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

no comments yet

Posted by: Graeme McMillan on June 14, 2007

Categories: Reviews

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

Hibbs Burbles on

no comments yet

Posted by: admin on June 13, 2007

Categories: Reviews

A few quick hits: SUB-MARINER #1: I like the old school logo. I find it funny that he looks like Black Adam on the interior. It opens at the end (I think), and another town full of people is killed, and there’s a lot of posturing about Atlantis/Human politics, and have I told you how bored I get by anything involving Atlantis? It also has just about the most boring last page I’ve ever seen in my life. Thank god it is just a mini. EH. GREEN ARROW #75: I also dislike “Will you marry me?” cliffhangers that then promise to resolve somewhere else. It worked oh so well for the Dick/Babs thing, didn’t it? Other than that, this is…  Read More…

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

no comments yet

Posted by: Graeme McMillan on

Categories: Reviews

So, this was the solicit for NEW AVENGERS #31: “No hype! No BS! The most important last page of any Marvel comic this year! Do not miss it!” And this is the last page from that very issue – Wong and Jessica Jones talking about what has just happened to the team: Jessica: Are they okay? Is my husband okay?Wong: I think so.Jessica: You think?Wong: They’re alive.Jessica: Okay, then. And then Jessica and Luke’s baby opens his eyes in what may be shock and looks a bit green. The end. Holy crap, that’s definitely the most important last page of anything I’ve read in a long time. I mean, jeez, a baby opens their eyes? I can’t stand the excitement!…  Read More…

Arriving 6/13

no comments yet

Posted by: admin on June 11, 2007

Categories: Shipping Lists

A more reasonable looking week, for a change. AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL #9 AMORY WARS #1 (OF 5) ARCHIE & FRIENDS #110 ARCHIE DIGEST #235 AVENGERS CLASSIC #1 BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #6 BATMAN STRIKES #34 BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #152 BLACK DIAMOND #1 (OF 6) BLADE #10 BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL #126 BPRD GARDEN OF SOULS #4 (OF 5) CABLE DEADPOOL #41 CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK #14 CONAN & THE MIDNIGHT GOD #4 (OF 5) COUNTDOWN 46 DELPHINE #2 DMZ #20 DOMINION #2 (OF 5) DRAIN #4 ELEPHANTMEN PILOT EXILES #95 FABLES #62 FRANKLIN RICHARDS WORLD BE WARNED #1 FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #21 GEN 13 #9 GREEN ARROW #75 GREEN LANTERN CORPS #13 GRIFTER MIDNIGHTER #4 (OF 6) HACK SLASH SERIES SEELEY…  Read More…

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

no comments yet

Posted by: Graeme McMillan on

Categories: Reviews

There was a moment where AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #3 seemed to hint at an interesting direction for the Marvel Universe. Spider-Man was being attacked by War Machine and the new, teenage, Lizard, and for the second time in a month, Dan Slott attempts to address the fans who’ve been left disturbed by what’s going on in Marvel’s post-Civil War world: Spider-Man: “I mean, what’s your problem? It’s like you care more about taking me in that – – “ War Machine: “Oh, we’re not here to take you in, Peter. You see… You’ve been using your powers irresponsibly. And we’re here to take them away from you. That’s what our weapons do, Parker. That’s their sole purpose. But don’t worry….  Read More…

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

no comments yet

Posted by: Graeme McMillan on June 10, 2007

Categories: Reviews

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

POS Follies: Part 2

no comments yet

Posted by: admin on

Categories: Retailing/Industry

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

But who’s counting?: Graeme continues weekly.

no comments yet

Posted by: Graeme McMillan on June 9, 2007

Categories: Reviews

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

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

no comments yet

Posted by: Graeme McMillan on June 8, 2007

Categories: Reviews

SUPERIOR SHOWCASE #2: I can’t work out if the existence of this book is pragmatism on the part of Adhouse – realizing that perhaps the best way for an indie anthology to survive in this market is for it to be a superhero anthology – or a failure of the comic readership en masse. Or, perhaps, somewhere in between but touching on both bases. Nonetheless, it’s not too surprising that this second issue is Good but wildly uneven, with the worst strip tending to be the most traditional and reverential to the source material. That strip, depressingly, is Farel Dalrymple’s “The Awesomest Super Guy, Hollis, in: Shadowsmen”. I’m a massive fan of Dalrymple’s artwork – there’s something about the way…  Read More…

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

no comments yet

Posted by: Graeme McMillan on

Categories: Reviews

Okay, so ever since I started doing these reviews semi-daily, I’ve kind of drifted away from the whole PICK OF THE WEEK/PICK OF THE WEAK thing. It’s mostly because, well, who really wants to wait until Tuesday for me to tell you what I thought the worst book that came out the previous Wednesday had been? But my favorite book this week is so out of left field, so surprising, that I really had to share. This week’s PICK OF THE WEEK, people? SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #3. No, really. It’s not because of the Spider-Man J strip, I have to admit (For those who haven’t seen Spider-Man J, it’s this weird little manga version of Spider-Man that bears little resemblence to…  Read More…

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

no comments yet

Posted by: admin on June 6, 2007

Categories: Reviews

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

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

no comments yet

Posted by: Graeme McMillan on

Categories: Reviews

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

My first thought of the day

no comments yet

Posted by: admin on June 5, 2007

Categories: Retailing/Industry

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

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

no comments yet

Posted by: Graeme McMillan on

Categories: Reviews

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

Arriving 6/6

no comments yet

Posted by: admin on

Categories: Shipping Lists

2000 AD #1535 2000 AD #1536 2000 AD #1537 2000 AD #1538 30 DAYS OF NIGHT EBEN & STELLA #2 A G SUPER EROTIC ANTHOLOGY #59 (A) ALIEN PIG FARM #2 (OF 4) ALL NEW ATOM #12 AVENGERS INITIATIVE #3 CWI BATTLESTAR GALACTICA #10 BATTLESTAR GALACTICA CYLON APOCALYPSE #4 BETTY & VERONICA #227 BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #175 BIRDS OF PREY #107 BLACK SUMMER #0 (OF 7) BREATHE CVR B #2 (OF 4) BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #4 COUNTDOWN 47 DANGER GIRL BODY SHOTS #3 (OF 4) DAREDEVIL BATTLIN JACK MURDOCK #1 (OF 4) DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER BORN #5 (OF 7) DARKNESS LEVEL 4 DALE KEOWN CVR A DEATH AND THE MAN WHO WOULD NOT DIE #1 (OF 4) DETECTIVE…  Read More…

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

no comments yet

Posted by: Graeme McMillan on June 4, 2007

Categories: Reviews

It’s the start of another week – The start of the longest week in the world if you’re me (but that kind of griping should really be saved for the middle of the week, I’m sure). So let’s begin with a nice, refreshing dip into the anniversary pool, shall we? ACTION COMICS #850: A story so big that it took three writers to tell it! Somehow, having not paid too much attention to the credits of this before I read it – I was happy enough to see Renato Guedes on artwork again; he’s slowly becoming one of my favorite artists working in superhero books these days, and his Supergirl concept art that’s been floating around the internet recently has…  Read More…

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

no comments yet

Posted by: Graeme McMillan on June 3, 2007

Categories: Reviews

If it’s Sunday, then it’s time for me to catch up on random things that I won’t be talking about elsewhere across the week… DAREDEVIL #97: It’s only when I type that out that I realize how close we are to the 100th issue; I knew it was coming, I’ve seen the double-page cover in the solicits and all, but somewhat refreshingly, the story in this issue is entirely devoid of dramatic “the tension is building towards something big that’s going to happen in three months’ time” moments. Not that there’s no tension here at all; just the opposite, in fact – It’s just that all of the tension is for drama that’s a lot more immediate. Is Brubaker so…  Read More…

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

no comments yet

Posted by: Graeme McMillan on June 2, 2007

Categories: Reviews

Well, this week has pretty much officially kicked my ass. It’s mostly work-related stuff – in fact, I think it’s entirely work-related stuff, now that I come to think about it – and as such completely disinteresting to all of you, but I just want to announce that Stan Lee had it right: That great power? Really does come with great responsibility. Let’s lose ourselves in the world of DC continuity, shall we? AMAZONS ATTACK! #2: You know what I’m bored of? Fake “Oh no, we’ve killed off Superman’s Ma and Pa” cliffhangers. Guess what, DC? We know that they’re somehow fine – We’ve survived The Kingdom and Our Worlds At War, both of which (as far as I remember)…  Read More…

Spam Filters and such

no comments yet

Posted by: admin on

Categories: Uncategorized

I set my spam filter pretty high — not all the way to max, but up there, because, with a (very) public email address, I easily get 2-300 messages a day some days. I religiously check my spam folder 2-3 times a day before deleting, but I’m scanning for “names I know”, and if I don’t know your name, I’m not going to notice you’ve gone into spam, right? What made me think of this is that I recently emailed someone with a clear “internet pseudonym” at their Last Known Public address, and I started to get frustrated that I hadn’t heard anything back. And then I thought, well damn, maybe it got trapped in spam and I never knew…  Read More…

How about a review?

no comments yet

Posted by: admin on

Categories: Reviews

Post Jeff Irony #2 — he’s not here this week, my first solo 8 hour day in a while, and none (not one) of the usual Friday night regulars came by to hang out. Guess I know who the Popular Kid is now (*sniff*) However, Skip Tuttle DID come by — I haven’t seen him in 6 months at least — but, of course, he came by to say goodbye to Jeff *double sniff* DRAWING FROM LIFE #1: Jim Valentino’s had a pretty interesting career, really — doing pretty much the definitive superhero parody with normalman, being the One-Of-These-Things-Is-Not-Like-The-Other member of the original Image 7, and so on, but I’ve always been way more partial to his autobio stuff, really….  Read More…

POS follies part one

no comments yet

Posted by: admin on June 1, 2007

Categories: Retailing/Industry

I hate hardware installation — even with a fresh system… so many wires and stuff to trip over and wind through and trying to make sure that everything is all compatible. I suspect it is even worse when, like me, you’re not actually putting in the POS *yet*, so you have to keep the space for the cash register and all of the “analog” systems at the same time you’re trying to set up the new stuff. I’m likely about a month or so before I even try to ACTUALLY put in the POS — I’m waiting to hear back from MOBY about what I can expect with the database before I start making with the inventory and all of…  Read More…