Batman #684

If you were on the fence about buying this issue of Batman after two years of non-stop LSD-induced Grant Morrison fun, just take a look at the cover, enjoy it and buy something else. It’s not really worth reading this last part of a two part story trying to wrap things up while extending them at the same time.

Dennis O’Neil was the editor of Batman for something like 15 years through the eighties and nineties(in fact the batman trade I’m reading right now is edited by him) and did a good amount of work writing the book back in the 1970’s before Frank Miller showed up and turned everything on it’s head. I’ve found his 70’s work, which is being reprinted in full this winter in hardcover, to be okay. Not good, not bad, but just…that’ll do, pig. This time around it’s just a step down. Nothing horrible but certainly not really worth your 15 minutes either.

There’s apparently an alternative cover. I liked it more just for the great Nightwing thinks Batman is dead shot.

I can’t decide if it’s O’Neil’s fault or not. The basic idea is to make everyone real sad because post RIP batman might be dead or he might not be. But everyone is sad and lonely and kind of afraid of the future. So in this issue you get the cops being bummed out that they actually have to do their jobs and you get nightwing sulking around, which is a shame because lately I think I’m the only person who sees the amazing potential in Nightwing becoming an astounding interesting character. I think we have one issue of Batman left before all of the bat books go on hiatus until battle for the cowl(which I am very doubtful of) begins. Then we’ll get Andy Kubert and Neil Gaiman on a two part Batman story ripping the title off of an Alan Moore Superman story from the 80’s. I’ll keep buying Batman because I love the character and I’m excited about reading “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader” and seeing Gaiman write something that isn’t a derivative children’s book that’s actually for high school goth girls.

shameless self-promotion

hey, I’m selling stuff on Ebay to try to pay my rent and generally be more economically powerful.

if you know some emo kids who don’t know that emo means electric guitars, I’m selling 15 Bright Eyes CDs.

Right Here

If you like Cosmic Police enforcing the universe and sometimes getting to sit back and have a beer, I’m selling 3 Green Lantern books

All three Green Lantern Corps trade paperbacks

If you like zombies, bad ass suspense writing and really good characterization, I’m selling five Walking Dead trade paperbacks

The first 30 issues collected in five trades

If you like Joss Whedon or Brian K. Vaughan, I’m selling Whedon’s entire run and some of Vaughan’s work on Runaways

Runaways Volume 2 issues 19-30

if you like the Justice League or Brad Meltzer(whose book I was pimping just last month), I’m selling a whole bunch of Justice League comics by him and Dwayne McDuffie and right now it’s dirt cheap.

JLA comics are good for you

or if you like Warren Ellis, fucked up science fiction or horror comics, I’m selling two Strange Killings books

9 issues collected in two books

Feel free to pass that info on to anyone you know who is a nerd.  The auctions end around midnight tomorrow and I’m trying to bank enough money off of ebay sellings to pay this month’s rent.

Supergirl 32 & 33

You know, I’d never thought of buying Supergirl until Previews solicited issue #34 a few months ago, announcing that Supergirl was going to be directly tied into the massive Superman event that begins unfolding in October, tying Action, Superman, Supergirl and a whole bunch of specials along with JSA together.  Then, after knowing that I was going to be reading the book soon, I decided to pick up issue #32, which was a good sort of space adventure, then I picked up #33 which was slightly better and the art was quite respectable on both issues.  Kelly Pucket did a good job of introducing the character to me, who I didn’t really know anything about.  That first issue lead me to picking up the incredibly cheaply priced Superman/Batman – Supergirl trade paperback, which reintroduces her to the DCU and sets up her origin.  It was written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by the now dead Michael Turner.  It was fantastic.  A paranoid Batman, a way too trustworthy and Kryptonian Pride Superman, a lost girl scared on a planet she didn’t understand with memories of the home Clark never knew.  Plus, Darkseid breaks shit.

I’m in.

Ebay Flux Capacitor Adventures in Variated Timelines

Today some stuff showed up from the internet.  I usually buy some impulse comics in addition to looking for deals on various things that would fill in the enormous collection/library that I one day hope to share with many friends that I might someday attain.  This means that, barring a miracle that the USPS takes a break from their intense douche-baggery, I get old stuff every week.  This is kind of like show and tell.

I didn’t read DC or any independents in the 1990s when I was a teenager.  In fact, I didn’t really read anything that wasn’t x-men related.  I have a short year or so of Spider-man comics from around 1992, when they did the Clone Saga thing, but that threw me off of Spider-Man and I have yet to come back aboard 16 years later.  I was entirely unaware that independent comics were happening, that Dark Horse was doing all these great licensed property comics and developing their own universe, or that Image and Wildstorm were essentially creating massive story lines with great art.  I’ve yet to be able to determine why, but after the X-Men cartoon came out, I was never aware of anything but X-Men from 1992-1998 when I stopped reading comics due to an expensive obsession with music and CD collecting.  When I came back to comics in 2004, mostly due to Joss Whedon’s X-Men relaunch, it took me about six months to discover guys like Ben Templesmith, Steve Niles, Warren Ellis, Grant Morrison and a huge group of English writers had been doing tons of work that I had missed out on.  This was, of course, in addition to the horrifying revelation that DC had done a ton of great content in the nineties that I had missed out on.  Some of this work was the Tangent line, an attempt to create an entire new universe using classic character names but infusing them with new abilities, personalities and settings.  This was all done through the use of one-shots, each featuring a different character.  A few of these showed up today.

the Green Lantern issue was why I really bought this lot of four issues, which also included Secret Six, The Superman and the Joker.  It was interesting and not at all related to the cosmic ideas that the Lantern comics in mainline DC continuity that has drawn me in, but it was more of a mystical revenge story written by James Robinson of Starman fame.  Along with the other issues, the art was better than the writing of this particular issue, in this case being done by J.H. Williams III, but this isn’t to say Robinson’s outing into the unknown was bad, it was just really out there without anything to fall back on.  I found it refreshing and unappealing at the same time, though I ultimately liked it.  I intend to buy the three trades that have all of these one-shots bound together, hoping that reading them in that format will tell a story that assumes some semblance of continuity and sense, not just vignettes of the unknown.

I also managed to win Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess’ Stardust softcover for about five dollars, which is a deal considering it’s a $20 book.  I’ve been trying to go around and buy up Gaiman’s relatively small amount of DC work from the 80’s to the 90’s and this trade will make four Vertigo books of his that I now have for my graphic novel library if you don’t count the three massive Absolute Sandman books I’ve been buying as they come out. There are so many versions of this book – the trade, the mass market novelization, the big $40 hardcover illustrated, there’s even a damned movie and at some point they put it out in single issue format, but this is the only version I really need, though a few years ago I got the MMTPB for X-mas and have yet to take a peek at it.  I’m excited to dig into it.

And finally, as a continuation of my absence from DC Comics in the 1990’s, I managed to find Zero Hour: Crisis in Time, the entire mini-series that acted as both a sequel to and bridge between Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis.  The books essentially try to tie up loose ends and establish a solid time line and continuity throughout the whole of the DC Universe.  Jerry Ordway and Dan Jurgens do an excellent job plotting this out and the art is classic 90’s superhero art.  Great Stuff.

no swearing in Gotham

Rich Johnston seems to have gathered the proper scans of why the newest All-Star Batman and Robin has been recalled and any copies have been destroyed per DC’s request. language that hurts boring people and retards who think that MURDERERS AND CRIMINALS don’t swear like the rest of us.

Where my opinion differs is that this is a depiction of realistic dialogue, I’ve heard harsher things thrown at a clerk who didn’t have a douche bag’s specific cigarette brand. I think this book could be considerably better and perhaps sell more copies if they’d just slap a vertigo logo on there and tell the boring vanilla people to leave it on the goddamned shelf and buy Paul Dini’s Detective. Bitches.

Wolverine #68: Old Man Logan Part 3 of 8

Written by Mark Millar

Art by Steve McNiven

Reuniting the Civil War creative team, this eight issue run on Wolverine has been so good that I’m actually willing to buy an X-Men spin-off book and not only like it, but rant about it, pass it out among friends and generally try to pimp it to all decent human beings(sorry John McCain).  Taking place 50 years in the future when, by undisclosed events, a small handful of supervillains have conquered earth, killed all of the superheroes and essentially displaced humanity into small regions across the glob, a pacifist Wolverine and a supposedly blind Hawkeye run drugs across the country to pay the Hulk’s offspring the rent they owe them for living on their land.  But it’s so much bigger than that.

“No one knows what happened on the night the heroes fell. All we know is that they disappeared and evil triumphed and the bad guys have been calling the shots ever since. What happened to Wolverine is the biggest mystery of them all. Some say they hurt him like no one ever hurt before. Others say he just grew tired of all the fighting and retired to a simpler life. Either way he hasn’t raised his voice or popped his claws in fifty years. His old friends would barely recognize him now.”

Millar, a crazy Scottish bastard, is a top form here and in only three issues has created a new, unexplored landscape and small cast of characters so fascinating that it’s impossible to put down.  Millar has done for Wolverine what the Kirkman achieves in Walking Dead; making the monthly wait for a new issue painfully suspenseful.  Something that’s interesting is that, although the current journey across America with the two main characters talking and having short form adventures, what’s truly interesting is watching the past 50 years unfold as the days slowly proceed into the future.  For anyone craving dystopia, this is exactly where you want to be.

The idea here is that you have this pacifist who loves his family and doesn’t want to fight and his best friend is dragging him into a situation where ultimately he’ll have to fight, to pop his claws and kill some people.  Through the story Millar also creates a mythology that the X-Men comics of the 1990’s did a great job of capturing, building on the reverse formula that Chris Claremont used, which was to tell a story set in a possible future where everything has gone wrong.  Millar turns the tables and sets up a future where everything is already wrong but we don’t know why, we have to hang on and watch the situations unfold, situations that are not inherently based in the past, but slowly elude to them, crafting a past we never knew.  With this method he is incredibly successful. The series is slowly building to either an early resolution followed by some kind of serious self-reflection and conflict situation or, the scenario I’d prefer – following in the footsteps of Garth Ennis’ Saint of Killers one-shot in which the violent man makes good, starts a family and loses his family.  And then he kills everything that ever breathes at him.

Also – an evil Spider-Girl beheading a blinged out 50 Cent version of the Kingpin, virtually every superhero is dead and you get the feeling nothing is going to work out.

X-Men Origins: Jean Grey One-Shot

 

Written by Sean McKeever

Art by Mike Mayhew

 

In the first of hopefully several(at least enough to spotlight the original 60’s line-up, which would make a half dozen or so issues, which would essentially quantify an average mini-series anyway, which would also collect quite nicely into a trade paperback or even perhaps a hardcover) card stock single issue stories recounting the initial discovery of a character’s manifestation of power, McKeever and Mayhew seriously deliver in a way that completely shocked me.

McKeever is a capable writer with a familiar name, though I cannot initially recall any of his previous work, I assume he’s been published by both of the majors and is likely to have assembled some mass of independent work.  I’ll certainly be looking for more from him because, when coupled with a talented artist like Mike Mayhew, he assembles one hell of a book.  Clocking around 40 pages of painted art and sequential story, the initial display of a young Jean Grey being shocked by her psionic manifestation, leading to mental problems and eventually an intervention and invitation to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters by the man himself.  Though the script doesn’t defy any medium standards, he does a good job guiding the book along.  I feel bad for him though, because no matter how good he’s writing here, the literary aspect of the book is bound to be overshadowed by Mike Mayhew’s intensely beautiful brushes.  Hence:

The first three quarters of the book are a refreshing departure from the typical superhero antics commonly found in x-men comics; spandex clad action shots rife with explosions and typically unexciting action sequences.  It is here that Mayhew owns the page in it’s entirety with people who dress like people, actual human beings in pants and shirts and sweaters and from this very first page, the realism of the story is grounded immediately.  

 

I can’t help but compare this to Alex Ross’ work, though there are stark differences, I would rank this on par with him.  I’ve always been a huge Ross fan, as my constant pimping of Project Superpowers proves, but I can honestly say that this is the pay off of Ross’ contribution to sequential storytelling; influencing others to follow in his footsteps with high quality brushwork realism, showing artists that it’s possible to sell comics and produce high quality art at the same time.  For this, I hope this book sells a shitload.

These realistic physical portrayals set the tone for the book quite well, but they also lead up to the last few pages featuring the young x-men in costumes which, due to undersaturation(a serious rarity) you actually get excited when they break out the spandex and start destroying things.

I look forward with hungry eyes and great anticipation for more from this team.

New Comics for today, August 20, 2008

DARK HORSE COMICS

JUN080027	CONAN THE CIMMERIAN #2 	$2.99
MAY080054	FEAR AGENT #23 1 AGAINST 1 (PT 2 OF 6)	$2.99
JUN080062	HELM #2 (OF 4)	$3.50
APR080049	HERBIE ARCHIVES HC VOL 01 	$49.95
MAY080061	MYSPACE DARK HORSE PRESENTS TP VOL 01 	$19.95
JUN080096	REX MUNDI DH ED #13	$2.99
DEC070070	STAR WARS FORCE UNLEASHED GN 	$15.95
JUN080122	STAR WARS KNIGHTS OF OLD REPUBLIC #32 TURNABOUT 	$2.99

DC COMICS

JUN080200	BATGIRL #2 (OF 6)	$2.99
JUN080213	BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #10	$2.99
JUN080214	BIRDS OF PREY #121	$2.99
JUN080217	BRAVE AND THE BOLD #16	$2.99
JUN080264	CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK #28	$2.25
JUN080277	CASEY BLUE BEYOND TOMORROW #4 (OF 6)	$2.99
JUN080191	DC SPECIAL CYBORG #4 (OF 5)	$2.99
JUN080284	DC WILDSTORM DREAMWAR #5 (OF 6)	$2.99
JUN080180	FINAL CRISIS LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #1 (OF 5)	$3.99
JUN080219	FLASH #243	$2.99
JUN080226	JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #24	$2.99
JAN080285	JUSTICE SERIES 8 BATGIRL AF 	PI
JAN080287	JUSTICE SERIES 8 CAPTAIN COLD AF 	PI
JAN080284	JUSTICE SERIES 8 SUPERGIRL AF 	PI
JAN080286	JUSTICE SERIES 8 TOYMAN AF 	PI
JUN080269	MAD KIDS #12	$4.99
MAY080248	MIDNIGHTER TP VOL 02 ANTHEM	$14.99
JUN080186	RANN THANAGAR HOLY WAR #4 (OF 8)	$3.50
JUN080207	ROBIN #177	$2.99
JUN080267	SCOOBY DOO #135	$2.25
MAY080223	SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE ATOM TP VOL 02	$16.99
JUN080231	SPIRIT #20	$2.99
JUN080271	STORMWATCH PHD WORLDS END #13	$2.99
JUN080261	SUPER FRIENDS #6	$2.25
JUN080212	SUPERMAN BATMAN #51	$2.99
MAY080208	SUPERMAN CHRONICLES TP VOL 05	$14.99
JUN080194	TANGENT SUPERMANS REIGN #6 (OF 12)	$2.99
JUN080177	TRINITY #12	$2.99
JUN080282	WORLD OF WARCRAFT #10	$2.99

IMAGE COMICS

MAY082238	ART OF MARC SILVESTRI DLX ED HC 	$29.99
JUN082253	CHARLATAN BALL #3	$2.50
MAY082198	DARK IVORY #3 (OF 4)	$2.99
FEB082157	MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #10	$2.99
MAR082088	YOUNGBLOOD TP VOL 01 FOCUS TESTED	$9.99

MARVEL COMICS

MAY088079	AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #568 JRJR SKETCH VAR (PP #823) NWD	$3.99
JUN082306	AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #568 NWD	$3.99
JUN082319	CAPTAIN AMERICA #41	$2.99
JUN082329	GHOST RIDER #26	$2.99
MAY088315	GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #3 2ND PTG PELLETIER VAR (PP #827)	$2.99
JUN082359	GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #4 SI	$2.99
JUN082361	INCREDIBLE HERCULES #120 SI	$2.99
JUN082333	IRON FIST ORIGIN OF DANNY RAND	$3.99
JUN082334	IRON MAN DIRECTOR OF SHIELD #32	$2.99
JUN082327	MARVEL 1985 #4 (OF 6)	$3.99
JUN082342	MARVEL ADVENTURES TWO-IN-ONE #14	$4.99
JUN082311	MARVEL SPOTLIGHT SPIDER-MAN BRAND NEW DAY	$2.99
JUN082432	MIGHTY AVENGERS TP VOL 01	$14.99
JUN082409	MMW AMAZING SPIDER-MAN HC VOL 10	$54.99
JUN082410	MMW AMAZING SPIDER-MAN HC VOL 10 VAR ED VOL 101	$54.99
JUN082370	MOON KNIGHT #21	$2.99
JUN082440	PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL CLASSIC TP VOL 01	$24.99
MAY088298	SECRET INVASION #2 (OF 8) 3RD PTG YU VAR (PP #827)	$3.99
MAY088314	SECRET INVASION #3 (OF 8) 2ND PTG YU VAR (PP #827)	$3.99
MAY088354	SKAAR SON OF HULK #1 3RD PTG GARNEY SKETCH VAR	$2.99
JUN082372	SKRULLS VS POWER PACK #2 (OF 4)	$2.99
JUN082415	SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE HC VOL 02	$39.99
JUN082384	SQUADRON SUPREME 2 #2	$2.99
JUN082451	STEPHEN KING DARK TOWER TREACHERY POSTER	$7.99
JUN082450	STEPHEN KING THE STAND POSTER	$7.99
JUN082325	TRUE BELIEVERS #2 (OF 5)	$2.99
JUN082301	ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #57	$2.99
MAY088336	ULTIMATE ORIGINS #2 (OF 5) 2ND PTG GUICE WRAPAROUND VAR 	$2.99
JUN082431	ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 20 AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS	$12.99
MAY088299	ULTIMATES 3 #4 (OF 5) 2ND PTG MADUREIRA VAR (PP #827)	$2.99
JUN082386	UNCANNY X-MEN #501 MD	$2.99
JUN082419	WOLVERINE LOGAN BLACK & WHITE PREMIERE HC	$19.99
JUN082418	WOLVERINE LOGAN PREMIERE HC	$19.99
JUN082364	X-FACTOR #34 SI	$2.99
JUN082396	X-FACTOR SPECIAL LAYLA MILLER	$3.99
JUN082398	X-MEN FIRST CLASS VOL 2 #15	$2.99
JUN082434	X-MEN TP DIVIDED WE STAND	$12.99
JUN082390	YOUNG X-MEN #5 DWS	$2.99

WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT

MAY083518	AVENGERS INVADERS #1 ONLINE EXC ROSS VAR 9.8 CVR  	PI
MAY083521	INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1 LARROCA VAR CVR CGC 9.8  	PI
JUN083595	SECRET INVASION #1 ONLINE EXC MEL RUBI SGN VAR CVR CGC 9.8 	PI
MAY083520	ULTIMATE ORIGINS #1 CGC 9.8 CVR  	PI
JUN083592	WIZARD ANIME INSIDER #60 ROBOTECH CVR 	$4.99

**********

COMICS

MAY084090	2000 AD #1596 	$4.50
JUN083955	ABANDONED CARS HC 	$22.99
JUN083973	AMAZING REMARKABLE MONSIEUR LEOTARD SC	$16.95
JUN083657	ARCHIE #588	$2.25
FEB083739	ARTHUR SUYDAM SGN SKETCHBOOK DOUBLE PACK 	$60.00
APR084099	BEST OF ROY OF THE ROVERS TP THE 1980S 	$14.95
APR084056	BIONICLE GN VOL 02 	$7.95
APR084057	BIONICLE HC VOL 02 	$12.95
MAY083819	BLOODRAYNE TOKYO ROGUE #2 (OF 3) CVR A	$3.99
MAY083820	BLOODRAYNE TOKYO ROGUE #2 (OF 3) CVR B	$3.99
JUN083731	BLUEWATER PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS #2 (RES)	$3.99
APR083839	DELPHINE #3	$7.95
JUN084047	DOCTOR WHO AGENT PROVACATEUR TP	$19.99
JUN084045	DOCTOR WHO FORGOTTEN #1 	$3.99
APR083864	DONALD DUCK FAMILY DAAN JIPPES COLLECTION TP VOL 01	$8.99
JUN083853	DRAFTED #10	$3.50
MAY084197	DRAGON BALL Z VIZBIG ED GN VOL 02 	$17.99
JAN083557	DRAGONLANCE THE LEGEND OF HUMA HC VOL 01	$34.99
MAY083689	FALL OF CTHULHU COVER GALLERY CVR A	$3.99
MAY083827	FOUR CONSTABLES TP VOL 01 (NEW PTG)	$13.95
FEB083422	GARGOYLES BAD GUYS #4	$3.50
JUN083732	GEARZ #3	$3.99
JUN084278	GOOD-BYE MARIANNE GN 	$12.95
JUN084101	GRAPHIC UNIVERSE BEOWULF MONSTER SLAYER SC 	$8.95
JUN084102	GRAPHIC UNIVERSE KING ARTHUR FIGHT FOR CAMELOT SC 	$8.95
JUN084104	GRAPHIC UNIVERSE SINBAD SAILING INTO PERIL SC 	$8.95
JUN084105	GRAPHIC UNIVERSE THESEUS BATTLING THE MINOTAUR SC 	$8.95
APR083845	GROTESQUE #2	$7.95
MAY084219	INUBAKA CRAZY FOR DOGS TP VOL 10 	$9.99
JAN083442	JASON & THE ARGONAUTS KINGDOM OF HADES #5	$3.99
JUN083665	KATY KEENE SPECIAL TP VOL 01	$10.95
MAY084221	KEKKAISHI GN VOL 14 	$9.99
JUL083835	LADY DEATH 2007 SWIMSUIT SP BLOOD GODDESS ED	$5.99
JUN084501	LIO TP VOL 02 SILENT BUT DEADLY 	$12.99
MAY083867	MOME VOL 12 GN	$14.99
MAY083587	MYTH OF 8 OPUS PROLOGUE EXPANDED ED GN	$14.99
MAY084228	NAOKI URASAWAS MONSTER TP VOL 16 	$9.99
APR083750	NINJATOWN #1 ADVENTURES OF WEE NINJA	$6.50
JUN083666	PALS N GALS DOUBLE DIGEST #124	$3.69
JUN083733	PISTOLFIST #2 (OF 4)	$3.99
JUN084157	POUNDED TP (O/A)	$8.95
APR083693	PROJECT SUPERPOWERS #5 (OF 7) FOIL CVR 	PI
APR083788	PS238 #33	$2.99
JUN083734	RAY HARRYHAUSEN PRESENTS BACK MYSTERIOUS ISLE #2	$3.99
JUL083660	RED STAR SWORD OF LIES #3 (OF 3)  (RES)	PI
JUN083730	RET ROMANNE #1 (OF 4)	$3.99
JUN083617	REX LIBRIS #12	$3.50
APR083922	SCORCHY SMITH AND THE ART OF NOEL SICKLES HC 	$49.99
APR088084	SDCC 2008 ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #10 PREVIEWS EXCL VAR CVR	PI
MAY084194	SHOJO BEAT SEPT 08 	$5.99
JUN083741	SIMPSONS COMICS #145	$2.99
JUN084179	SLAINE HORNED GOD GN 	$29.50
APR083882	SONG OF THE HANGING SKY GN VOL 01 (OF 2) 	$10.99
JUN084309	STRANDED HC VOL 01 LIMITED ED 	$29.99
MAR083910	TALES FROM THE CRYPT COLL ED HC VOL 04 CRYPT KEEPING IT REAL	$12.95
MAR083909	TALES FROM THE CRYPT GN VOL 04 CRYPT KEEPING IT REAL 	$7.95
JUN084113	TALES OF TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #49	$3.25
APR083621	TIGER & CRANE #3 (OF 4)	$3.99
JUN084027	TRANSFORMERS ALL HAIL MEGATRON #2	$3.99
JUN084033	TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT DOUBLEDEALER	$3.99
JUN083677	VICTORIAN HORRORS OF OLD MAUCH CHUNK #1	$3.95
APR083622	VIOLET ROSE #2	$3.99
JUN083857	VOLTRON A LEGEND FORGED #2	$3.50
MAY083695	WARHAMMER 40K EXTERMINATUS #2 (OF 5) CVR A 	$3.99
MAY083696	WARHAMMER 40K EXTERMINATUS #2 (OF 5) CVR B 	$3.99
JUN083760	WARHAMMER 40K FIRE & HONOR #1 (OF 4) CVR A	$3.99
JUN083761	WARHAMMER 40K FIRE & HONOR #1 (OF 4) CVR B	$3.99
MAR083709	WHERE DEMENTED WENTED THE ART AND COMICS OF RORY HAYES	$22.99
JUN083843	YAGYU NINJA SCROLLS GN VOL 04	$13.95

MAGAZINES

JUN084414	AMAZING FIGURE MODELER #42 	$8.00
JUN084395	COMICS BUYERS GUIDE #1646 OCT 2008 	$5.99
MAY084267	FORTEAN TIMES #239 	$11.99
JUN084425	INDIANA JONES MAGAZINE #3 NEWSSTAND ED 	$6.99
JUN084426	INDIANA JONES MAGAZINE #3 PX ED 	$6.99
MAY084093	JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #274 	$7.50
APR084287	TOMARTS ACTION FIGURE DIGEST #168 	$5.95
JUN084438	TORCHWOOD MAGAZINE #7  	$6.99
MAY084305	VIDEO WATCHDOG #142 	$8.95

MERCHANDISE

MAY085094	ACES & EIGHTS RPG SHATTERED FRONTIER SC 2ND ED 	$39.99
APR084353	ALFRED HITCHCOCK STORY HC NEW ED 	$35.00
DEC074197	ART & MAKING OF STAR WARS FORCE UNLEASHED GAME	$29.95
APR084669	BARBIE LUCY & ETHEL DOLL GIFT SET 	$89.99
APR084420	BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 2009 WALL CALENDAR 	$13.99
MAY084324	BILLY HOOTEN OWLBOY SC #3 TREMBLE AT TERROR ZIS BOOM BAH	$5.99
MAY085194	BLEACH UNCUT DVD BOX SET VOL 02  	PI
MAY085195	BLEACH UNCUT DVD BOX SET VOL 02 LTD ED  	PI
MAY084423	BOWMAN 2008 CHROME MLB T/C BOX  	PI
JUN084834	BSG CYLON BASESTAR MODEL KIT 	$24.95
JUL085442	CLASSIC SUPERHEROES COLL DVD  	PI
JUL085349	D&D EBERRON ADVENTURERS GUIDE TO EBERRON 	$19.95
JUN085258	D&D H3 PYRAMID OF SHADOWS 	$24.95
JUN085051	DC COMICS COIN PURSE 	PI
JUN085259	DUNGEONS & DRAGONS 4TH ED DM SCREEN 	$9.95
MAY088069	ELVIS BY THE NUMBERS T/C BOX  (PP #822)	PI
MAR083616	FAUST NOVEL VOL 01 	$16.95
JUN085261	FORGOTTEN REALMS CAMPAIGN GUIDE 	$39.95
APR084775	FRANK TOY B&W VERSION 	$24.99
JUN085083	FUTURAMA SLURM ENERGY DRINK 24 CT CASE  	PI
JUL085383	GAO GAI GAR COMP COLL DVD BOX SET PART 02  	PI
APR084649	GENESIS CLIMBER VARIABLE ACTION MOSPEADA RAND  	PI
JUN084894	GLOOMY BEAR 16IN BLOODY & BOXED PLASTIC FIGURE 	$29.99
JUL085384	GO LION DVD VOL 02  	PI
JUL085385	GOKUSEN TV COLL DVD BOX SET  	PI
MAR084544	HARRY POTTER YEAR 2 HARRY & DUMBLEDORE FIG SET  	PI
MAY085032	HELLO KITTY BUTTERFLY CARRY ALL	PI
APR084940	HELLO KITTY TEMPORARY TATTOO	PI
FEB084626	HOMER SIMPSON 3IN QEE MANIA SERIES 1 (O/A) 	$167.76
JUN084988	INCREDIBLE HULK ADVANCE STYLE DBL-SIDED OMP 	$36.99
JUN085014	IRON MAN KLIK CANDY DISPENSER	PI
JUN084472	JEWS & AMERICAN COMICS ILLUS HISTORY OF AMERICAN ART FORM 	$29.95
MAY084594	JOKER COVERED IN LAUGHTER T/S LG  	$20.99
MAY084593	JOKER COVERED IN LAUGHTER T/S MED  	$20.99
MAY084596	JOKER COVERED IN LAUGHTER T/S XXL  	$24.49
JUN084643	JOKER LAST LAUGH BY BAKER BLK T/S LG 	$17.95
JUN084642	JOKER LAST LAUGH BY BAKER BLK T/S MED 	$17.95
JUN084644	JOKER LAST LAUGH BY BAKER BLK T/S XL 	$17.95
JUN084645	JOKER LAST LAUGH BY BAKER BLK T/S XXL 	$20.95
MAY084592	JOKER WHATS SO FUNNY BLK T/S XXL  	$25.99
JUN085341	JUSTICE LEAGUE DVD SEASON 01 BLU RAY  	PI
JUN084793	KILL BILL BEST OF AF	$209.86
MAR084873	LENOX BEAST 	$145.00
MAR084879	LENOX BEAUTY & THE BEAST 	$195.00
MAR084874	LENOX BELLE 	$125.00
JUL085447	LONE WOLF & CUB TV DVD SUB VOL 03  	PI
JAN084556	LOST IN SPACE THE CHARIOT MODEL KIT 	$34.99
JUN085266	MAPLESTORY TCG NPC HEROES BOOSTER	$95.76
JUN085016	MARIO KART DS CANDY CONTAINER	PI
MAY084677	MARVEL LEGENDS 2-PK AF  200801 	$131.96
MAY084648	MARVEL LEGENDS MIGHTY MUGGS FIG  200803 	$59.96
JUL085419	MULAN / MULAN 2 DBL PK  	PI
APR085035	MUTANTS & MASTERMINDS RPG DELUXE GM SCREEN 	$19.95
MAY085212	NARUTO UNCUT DVD BOX SET VOL 09  	PI
MAY085213	NARUTO UNCUT DVD BOX SET 09 LTD ED  	PI
JUL083711	NO HERO T/S LG	$11.99
JUL083712	NO HERO T/S XL	$11.99
JUL083713	NO HERO T/S XXL	$13.99
APR085061	PATHFINDER MODULE LB1 TOWER O/T LAST BARON 	$12.99
APR084772	POGEYBAIT DAN CLOWES EIGHTBALL SHIRT & TIE FIG 	$29.99
APR084773	POGEYBAIT DAN CLOWES EIGHTBALL VINYL FIG 	$29.99
APR084774	PUPSHAW AND PUSHPAW TOY SET B&W VERSION 	$39.99
JAN088147	RAH DEATH NOTE MISA AMANE STRAITJACKET VER AF 	$149.99
MAY084891	REVOLTECH LAZANGANN AF 	$24.99
MAR084813	SERENITY 2008 PATCH SET 	$27.99
MAR084814	SERENITY COLLAGES 2008 PHOTO SET 	$28.99
FEB084826	SIMPSONS DANCING HOMER PLUSH 	$13.00
FEB084825	SIMPSONS HOMER PLUSH 	$13.00
MAR084606	ST ICONS COMMANDER SPOCK BUST 	$45.00
JUN085274	STAR WARS CMG KNIGHTS O/T OLD REPUBLIC BOOSTER PACK 	$14.99
JAN084151	STAR WARS FORCE UNLEASHED HC NOVEL 	$25.95
JUN085273	STAR WARS RPG KNIGHTS O/T OLD REPUBLIC CAMPAIGN GUIDE 	$39.95
JUN084860	SW ARC70 CLONE FIGHTER EASYKIT MODEL  	$16.95
JUL085175	SW CHEWBACCA BACK BUDDY (O/A) 	$44.99
MAY085050	SW LG EMBOSSED LUNCHBOX 	PI
MAY085049	SW LG WORKMANS CARRY ALL 	PI
MAY084858	TEZUKA MODERNO LABO DR OCHANOMIZU FIG 	$14.99
MAY084857	TEZUKA MODERNO LABO LEO FIG 	$14.99
MAY084856	TEZUKA MODERNO LABO SAPPHIRE FIG 	$14.99
MAY084859	TEZUKA MODERNO LABO SHARAKU FIG 	$14.99
JUN084864	THE VIVISECT PLAYSET  BMB 	$191.76
MAY084427	TOPPS 2008 DODGERS TEAM EDITION MLB T/C SET  	PI
MAY084734	TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED SUPREME AF 200801 	$159.98
JUN084828	TRANSFORMERS UNIVERSE VOYAGER AF 200802 	$131.96
MAY085111	TRAVELLER RPG MERCENARY SC 	$24.95
MAY084264	TRIPWIRE 2008 ANNUAL 	$14.95
JUN084899	UGLY GHOST UGLYDOLL 12 IN PLUSH 	$20.00
JUN084898	UGLY GHOST UGLYDOLL 7IN PLUSH 	$10.00
JUN084897	UGLY GHOST UGLYDOLL CLIP ON 	$6.00
JUL085457	ULTIMATE SWASHBUCKLERS COLL DVD BOX SET  	PI
JUL085079	ULTRA PRO MTG EVENTIDE PLAYMAT  	PI
MAR084329	UPPER DECK 2007 08 CHRONOLOGY NBA T/C BOX  	PI
APR084496	UPPER DECK 2008 HEROES MLB T/C BOX  	PI
APR084499	UPPER DECK 2008 SPX NFL T/C BOX  	PI
JUL084581	UPPER DECK 2008 YANKEE STADIUM LEGACY T/C SET  	PI
JUN085018	WII KLIK-ON CANDY DISPENSER	PI
MAY084353	WILL EISNERS EXPRESSIVE ANATOMY FOR COMICS SC 	$22.95
JUN084945	WITCHBLADE ANIME RIHOKO AMAHA PVC STATUE 	$49.99
DEC074584	WITCHBLADE MASANE AMAHA PVC STATUE (RES) 	$55.99
JUL085329	YU GI OH TCG JADEN YUKI 3 DUELIST PACK	PI
JUL085330	YU GI OH TCG JESSE ANDERSON DUELIST PACK	PI

Of that enormous list I'll be getting the following

Gravel Hardcover
Anna Mercury #3
DC/Wildstorm Dreamwar #5
Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #1
JLA #24
Stormwatch PHD #13
Trinity(fail!) #12
Amazing Spider-Man #568 Alex Ross Cover
X-Factor #34
X-Factor Special: Layla Miller One-Shot
Gargoyles: Bad Guys #4

I'm really fucking jazzed about Legion of Three Worlds, by Geoff Johns, the x-factor special and PHD continuing after six months absence.

Batman #679

Written by Grant Morrison

Art by Tony Daniel, Sandu Florea and cover by Alex Ross

Part four of Batman: R.I.P. really heats up and brings the reader in by not making any fucking sense.  I have to say, for an issue where I was thinking to myself, “have I ever read an issue of Batman before?”, it was pretty good.  Only Grant Morrison can make you think you don’t know what’s going on when you’ve been consecutively reading Batman for three years without missing a single issue.  It might be because there are so many references to Batman plot lines from 35 years ago, it might be because suddenly Batman is in a purple costume, criminals have taken over the batcave, Alfred might actually be Bruce’s father but probably not, Nightwing is in Arkham asylum, you know, the little things.  Morrison brings the WTF by making huge, impacting situations occur off screen and then mildly referencing them, like when the Bush administration pretends like dumping an olympic size swimming pool of water down a guy’s throat because he was guilty of being Arabic on a Thursday afternoon is something that just happens, like when you take a shit and forget to flush because that article in Variety about Angelina Jolie’s kid was THAT good.

I tend to get sidetracked.  And yes, I will still defend Morrison to every fuckwit von douche who thinks Paul Dini is doing a better job doing Batman stories that accomplish nothing new.  Dini is writing vanilla sex in Detective, Morrison is doing a reach around on PCP, mushrooms, a handful of MDMA with help from a guy in a Godzilla suit, three chimps, four employees of the Jim Rose Circus and Phyllis Diller blown out of her mind of illegal Japanese pain killers with a David Lynch movie blaring in the background.  Morrison is sometimes confusing and the situation is risky but you know Godzilla has that healing love touch.

Astonishing X-Men #27

Written by Warren Ellis

Pencils by Simone Bianchi

Part two of Ellis’ first story for Astonishing, “Ghost Boxes”, started to get horrible reviews about four days before it came out.  I get the feeling that, because x-men fans are usually comic book drones who like nothing but that same old shit fed back to them so they can shit it out instantly and greedily anticipate the taste of recycled fecal matter in their mouths once again, the typical reader would really hate anything Warren Ellis does on this book.  Thus far I think I’m right.  I don’t know how Joss Whedon managed to calm the flock down, because outside of a resurrection and some really fun space travel business, he didn’t use his time on Astonishing to seemingly attempt to please the boring x-men fans.  He did a good job, Astonishing was the title that got me to pick up a comic book again and four years later I’m spending money on comic books like a junkie with a smack habit.  Thanks a lot, douche.

Psychosocial/monetary issues aside, Warren Ellis is one of my favorite writers working today.  He has a deep interest in how technology impacts our society and our perceptions of self and he’s filthy mouthed English bastard with a true understanding of what bastards people really are.  I expect his run on Astonishing X-Men to fully delve into science fiction and explore the human condition, which is what Claremont and Byrne were certainly attempting to do on their run of Uncanny.  Or X-men, Which became Uncanny, unlike New Mutants, which became X-Force, which became X-Statix, which became X-Force again, which became X-men, which became Generation X which was canceled and turned into New Mutants again, which became New X-Men, which became X-Men again, then turning into New X-Men, then becoming X-Men once more but is now X-Men Legacy.  I couldn’t make that shit up.  There’s a reason I only read Astonishing X-Men and X-Factor and I wouldn’t be reading either of those books if they weren’t being written by fantastic writers.  I don’t care about the characters, I care about the writers.

Speaking of which, the writing is good.  Ellis is good at tackling language and the dialog in Astonishing is very representative of a group of people who obviously have known each other for a very long time and don’t feel it incredibly necessary to blab on about incessant shit in a transparent attempt to build rapport among the characters to give the illusion of characterization to the reader.  A strength of the books is Ellis knowing that, when writing a 40 year old character, you don’t have to grind the key concepts of this character into the pages until blood pours from the eye sockets of innocent(if mildly socially challenged) readers across the globe.  Overall, it’s what I expected.  A science fiction story is being set up, loosely revolving around some kind of new forced mutation and there are broken space shuttles too.  I’m rather happy to see that Armor, a more interesting version of Jubilee, hasn’t be thrown away sans issue #25, I think the relationship between her and all of these people three times her age could build a great story and engage the characters in some interesting trans-generational situations.

When I showed this issue to a co-worker, who obviously had no interest in it and didn’t want to read it, he replied, “it’s not very colorful”, and after about five minutes of me bitching about how great the art really is, he conceded that yes, it was good art and yes, the idea of bright yellows and reds and oranges is an annoying, childish art style that deserves to stay dead.  Bianchi’s art on this book is fantastic.  Following John Cassaday’s pencils is tough and would be compared to him, but Bianchi’s pencils are actually better with greater detail and an elevated sense of realism.  This is probably the closest to seeming to be real people I’ve ever seen comic book characters drawn.  And yes, it isn’t very colorful, but neither are your father’s genitals.