TALES THE LIBRARY #3

HAWKEN #2 (OF 6)
HITMAN TP VOL 05 TOMMYS HEROES (RES)

IRON MAN 2.0 #11

JINGLE BELLE GIFT WRAPPED SPECIAL ONE SHOT
JOHN CARTER OF MARS WORLD OF MARS #3 (OF 5)
JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #632

KIRBY GENESIS SILVER STAR #2
KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #181
KULL THE CAT & THE SKULL #3 (OF 4)

LEGION LOST #4
LOCKE & KEY CLOCKWORKS #3 (OF 6)

MAGDALENA #10
MAGNETO NOT A HERO #2 (OF 4)
MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2011
MEMOIR #5 (OF 6)
MISTER TERRIFIC #4
MMW NICK FURY AGENT OF SHIELD HC V3
MOUSE GUARD BLACK AXE #3 (OF 6)
MY GREATEST ADVENTURE #3 (OF 6)

NEW AVENGERS #19
NIGHTLY NEWS ANNIVERSARY ED HC

OMEGA PARADOX #1
OPERATION BROKEN WINGS 1936 #2 (OF 3) (MR)
ORCHID #3

PC CAST HOUSE OF NIGHT #2 (OF 5)
PIGS #4 (MR)

RAY #1 (OF 4)
RED SONJA #60
RESURRECTION MAN #4
ROCKETEER ADVENTURES HC V1 DM EX ED
ROGER LANGRIDGES SNARKED #3

SAME DIFFERENCE SPECIAL ED HC
SAMURAIS BLOOD #6 (OF 6)
SECRET HISTORY BOOK 17 (MR)
SECRET WARRIORS TP VOL 05 NIGHT
SECRET WARS 2 TP
SECRET WARS TP NEW PTG
SEVERED #5 (OF 7) (MR)
SHADE #3 (OF 12)
SHIELD #4 (OF 6)
SHOWCASE PRESENTS BATMAN TP VOL 05
SHOWCASE PRESENTS WONDER WOMAN TP VOL 04
SNAKE EYES ONGOING (IDW) #8
SPIDER-MAN BY MARK MILLAR ULT. COLLECTION TP
SPIDER-MAN THROUGH DECADES TP
SPONGEBOB COMICS #6
STAND NIGHT HAS COME #5 (OF 6)
STAR TREK LEGION OF SUPERHEROES #3 (OF 6)
STAR WARS AGENT O/T EMPIRE IRON ECLIPSE #1 (OF 5)
STAR WARS EPISODE I ADVENTURES TP
STAR WARS EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE TP
STITCHED #2 (MR)
SUICIDE SQUAD #4
SUPER DINOSAUR DLX COLORING BOOK
SUPERBOY #4

TALES OF THE BATMAN DON NEWTON HC VOL 01
THE OCCULTIST #2 (OF 3)
THE STRAIN #1 (OF 11)
THEATER #3
TUROK SON OF STONE AZTLAN TP VOL 01

ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #4
UNCANNY X-FORCE #18
UNWRITTEN #32 (MR)

VERONICA #210
VERTIGO FIRST BLOOD #1 (MR)

WALKING DEAD #92 (MR)
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 15 (MR)
WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #50 (MR)
WAR GODDESS #4 (MR)
WAREHOUSE 13 #3
WARLORD OF MARS #13
WHITE LANTERN 1/4 SCALE POWER BATTERY & RING
WITCH DOCTOR TP VOL 01
WITCHBLADE #150
WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #1 2ND PTG
WOLVERINE BEST THERE IS #12

ZORRO RIDES AGAIN #6 (OF 12)

This list is a copy of the list posted at memphiscomics.com. Arrivals at your LCS may vary.

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12134027688?profile=originalClose your eyes---well, no, don’t close your eyes, because then you won’t be able to read this---but imagine that it’s almost exactly forty-six years ago.  It’s mid-January of 1966 and you’re a contestant on NBC’s quiz show, Jeopardy!

 

After you and your fellow players are introduced by Don Pardo and greeted by the genial Art Fleming, the game gets down to business.  You’re doing O.K., too.  You bombed out in the dreaded “Opera” category, but you made it back with “Famous Landmarks” and “Potent Potables”.  When it’s your turn to select the next clue, you look at the categories and decide, “’Fictional Journalists’ for $30.”

 

“And the answer is . . . ,” says Art.

 

12134131064?profile=original 

 

 Smiling, you instantly ring in.  Confidently, you respond, “Who is Perry White?”  Of course.

 

Now, the clue-writers on Jeopardy! were really good and did their homework, and you’re stunned when that annoying “double buzz” signals that you’re wrong.  Art says, “Oh, sorry,” and your winnings drop by $30.  Neither of the other two contestants takes a shot at it, and while you’re standing there, open mouthed, Fleming states the correct response.

 

“Who is Van Benson?”

 

 

 

 

Bet you forgot about him, didn’t you?

 

For those of you who missed the Silver Age, you’re probably sitting there echoing Art Fleming, only with a different inflexion---“Who is Van Benson?”  Well, aren’t you glad that’s what I’m here to tell you.

 

12134131471?profile=originalIt all began with Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane # 62 (Jan., 1966).  Traditionally, comics are post-dated by a couple of months; that issue actually hit the stands in the second week of November, 1965.  At first glance, the only thing unusual about Lois Lane # 62 was that, instead of the usual three unrelated stories of Lois Lane, the readers were given one long tale, advertised on the cover as “a 3-part novel, complete in this issue!”

 

The story is titled “Lois Lane’s Anti-Superman Campaign”, and the first indication of what’s to come occurs on page one, when Perry White collapses at his desk from overwork.  At the hospital, his doctor orders him to take a month’s vacation.  During his absence, Perry White appoints Clark Kent to serve as acting editor of the Daily Planet.

 

It’s actually a nice moment.  Kent didn’t wrangle for the job, nor did he try to avoid it, which is what he usually does in similar circumstances, for reasons related to his Superman identity.   This time around, that had nothing to do with it.  White put Kent in the big chair because, while Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen spent the day at the hospital fretting over Perry’s condition, Clark went back to the office and wrote up the story about the editor’s collapse.  It’s a rare Silver-Age occasion to see Clark Kent legitimately acting as a newsman.

 

Not much is made of Clark’s promotion, however, except for an early scene of Lois sucking up to the new boss by sending him a congratulatory wreath and purchasing a new nameplate for his desk.  The chief purpose is to get Perry White off-stage for most of the story.

 

The plot quickly shifts to its main thread.  One of the state’s U.S. senatorial seats is up in the current election, and the incumbent, Barton Schlumm, has a reputation as a do-nothing, “thumb-twiddling loafer”. Clark assigns Lois to cover a press conference held by Schlumm’s opposing party, which she writes off as a boring assignment---until the party spokesman announces that it has accepted Superman as a candidate for the Senate seat.  Lois pooh-poohs it as a publicity stunt, and then chokes on it when the Man of Steel swoops in and makes a rousing speech for his candidacy.

 

12134131897?profile=originalIf Lois had been a veteran reader of DC mags, she would have immediately suspected that there was probably a sneaky-albeit-noble reason behind Superman running for office.  But since she wasn’t, the pretty newshen is indignant at the Man of Steel using his super-hero image to win the senator’s seat.  And she becomes outraged when, over the next few days, he blatantly uses every super-feat as a campaign opportunity.  In fact, she’s so put out that she decides to toss her hat into the ring, as well.

 

Lois campaigns hard, but when you’re running against the most popular hero in the world, the result is pretty much what you’d guess.  In the primary election for the party nomination, Lois gets only one vote.  The rest go to Superman.  So overwhelming is the Action Ace’s victory that even his eventual opponent, Senator Schlumm, withdraws from the race.

 

 

 

Just as Lois’ dreams of “Miss Lane Goes to Washington” go poof, who should turn up but that mischievous fifth-dimensional imp, Mr. Mxyzptlk.  Seeing it as a great way to get Supie’s goat, Mr. M offers to be Lois’ campaign manager.  She agrees, and Mxy goes to work, using his magic to increase Lois’ favour with the public.  As the election draws near, she’s a strong write-in candidate.  In fact, she’s running dead even with Superman in the polls.

 

Don’t bother wondering who wins, though.  On the day of the election, the unthinkable happens.  (Unthinkable, mainly because it would have been discovered long before this in real-world politics.)  Both Superman and Lois are disqualified from running by Constitutional requirements.  The Man of Steel is out because of residency issues.  (The cited technicality is shaky and wouldn’t hold up, but, hey, go with it; you didn’t really think Superman was going to be a senator.)  And Lois is under the age of thirty, the minimum age required for U.S. senators.

 

12134133482?profile=originalThat’s just fine with the Man of Steel.  His candidacy was only a ploy to keep Mxyzptlk preöccupied until he could figure out a way to send the imp back to the fifth dimension.  As it turns out, Lois takes care of that by tricking him into saying “Kltpzyxm” from a coded message.

 

Since both candidates in the race are ineligible to win, the state governor declares the election invalid.  In the meantime, he will appoint someone to fill the vacant seat interim, until a special election can be held.  The governor’s choice---Perry White, well rested and back from his vacation!

 

Perry has some appointing to do of his own.  At the office farewell party, he introduces Lois, Jimmy, Clark, and the rest of the staff to Van Benson, the new acting editor of the Daily Planet.  Again, Lois is a little peeved that she doesn’t get the job, but she can’t argue with Benson’s credentials---he’s the former head of a national news service and a Pulitzer Prize winner, to boot.  The tale ends with her wondering how her life will change with Benson running things.

 

 

 

Now, DC fans of the day could be forgiven for presuming that Benson’s time with the Planet wouldn’t last beyond the next issue of Lois Lane, and then he’d be gone as quickly as he came.  The editor of the Superman family of magazines, Mort Weisinger, typically ensured that the details of the Superman mythos were consistent.  If something was established in the Man of Steel’s life within the pages of his own comic, then it was the same in Action Comics or World’s Finest Comics.

 

But Lois Lane had always been something of a bastard child.  It was a second-tier title in Weisinger’s stable, and outside of sharing the some of the same cast with the headliners, very little that took place in Lois’s magazine carried over into the others.  Even Jimmy Olsen, another second-stringer, was more tied into the Superman mainstream, thanks to Jimmy’s involvement with the Legion of Super-Heroes and Robin, the Boy Wonder.  Lois, however, seemed to exist in a private world inside her own title.

 

But Mort must have been paying particular attention to Lois Lane # 62.

 

 

 

 

12134135083?profile=originalThe Lois Lane title did not publish in December, so the next issue---# 63 (Feb., 1966)---went on sale in the first week of January, 1966.  Though not advertised on the cover this time, the story within, “The Satanic Schemes of S.K.U.L.”, was also a “3-part novel”, and it took up right where the previous issue left off.

 

At newly appointed Senator White’s farewell party, Van Benson makes the rounds, glad-handing the Planet employees.  On the surface, he appears to be quite a bit different than Perry.  Benson is urbane, personable, and handsome (although he apparently ducked into the men’s room in between issues to rub a little Grecian Formula into his hair).  Where Perry has a bit of a middle-age spread, the youthful Benson is fit and trim, and he prefers a pipe to White’s smelly stogies.  Lois, in particular, is taken with him. 

 

“It might be fun,” she thinks, “taking orders from a dream-boat like that!”

 

After Superman arrives and flies Perry to Washington, Benson shows that he has one trait very much in common with his predecessor.  The “dream-boat” turns into Simon Legree’s meaner brother.  He shuts down the party and starts cracking the whip while the window curtains are still flapping from Superman’s slipstream.

 

Throughout the day, Benson finds fault with virtually everything that crosses his desk, raising standards and beating excellence over his reporters' heads.  Lois and Jimmy Olsen begin to miss their old slave-driver, Perry White.  Some of the other staffers are probably sticking pins in their Van Benson voodoo dolls.

 

12134135698?profile=originalQuitting time finally arrives, and because this was back in the “good old days” of American business, when the boss could hit on a female employee without fear of being slapped with a sexual harassment suit, Benson asks Lois Lane out to dinner.  And Lois, who despite claiming to be in love with Superman, always seemed to tilt her cap toward any good-looking guy who came her way, says “Sure!”

 

Out on the town, we learn a little more about Van Benson.  He squires Lois to the Kitten Club, Earth-One’s version of the Playboy Club, and she discovers that Van is on a smooch-and-tickle basis with every waitress and hat-check girl in the place.

 

Nevertheless, her jealousy fades away when Benson turns on the charm.  Despite her being smitten, though, Lois’s reporter instincts aren’t completely shut down.  A chance occurrence triggers a passing suspicion in her mind that Van Benson may not be what he seems to be.

 

Hold that thought for a moment.

 

 

 

This is where the intricacies of publishing several monthly books, under different writers, sometimes make a timeline a tricky thing.  Mort Weisinger knew that introducing Van Benson as the new editor of the Daily Planet was too significant a change to not be addressed in his other Superman titles.  That, and he probably didn’t want to deal with a bunch of letters from pesky fans wanting to know why Perry White was still editing the paper in this month’s issue of Superman.

 

12134136889?profile=originalThat meant that Benson would have to show up in his other titles.  The problem was later developments, near the end of the story in Lois Lane # 63, would put too much of a twist on Benson’s rôle as the Planet editor.  For the readers caught up in such things, though, there was a way to square it.

 

Following Lois’ night out at the Kitten Club, several days, perhaps as much as a week, elapse before the big climax at the end of the issue.  Presumably, it is during this time that the other stories in which Van Benson appeared took place.  Mort probably didn’t plan it that way, but it’s the only way it fits.

 

Benson’s first appearance outside of Lois Lane occurred in Jimmy Olsen # 91 (Mar., 1966), on sale the second week of January, 1966.  In “The Dragon Delinquent”, Jimmy infiltrates a teen-age biker gang.  In the opening pages,  Benson has even less tolerance for the cub reporter’s antics than Perry White did and refuses to let him handle anything more significant than covering azalea festivals and society weddings.  Jimmy determines to cover the biker-gang story on his own time, and when he fakes an injury to his hand so he can get away from the office, Benson replies, “Bah!  You’re useless around here anyway, Olsen!  Take a week’s sick leave.  You won’t be missed!”

 

Naturally, he winds up eating those words, after Jimmy breaks up the biker gang and shuts down a foreign spy ring as a bonus.

 

In the last week of January, 1966, the pipe-smoking editor crossed over to Action Comics # 335 (Mar., 1966) for a two-panel cameo in which he rounds up Clark Kent and Lois and Jimmy at the request of Senator White, so they can answer a call from the President of the United States.

 

It wasn’t much, just those two appearances, but it was enough make Van Benson a legitimate, if minor, character in the Superman universe, rather than just being confined to the vacuum of the Lois Lane title.

 

12134138097?profile=original 

 

  

Back to Lois Lane # 63 . . . .

 

As her history of trying to ferret out Superman’s secret identity had proven, Lois Lane never let affection stand in the way of her nosiness.  Despite her infatuation with her new boss, Lois’ flicker of suspicion takes flame.  The next day at work, she snoops around Benson’s office and finds evidence that the newsman is somehow connected to a criminal organisation calling itself S.K.U.L.

 

Even though Benson continues to be a really swell guy to her and seems to be on the ball as an editor, Lois keeps digging.  While Benson is attending a meeting of the Editors’ Association, she breaks into his upscale apartment.  There, she finds and plays a hidden video recording revealing a meeting of the S.K.U.L. inner circle.  She discovers the outfit’s headquarters is on a secret floor above the Kitten Club when the recording shows Benson donning a hooded robe and attending the meeting.

 

And she learns what S.K.U.L. stands for---the Superman Killers’ Underground League.  Its goal is to assassinate Superman and all of his closest friends.

 

 

 

12134139261?profile=originalShowing a rare moment of common sense, Lois decides to tell Superman what she has learnt and let him deal with it.  However, when she asks Clark Kent to get in touch with the Man of Steel for her, he tells her that Superman is away on a space mission.  (Yes, I know---why would Clark tell her that Superman is away when he is, secretly, Superman?  It’s actually a big clue to what’s going on, but it was so played down that many readers probably missed it.)

 

Now, Lois could have sought out Supergirl, or Batman, or told the police or the F.B.I. what was going on, but Lois, being Lois, decides to handle the problem herself.  With a clever stratagem, the plucky girl inserts herself into the next S.K.U. L. meeting, posing as one of its hooded members.  She becomes convinced that Van Benson is actually the head of the evil organisation.

 

Once safely away, Lois turns to Lana Lang for help.  She tells the whole story to her red-headed rival, including her suspicion that the acting editor of the Daily Planet moonlights as an arch criminal.  They decide to go public with the information, hoping that, somehow, somewhere, Superman will hear about it.

 

Before they can do so, however, Superman appears, and Lois blurts out to him everything she knows.  The Man of Steel angrily berates the gals, telling them how they nearly fouled up things up royally.  He does that just before revealing himself to be Van Benson, in disguise.

 

Dum de dum dum!

 

Surprise number two:  before Lois’ and Lana’s sphincters pucker so tight that they cut off the blood flow to their brains, Benson reveals that he is secretly working for the F.B.I., in an undercover effort to bring down the S.K.U.L. organisation.  He tells them that Lois’ snooping has put her in too deep, and the only way out is for her to help him destroy S.K.U.L.

 

The issue ends with Lois and Lana agreeing to help, but the readers are kept wondering if Van Benson is really a newsman or an F.B.I. agent---or a killer!

 

 

 

 

You see what I mean, now, about Benson’s appearances in Jimmy Olsen and Action Comics having to take place before the end of Lois Lane # 63.

 

12134139879?profile=originalAfter all of that build-up, though, the conclusion is disappointingly ænemic, coming in at a mere eight pages stuck in the back of Lois Lane # 64 (Apr., 1966), which showed up on the spinner racks in the second week of February, 1966.  “The Prisoner of S.K.U.L.” was clearly rushed, to get it out of the way of the two-part "Lexo and Lola" Imaginary Story (which was actually quite good, as far as those kinds of tales go).

 

Benson explains to Lois Lane and Lana Lang that two key pieces of information are needed before S.K.U.L. can be destroyed.  While the undercover newsman has posed as the chief lieutenant in the criminal cabal, he has yet to identify the hidden mastermind behind the organisation.  It’s also urgent that they learn the nature of “Weapon X”, the device with which it intends to accomplish its goal of murdering Superman.

 

When Lois asks why the Man of Steel himself isn’t handling the matter, Benson explains, “Because both Superman and the F.B.I. are using the S.K.U.L. threat as a pilot-program for developing techniques whereby F.B.I. men will be able to carry on without Superman’s aid in the event Superman is ever destroyed!”

 

The whole “Superman is away on a space mission” bit was a cover story designed to allay any S.K.U.L. fears of being detected by the Man of Steel and going to ground before Benson could learn the evil group’s secrets.

 

12134141296?profile=originalBenson reveals the time and place of the next S.K.U.L. meeting and instructs Lois to again attend as one of the members.  At the meeting, Benson, once more posing as the S.K.U.L. lieutenant, assigns Lois to assassinate Superman when he appears a couple of days later at a Metropolis Women’s Charity League function.  Afterward, Benson tells Lois when and where she’ll receive the mysterious Weapon X.  She’s to show up at the charity event and use the device on Superman.  And don't worry about it harming the Man of Steel, says Van.  He's got everything under control.

 

Weapon X is handed off to Lois without a hitch, and when Superman appears on stage at the charity function, the gal reporter zaps him with it.  To her horror, the weapon overcomes the Man of Steel and weakens him to the point that he’s easily defeated by concealed S.K.U.L. agents.  As the hooded thugs carry the unconscious hero away to be executed, the real mastermind of S.K.U.L. emerges and gloats over Superman’s impending death.

 

Van Benson appears, taking a place at the mastermind’s side, and a grief-stricken Lois concludes that the double-crossing editor had pretended to be a good guy in order to dupe her into setting Superman up for murder.

 

She’s still kicking herself from guilt when “Benson” reveals himself to be Superman in disguise and captures the villain.  The Man of Steel explains that he had been keeping an eye on Lois all along, and once she had possession of Weapon X, he had used his heat vision to disable it.  He had only pretended to be overcome by it when Lois used it on him.

 

12134143090?profile=originalIt was all part of Benson’s plan to smoke out S.K.U.L.’s big boss.

 

 

 

Later, back in Benson’s office, he and Lois are tying up some loose ends when Perry White walks through the door.  Congress has just recessed, the grizzled newsman explains, so, he’s here to take back his old job.  Just like that, ace pipe-smoker Van Benson's tenure as editor of the Daily Planet was over.

 

“I hope he’ll return here, someday,” wishes Lois.  But he never did.  There hasn’t been so much as a mention of his name in any DC story in the forty-five years since.

 

But I understand that if you drop by the Metropolis Kitten Club, you’ll find a distinguished-looking old man sitting at a corner table.  He’ll be puffing on his pipe, pinching cigarette girls on the derrière, and regaling the patrons with stories about a screwball dame who used to work for him and how she had this whacky idea that Clark Kent was Superman.

Read more…

Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

 

IDW Publishing pulled off a storytelling coup in early 2011, when they involved a variety of unrelated, licensed books with a common threat (vampires). That worked so well, they’re going to do it again in January 2012 – and they’re upping the ante.

 

12134125252?profile=original“Infestation,” which began in January 2011 and ran for four months, told stories of vampires battling Transformers, infecting the Star Trek universe, getting shot by G.I. Joe and baffling Ghostbusters. The amazing thing about this crossover is that all of these characters are licensed to IDW by different companies, constituting a logistical and legal nightmare. It’s like the characters from Glee showing up in CSI wearing Tron T-Shirts and dating people from Jersey Shore.

 

And yet, it worked so well, IDW is doing it again. This sequel – “Infestation 2,” naturally – springs from the first, in that the way IDW’s home-grown CVO (Covert Vampiric Operations) dealt with the bloodsucking menace opened the door to something worse. And since IDW now has the license for H.P. Lovecraft concepts, stories and characters, that means Cthulhu and the other Old Ones are coming for a visit.

 

For those not up on their Lovecraftian lore, the Old Ones are ancient, evil gods who were driven off somehow in pre-history, but are really eager for a return engagement. Among Lovecraft’s stories about the Old Ones is The Dunwich Horror, which IDW is currently adapting as a four-issue miniseries. IDW also plans a Lovecraft Library; Volume One, Horror out of Arkham is due out this month and includes eight Lovecraft prose stories set in the fictional Arkham, Mass.

 

All of which means trouble for other characters published by IDW, especially some new players who didn’t make the cut in the first Infestation. G.I. Joe is back for another round, but new franchises include Dungeons & Dragons, 30 Days of Night and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Transformers are back, too, but instead of the modern robots most readers know, Infestation 2: Transformers #1-2 will feature the “Hearts of Steel” versions from the 2006 miniseries of the same name, in which humanity first encountered the Transformers in the 19th century.

 

12134125475?profile=original“You’ll see a lot of fun historical characters, people you never expected to see interacting with Transformers,” said editor Bobby Curnow in a teleconference. “If you’ve ever wanted to see a steampunk version of Optimus Prime fight a giant monster, this is the place.”

 

Other surprises include a one-shot starring Batboy from Weekly World News and a grey alien from Groom Lake, two miniseries written by IDW Publisher Chris Ryall, who also attended the teleconference. Those two characters will be played for laughs in a Feb. 29 one-shot called Infestation Team-Up.

 

Another surprise is a planned appearance by J. Scott Campbell’s Danger Girl, but Ryall and Curnow declined to cite specifics. They did, however, mention a new miniseries starring everybody’s favorite zaftig spy-gals, the four-issue Danger Girl: Revolver coming in January by Andy Hartnell and Chris Madden.

 

Speaking of creators, the two-issue “Infestation 2” miniseries that bookends the event and an Infestation: 30 Days of Night one-shot are written by Duane  Swierczynski, best known for crime fiction and a stint on Marvel’s X-Men. Another top-drawer writer, Chuck Dixon, is writing the two-issue Transformers series. IDW veterans Paul Crilley, Tristan Jones and Mike Raicht pen the Dungeon & Dragons, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and G.I. Joe two-parters, respectively.

 

As for artists, expect to see Guido Guidi (Transformers: Evolutions), Valentine De Landro (X-Factor), David Messina (Star Trek: Countdown), Alex Robinson (Box Office Poison), Stuart Sayger (Shiver in the Dark) and Mark Torres (Zombies vs. Robots).

 

12134125874?profile=originalAnd just for fun, the two TMNT covers combine to form a single image, and each issue will have temporary tattoos representing their respective franchises. “We brought all of our toys out of the toy chest,” Curnow said.

 

Both Curnow and Ryall were quick to point out that one needn’t buy every book to understand the story. Nor are readers required to have read “Infestation” to understand “Infestation 2.”

 

But if you do happen to want to read “Infestation” first, IDW has made that easier with a hardback collecting the entire first event, coming out in January ($34.99). While not necessary to understand the sequel, Curnow said, “if you have been following both events, you’ll get a nice through line.”

 

After all this, could there be an even bigger Infestation down the road? Hard to believe, but Ryall noted that “these things tend to happen in threes.”

 

Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics@aol.com.

 

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Comics for 7 December 2011

ACTION COMICS #4
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #675
ANIMAL MAN #4
AVENGERS WEST COAST AVENGERS HC SINS PAST
AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #2

BAD DOINGS BIG IDEAS A BILL WILLINGHAM DLX HC
BATMAN NO MANS LAND TP VOL 01 NEW EDITION
BATWING #4
BETRAYAL O/T PLANET O/T APES #2 (OF 4)
BLACKEST NIGHT POWER RING SPECTRUM SET
BLOOD RED DRAGON #2
BOYS #61 (MR)
BREED III #7 (OF 7) (MR)
BRIGHTEST DAY TP VOL 01

CAPTAIN AMERICA CORPS TP
CAPTAIN AMERICA ESTRELLA NAVY T/S
CAPTAIN AMERICA MAN OUT OF TIME TP
CHEW #22
CHEW OMNIVORE ED HC VOL 02 (MR)
CLASSIC MARVEL CHARACTERS #3 IRON MAN
COLD WAR #3
CRIMINAL TP VOL 06 LAST OF INNOCENT (MR)
CROSSED PSYCHOPATH #6 (OF 7) (RES) (MR)

DAMAGED #4 (OF 6) (MR)
DC COMICS PRESENTS CAPTAIN ATOM #1
DEADPOOL #47
DEADPOOLMAX X-MAS SPECIAL #1 (MR)
DEFENDERS #1
DETECTIVE COMICS #4
DIABOLIQUE #7

ELRIC THE BALANCE LOST #6
ELRIC THE BALANCE LOST TP VOL 01

FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #259
FEAR ITSELF FEARLESS #4 (OF 12)
FLY TP VOL 01 (MR)

GARTH ENNIS JENNIFER BLOOD #7 (MR)
GFT DREAM EATER SAGA TP VOL 01
GFT MYTHS & LEGENDS #10
GFT SINBAD SPECIAL
GI JOE COBRA ONGOING TP VOL 01 COBRA CIVIL WAR
GI JOE VOL 2 ONGOING #8
GLAMOURPUSS #22
GREEN ARROW #4
GRIMM FAIRY TALES #66
GUTTERS ABSOLUTE COMPLETE OMNIBUS VOL 01

HACK SLASH #10
HACK SLASH ANNUAL 2011
HAWK AND DOVE #4
HEART #2 (OF 4) (MR)
HELLBLAZER ANNUAL #1 (MR)
HELLRAISER #8 (MR)
HELLRAISER MASTERPIECES #3 (MR)
HP LOVECRAFT THE DUNWICH HORROR #3 (OF 4)
HULK #45
HUNTRESS #3 (OF 6)

INDIE COMICS MAGAZINE #4 (MR)
IRON FIRST FIST OF IRON KELLY GREEN T/S
IRREDEEMABLE #32
IZOMBIE #20 (MR)

JACK KIRBYS FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS TP VOL 01
JURASSIC PARK DANGEROUS GAMES #4 (OF 5)
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #4

LADY DEATH (ONGOING) #12 (MR)
LAST OF THE GREATS #3
LOONEY TUNES #204

MEGA MAN #8
MEN OF WAR #4
MOON KNIGHT #8
MORIARTY #7

OMAC #4

PENGUIN PAIN AND PREJUDICE #3 (OF 5)
PHANTOM COMP SERIES HC VOL 01 GOLD KEY YEARS
PRINCELESS #2
PUNISHER #6

RED LANTERNS #4
REED GUNTHER #6
RINSE #4

SANDMAN TP VOL 07 BRIEF LIVES NEW ED (MR)
SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU #16
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG SELECT TP VOL 04 ZONE WARS
SPAWN #214
SPECTRUM TP VOL 18
STAN LEE UNIVERSE SC
STAR TREK CLASSICS TP TNG GORN CRISIS
STATIC SHOCK #4
STORMWATCH #4
STRANGE TALENT OF LUTHER STRODE #3 (OF 6) (MR)
SUPERBOY SMALLVILLE ATTACKS TP
SUPERMAN GROUNDED HC VOL 02
SUPERMAN SECRET ORIGIN TP
SUPERNATURAL #3 (OF 6)
SW BOBA FETT BUST BANK
SWAMP THING #2 2ND PTG
SWAMP THING #4
SWEET TOOTH #28 (MR)

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MICRO SERIES #1 R
THE SPIDER IRON MAN WAR GN (RES)
THOR DEVIANTS SAGA #2 (OF 5)
THOUGHT BUBBLE ANTHOLOGY #1
TOTAL RECALL #4
TRANSFORMERS ONGOING #31
TRUE BLOOD FRENCH QUARTER #4 (OF 6)

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN MUST HAVE #1
ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN MUST HAVE #1

VALEN OUTCAST #1
VAMPIRELLA ANNUAL #1
VENOM #10
VILLAINS FOR HIRE #1 (OF 4)
VOLTRON #1

WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #49 (MR)

X-23 #18
X-CLUB #1 (OF 5)
X-FACTOR #228
X-MEN #22 XREGB
X-MEN WITH GREAT POWER TP
X-STATIX OMNIBUS HC

This list is a copy of the list posted at memphiscomics.com. Arrivals at your LCS may vary.

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