Multiversity Comics Update: Is this really happening?

Last time on my Multiversity Comics update, we'd just had our biggest visitor day ever because of a Twitter list Matt had come up with. That was an extremely exciting day, one where Gil, Matt and myself could hardly believe what was happening perpetually. Since then, things have settled down a bit, but not for a lack of excitement. In recent weeks, we've added a new writer in fellow Alaskan and Boscos patron Brandon Burpee. Not only that, but we've had a slew of exciting interviews start coming down the path, as I've interviewed personal favorites like Jonathan Hickman, Fred Van Lente, and Francis Manapul. That's not even the tip of the iceberg. In coming weeks we have interviews with industry giants and newer and highly lauded creators alike, such as:

• Brian Michael Bendis (essentially today's version of Stan Lee, the architect of Marvel Comics)
• Filip Sablik (Publisher of Top Cow Productions, one of the biggest companies in the industry)
• Joshua Dysart (acclaimed writer of Unknown Soldier and BPRD)
• David Petersen (Eisner Award winner best known for his work Mouse Guard)
• David Gallaher (Eisner Award winner best known for High Noon)

We have all of those, plus a number of other great creators like Phillip Tan, Brahm Revel, Jim McCann, and many, many more coming up, plus some other exciting interview opportunities that are presenting themselves.

If that wasn't exciting enough, we've started to get a good amount of press to help legitimize our venture even more so. The most exciting spotlight for me was when one of my favorite creators, Brian Wood of DMZ and Local fame, was emailed my review for the new issue of DMZ and promptly made a post on his forum discussing my review and what others opinions are of my thoughts. To think that I'm not just an outsider looking in but part of a site that seemingly is drawing the interest of all of those people I've idolized for forever is very exciting indeed. Of course, I can't ignore the fact that all of the interest in our site is earning me pretty sweet perks ("hello there package from company...you want me to read your title and feature it in my Small Press Spotlight column? Don't mind if I do!").

Possibly the coolest news of all though I've saved for last. I had been planning on going to the Emerald City ComiCon this year in Seattle, and now it appears that not only will I be attending, but I will be attending as a bonafide member of the press. Press pass and all, getting me into the events for free and into panels and the like automatically. To a huge dork like me whose aspirations for writing never really extended far out of endlessly ranting on this here blog (thank you all for reading it), it's pretty damn exciting. Yet, I do want to note that the more I write there the less time I have to write here. I'll still post plenty because it's my personal version of crack, but perhaps not as often as I have in the past. Still, follow my exploits at Multiversity Comics, and watch us grow into the next big comic site. Or not. Who knows, really? All I know is it's good to know reading comics for so long has started to pay off for me as a writer/person.

What would your Wu Tang name be?

Ghostface wears WAY more chains than me

Today I found myself in my cubicle, responding to emails, working through spreadsheets, and coming up with brilliant marketing plans (you know...the usual) all the while blaring incredibly awesome Ghostface Killah albums. First off it's pretty hilarious to me that I'm listening to Ghostface's unique brand of hardcore rap while working in cube world (whenever I'd go to warm my coffee, I'd leave my iTunes up and it would be an entire page of "Ghostface Killah" songs which, I'm fairly certain, is grounds for termination in corporate world). But besides that, I found myself really surprised by how dorky these songs were!

As Jada Yuen said in this article for NY Mag, "Wu Tang really seem to connect with dorky white guys," and I think I know why now. I cannot find any actual proof about this, but at one point I'm convinced that Seth Rogen stated that the reason the Wu Tang Clan was so awesome was because they are in to the same things as nerdy white guys. You know, comic books and kung fu.

All these guys love comics (Method refers to himself as Johnny Blaze from time to time - no accounting for taste), but after listening to Ghostface's albums today, I really, really know where the comic book part comes from. The guy refers to himself as Tony Starks for gods' sakes! The guy is constantly making comic references in his songs (in between massive amounts of innuendo and drug references of course), and apparently has even said on record he relates to Tony Stark's need to wear his armor to live because he uses machines to live with his diabetes. This guy is dedicated.

So apparently the main requirements to be a member of the Wu Tang Clan are love for the Shaolin and the Marvel comic universe. Done and done. When do I get to appear on an album? Can I go on their next tour? After seeing them at Bumbershoot 2007 and seeing the million man march of people they had on stage, why exactly can't I be a member? I'm fairly certain most every other person in the Pacific Northwest that evening was a member, so I feel like I should get my shot, especially considering pretty much no one on stage was doing anything besides hyping and acting ridiculous.

I suppose the main reason why I can't join is because I don't have an awesome nickname like Inspectah Deck or Raekwon, but really, how hard is it to come up with an awesome name like that? I'll keep you posted, but you heard it here first: David Harper - Wu Tang Clan member.

Think Cosmically, Act Locally

#1 - Local by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly

For my first venture into reading of the year (horrible start to the year caused by a very, very busy January), I read Brian Wood (of DMZ fame) and Ryan Kelly's wonderful 12 issue comic series Local.

While wandering Title Wave books in Anchorage with my mom, we randomly came across a comics "section" (two quick points: quotes on section because it was on book shelf which is smaller than my collection, and that Title Wave is the place that had an employee that I asked "where are your graphic novels?" to which she responded with , in the most condescending way possible, "we only have the German novel Maus", with a look of contempt and disdain in her eyes - not a fan of her) and I eagerly looked through it. While I'm not a fan of Title Wave and their pretentious nature ("I read, thus, I am better than you"), they do offer killer discounts. I saw a collection of all 12 issues of Local and saw that it was only $17.50 while it was $29.99 at Barnes and Noble, well, needless to say I eagerly snatched it up.

Strangely, I then went to Barnes and Noble, drank my coffee and tore through the whole series while listening to Explosions in the Sky (a current fave). I loved every second of this story, which follows one character named Megan McKeenan through her youth as a person who never can find a true home. Each issue features her in a new location, with most issues focusing on her while some focus on others with her simply appearing in them.

All in all though, it's a study of the meaning of home today, of finding yourself through the lens of a location, and it really is an excellent read for a younger person such as myself who still has not necessarily solidifed my sense of identity. The character of Megan finds herself impulsively jumping around the continent of North America, not really searching for something in particular, but trying to find something all the same. She begins her travels in Portland and weaves the continent, and Wood and Kelly meticulously researched each and every location Megan visits (I totally recognized the Pharmacy in Portland and the route she takes into Missoula, Montana) to add a real sense of realism to the story.

Wood really is the king of realistic comics right now, as even his more outlandish comic DMZ, which follows a photographer in a modern day American civil war, is steeped in realism unseen in other comics today. Not only are the locations entirely accurate, but the emotions and thought process behind characters simply feels more human than characters in other comics (or books for that matter). The growth he writes into protagonist Megan is natural and really gives the book an arc when on first sight there doesn't appear to be one.

Of course, Ryan Kelly's art really grounds the story as well, as his locations are not quite photo realistic but extremely detailed, his characters properly convey emotions and thought (although his men do tend to look a bit...similar), and he creates one of the more dynamic looking female characters around with his look for Megan.

All in all, this book is fantastic. Not only does it hit home with the search for identity today, but Megan really has this every girl feel that strikes me strongly as well. I can see a bit of every girl I've ever known in her, and she truly is a remarkable creation by Wood and Kelly.

I definitely recommend this for everyone who wants a good read, regardless of whether you're into comics or not.

Local: A-

Superman vs. Inflation

Action Comics #1

For the longest time, my friend Pat who works at Bosco's (my friendly neighborhood comic book joint) has said that comics will be hitting $3.99 sooner rather than later. With the way the economy is going and the fact that customers still purchase comics (when they're special of course) at the $3.99 price point, it really could be any day when the jump hits.

I figured, no way could this happen of course. The comic book industry throughout my life has taken moderate jumps, not huge jumps like that. $1 to $1.25. $1.25 to $1.50. $1.50 to $1.99. Things of that sort. That would be a jump of a whole dollar, increasing the price by a third of the existing amount. I could see a jump to $3.50, but $3.99? That's absurd. Think about all of the things you can get for $3.99?

• 3 gallons of gas (if you live somewhere besides Alaska...damn Alaska)
• A gallon of milk (in Alaska, I have no idea how much it is in places that forcibly try to curb my milk habit)
• 4 songs on iTunes
• Almost an entire half special at Benny's Taco Wagon
• Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy at Title Wave, plus have enough left over for a hot chocolate from Kaladi's to drink while reading

Needless to say my response was most often "surrrreeeeee Pat. Sure." as I cheerily purchased my massive stack of books. They'd never boost comics by a dollar in a bad economy. No way!

April 2009 solicits just came out from Diamond Comic Distributions, and sure enough? A lot of the big books have made the leap to $3.99. Not all of them, but an attention getting percentage and most books that are deemed must buys. That's how they get you - "hey David...look at me. I'm awesome, you can't not get me." It's right too, so I do that. Next thing you know a slightly less awesome book moves up, and then another, and then another, and then next thing you know I'm paying $3.99 for Brave and the Bold (a lower tier comic that my mom and sister merrily pointed out - repeatedly - sounds like a daytime soap opera).

Well you know what comic industry? I've been looking to drop some books. You bump it to $3.99, sayanora title, I'm going to start trade waiting. Sure I'm impatient when it comes to comic books, but I'm not stupid. I have no problem saving $1.50 an issue if I have to wait 6 months longer.

The most amazing thing is that for the most part, comics are an industry that is in serious pain. The industries top books sell 1/8th of what they did as recently as 1990, the movies about the characters have not infused any titles with sudden sales rushes, and overall, while the quality is higher than it's ever been, issue by issue buzz is nowhere near P.F.C. (pre foil covers - aka before stupid, cheesy foil covers almost ruined the industry in the 90's).

Especially as a person who spent a few years of his life learning the ins and outs of business, I have to wonder what signs the big 2 have seen that indicate sales won't plummet after this increase. I don't really have any answers, but I really have to admit, I miss the days of $1 comics.

That's it? Seriously?

Batman and Darkseid plotting each other's demise

Grant Morrison, what is your status?

If you care to read Final Crisis, DC's current mega event, at some point in the future, you probably shouldn't read this. However, you should read this part here: don't read the damn thing.

I think I keep trying to convince myself that I really like it. It is entertaining, and conceptually, it's pretty spectacular. Darkseid and his fellow "new" New Gods take over the Earth as part of the transition into the fifth world, using the anti-life equation which has been spread throughout the Earth submitting the human race to Darkseid's will. Most heroes goes down in the first salvo, Batman is taken out after Batman R.I.P., Superman is in the future, and Wonder Woman has been brainwashed by the anti-life. What are the heroes to do? How can they save New Earth?

Yet, this is not the sum of all of its parts. It's Morrison at his most byzantine, it's rushed JG Jones art (plus middling Carlos Pacheco work over the rest of it), and the 2 page plot beats for seemingly massively important sections. When he does give a topic more than that, it's on the most random things, like two people sized cats fighting each other (okay, oversimplifying an actually pretty sweet fight between Tawky Tawny and Kalibak, but still).

Then, after not appearing for four issues, Batman shows up randomly, all of a sudden free after being captured by Darkseid's confederates. Of course, much posturing proceeds, Batman takes out a gun (even Morrison references the fact that he never uses guns) with a bullet that was used to kill Orion in the first issue (it can do that because it's full of radion...you know those New Gods, they're so silly), points it at Darkseid (who responds by Omega Sanctioning all up in Bats business), and then they kill each other by radion bullet and bendy eye beams respectively.

This all takes place over three pages.

So a fight between cat people gets two more pages than the death of the main villain of the story (possibly) and the most popular character in the DC universe. Of course due to the fact the Omega Sanction is actually something that puts the person into an endless loop of alternative realities that continuously suck worse than the previous one, it probably means Batman will get out (especially considering Mister Miracle did in another Morrison written book).

No less, the point isn't that Batman died. It's that he died in a 3 page section of an issue that cycled through plot elements as fast as I jump through channels while nothing is on (which makes sense as Morrison himself calls this "channel zapping comics."), it's that the entire series is disjointed, frantic, and all over the place, it's that the art is mediocre (besides Doug Mahnke's stellar final five pages - thank god he's drawing issue seven!), it's really a combination of everything.

While I really dug issue 4 and have overall found the series entertaining, it's just too much of the side of Morrison that people do not like. People applaud him for "challenging" the way comic book publishers write these vents, but come on now. Being different isn't always great. This issue is the perfect example of why it isn't.

Check here at the Daily Skew for a nice breakdown of issue #6. I'm glad to see public opinion is turning against Morrison in this regard. It's about damn time!

Adaptation Alley

This is how you make a comic movie

While perusing the movie site Aint It Cool News I came across two exciting things for comic book fans. There was the premiere of the new trailer for what I will call the Wolverine movie (aka the absurdly and unnecessarily long titled X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and the first review for Frank Miller's film adaptation of the Will Eisner comic classic the Spirit.

On one hand, you have the Wolverine movie, filled with comic delights such as Gambit and Deadpool finally making it into a movie, a plot delving into Wolverine's very interesting life and origin, and old man Logan getting down and dirty with some good ol' violence. Like he should be. As a movie fan, you have Liev Schreiber flat out dominating the trailer with his portrayal of Sabretooth, you have Danny Huston chewing the scenery as Stryker (I contest that Michael C. Hall would have filled it better, but that's neither here nor there - at least we can save Hall for Arcade further down the line), and you have Jackman looking as in his element as you can get.

In short, get excited folks. I get the feeling that Gavin Hood may actually deliver another good installment of mutant related comic adaptations.


Then on the other hand you have the review of the Spirit, a movie rife with challenges, not the least of which is an amateurish (at best) director in comic god Miller and an absurdly hyperstylized trailer. This review compares Battlefield Earth (one of the worst adaptations and movies ever) favorably to the Spirit.

Words used in that previous sentence did in fact include "compares," "favorably," and "Battlefield Earth."

You there? You five guys (I used to be one of you) who were holding out hope that Miller's adaptation could possibly be serviceable? Give up. Regardless of how poorly written or ridiculous the actual review may be, odds are this just confirms the worst - this movie is going to suck, and badly at that.

That's what always gets me. These movies have great source material. How can you not take decades of material and craft the best stories into something everyone wants to see? I just don't get it. Especially with the Spirit as it adapts one of the best comic stories ever in the "Sand Serif" arc. With all of the confidence the Wolvie preview gets me, movies like the Spirit take it away.

I really want to believe that Mendes and Caruso will do right by Preacher and Y the Last Man. While I can't expect perfect, please, please, please take us towards Wolverine and ignore everything that comes from the Spirit.

The zenith has been reached

Cover to Amazing Spider Man #576

I have officially reached the apex of my dorkdom. It simply cannot get any higher.

This week in Amazing Spider Man #576, I had a letter published. First letter in the letters page, David Harper, Anchorage, AK. There I am. Raving about a comic book.

My cup runneth over with excitement.

It's pretty much the coolest thing ever to happen to me, and it was the first time I've really felt a buzz from pure excitement in quite some time. I found it hard to purchase my comics without grinning ear to ear, and strangely I didn't reveal to my friendly neighborhood comic vendors at Bosco's that it happened. I think it was sheer disbelief. I've wanted to have a letter published in a comic since I was little, but this is the first time I've ever written in or been published. I mean, they may not admit it, but it's every comic fans dream to have a letter published on the letters page.

I may be insane, but I think this is more exciting for me than when Newsweek quoted my blog. Perhaps if they wanted to quote me about comic books, we may have a winner there. However, it wasn't, so it isn't. Take a look at it if you get the chance, but I know the average person doesn't really come by a comic book store often.

The Weekend Edition

This weekend was another one that was fun and fundamental, meaning that it was again full of all kinds of good natured fun and lots of reading. Of course, I really had to stay with my standard persona of all or nothing, and this weekend, from a partying and bizarre times standpoint at least, was definitely on the nothing side. But man, it was freaking awesome. What went down?

• GCI vs. the Biz Bee
• Being asked to be interviewed in a piece about cougars (not even joking)
• Catching City of Ember (not bad overall, but definitely didn't follow the book and had some ridiculously hokey CGI and an incessant need to speed through details, or ignore them entirely)
• Organizing my comic collection with my sister and mom
• Dinner with parents, sister, and two nieces
• Getting wiped out at scrabble
• Coffee discussions with dad and sister
• Finishing Warren Ellis' Crooked Little Vein
• Seeing the Rays make the World Series

It was definitely heavy on getting things done, but doing those things were a lot of fun. The highlight for the weekend?

"What in gods name did we get ourselves in to?"

Somehow I coerced my sister and mom into helping me organize my comic collection. Note to all: I'm a comic freak. There are probably comic stores out there that have less than me. Negotiating all of these comics to fit into the boxes I had, splitting up the series and then organizing them numerically, and managing to do that in one day was a Herculean effort (Greek god or comic character, you decide) by all of us, and it was strangely therapeutic and incredibly fun in the midst of the torturous aspect.

Nearly done, about to die

By torturous, I of course am referring to the fact that I woke up this morning actually feeling sore from the experience. Sore. From moving comic book from box to box. Good lord. I am the world's biggest pansy.

Of course, most of the heavy lifting was done by my mom and sister, as I spent most of the time clarifying and finding old gems in my collection for me to read later (Examples of statements from me: "No, that is not a comic version of a soap opera." "The Initiative is not a comic. Avengers: The Initiative is, the other is just a branding Marvel used because of the after effects of Civil War. Why are you looking at me like that?" "It's okay that I read Spider Man Loves Mary Jane, I swear."). Thanks so much for the help, and I'm sure the both of you can hardly wait for next year when we do it again. Hopefully that won't have to happen, as theoretically I should be able to just organize as I go and not have to worry about any more all day affairs.

Oh who am I kidding. Of course I won't do that and we'll just have to do it again. But man, they sure look nice now! One unnecessary side effect is I believe my family thinks I'm either crazy or horribly addicted (little of both more than likely) but that's okay. They seem understanding of it at least. Everyone has their little thing. Mine just happens to be a 15 book a week comic diet.

Who knew?

While waiting for Kim as she rode the bus to the Loussac Library in Anchorage, I went in myself to go find a couple of books (the Road and City of Ember, shockingly because they both are being turned in to movies). Due to my stupidity and inability to understand what the computer monitor said, I ended up in the entirely wrong section of the library. Apparently it's been quite some time since I'd been there.

However, this is a great example of happy accidents. While I was wandering aimlessly wondering where exactly Fiction Level 2 was (right where I typed it into the computer) I found their glorious section of graphic novels and trade paperbacks. Comics! Beautiful comics, all over the library! Who knew this? All kinds of favorites were there, from Fables to Planetary to Hellboy, plus series that I've never read before but always wanted to like Astro City and Sandman.

It was awesome. I excitedly grabbed a large stack of them and went off to check them out, until they announced I can only get 3 because I didn't give them back the postcard they mailed me. Oops! No less, I'm stoked. I'm going to start living at the library now! Good work Anchorage Library system!

Happy National Comic Book Day!

Not to be confused with National Free Comic Book Day, today was National Comic Book Day! Hopefully everyone celebrated that in the customary manner (and by everyone I mean me and...me), which is going to the comic store and picking up your weekly books! Yay! That's what I did, and it was a hell of a week. Huge list of great titles, and everything I'd want from a week in comics. Perfect way to celebrate one of the best national holidays.

Lazy Tuesday (now with links!)

I'm pretty sure they're trying to kill me at work. Okay, perhaps that's a tad on the dramatic side, but my responsibility levels are through the roof and I'm fairly certain that they think I'm some sort of marketing equivalent of Atlas. Between that and being physically beat from a lack of sleep and intense basketball after work with Colver, I don't have the energy to really think something out. There were a number of things I wanted to post about, but due to the lack of energy I'll do another smattering of mini-posts with links to satisfy my horrible, horrible addiction to blogging.

Enjoy!

• Think comics are just for nerds? You know who disagrees? Kobe Bryant. Read this awesome article about what his reading materials were for the trip to Beijing for the Olympics (100 Bullets and Preacher! Good call Kobe.) along with pics for proof. Thanks to blogger "To Infinity and Beyond?" for dropping that knowledge on me.
• CERN lit up the world's largest particle collider - the Large Hadron Collider - in an attempt to discover how atoms are created (amongst other things, such as finding God's particle in the mess). Some skeptics suggest this could be catastrophic to the Earth if things go wrong, as a black hole could potentially open. Clearly scientists are too busy making particle colliders to watch sci-fi, as they haven't thought of the possibilities of zombie breakouts, monsters from other dimensions, or even big glowing fields sucking in all metal and people in the room.
• Portugal. the Man's new album Censored Colors is streaming on their myspace page. In typical P.tM fashion, it's massively different than their other albums but is also really, really good. Congrats on being perpetually surprising and good guys. You represent Alaska well.
• Suck it Kindle! A company called Plastic Logic is working on an e-reader similar to Amazon's Kindle that is 8.5 by 11 (like a standard piece of paper), light weight, flexible, loaded with wi-fi, adobe/office compatibility, and has a battery that lasts days. It pretty much rules, and is looking at release some time in the first half of 2009.
• Proving people really can waste time and money on anything, a group at the Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, England did a study of 36,000 people to figure out if musical tastes have any relation to personality types. Their findings? People who listen to indie rock are creative, but are lazy, unkind, not generous, and have low self esteem. I disagree.
• Michael Caine claims that Johnny Depp is playing the Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman is playing the Penguin in the next Batman movie. I'd love to know how he knows this when Christopher Nolan has yet to start writing a script. Not a huge fan of Depp in that role - it's a pinch obvious and Depp would be more distracting than anything.
• Preacher was sent packing by HBO, as they claimed it "was just too dark and too violent and too controversial." To this I reply with, did they even read the series before optioning it? It's about a reverend powered by the word of god on a road trip with his hitman ex-girlfriend and a vampire to get God to atone for his sins. Yeah. They had to think that was going to be a family show.
• When did James Marsden become so funny? Check out the red band trailer for this new teen comedy Sex Drive to see Marsden really max out on the ridiculousness meter, plus a surprisingly entertaining looking teen comedy surrounding it.

The future is now

One of the ongoing themes of my blog has to be the struggle to prove that there is a place for the comic book medium next to mainstream literature. Most people look at comic books and assume that there is no real gravitas or substance, that within their pages are just people in tights running around and "POW!"ing or "ZAP!"ing each other. 

Of course, you have to remember that we're in an age in comics where heroes fight civil wars, that national icons are assassinated, that actual philosophical questions are posed to the readers. Of course, there is the occasional scantily clad superheroine (or near constantly if Greg Land is doing the pencils) and the massive brawl from time to time. But when even mainstream comics are stretching to put readers in a place that was often reserved for books, you have to wonder what the more niche, edgy works are doing.

For one of the best examples of what those works are doing and one of the best examples of the legitimacy of the medium, we have Vertigo's DMZ. This comic was created by writer Brian Wood (a rising star in the industry) and artist Riccardo Burchelli and it is the story of photojournalist Matthew (Matty) Roth. Matty is on his first assignment working for Liberty News Network, an assignment in which he is being taken into the demilitarized zone that is Manhattan. The setup for the story is that the nation was torn apart by civil war, and is best saved for Wood himself to say (taken from an interview he gave):

Midwestern militia groups revolt against their local governments in protest of rampant U.S. adventurism overseas and, in the absence of the National Guard, are able to gain far more ground than they thought possible. Small insurgent groups pop up in towns and cities across the country, and a sizable force, the Free States Army, pushes toward Manhattan. The city proves too big for them to take, and also for the U.S. Army to defend. The war stalls there, a stalemate, neither side being able to shift things.

This book is incredibly interesting, especially right now, because of the fragile environment we exist in following George W. Bush and his eight years in office and leading into the most tense presidential election I've ever experienced. The disparity between the two primary parties has never been so great, and this type of civil war is not that unbelievable when imagined in today's context.

Ultimately though, what makes this book so great is the human angle. Wood takes a unique angle that really doesn't show any political leanings or take sides, but really shows how wars (and especially the civil variety) can affect the people caught in the middle. How when it gets down to it, neither side in a war is ultimately right, both just end up being incredibly wrong because of the tragic cost of human life. We really get the perspective of what it's like to be on the ground and the daily struggle a person has to go through to just survive the day. Not only that, but you get perspectives into government, the control of mass media, and opportunistic corporations trying to get the easy dollar. This is not your grandfather's comic book by any means.

The characters are very three dimensional and believable (all the way from Matty to small supporting characters - especially after Wood's six issue vignette series about supporting characters that was collected in the trade paperback "The Hidden War"), and Burchelli does a masterful job of conveying what it takes to survive through his art. It's his first work for an American released publication, and the guy is just knocking it out of the park.

It's a remarkable story that really shines because of the allowances the comic book medium provides it. I greatly encourage anyone and everyone to check this out, as I honestly feel as if it is an important story to be told for people in America today. Of course, ultimately I know only Erik is going to read it (you better! this recommendation is for you!) but it's worth a shot for even non-comic fans.

Oh comic day...

Cover to Secret Invasion #5

I'm going to get back to doing my weekly column on comics called "the Pull List" starting next week, but frankly, this week was just too huge for me to do anything besides read, read, read. How many books were dropped in my pull this week (theoretically if I had the patience to let them get into my pull, as the employees of Bosco's are well aware of)?

Twenty-five.

Holy crap. That's the biggest week I've had in forever, and it follows a series of smaller weeks. To put it in perspective, on an average week I probably pick up 10 to 12 comics, if not a few more. When I buy them I organize them into three tiers (good, better, best if you will) and then read them from my favorites on down. The best category this week featured 13 comics. Thirteen! More than my total on an average week.

This included three awesome Dark Horse titles (BPRD: The Warning, Hellboy: the Crooked Man, and the Goon), Secret Invasion, Fantastic Four, the newest issue of the Batman R.I.P. story arc, the Walking Dead, and Warren Ellis' second issue of his Astonishing X-Men run. So yeah, it's a pretty big week.

The point is I went from reading absolutely no single issue comics (only trades) from around 2002 until 2005 (dates are fuzzy) to reading an absolutely astonishing amount. But it's cool, it's my biggest vice and my greatest addiction. I can't complain, and frankly, eight books in this week everything has rocked the house. I'm loving it, it just always kind of blows my mind when the stars align and there are just huge weeks like this.

I love it.

But my wallet doesn't.

2008 Eisner Award winners are out!

Lost in all of the hullabaloo that is the San Diego Comic Con (you know, like the insane buzz the Watchmen movie developed, the new Wolverine movie going from "cautious but intrigued" to "give me it now!" in interest levels, incredible panels like the Gerard Way/Grant Morrison love fest, and even Gnarls Barkley performing a cover of Radiohead's "Reckoner") was actually a lot of really awesome comic related news. I know, I know, who wants to go to the SDCC to talk about actual comic books right?

Well I do! It is kind of the point isn't it? I know it's become the de facto celebrity event of the year somehow and the biggest launching pad for movies known to man (take that France! Keep your Cannes, we have Comic Con!) but I like to think there is still interest in the published portion of the deal. One of the most ignored topics from the SDCC (besides the great news that Image has taken on Robert Kirkman as a full partner - congrats Robert!) was the announcement of the 2008 Eisner Award winners, which is essentially the Academy Awards of comics.

As a huge fan of both award ceremonies of the sort and of comics, it was an exciting announcement for me, and unlike other similar events they got everything mostly correct. Best continuing series? Y the Last Man!!! Best writer? Ed Brubaker!!! Best limited series? The Umbrella Academy!!! Heck, they even nailed the best publication for kids category by giving that one to the deadly duo of Mouse Guard mini's. So they pretty much rocked the house.

But they still had one massive mistake. They gave single issue of the year to Justice League of America #11, an issue called "Walls" that was written by New York Times best seller (as he is always referred to in comic ads) Brad Meltzer and drawn by Gene Ha. Great creators, very good issue especially considering it was sandwiched between 26 issues of unabashed mediocrity.

But issue of the year? Seriously? You had Y the Last Man #58 and #60, Captain America #25, Silver Surfer: Requiem #4, any issue from Immortal Iron Fist's excellent "The Seven Capital Cities of Heaven" arc, All-Star Superman #10, any issue from Brubaker's Criminal, and Civil War: Confession to work with, and that issue gets the award? Those are just the issues I could think of right off hand that were far superior to that issue. Even within the category you had the absolutely breathtaking Sensational Spider-Man Annual by young gun Matt Fraction and Salvador Larocca.

I know they can't satisfy everyone with every award, I just don't understand how they can be so far off on such a major award. Of course, there is the very likely chance that it is just me on this one.

The Pull List

For those looking for a Capitalist Pig Tuesday post, sorry! This week had a couple of interesting releases (namely Coldplay's very good Viva la Vida and Wolf Parade's At Mount Zoomer) but I honestly was a bit too busy to write it. But you didn't miss much because I'm guessing I would have been one of the infinity billion people blogging about one of those two albums (specifically Mount Zoomer, Coldplay is too mainstream to generate a lot of blog power and Wolf Parade is just edgy enough).

So I'm joining you again with the second edition of my weekly comic recommendation post: the Pull List! I have three single issue recommendations this week, along with an extra special trade paperback recommendation. Enjoy!

Book of the week: Wolverine #66 - Written by Mark Millar, pencils by Steve McNiven

Millar. McNiven.

I should be able to write those two names and that would pretty much sell the issue, but that would actually be underselling the issue. After Jason Aaron and Ron Garney's exceptional arc on the title (Get Mystique!), I figured it was unlikely for anything to overshadow it any time soon, regardless of the follow up creative team.

But I was wrong, as Millar's distinctive style currently on display in Kick-Ass and Marvel 1985 was replaced with an extremely interesting take on the future of the Marvel universe and some very not-Millar like scripting. Not in a bad way, but in a "damn, he really kicked it up a notch on this one didn't he?" sort of way. His handle on Logan and vision of his future is truly original and gripping.

Not to be outdone, Millar's Civil War partner-in-crime McNiven predictably delivers ho hum, "I'm one of the two best superhero artists around these days" pencils, proving that he doesn't need an action scene to make you crave what he provides. This book would be easily understood without any words at all, and that is a huge compliment to the phenomenally talented McNiven.

Part 1 of "Old Man Logan" is an out-and-out success, and we could be looking at one of the beginning of one of the best Wolverine arcs ever. 'nuff said.

Favorite title release of the week: Ex Machina #37 - Written by Brian K. Vaughan, pencils by Tony Harris

Brian K. Vaughan is my favorite writer ever, and that is a hell of a thing because Garth Ennis is pretty much a god to me. Anything he writes is a must buy for me, and Ex Machina (his one remaining ongoing title) is quite simply one of the best books on the market these days. I could go on and on about BKV, but it has all been said. He has one of the freshest and most original voices in comics, and that stands out all the better on his creator owned work such as Ex.

Tony Harris of course brings back his photo referenced style of art that is constantly pleasing and always interesting, and the two work extremely well together...as they should after working on the series together for the entirety of the run.

This arc is however a bit of a slow one so far, as we're getting a very spread out story featuring all of the main characters getting not a lot of face time and a fairly decent amount of story time dedicated to the anti-hero character who is working as the protagonist for this arc. Really, this series is at its best when Mitchell Hundred is the focus and is in nearly every scene. I trust BKV, but I'm a bit hesitant to rave about this particular issue. A solid release that is assuredly one of the best releases this week, but a bit of a step down from previous issues.

"You shouldn't miss it, but probably did" book of the week: RASL #2 - Written and illustrated by Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith's Bone series has been one of the most popular stories in the comic medium over the past few years, as its single volume collected edition has turned it from a cult sensation in the 1990's (along with the best thing ever to be published in Disney Adventures magazine) to a cornerstone in young adults reading lists.

RASL is Smith's creator owned follow up that series (he also made Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil, but that was obviously based off existing characters) and I really didn't know what to think of it going into this issue. Issue #1 was interesting, but it was fairly confusing and chose to accept that readers knew a lot that we clearly did not, given that it was the first issue. Also, it was sigifnicantly darker than previous Smith works, which isn't a crime but felt rather jarring.

However, my mindset settled in for this issue and so did Smith, as the second issue is light years better than the first. We get development, a better grip on what is happening, and a far more interesting rendition of the main character RASL. Smith's pencils are the stuff of legends and clearly his style once again, but that leads to my main complaint about the issue: RASL and his lady friend are supposed to be super sexy but both sort of look like children/teens. Of course, that is an ongoing issue for Smith (I blame the height scale of his characters), but it's true and a bit of a distraction when we are attempting to believe that these two are old enough for what is going on within the pages.

Small complaint and not something that is going to change, but it definitely is one thing that bothered me in the issue. A big step up though, and I am getting even more interested to see where this series is headed.

Trade paperback recommendation of the week: Y the Last Man book 10: Whys and Wherefores - Written by Brian K. Vaughan, pencils by Pia Guerra

Here. Here. Here. Here.

Those are just four of the times I've written about Y the Last Man on my blog. Given a while to reflect, I'd say it's my co-favorite series of all time with Garth Ennis' and Steve Dillon's Preacher, and this is the last chapter of the story. For those that have been reading in trade form, get on that. For those that haven't been reading it at all, shame on you. Get out there and get that whole series, and that goes for everyone. This is about as good as it gets in the comic book medium.

The Pull List

What's that? Another weekly regular occurrence? I can hardly believe it - three weekly segments on my blog now, with this one being all about a favorite of mine, and a favorite of yours as well I'm sure - comics. Within this segment I'll pick a couple favorites from my weekly pull along with a random pick that may have slipped through the cracks.

Definitely won't be interesting to everyone, but I love comics so this is what you're going to get!

Co-book of the week: The Goon #25

Back in March, I threw down a review for the first OGN related to this series called Chinatown and pretty much raved about the series. As well I should, as Eric Powell's bizarre series is one of the best ongoings on the market today. This week we see our boy the Goon at a crossroads: leave his home and find happiness perhaps, or stay and protect his friends (he's the only hope for the town) and live a miserable existence. Harder question than you'd imagine to answer, as the character for all his toughness is ultimately a good guy and doesn't want people to suffer because of his actions.

This continues the path of seriousness that Powell has taken this once off-the-wall and frequently laugh out loud series down, and as much as I loved it before, it may be actually better since he restarted releasing the series. The story has progressed more in the past five issues than it had in the previous 20, and we still get entertaining yarns and glorious art from Powell - I don't know what changed...a new colorist, new inker, new art style for Powell, but this book is one of the best looking things on the market right now.

Every comic reader should be on this book. It's a must read, and has been for the entirety of its run. This issue is a fine example of all the Goon brings to the table, but would not be good for someone who has not read the rest of the series.

Co-book of the week: Action Comics #866

Since directly after One Year Later finished (a five or six issue stretch that DC imposed upon all of their books after Infinite Crisis), Geoff Johns has been the creative mastermind behind Action Comics. While his run started off very well, a combination of pairing with Richard Donner for writing and Adam Kubert's incredibly slow pencils curbed any momentum the series developed. Finally, after more than a year, that arc ended and we were graced with a new member of the creative team: Gary Frank.

The Johns/Frank team is nothing short of a match made in heaven, as brilliantly exemplified in this issue. They've already recreated the magic behind Superman's relationship with the Legion, and now they're giving us a reborn Brainiac for the ages. Also, they're finally tackling the Clark Kent side of things, as we see Johns exceptional work of handling even the most mundane of situations is just as exciting as his action work.

So long as this book continues to be released on time, it will likely continue to be one of the best books DC is releasing (Vertigo not included) and even rivals the work Johns is doing currently on Green Lantern. Exciting things are afoot in this book, and now is the best time to jump on.

"You shouldn't miss it, but probably did" book of the week: Captain Britain and MI:13 #2

I'm a big fan of Paul Cornell's comic work. This Doctor Who series writer wrote one of my favorite mini's of the past few years with Wisdom, and now he's tackling a major Secret Invasion tie-in and handling the job better than some of the most seasoned comic vets. Cornell's writing on this book make this lowly American genuinely care for the British heroes desperately staving off invasion, all the while maintaining the wit and bizarre happenings that ran rampant in the Wisdom series.

Plus, Pete Wisdom is in it. I legitimately would buy anything if he was featured. The guy is awesome.

Mmmmm...Pop Culture...

Before I get cracking on my Sasquatch related posts, I wanted to get into details about my thoughts about a few things and then a couple current happenings in my life. This post is about my thoughts, specifically those directly related towards a couple recent pop culture milestones. Check it.

While I was off down in Portland visiting with friends, one of the things we had to do of course was go check out the new Indiana Jones movie, titled Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We're all big Indy junkies, so we were all very, very excited to see it. What'd we think?

I prefer to think that they never made it. To me, the Indy series ended with Last Crusade. Maybe in time I will think this movie was adequate, but as of right now I think it was a travesty and a money grab, as I felt that everyone phoned their roles in besides possibly Shia LaBeouf. Not only that, but the whole movie stunk of George Lucas, as fun stunts and action scenes from the original three were replaced with CGI aplenty. Besides that, blatant ridiculousness and shoddy scripting weighed down the film as well. Also, Russians are not a comparable replacement for Nazis. Seriously. You can't even compare the two.

Needless to say, I didn't like it. If you're a fan of the series, be wary.

On the comics front (I'm thinking of starting up a weekly segment about this - exciting right?), this week featured the arrival of Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1. Why is this a big deal? This is the culmination of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's run on the title, spanning 25 absolutely genius issues and capping off what is my all-time favorite run on any X-Men title.

And boy did they go out with a bang. Sure everything that happened was a little predictable (even in its awesomeness), but this issue featured everything - Whedon's trademark wit, great action sequences, saucy innuendo, sad goodbyes, giant action pieces, and most importantly, Cassaday's incomparable art. In my opinion, you just cannot get better than John Cassaday when it comes to pencils - the man is a god with art supplies. It reminded me of February's final issue of Y the Last Man, especially with the way it wrapped up.

If you like comics, it's an absolute crime to not have read this whole series already. In terms of recent runs on iconic heroes, you really cannot do much better.

Well hello there flipside, nice to see you! This week also featured the release of the first issue of DC's mega-event - Final Crisis (I almost put final in quotations - I don't believe that this is really the last crisis). After an entire year of build up in the moderately atrocious and occasionally vaguely readable Countdown, we're treated to an entire issue featuring a dream creative team (as opposed to the trash that was creating Countdown - sorry Paul Dini and Sean McKeever, but downgrade) - Grant Morrison and JG Jones (on interiors! happy day!).

Sadly though, even though we have a dynamic team to read from, all we're left with is a scattered mess that does absolutely nothing for us besides needlessly killing a legendary hero in a far less than heroic way. Great right? Sure, Marvel's Secret Invasion has been less than perfect so far, but first issue to first issue, Marvel has such a commanding lead in summer events it isn't even close.

Hopefully Morrison is going somewhere with this, as I trust he would be because the man rarely doesn't succeed. Count me in as a skeptic for once though. This series scares the crap out of me, and I really hope it doesn't fall short of the mammoth amounts of hype that preceded it. With DC's recent track record, I really am beginning to question it though. Good luck team, you're going to need it.

Top 100 Comic Book Runs

In my life I've read an ungodly amount of comics. I once wrote a letter to my favorite artist claiming that I believed that she and the co-creator of my all-time favorite comic (the one that was mostly responsible for me getting back into comics as well) owed me roughly $50,000 because they caused me to start collecting again. I said it as a joke, but this is definitely one of those "every joke has a shred of truth" type situations.

Tangent: the funny thing is, she apparently both did not care, but the letter I was writing to her included a request for sketches and included money for postage so she could send them back to me. Not only did I never see those sketches, but I never saw the money either. I hope you went to Tim Horton's and bought yourself some disgusting coffee with that five dollars! You two now owe me $50,005. The juice is running! /tangent

But the point is, I've read a significant amount of comics. Recently the "Comics should be good!" section of Comic Book Resources released the results of a preferred member voted poll about what are the top 100 comic book runs of all time. What do I think? Well, truth be told, I can't really say much because even with the years upon years of experience, I've read the entirety of only 25 of the 100 runs (which includes Garth Ennis' and John McCrea's Hitman run, seen up and to the right). I'm sure that's way more than the average reader, but it really makes me feel inadequate. I may have to turn in my comic snob member card!

However, as to my opinion of the actual list, I think it's a great mix of the classic runs of all-time characters and modern works of art from such luminaries as Brian K. Vaughan, Terry Moore, and Ed Brubaker. It's a very diverse and fair list, although I must admit I was a bit shocked that Preacher only finished with a ranking of eighth. Of course what do you drop for it to be honest?

Exceptions to note that may make it later on include Eric Powell's the Goon series and Brubaker and Sean Phillips' current collaboration on Criminal, but I think the voting squad made the right choice by not including them as they are still far too early on for any sort of all-time list. Also, I'm not sure if it would even qualify, but Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim would have to be one to vie for inclusion on my list.

Regardless, for those that are interested in comics, check out the list and see how many you've read. For those that are looking to get started...well, that list is the best of the best. Check it out. Of course if you have no interest in comics at all you can move on. Move on now folks...nothing to see here. I for one can't wait to start cracking through the whole list to experience all of the ones I missed for the first time.

I can't seem to make my mind up

Comics vs. Patriots - who wins?

So recently, I've come into another quandary. I've been debating whether or not I was going to go to the Emerald City Comic Con for a good while, but I had officially decided that I was. Of course, then the tickets went up a bit to fly down, time kept running by, and I kept discovering scary details. These included:

• Brian Michael Bendis ditching
• Discovering that media guests charged money for autographs (lame)
• Discovering that media guests charged $30 to take a picture with them (not right!)

All three of those sucked, but were not deal breakers. Still planning on going, as the media guests were going to be weird to meet anyways. I was mainly there to meet my favorite comic creators - Bryan Lee O'Malley! Pia Guerra! Bill Willingham! Robert Kirkman! Eric Powell! - but something came up that made it so I simply can't go.

There may be one thing I love more than everything else (even more than Battlestar Galactica - also family and friends are exempted, people are on a higher plane than objects) and that is the New England Patriots. My very good friend Erik texted me the day that NFL schedules came out to tell me that that the Seattle Seahawks were hosting the Patriots December 7th in Seattle. This put me in a very tough place.

I cannot have two random, weekend only trips to Seattle in one year - it's just not economically viable and frankly, it's a little crazy. So I had to make a choice, and sorry comics, I love the Patriots best (sadly taking a line from a comic on that last part). So assuming that I actually manage to snag a ticket as the Seahawks are a rather hot item in Seattle, I will be attending the New England Patriots at the Seattle Seahawks December 7th, covered head to toe in Pats gear. Patriots stocking cap, Wes Welker jersey, Pats gloves/socks/scarf - everything. I will be prepped and ready, and the 12th man can eat it.

In summation, go Patriots! Never been to an NFL game and I can't think of a better one to start with.

Precious Little Life

A little over two weeks after Christmas, I believe I've come up with what is my favorite present. One of the things I asked for after getting recommendations from people I talked to about comics and from a lecturer I saw a while back (See my post Understanding Comics) was the series of comics called Scott Pilgrim, created by Bryan Lee O'Malley. They are much more akin to Manga than they are to traditional comic books, but at the same time not similar to them at all. They are digest sized books that follow around the 23 year old Scott Pilgrim in his bizarre journey to date the delightful Ramona Flowers.

How's this for a plot? He meets this girl, but to capture her love he has to defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends. Along the way, he's trying to survive his ex-girlfriend (deranged high schooler Knives Chau), melt faces with his band (named Sex Bob-Omb), brave ex-girlfriend related panic attacks (caused by ex-love-of-his-life and honest to god rock star Envy Adams), and continue to live in his one room apartment that he shares with his gay roommate Wallace, with no money or any real prospects. Besides the fact he's pretty much the best fighter in Canada, as he proves in battles against the League of Ramona's Evil Ex-Boyfriends.

The influences of this book range everywhere from Manga, traditional comics (Scott wears a jacket that has a patch he got from Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters), Indie Rock, musical elitists, sitcoms, video games, everything. It can be incredibly touching, real, hilarious, badass, and altogether awesome at any different moment. Scott himself is a strangely likeable guy for someone who is so stuck on himself, and the rest of the supporting cast is absolutely fantastic (especially Sex Bob-Omb drummer and other Scott ex Kimberly Pine). O'Malley's heavily manga influenced art is alternately crisp in a comic strip type of way, while showing the kinetic energy of his aforementioned influences.

I'd recommend this to anyone, besides the fact I know that there is still a lot of skepticism about the comic book medium. Can it really be good, or is the perception of it (kiddy and ridiculous) true? Quick answer, yes and it isn't, respectively. Generally, the comic book medium has gained a lot of respectability (check out Jeff Jensen's article in Entertainment Weekly this week as a bit of mainstream proof) recently, and its because of titles like Scott Pilgrim that it has done this. Have guts? Want to try something new? Pick up Scott Pilgrim. Maybe you'll like it, and if you do, you'll probably love it.