New SHIPS On How To Draw Manga Like The Pros! (7/02/08)

ME:

HELLBOY: THE CROOKED MAN #1
BATMAN #678
NANA VOL. 11
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #21
plus: FRACTHOR which my LCS didn't order enough of (get it together, John!)

Batman #678
Blue Beetle #28
Infinity Inc #11
Northlanders #7 (although I haven't read the last three yet...)
Amazing Spider-Man #564
maybe Essential Defenders Volume 4

Batmoz
Blue Bfeifer (who am I kidding, I should drop this ASAP)

Yeah, I'm not touching Bfeifer, and I'm not sure I'm going to get back on the wagon after Sturges (who's been great w/ Jack of Fables) takes over.

Diamond's list is up, BTW:

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #16
HELLBOY THE CROOKED MAN #1 (of ???)

BATMAN #678 RIP -- why are you listing the x-over arc name w/ the title you goobers?
FABLES #74 -- might drop this!!!
NORTHLANDERS #7 -- what Garrett said
TRINITY #5 -- might drop this!!!

WALKING DEAD #50 -- in this issue: STUFF HAPPENS TO PEOPLE'S INTESTINES

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #564 -- yayayay
ASTONISHING X-MEN #25 -- bullish yayayay
CABLE #5 -- meheheheheh (aka might drop this!!!)
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #21

For me:

BATMAN #678 RIP--I think they should add that to every issue number from now on
TRINITY #5--hmm, I say, hmm
ASTONISHING X-MEN #25--I am wary of Ellis's spandex stuff, but will give it a try
SECRET INVASION #1 DIRECTOR'S CUT--well, I'll look at it to see if I actually want to buy it again...

omg I almost forgot (the shame of it all):

ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #7 -- more superbooks shd have adjectives in their titles

oh, and also out, tho I'm avoiding it:

SQUADRON SUPREME 2 #1 -- following in the footsteps of the Sunday-drive-paced JMS / Gary Frank reboot, written by Howard Chaykin?!?!??!

Hellboy
American Splendor
Batman RIP

maybe Infinity Inc

probably gonna drop Trinity

BATMAN #678
FABLES #74
HOUSE OF MYSTERY #3
NORTHLANDERS #7
TRINITY #5
SWORD #9
ASTONISHING X-MEN #25
CABLE #5
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #21
SECRET INVASION FRONT LINE #1

New Astonishing already? SO EXCITINGNINGINGINGINGNINGING.

Oh, and Echo #04, which my household is VERY much enjoying.

I hope that Astonishing comes out more frequently that quarterly now.

I hope Astonishing is good, frequent, and starring Kitty Pryde by the end of the first arc.

I hope for a pony.

2 of those 3 will be okay, too.

Buffy, Angel, Astonishing X-Men, Batman, and Infinity Inc, as it limps toward cancellation.

Why bother hoping for good things w/r/t to the X-Men when we know damn well things won't be allowed to be good again until some point in the distant future when Brian Bendis' death grip on the Marvel Universe is loosened?

Because Whedon's Astonishing happened and ran throughout crossovers like House of M, Civil War, and WWH. And maintained a fairly high level of quality. And Warren Ellis wrote my favorite comic of all time. And Marvel has promised that Astonishing exists sorta out of continuity. So my hopes are very high.

Man, when Astonishing is a high point of recent X-stuff you know you've been had. Lovely art, but dear God the PADDING!

Even knowing it was coming, Kitty phasing the bullet is one of the highest points of my recent comic book reading.

Whedon's Astonishing was super adequate. After reading his last issue on Thunderbolts, I am DYING to read Ellis on Astonishing; I had forgotten how much he panders to me.

Nothing, but I might look at Buffy in the shop, having read the whole run in the last fortnight.

Why bother hoping for good things w/r/t to the X-Men when we know damn well things won't be allowed to be good again until some point in the distant future when Brian Bendis' death grip on the Marvel Universe is loosened?

Is that the problem? I've spent the last week or so catching up on the X-books (from Decimation to immediately before Messiah Complex) and...hoo boy. There have been much worse stretches, but that particular period is about as dull as it gets. I'll keep reading through the slew of post-Messiah stuff that I've bought, but I have no problem dropping everything X (or seeing the entire line eXpire) if the best they can do is sadly tread water (or, in the case of the defunct New X-Men, indulge in uber-nihilistic sadface).

As far as this week is concerned:

Astonishing X-Men (Will probably stick with it.)
Cable (See above post.)
Batman (The high water mark that is Final Crisis only serves to make this book seem more stinky. Prove me wrong, Mozzer!)
Infinity, Inc. (Been waiting to catch up with this. Figured the penultimate, pseudo-FC x-over issue was a good place to start. I didn't know about the "Dark Side Club" storyline 'til today, when I saw and snatched up the Titans issues. Will also try to find the relevant BoP and Flash issues on Wed., I guess. Like a total sucker.)
Secret Invasion Frontline (Sustained meh! So psyched about getting back into comics...)
Hellblazer: Fear Machine (Pick of the week! The one thing I'm genuinely psyched about this week. Which I've already read and which I own in floppy form. And which is probably the weakest bit of Delano's run. But I still love it.)
Hellblazer: Chas (Because the Delano trade is stoking my latent Constantine fandom, and because I am a total sucker.)

BATMAN #678 RIP - I wonder how long until who is behind this is revealed. I've got a feeling Morrison is going to play it out for a couple more issues before showing who is the hands behind all of this stuff.
TRINITY #5 - I'm game for a few more issues, although so far it is more like an old Avengers story instead of Astro City so far. Basically the front story is the big 3 have breakfast then join the JLA in getting slapped around by some oddball looking villain I have never heard of for 40 pages.

Hellblazer- Fear Machine TPB If my memory serves me well, this was some really good stuff Delano did with Constantine. The best story I remember being The Family Man, which it looks like they are going to reprint this fall. I think I am going to go on a big Hellblazer reading kick after re-reading his early appearances in Swamp Thing. I got the first two Moore Swamp Thing trades for a good price and re-read the first one this past week.

I'm kind of curious about the new Squadron Supreme book by Chaykin, but I don't know if I am enough purchase it or not. I've been curious about checking out the Squadron Supreme MAX books anyway, as they are supposed to be pretty good.

I will probably end up reading Warren Ellis' new X-men story once it is a trade. I'm reading Doktor Sleepless issue to issue, but it seems his stuff is better is taking an arc or whole storyline in one chunk. I still haven't read the other Astonishing X-men books, so I by the time I check that whole thing out they should be good for the first one of the Ellis run. The guy doing the artwork for this is sharp. His artwork on Shining Knight in the 7 Soldiers book was really amazing. I'd love to see him do some Conan or some big Moebius style science fiction book.

The concurrent Delano Hellblazer and Veitch Swamp Thing runs are pretty close to being my favorite comics ever. I don't know that I could ever unreservedly recommend them to just anybody and I don't know that it's more than a totally subjective lurve, but they're so wonderfully fascinating and weird and they evoke a very particular mood that's rarely been replicated and they make me remember why ILC during weeks like these. I really wish that Vertigo had managed to capture the Proto-Vertigo magic. Alas.

ASTONISHING
BUFFY
ANGEL
HELLBOY HELLBOY HELLBOY

This week's Jonah Hex: apparently drawn by Darwyn Cooke!

doesn't it seem far, far too soon for another issue of astonishing x-men

It's the same calendar year as the previous one, for starters!

Hmmm...might have me some Hex, then.

Oh, and I will of course be getting Am Splend, and quite possibly Mike Kunkel's Shazam!

I sure hope that fulfills it's promise better than Jeff Smith's.

preview looks GREAT (though the last two pages seem kinda text-heavy)

"I really wish that Vertigo had managed to capture the Proto-Vertigo magic. Alas."

I've been reading Sandman Mystery Theater for the for the first time. The last issue I read was #28. That was a really good series, in some ways the most down to earth 'Batman' style hero out there and maybe also the best pulp style character comic I have read set in the 30s.

DC should let some of those side characters get used like this again. I suppose the argument would be that most of the books are kind of mature in the first place and they could not do crossovers with the regular books.

Blerg, the new Batman RIP is Grant in a Mister Miracle mood -- another one of those non-plot-advancing, it's-all-a-hallucination issues. Way to destroy yr momentum, Grant...

Douglas, didn't you say you might start annotating Trinity at some point? Obv you're not gonna bother (I guess), but what do you think about it?

Also, is it just me, or is Gangbuster just a Daredevil rip-off?

Blerg, the new Batman RIP is Grant in a Mister Miracle mood -- another one of those non-plot-advancing, it's-all-a-hallucination issues.

Really? This was maybe my favorite issue of his run thus far. It's definitely one of the few that didn't feel like Morrison on auto-pilot. I kind of loved Batman's Junkie Odyssey, and the weirdness that seems to finally be leading towards something. I just wish Tony Daniel would take his "talents" elsewhere.

Wow, I actually really hated this issue of Batman! It's totally the "Magical Negro" cliché, and it _did_ seem like Morrison on autopilot to me... I'll probably elaborate over at the Savage Critics in the next few days...

Trinity: I think I said I'd annotate it if somebody paid me a whole lot of money too. But I gotta do stuff to earn a living too, you know? And Final Crisis is ramping up to three books this month, and six (!) in August. As for what I think of it... I'm still grappling with it. I like the formal structure, but so far the actual story is doing just about nothing for me.

That Mike Kunkel "Billy Batson/Shazam" book, though, is kind of wonderful--certainly it's got a very different look-and-feel from anything else DC is publishing.

Ha, I wondered who would reach for their 'magical negro' first, you beat me to the punch Douglas.

The Shazam comic is very cute. But the best thing about it: cheap newsprint paper! And it still looks great.

It's totally the "Magical Negro" cliché, and it _did_ seem like Morrison on autopilot to me...

Sadly, I can't really disagree with the latter sentiment, but as for "Magical Negro," there really seems to be something more sinister going on with this character...

MILD SPOILER ALERT

...and not just the "He's been DEEEAAAD since YESTERDAAAAY SPOOOOOKY" bit. Note the red/black checkered cloth the object Jackson gives Bruce is wrapped in; also remember both what Jackson allegedly died of and how Batman's last encounter with him ended.

END OF MILD SPOILERS

Stuff I bought on this, my first week of actually buying monthlies (damn you Criminal and Casanova and your inconvenient non-traded bonus material; also damn you Morrison for writing two books I actually care about and want to follow on a monthly basis):

...just Batman, actually. Anticlimactic, really; most of the stuff I've subscribed to doesn't start up until August (Final Crisis: Revelations, Superman Beyond, Ambush Bug: Year None) or has at best a tangential relation to the idea of a "release date" (Fell, Multiple Warheads, Rasl).

Also, re: Batman- Is it just me or is it a clear sign of the coming apocalypse that a) Alex Ross does the "standard" covers while Tony fucking Daniel does the expensive variant ones, and b) I actually prefer Ross' covers? I severely dislike both Ross's stilted, ugly art and crotchety attitude toward superhero comics and yet this run of covers has actually been for the most part appealing, this issue and the forthcoming 680 especially (love the Adam West show-style Dutch angle on that one). This stuff has been so different from the usual Ross style (straight-on 3/4 shot of pudgy man in spandex, arms folded, looking at reader with mild disapproval/constipation) that I can't help but imagine Morrison standing behind him with a rolled-up newspaper handy.

Although I guess the "magical homeless person" is a common character in GM (see also Tom O'Bedlam, Beardy Flex, every early Vertigo comic ever).

Also: agreed about Ross

Yeah, Jackson was more than boilerplate "magical negro". He's part of the weirdness. Bat Mite in a human suit? Who knows at this point. But, seriously: how many other minor Morrison characters could you reduce to a cliche if you divorced them from the context of the larger narrative?

Alls I'm sayin': don't hate on this issue just because it reminded you that The Legend of Bagger Vance exists.

the batman of what? i don't really understand the ending page, and find myself in the position of a lot of people reading morrison of late - "am i or am i not meant to be understanding what it is that is happening here"

ellis on astonishing x-men was all setup all the time, quite liked it tho. simone bianchi is a terrible, terrible fit for the book though. (the first two pages seem v well worked-over scriptwise: i just wish the layout was better, it'd make 'em great. also, when storm arrives it's mildly incomprehensible.)

the batman of what?

The Batman of Zur En Arrh

simone bianchi is a terrible, terrible fit for the book though.
Possibly the ugliest comic art I've ever seen.

haha thanks dwh i actually saw it explained somewhere else in the intervening few hours. i have no complaints now that i understand that i wasn't meant to understand unless i would have already understood, i guess

Moving the X-Men to SF reminds me of when Daredevil moved to SF. It seems like a dumb rating-stunts move, like "All next week -- Letterman's in L.A.! Hijinx galore!" On the other hand, why not? At least in the X-Men's case, they don't have secret identities to protect. ("Duh, gee, it's funny that Matt Murdock moved here at the same time that DD started showing up. Could they...? Naaaahhhh!")

A good comic that came out last week: PATSY WALKER - HELLCAT!

That's what I heard (from more than a few folks whose opining doesn't make me hate thinking)! You'll forgive my skepticism, tho.

The storytelling gets a little confused towards the end but otherwise it's really enjoyable - blithe, breezy, kind of an old-school Slott or JLI vibe to it. Very very different from anything Marvel are doing currently, though not exactly unprecedented (tongue-in-cheek light superheroics is a pretty well established subgenre). Supercute art too!

old-school Slott

I've had enough "omg OLD" whiplash moments the past few months, but realizing that Slott's Shulkie heyday was THREE YEARS AGO is really killing me.

haha, when I realize something is three years old I'm like "damn, that's recent!"

God I hate the nickname "Shulkie."