Don’t Tug

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on February 29, 2008

Categories: Retailing/Industry

It’s February 29th, Leap Year Day, which can only mean one thing: It’s Superman’s birthday! Superman is, of course, 70 years old this year (ACTION #1 had an June, 1938 cover date, so that would have shipped in April, I think), but sometime in the 1970s it was decided that he was a Leap Year baby. I asked Mark Waid if there was a citation in the comic books to this, and he replied: “I know it was in one of E. Nelson Bridwell’s/Mort Weisinger’s letter columns, a jokey answer about how Superman could have been an adult in 1938 and still look so young. Nelson ‘cemented’ the date in the 1976 Super DC Calendar from Warner Books.” I had…  Read More…

Outside the circle of fire: Douglas on three 2/27 floppies

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Posted by: Douglas Wolk on

Categories: Reviews

A handful of of pamphlets this week, two of which allude obliquely to Ant-Man. Two different Ant-Men, actually. After the jump: BATMAN #674, NEXUS #100 and WORLD WAR HULK: AFTERSMASH!: DAMAGE CONTROL #2. BATMAN #674: Couldn’t make head or tail of this the first time through; fortunately, Timothy Callahan has helpfully pointed out the connections between this story and “Robin Dies at Dawn” from Batman #156, which I found reprinted in Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, and which includes a reference to an Ant-Man. (Note that this issue is called “Batman Dies at Dawn.”) It’s still a little confused by Morrison’s occasional habit of selecting random fragments of a complicated story and leaving out the ones that would explain…  Read More…

Those ad boxes

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on

Categories: Site News

I’m kinda stupid sometimes about the internet, and we’re still figuring out how things work, so it looks like we blew it in getting how Project Wonderful functions — we got 34 (!) bids for the ad space, but when we looked at it, we didn’t understand that the bids were blind and that all we saw was $0.00 bidded, and we passed on all of them. Stupid me! So… if you tried to bid on the space before, try it again, I now have the slightest idea of what I’m doing! (but, really, just the slightest so far) Thanks to Bill from Lone Star Press for clueing me in on what I was seeing, and you SHOULD be seeing…  Read More…

What Treasures Lurk Beyond the Cut: Jog and 2/27 know

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Posted by: Joe McCulloch on February 28, 2008

Categories: Reviews

RASL #1: This is Jeff Smith’s new series, a quarterly sci-fi serial of indeterminate length, although it’s been estimated that this first storyline will run eight or so issues. Your $3.50 gets you a very no-frills, no-nonsense Cartoon Books package: 32 pages of b&w comics between the covers, with credits on the inside-front and next issue’s cover on the inside-back. There’s been some curiosity surrounding this project — beyond its simply being a new Jeff Smith series — in that it’s the artist’s first longform comics project pitched toward somewhat older readers, after a marvelously successful run with very kid-friendly material. Granted, there’s nothing in this issue that I wouldn’t hand to a 13-year old, but it’s not just a…  Read More…

Abhay Told You He was Going to Eat You! He Told You He Was Going to Eat You Up.

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Posted by: Abhay Khosla on

Categories: Reviews

Now, shall we begin–?! I. I got a request to review the latest issue of GHOST RIDER. So: Sure, sure: steel wire. Between 1972 and 1973, Gary Friedrich & Dick Ayers produced 9 issues of COMBAT KELLY AND THE DEADLY DOZEN comic books for Marvel Comics. It was kind-of shitty. It was the second spin-off of the popular Marvel WW2 comic NICK FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS to fail. CAPTAIN SAVAGE AND HIS LEATHERNECK RAIDERS didn’t catch on, either (except in my homoerotic dreams). Here’s what Gary Friedrich said about the two failed spin-offs later: I think there wasn’t anything original about them. Martin Goodman, who owned Marvel at the time[…], saw that Sgt. Fury was doing pretty well and…  Read More…

Kate is teh aw3$0m3!

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Posted by: admin on February 27, 2008

Categories: Site News

I just want to say, for figuring out how to give us a jump and for doing the general site maintenance, I just want to say that Kate McMillan is awesome. Yay! for her! Kate’s also set up some Project Wonderful ad templates for the site, so if you want to advertise on the Savage Critic, that’s now an option. Thanks again, Kate!! -B

Reviewing and Beta Testing at the same time: Graeme does 2/20 comics

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on February 26, 2008

Categories: Reviews

Well, my lesson from Wondercon was “Never believe anything Bill Willingham says.” What was yours? Also, it’s time to test some exciting new potential technology. If all goes well, you’ll have to click through to read my reviews for this week. If it doesn’t, then I’ll have to fix that later somehow… (If it does work, it’s all Kate’s doing, by the way). AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #551: This really has settled into a strange middle ground, in terms of quality; it’s always just Okay, but in a weirdly comforting way, as if it wouldn’t make sense for it to be any better than that and on a mostly-weekly basis. Marc Guggenheim seems more self-conscious about the retro tone of the book…  Read More…

Moving the Goalposts

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on

Categories: Retailing/Industry

For the handful of you interested in the back-and-forth over the BookScan issue, I want to point you to Heidi’s post, as well as Dirk’s first and second sallies. For those of you only here for the reviews, you can stop reading now. In fact, I’d really urge you to! If I have edited this properly, it continues after the jump: For whatever it is worth, I agree nearly 100% with Heidi: my biases are both obvious, (and directly stated in the original piece!) — I believe in the Direct Market (as a concept, if not, necessarily, in the specific individual on-the-ground iteration) to be a far superior method of selling comics for the simple reason that a specialist, with…  Read More…

Diana Goes Digital #4: Natural Twenties

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Posted by: admin on

Categories: Reviews

One of the most widespread genres in webcomics is fantasy, specifically that swords-and-sorcery sub-genre usually associated with RPGs (ie: DUNGEONS & DRAGONS). Interestingly enough, many of those webcomics (including all the series we’ll be looking at today) have a decidedly subversive tone to them: they poke fun at conventions, they turn basic tropes on their heads, they break the fourth wall with a wink and a nudge. It’s probably a reaction to the prominence of fantasy in the mainstream, particularly “serious” fantasy like LORD OF THE RINGS and HARRY POTTER (you have to wonder what Mel Brooks would’ve done had he picked Tolkien’s trilogy to parody rather than STAR WARS or ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES) – but that reaction…  Read More…

My Life is Choked with Comics #16 – Panorama of Hell

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Posted by: Joe McCulloch on February 25, 2008

Categories: Reviews

Drop your glasses, shake your asses. My column on comic books has returned. THE KILLER: HIDESHI HINO Here’s our man, manga artist, filmmaker and swordplay aficionado Hideshi Hino. He is a living legend of Japanese horror fiction, manga in particular. Here we see him dressed as every comics artist is at some point, often on the day their spouse decides to leave them, but Hino belongs in such garb. Trouble, as you might suspect, runs through his blood. I. Kill Your Family Hino was born in Manchuria in 1946, in the midst of the post-WWII twilight of Japan’s occupation. His grandfather, whom he did not know, was a yakuza, the head of a gambling ring, and not above using his…  Read More…

Arriving 2/27/08

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on

Categories: Shipping Lists

Another year, another WonderCon done… I’ll have some reviews this week, once I’ve recovered. This is the largest shipment (in terms of amount of titles) in quite some time… I’m personally most excited about RASL, I think. 2000 AD #1571 2000 AD #1572 A G SUPER EROTIC ANTHOLOGY #75 (A) ACTION COMICS #862ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #9AMELIA RULES #19ANT UNLEASHED #3 ARMY @ LOVE #12 AUTHORITY PRIME #5 (OF 6)BART SIMPSON COMICS #40BATMAN #674BETTY #172BLACK PANTHER ANNUAL #1BLUE BEETLE #24CAPTAIN AMERICA #35CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY #42CIRCLE #4COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 9CRIME BIBLE THE FIVE LESSONS OF BLOOD #5 (OF 5)CRIMINAL 2 #1 CROSSING MIDNIGHT #16 DAN DARE #4 (OF 7) FABRY CVR DAREDEVIL #105DEADRIDER #2 (OF…  Read More…

I’m going to avoid jokes about things working in concert: Jog was robbed of his puns on 2/20

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Posted by: Joe McCulloch on February 21, 2008

Categories: Reviews

The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite #6 (of 6): That’s not really true. This is the last issue of writer/creator Gerald Way’s and penciller/inker Gabriel Bá’s (and colorist Dave Stewart’s and letterer Nate Piekos’) initial miniseries featuring these characters – it’s even titled Finale (in the short form; there’s no fucking way I’m typing out the 30-word full title, The Umbrella Academy, Featuring the Utter Destruction of Mankind in: Finale or, Brothers and Sisters, I Am An Atomic Bomb being Part Six of Six in the Story: Apocalypse Suite). But, in Mignola-approved Dark Horse fashion, we’re clearly dealing with an ongoing series set up as a set of miniseries to offset the perception of delay in between storylines. And, in proper…  Read More…

Did I just say "Wondercon"?

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Posted by: admin on February 19, 2008

Categories: Uncategorized

Excuse me while I steal your attention for something that the San Franciscans or Wondercon-bound amongst you may feel interested in: Saturday night at 111 Minna. Be there or hate freedom. Co-sponsored by my other gig, so go and give them some web traffic as way of thanks.

A life code: It pays to talk to no-one.

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Posted by: Graeme McMillan on

Categories: Reviews

Hey, Wondercon this week! There’s a sign that there won’t be that much sleep happening anytime soon… BOOSTER GOLD #0: Wow, this really does take me back; ignoring the guest-shot from Parallax and Extant (Just to remind you just how unusual supervillain names got in the early ‘90s. Was there ever one called Ennui, or was that a missed opportunity?), using the issue to give a recap of Booster’s secret origin before setting up the next storyline captured the tone of the Zero Hour “zero issues” far too well, right down to the fact that it left you feeling as if you should somehow find it a lot more interesting than it actually was. Despite the metatextual shenanigans, though, it’s…  Read More…

Arriving 2/20/2008

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Posted by: admin on February 18, 2008

Categories: Shipping Lists

Even though it is “a holiday”, it isn’t one of the holiday’s that affects comics shipping (the rule of thumb is: if UPS is running, it won’t affect shipments), so comics ARE arriving on WEDNESDAY this week. Here’s what it looks like: ABYSS #3 (OF 4) AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #551 BND ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #4 ARCHIE #582 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #186 AVENGERS CLASSIC #9 BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #4 BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #13 BATTLESTAR GALACTICA ORIGINS #3 BIRDS OF PREY #115 BRAVE AND THE BOLD #10 CABLE DEADPOOL #50 CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK #22 CATWOMAN #76 CHECKMATE #23 CONAN #49 COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 10 DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #6 (OF 8) DRAFTED #5 EX MACHINA #34 FLASH #237 FORGOTTEN…  Read More…

I will now adopt the Diamond perspective: That’s how this is 2/13

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Posted by: Joe McCulloch on February 17, 2008

Categories: Reviews

Reich #1: Here’s an increasingly rare sight in the contemporary Direct Market: a new, serious, pamphlet-format ‘alternative’ comic from a comparatively small publisher, determined to serialize a single, long story over an indeterminate number of issues, to be released at a regular, quarterly pace, in probable anticipation of a collected edition to follow. Truly, Sparkplug Comic Books is appreciative of the old-time aesthetic! Ah, but we must check our viewpoint against the realities of today. First off, this is not a new comic. It’s new to most comics shops because Diamond, to the best of my knowledge, has just gotten to distributing the series. There’s already two further issues out from the publisher. Moreover, writer/artist Elijah J. Brubaker has been…  Read More…

Two Sunday links

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Posted by: Douglas Wolk on

Categories: Site News

Go read: Tom Spurgeon’s interview with Douglas Wolk. Go look: the new Indiana Jones Trailer! Looks better than I would have hoped! (lets try the embed thing, to see if it works) -B

Abhay Slops Out Some Reviews; Just Some Slop; Slop, Pig-Boy, Slop!

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Posted by: Abhay Khosla on February 16, 2008

Categories: Reviews

I’ve been sick. I’ve been busy. I’ve been sick of being busy, am I right, people? Anyways: comics. The Next Issue Project — Fantastic Comics #24: Jog already reviewed this, but I’m feeling redundant since Jog already reviewed this, but I’m feeling redundant since Jog already reviewed this but COMEDY! This is a sort-of tribute to the public domain comics of the 1930′s and 1940′s, specifically a Fox Syndicate Features title, Fantastic Comics. The character lineup is an exact recreation (down to batting order) of, inter alia, 1940′s Fantastic Comics #12, available online. Sometimes it’s fun; sometimes it feels like when people in their 20′s wear suits and go dancing to big band music and say things like You’re so…  Read More…

Brian does a few capsules of 2/13 books

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Posted by: Brian Hibbs on

Categories: Reviews

Well, at least you know that I AM writing about comics, what with that eleven thousand freakin’ words on the latest Tilting at Windmills. I swear, I’m dancing as fast as I can!! But how about some recent funny books? In no particular order: FANTASTIC FOUR #554: Its been a while since Mark Millar wrote a regular continuity, non-event funny book that wasn’t a short-form specific storyline, and it is nice to see him handling a straight-ahead superhero narrative again. There’s nothing especially earth-shattering about this first issue, but that’s just fine with me — this is the basic level of quality that one of the “main franchise” titles of the Marvel (or DC) universe should be. There’s a little…  Read More…

Change Their Minds and Change The World! Diana wonders about 2/14

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Posted by: admin on

Categories: Reviews

The last time I tackled a Gail Simone book, worlds lived, worlds died and the Savage Critics were never the same. Will lightning strike twice? Probably not. I thought WONDER WOMAN #17 and “The Circle” were OKAY. I’ll admit that I struggled with that grade – it was either going to be a high OKAY or a low GOOD. The thing is, I liked the premise; it was an interesting twist on the story of Diana’s birth, pointing to an aspect of Themysciran life that had never really been dealt with before. And, of course, Alkyone’s prediction could have come true very easily, which goes a long way towards making her and the other members of the Royal Guard sympathetic….  Read More…

Shootings of Every Style: Jog and two faces of 2/13

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Posted by: Joe McCulloch on

Categories: Reviews

The Punisher: Force of Nature: This is a 48-page MAX one-shot (34 without ads), although it’s interesting to note that Marvel seems to be drawing a visual distinction between the Ennis-written MAX continuity and separate Explicit Content projects like this (or last year’s Annual); the Frank Castle we see here is a bit younger, and decked out in a more costume-like black outfit, although he still seems to be running around in his own discreet modern world. It makes sense not to unnecessarily tie the character down to Ennis’ world specifics, if Marvel does intend to continue the series with another writer, although it also brings to my mind the character’s implied prayer at the end of the Ennis-written The…  Read More…