A younger, SHIPper you! Dec. 28 2007

Batman, Crime Bible, Dead Cap, Daredevil, Berlin, and hey! is that a new Acme Novelty Library? (not shown here, from my lcs' email.)

Also, I forgot to pick up Grendel last time, and that Hulk vs Fin Fang Foom thing at least has a title I can get behind.

http://www.marvel.com/news/comics.2104.Weekend_Preview:_Hulk_Vs~dot~_Fin_Fang_Foom_One_Shot

Emohulk, The Thing (Hawks, not Grimm) tribute. Yeah, looks pretty promising.

Big week for me: X-Men (the end of act 2 of Messiah Complex), Daredevil, Captain America, Action (this Legion storyline is good!), Legion of Super Heroes (I approach Jim Shooter's Legion with trepidation), Green Lantern, The Flash, Brave and the Bold, Batmorrison, and Teen Titans.

BRAVE AND THE BOLD #9
CROSSING MIDNIGHT #14
JACK OF FABLES #18
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #545
DAREDEVIL #103
NEW WARRIORS #7
X-MEN #206
X-MEN FIRST CLASS VOL 2 #7

Really only looking forward to X-Men. Also, ta-ta Mary Jane.

The real list is up now! For me:

BATMAN #672--I'm not convinced that Morrison's really got a grip on this series (for comparison's sake I re-read a bunch of his X-Men yesterday, and those are SO much better), but I'm following it anyway
BRAVE AND THE BOLD #9--oh how I'm enjoying this series
CRIME BIBLE: THE FIVE BOOKS OF BLOOD #3--why are you 52ers not reading this? It's good!
SHOWCASE PRESENTS BRAVE & BOLD BATMAN TEAM-UPS VOL. 2 TP--reprinting B&B #88-109, featuring Neal Adams, Jim Aparo, and Because Bob Haney That's Why. So much fun!
CAPTAIN AMERICA #33--it could just keep going indefinitely without a Captain America and I'd be happy
DAREDEVIL #103--starting to lose momentum but it could still turn around
ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY VOL. 18 HC--you know, you're a real "up" comic!
BLACK SUMMER ALPHA--because I missed out the first time

SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH VIOLENCE:

BATMAN
PUNISHER
AND THAT'S IT!

I'm so damn damn damn busy.

maybe I'll get the crime bible trade. if crime bible had come out RIGHT AFTER 52, I probably woulda got it. but after Countdown and the general sucking of the post-52 DCU, I just haven't had the faith for any new DC series, mini or otherwise. but yeah, the whole crime bible thing was a giant loose thread from 52 that I'm sorta intrigued by.
what I am getting:
some BATMAN, some Brave and the Bold, some Blue Beetle and some Captain America. And probably Showcase B&B Vol. 2, cuz that's the shit.

Thor for me this week. Interesting to see that LOEG: Black Dossier has gone to a 2nd. I can see DC milking that particular cash cow for as long as possible.

My LCS was having a giant boxing week sale 25% off EVERYTHING. I was waiting for this to pick the Kirby 4th world omnibus Vol 3, BUT THEY SOLD IT YESTERDAY.
Howev, I did get Scott Pilgrim #4, which makes me feel like a total glutton for going through 3 yrs of comics in, what, 3 weeks. I CAN'T HELP MYSELF.

I think this new Bat Morrison plot has potential.

Also got Flash, still enjoying it even if some of the art this issue seemed rushed.
Haven't read Thor or the Giant Sized Avengers special yet. Also forgot to check for issues of Casanova I may have missed. Bought 2nd volume of the Moomins for bell_labs, and the 3rd volume of Age of Bronze.

Hey, speaking of, would anyone care to explain what the fuck happened in this issue of Bat Morrison? It was totally incoherent.

Ian, I don't think there's any such thing as Freddie Williams II art that isn't rushed. The dude is one of the fastest artists in mainstream comics and is seriously turning out that work as quickly as possible.

It was totally incoherent.

^^ that's why i liked it. actually it was pretty coherent 'til the end!

basically baddie comes back dressed as batman, a former cop, searching for his former boss, batman gets overwhelmed and some combination of killed and/or sent into a weird hallucination/weird universe? In other news he is dating some one new, and alfred is afraid its' gettin too serious.

Maybe this is why I haven't really been enjoying Morrison's run on Batman so far. It's like he thinks that psychotic narratives (not narratives about psychotics - which is what Batman should be, but narratives that themselves seem delusional, feverish, hallucinatory, + disturbed) make excellent reading. And it could be he's right that psychotic narratives *work* for Batman, but he's wrong that it's pleasant to read.

Then again, we're what? Less than a year into his run? Could be once Morrison finds his footsteps he'll knock it out of the park. This wouldn't be the first comic he wrote that took him a bit of time to figure out.

I have moderate to severe issues with Morrison's exposition-less style.

See, I think the issue with Morrison's Batman is more that it's this attempt to make Batman kinda crazy and exciting, and push the BATMAN IS HETEROSEXUAL BELIEVE IT OR NOT party line, but the stories just aren't there. There's some neat stuff here and there, but there's just no meat to any of it, just some loose packets of sweet-and-low.

Let's just be really, really real about something: Batman is better when he's gay.

some british guy whose brother posts on ILX wrote a really excellent book arguing JUST THAT

i am finding it impossible to find on amazon, because "graphic novels" seem to count as "non-fiction" and I can't remember the book's title or the writer's name...Paul Booker or something?

there is this, however

aha, Batman Unmasked by Will Brooker!