Down The Line - Previews review for August 2004 by Randy Lander & Dave Farabee While my Snap Judgments reviews cover books as they are released, I'm as avid a follower of "what's next" as anyone else. Thus these Previews reviews, covering the Diamond Previews that allow fans to preorder comics from their local retailer. This installment covers the June Previews for comics due to ship out in August. Pre-ordering is your friend. If there's stuff you want in August, letting your retailer know before the end of June is the best way to make sure you get it. Regular readers will know that this is usually a pretty fun and friendly overview, and that I tend to accentuate the positive and lay off a bit on the negative. Well, not this time folks. I've seen a lot of worrying signs that the early '90s, the worst period of comics I've lived through, is the pattern being followed by much of the industry these days, and I'm sick and tired of seeing the great comics I love suffer from low sales while utter dreck gets big sales from the masses. So we'll still be highlighting the good stuff, but expect a lot more slamming of the bad stuff here in this month's column as well. DAVE: Think of this as the Empire Strikes Back of Previews reviews, folks. The characters and titles you know and love may get battered and tortured, and it might even seem like the bad guys have won. RANDY: Plus, of course, in the end, I will be frozen in Carbonite and Dave will have his hand chopped off. DAVE: Let's just hope Mark Hamill will rescue us all from the clutches of the vile gangster Liefeld the Hutt come next Previews... RANDY: As you can see from the above, my comments will be the normal type, and Dave's will be in yellow. You might notice in reading these Previews reviews that we've decided to dispense with the Previews organization and just go strict alphabetical, in order to level the playing field between the big guys and the smaller publishers. To facilitate those seeking more information from the Previews catalog, each entry will include the page number of the solicitation at the end of our comments. RANDY'S PICK OF THE MONTH: We3 #1 (DC Comics/Vertigo) - You know, I've often considered myself a very casual Grant Morrison fan, not a fan of some of his most-beloved work like The Invisibles and Doom Patrol, but I'm starting to believe the hype. First we have his amazing run on New X-Men (yeah, it had a weak third act, but it was still better than anything the books have served up in twenty years), then we get the first issue of Seaguy, the antidote to the sheer number of crap superhero comics being shoved down our throat at the moment and now... We3. Which is, I shit you not, a book about three cybernetic animals taking a journey away from the military-industrial complex that birthed them to try and find their way home. It's a whacked-out idea that only Morrison could come up with, and it comes equipped with stunning visuals from Frank Quitely, and in just the cover shot and the brief preview pages of this issue I got a sense of tragedy, creepiness and hope... can't wait to see what I get from the whole series. (page 118) DAVE: One of my favorite books as a kid, and hell, as an adult, is Watership Down, so I'm pretty well primed for an unusual "Great Escape" epic like this. Morrison's empathy for animals was obviously on display in my favorite series of his, Animal Man, and in the preview pages for We3 alone he takes an idea that could come across as silly and has me believing it. Looks great. DAVE'S PICK OF THE MONTH: Superman Adventures TPB (DC Comics) - It's almost shocking to consider how non-shocking Mark Millar's run on Superman Adventures was. Even though it was an all-ages comic, you'd expect *some* subversion from the guy who gave us The Ultimates and Trouble and Chosen, right? The reality, however, is that Millar simply gave us some of the smartest, most action-packed, most imaginative Superman comics of the last decade; in other words, everything the mainstream Superman books haven't. These two volumes are a sort of "best of" from Millar's run, and DC's cleverly reprinting them in an affordable, kid-friendly digest format for a mere $6.95 apiece. Get these in some supermarkets and watch 'em steamroll that punk-ass, Archie. And adults, don't balk at the cartooniness. Remember the joy of discovering Dini and Timm's Batman: The Animated Series, and know too that Superman Adventures artist Aluir Amancio does bring just a touch of subversion by drawing the hottest cartoon dames this side of Jessica Rabbit. (page 73) RANDY: I've only read a smattering of Millar's Superman Adventures, but you're right, this was superlative stuff, not just good for the kiddies but great for adults who are looking for really great Superman tales. These DC digests, aimed at younger readers, are fantastic, and I hope we see lots more of them. Absolute Planetary HC (DC Comics/Wildstorm) - RANDY: Planetary, the much-beloved and constantly delayed archaeologists of the weird adventure title from Warren Ellis and John Cassaday, gets the Absolute treatment. Since Wildstorm's graphic designers are fantastic, this means a gorgeous, oversized hardcover that will no doubt be a delight for art fans, as Cassaday's work on Planetary is indeed something to behold. Unfortunately, with the constant delays and the sense that the story wasn't really going anywhere, not to mention hints that the book might go on beyond the 24 issue point (and thus possibly beyond the first decade of the 2000s), I've lost all my interest. Still, for those who haven't, #0-12 plus the script to issue #1 for $50 is much more reasonable than the usual Absolute price, coming out to somewhere over $4 an issue. (page 102) Amazing Spider-Man #511 (Marvel Comics) - RANDY: I don't mean to spoil anything for anyone, but it's already been on Newsarama, and it's such a stupid thing I don't really mind spoiling it (that's your spoiler warning, in case you were wondering), so let me just say: Bringing back Gwen Stacy, or her clone, or teasing that you're going to do so, is about as stupid as bringing back the clone saga. It's a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad idea. If I hadn't lost all interest in Doctor Strange and Ezekiel guest-starring Spider-Man already, this would be the thing to kill it. (page M38) DAVE: Come on, Randy, how can you be dubious after seeing how well Jean Grey's famously moving death was "honored" with years of successive resurrections and deaths? Oh. Oh, right. Well maybe it's just one of the Mad Thinker's androids? The Authority: Human on the Inside HC (DC Comics/Wildstorm) - RANDY: I loved Three Kings, which was written by screenwriter John Ridley, artist on the original Authority hardcover Human on the Inside. However, I pretty much don't care about The Authority anymore, as it seems like a concept that has long outlived its shelf life and now serves merely as a misunderstood-at-corporate-level parody of itself. Nice art by Ben Oliver and talented writer notwithstanding. (page 102) DAVE: Never cared much for The Authority, m'self, but I loved Three Kings too. Hopefully Ridley will stick around in the industry long enough to produce something original. The Art of Greg Horn HC (Image Comics) - DAVE: At last I think we've come upon the perfect Greg Horn vehicle - a pin-up book! Since his sleazy but trousers-tightening covers for Marvel have done nothing but lower the common denominator of that audience, I wish this venture well. Maybe it'll become his exclusive format. (page 133) Astro City Special (DC Comics/Wildstorm) - DAVE: Sure, some Astro City stories are better than others, but I've yet to hit a stinker and I pretty much love the world Busiek has given us. A one-shot tale of an aging '60s superhero making one last heroic stand? You know I'm there. (page 106) Bad Mojo GN (AIT/Planet Lar) - RANDY: It sounds like a Stephen King concept with a darkly humorous twist, as a would-be pro ballplayer crashes a witch's car and finds himself cursed to die every day and live again every night. Beyond that very fun concept, what really gets my attention about Bad Mojo is that it's by William Harms, who greatly impressed me with his period graphic novel Abel for AIT/Planet Lar previously. (page 210) DAVE: No one can possibly accuse this comic of falling into clichés! Anyway, I liked Abel quite a bit as well, so I'll certainly be checking Bad Mojo out. I've seen Harms do "dark and serious." Let's see if he can do "dark and humorous." Batman: War Games (DC Comics) - DAVE: As much as the whole Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive crossover ultimately left a bad taste in my mouth, it had some truly inspired chapters. With that in mind as well as the excellent Batman: No Man's Land crossover, I'm at least going to approach this big-ass crossover event with an open mind. Apparently has something to do with a gang war. (page 59) RANDY: You approach with an open mind, I will approach it with scorn and hate in my heart. The crossovers in the Bat-universe, whether it's the generally good No Man's Land or the generally dreadful Knightfall/Knightquest, always run too long and never ever justify the good stuff because of all the bad stuff as a result. Bill Willingham is writing some of this one, which would give me hope, but he's really the strongest link here, and even the impressive team of Brubaker and Rucka (among others) couldn't pull together Murderer/Fugitive to my satisfaction. All of that said, one of my favorite Amazing Spider-Man stories in the '80s was the Gang War story that pitted various colorful adversaries against each other for dominance of New York's crime trade... so I suppose this could, against all odds, pan out. But I wouldn't put money on it. Bill & Ted's Most Excellent Adventures Vol. 1 TPB (Amaze Ink/Slave Labor Graphics) - RANDY: There was a time when Evan Dorkin, king of snark and indie cool, wrote Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures for Marvel. I can't quite wrap my head around it, but it seems it's true, as Slave Labor is presenting these books as new trade paperback editions. I have a weird fondness for the Bill & Ted movies, but that's pretty much irrelevant, because I have a much greater fondness for Dorkin's smart and sinister wit, and I'm very, very curious to see what he does with these unusual icons of pop culture past. (page 214) DAVE: I once read a great Comics Journal interview with Dorkin where he discussed the unexpected pleasure of his Bill & Ted comics and it really whet my appetite to check 'em out. Easily the oddball pick of the month. Bone: The One Volume Edition TPB (Cartoon Books) - DAVE: This volume frightens me with its sheer physical presence. Put simply, it's a limited edition, 1300-page, can-be-used-to-thwart-muggers, KING-SIZED GRAPHIC NOVEL! Every issue of Bone ever...the whole megillah...in one single volume! On one hand, it almost seems a 1300-page graphic novel would have to be too cumbersome for reading, but I've just *got* to see this thing. And possibly own it. Only forty bucks! (page 248) RANDY: I own all of Bone in hardcover (or will, as soon as volume nine is published) and I'm still very, very tempted by this book. Not just because of the binding magic that I'd like to see for myself, not just because that price is phenomenally good, but because Bone was a terrific epic tale of fantasy, stronger in the early parts for sure but a good read throughout. If you haven't ever read Bone, then you really should order this trade... you can't possibly get a better deal on the books than this. Comics Journal #262 (Fantagraphics) - DAVE: For the last few years, The Comics Journal has drifted too far from the mainstream for my tastes, but during much of the '90s I was a regular follower. Bar none, it had the best interviews, news, and analyses in comics journalism, and as I see that it's getting a revamp in format as of this issue, I'm absolutely going to give it another look. Also features a sure-to-be-excellent look at the works of Alex Toth, one of the most influential artists ever to grace the medium. (page 298) The Cosmic Guard #1 (Devil's Due Publishing) - DAVE: More cosmic hoo-ha from Jim Starlin, this time outside the Marvel Universe. Not my thing, but Starlin fans will probably want to give it a look. I forget the specifics. Something to do with space. (page 264) Cyclone Bill and the Tall Tales #1 (Moonstone) - DAVE: Kudos on the innovative premise: murder and mystery surrounding the death of a rocker while a documentary is being filmed surrounding his band. These are the kind of cool plots where you just hope the follow-through lives up to 'em. (page 322) Daisy Kutter #1 (Viper Comics) - DAVE: The quite stylish cover art for this book caught my eye, and on looking at the mini-site for it, my curiosity was even more piqued. It's about a lady gunslinger living in a futuristic Western setting and trying to start a new life with her own general store. Apparently it takes inspiration from Cowboy Bebop and the works of anime god Hayao Miyazaki, and that's never a bad thing. Check out the preview page and be sure to pre-order it if it looks to be up your alley - this is the kind of book retailers pass over all the time if customers don't pipe up in advance. (page 364) RANDY: Viper Comics's Dead@17 has become something of a sleeper hit, and it was underordered by retailers, so heed Dave's warning if this kind of thing sounds up your alley. I wasn't crazy about Dead@17, but Daisy Kutter looks much more like the kind of thing I'd enjoy, and the art is indeed very impressive. Deep Sleeper (Image Comics) - RANDY: Let me go on record that I am fully willing to kiss on the lips whomever is responsible for Image publishing the rest of this series rather than letting it languish after a departure from Oni. And no, that's not a threat, just a way to indicate how much I loved the first two issues of this conspiracy/horror tale and how glad I am to see it completed. If you picked it up from Oni, the wait is over, issues three and four are coming. If you didn't, the omnibus printed by Image this month contains the first two issues. This is one of the best miniseries you'll read in all of 2004, and if you thought Phil Hester was a kickass penciller (and if you don't, you must be at least mildly retarded) then you should see how he writes. (page 136) DAVE: My man Lander here ain't smokin' the wacky weed on this one, folks. Deep Sleeper got off to a great start and had me absolutely itchin' to know what happens next. Seek. SEEK! Doctor Spectrum #1 (Marvel Comics/MAX) - RANDY: It's not often that a spin-off miniseries can kill my interest in the main book, but Doctor Spectrum has dealt a pretty serious blow to the credibility of Supreme Power. The big selling points of Supreme Power, like previous Straczynski projects Rising Stars and Midnight Nation, is that it's one big story, and spinning off to tell another story, especially when the whole thing isn't already finished and Straczynski isn't the writer, is simply diluting the concept. Did we learn nothing from Rising Stars: Bright, people? (page M53) DAVE: I'm right there with you. Too early for spin-offs, period. Don Bluth's The Art of Storyboard TPB (Dark Horse) - DAVE: This is part of the launch of Dark Horse's line of prose novels, and as a fan of Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH and his video games like Space Ace and Dragon's Lair, I have some solid interest. This literally looks to be an instructional book on storyboarding for animation, with many a reprint of Bluth's own storyboards, including color entries. Animation geeks should check it out, as should fans of animation-style art in general. (page 24) Essential Iron Fist Vol. 1 TPB (Marvel Comics) - DAVE: I know Iron Fist was one of those books that Chris Claremont cut his teeth on when he was starting to hit the big time, so I'm pretty curious to check this out. The artistic line-up: John Byrne, Gil Kane, and Larry "He drew the cool silent issue of G.I. Joe" Hama. (page M71) RANDY: I'm mildly, mildly curious about this. But if they start putting out some Essential Power Man & Iron Fist? Oh, yeah, brother, count me in! DAVE: I honestly don't know if that series deserves an Essential collection, but at the bare minimum is deserves a few "best of" trades. RANDY: Deserves? Deserves? Sweet Christmas, Dave, it's like I don't even know you any more! C'mon, Power Man and Iron Fist deserves an Essential collection as much as Ant-Man or Marvel Team-Up, at the very least! Fallen Angel #14 (DC Comics) - DAVE: I've been a big fan of this book from the get-go, and this story, featuring all the cast members involved in a barroom mystery, sounds like a really cool standalone. Vertigo and indie fans should really try this book out. It's pulp supernatural adventure with wit and bite to spare! (page 80) RANDY: It also seems worth noting that this issue sees the debut of a new cover artist, Phil Bond. While Brian Stelfreeze is a great cover artist, his work on this series might not have been the most commercial thing in the world. Bond's first cover really caught my eye, though, and I suspect it will do the same for readers. If you're one of the retailers who reads this column... why not add a couple extra copies of Fallen Angel #14 to this month's order, and push the standalone story on customers? The book deserves a few more eyeballs on it. The Goon #8 (Dark Horse) - RANDY: How do I love The Goon? Let me count the ways! Better yet, let me read from what may be the best solicitation written in many moons: "Vampires. What have they become? Effeminate fang-bearing prissy types wearing billowy shirts and velvet suits that would embarrass a gay pirate. Mostly the Goon just straps them to the hood of his car and sets them on fire." If they gave an Eisner for writing solicitations, this would win it. They do give Eisners for Best Single Issue, Best Humor Publication and Best Writer/Artist, all of which The Goon is up for. If you want to find out why, you could do worse than checking out this issue, or one of the trades. (page 32) DAVE: God DAMN is that a great solicit! Green Arrow: Archer's Quest TPB (DC Comics) - RANDY: After a gangbusters start, I became a little disenchanted with Brad Meltzer's "Archer's Quest" storyline in Green Arrow. However, enough good moments, a great follow-up from Judd Winick that builds on the event of the story and mostly the amazing Hester/Parks artwork is enough to get me to pick up this softcover collection of Meltzer's run. (page 82) DAVE: I wasn't a big fan of Meltzer's run and I've soured on Winick's run, but I do loves me some Phil Hester Green Arrow art. I think I'm going to pass on this one, but it's a hard choice. Hard Boiled TPB (Dark Horse) - DAVE: Frank Miller's tale of a futuristic, homicidal tax collector is coming back into print. I've never read it, but I know Geof Darrow's insanely meticulous art is lovely to look at. Any thoughts, Randy? (page 29) RANDY: Beautiful, beautiful artwork. Don't remember much of the story, other than that it gave me a few chuckles but seemed notably lesser than Miller's Sin City or 300. Goofy fun, but most notable for Darrow's spectacular artwork. Hawaiian Dick: The Last Resort #1 (Image Comics) - RANDY: I know B. Clay Moore has heard this before, but once more for the cheap seats: Jesus Christ, this book is late! Still, better that the whole thing wait and the first issue be late than the first issue come out and we wait a year or two before we see the next issue (Warren Ellis, I'm looking at you.) At any rate, I'm not as hyped for the Hawaiian Dick as I was right after the first story ended, but I'm sure that once it hits, I'll once again dig Moore and Griffin's unusual blend of Hawaiian culture and noir private eye stories. (page 140) DAVE: Pretty much in agreement here. Great first mini, but books like this really, really, really need to work on maintaining their momentum in this harsh comic book market. Fans are fickle and impatient, and if a series has some buzz (as Hawaiian Dick did), it's a real shame when it can't capitalize on it with follow-ups. Like you, Randy, I do fully expect to enjoy it when it hits. Humanoids (DC Comics/Humanoids) - DAVE: This marks the second month of DC's partnership with the European publisher, Humanoids, and I think the second batch of books is more interesting than the first. We've got the lush fantasy/adventure, Deicide, which I've actually read before as an import release; the gorgeously-illustrated space opera, The Metabarons; and the World War II supernatural intrigue of I Am Legion featuring art by John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men, Planetary). Pretty much spectacular visuals across the board, though I sometimes wonder at the European stories that seem to mix pretentiousness with almost Kirby-esque weirdness. Just a strange combination, but fans of Heavy Metal (back before it was mostly T&A) will want to give these a look. (page 109) RANDY: I have a fondness for some of Humanoids stuff, but I do question the decision to shrink all this stuff down to regular trade paperback size, when the oversized art was a big part of the selling point. Then again, trades are more approachable to the general market, and cheaper to boot, so maybe this decision isn't so mystifying after all... Invaders #1 (Marvel Comics) - RANDY: Building your new series on top of a foundation by Chuck Austen is kind of like building your multimillion dollar mansion on top of a rickety pile of pigshit. Both in terms of the quality of the foundation, and the future that your structure is likely to have. Which is my less-than-nice way of saying that although I might have had some interest in this modern-day take on the Invaders as an anti-terrorist strikeforce, reading their first appearance in the pages of Avengers has killed a lot of that interest, and Allan Jacobsen and C.P. Smith are going to have to work real hard to overcome that. (page M16) DAVE: I'm calling for an official moratorium on terrorist stories in comics. Pass the word. I want results on Monday. RANDY: C'mon, Dave, you know what the Bush administration would say to that: If we don't have comics about terrorists fighting gaudy superheroes, than the terrorists have already won. Or maybe that's Marvel's PR arm. I get confused when I've smoked this much weed. Invincible Vol. 3: Perfect Strangers TPB (Image Comics) - RANDY: Glad to see this book, which is earning all sorts of well-deserved buzz right now, getting such a quick third trade collection. These are the issues where the shit really hits the fan, and while I'm a little nervous about the future direction of the series as a result, I'm also just blown away by the sheer brass cojones on Robert Kirkman to mess with such a fascinating status quo. This book has cliffhangers that rival those of Brian Vaughan, not to mention a ton of wit and a fun approach to the superhero genre that is sadly lacking in much of the industry right now. And did I mention that Ryan Ottley, coming onboard to replace original artist Cory Walker, is turning in some phenomenal work? Those who are still wondering how Image is going to replace the prestige they lost when Powers left need look no further than Invincible, which is just as buzz-worthy and well-crafted and probably more interesting to the vast mainstream of comic-book readers. (page 142) DAVE: All superhero fans must read this series! I share Randy's trepidation over a few of its twists and turns, but Kirkman's made the fallout so damn interesting that I'm riveted! Lazarus Jack TPB (Dark Horse) - RANDY: Mark Ricketts is a fantastic writer who jumps genres with abandon, and Lazarus Jack will no doubt be another fascinating read. This time out, the material is dark sorcery and adventure with a touch of whimsy and a style that looks very pulp-ish, and the art by Horacio Domingues looks pretty impressive on the preview page. We don't get enough pulp adventure in comics these days, Lazarus Jack looks like something a little more in that direction. And speaking of pulp adventure... (page 30) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 2 TPB (DC Comics/Wildstorm) - DAVE: It's in softcover! Now poor folks like me can buy it! (page 108) The Legion: Foundations TPB (DC Comics) - RANDY: So for months now, I (and many other fans) have been bitching that there are no Legion trades to support the Abnett/Lanning run, especially none that would reprint hard-to-find (and expensive) stories like Legion Lost and Legion Worlds, which really serves as the foundation of their entire run. So what does DC do? Well, they finally give us a trade, two months after Abnett and Lanning have left to make way for a new relaunch. Bad timing aside, at least I can pick up these stories I missed and get a complete look at the Abnett/Lanning Legion, right? Nope, because this reprints the more recent (and far more easy to find) Foundations story instead of the earlier work. My guess is that Foundations somehow plays more strongly into the upcoming Waid/Kitson relaunch, but it's hard to properly couch my reaction to finally getting a Legion trade only to have it so badly miss the mark of what most of us wanted them for without relying on a lot of curse words. (page 90) DAVE: You'd think with the insane-o cult following of Legion, pretty much every Legion story could get a trade, but...ehh...I'm off the current stuff anyway, so it's no skin off my teeth that DC's effing up its reprints. Call me if they ever get around to trading the Giffen/Bierbaum run from the '90s... Locos: A Love & Rockets Book HC (Fantagraphics) - DAVE: Another mammoth tome in the Love & Rockets reprint series, this time focusing on two of the best known characters from the series, Maggie and Hopey. It's fifty bucks, but it's also 780 pages! Fans of literate, reality-based comics should almost certainly look into these. (page 298) Manhunter #1 (DC Comics) - RANDY: Marc Andreyko is a good writer who has mostly worked on concepts I either outright dislike (like Sam and Twitch), can't work up too much interest in (like Black Sun) or suffer from spectacular bad luck (two or maybe three spiked Blade series, always replaced with awful, awful Blade miniseries by someone else instead.) Maybe Manhunter is where lightning finally strikes for this talented writer, because this is a concept I can really get behind. The notion of a frustrated prosecuting attorney stepping outside the system to serve vigilante justice is like the flipside to the strong Daredevil concept, and Jesus Saiz and Jimmy Palmiotti served up some gorgeous artwork on the late, lamented 21 Down and should be just as good here. (page 91) DAVE: I think I'm in about the same boat as you here, and I especially like the idea that our heroine builds up her crime-fighting arsenal by raiding an evidence locker of confiscated metahuman weapons. I hope she gets Kalibak's Beta-Club. RANDY: I hope she gets Granny Goodness's underwear. Oh, c'mon, you know those have got some magic properties! Majestic #1 (DC Comics) - DAVE: As if there aren't enough cut-rate Superman analogs roaming around outside the DC Universe, now DC's making Majestic a regular player in the DC Universe. In the words of Seaguy's Chubby Da Choona: "DA FUG!" Marvel 1602 Vol. 1 HC (Marvel Comics) - DAVE: I flip-flopped almost on an issue-to-issue basis as to whether I'd buy this series when it came out in hardcover. I loved the swashbuckler tone it achieved at times, echoing Marvel in the '60s, but felt it became bogged down on occasion and ended on a mediocre note. Still...nice art throughout, a "What If?" concept I enjoyed, and my general fondness for Marvel's hardcovers will probably see me plunking down my twenty-five bucks. I hope Marvel throws in some bonus material. (page M57) Marvel Knights 4 Vol. 1: Wolf at the Door TPB (Marvel Comics/Marvel Knights) - DAVE: I was as ready as everyone else to react badly to these character-centric stories, originally slated to follow-up Mark Waid's run when he was briefly fired, but I ended up largely won over by them. Of course Steve McNiven's art has been phenomenal, but Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's stories have also had a lot of heart to 'em. There are some fair criticisms against it, but by and large, it's a good, down-to-earth companion book to Waid's FF. (page M69) New X-Men Vol. 3 HC (Marvel Comics) - RANDY: Two of the three stories reprinted in this volume are probably the weakest New X-Men stories in the whole run, and the third is the flawed "Planet X" tale. Artwork is by Chris Bachalo, Phil Jimenez and Marc Silvestri, none of whom live up to the art standards set by Frank Quitely or Igor Kordey and only one of which isn't completely mismatched for the material entirely. That said, you can be damn sure I'm buying it, because New X-Men comprises one big story, and while it's not as perfect as I would like in terms of finishes, it's probably the best X-Men story done since Claremont left the books, and one of the shining stars that briefly convinced me that Marvel was great once again. (page M61) DAVE: Also disappointed with the tail-end of Morrison's run, but I'll also be buying this to round it out. I'm actually looking forward to re-reading the whole run from beginning to end, hoping against hope that final arc will make sense when I do... RANDY: Um... I don't want to disappoint you or anything, Dave, but I'll be real surprised if that last arc makes any sense to anyone but Grant Morrison, and I bet even he isn't keen on specifics. Ojo #1 (Oni Press) - RANDY: I have loved probably 90% of Oni Press's output, and I'm a big fan of Sam Kieth, so I'm pretty excited about Ojo, which sounds like a typically weird Keith project. To wit, a girl who can't seem to keep her pets alive finds a pet monster... and hilarity ensues. Or maybe just weirdness. At any rate, I'm looking forward to seeing what Sam Kieth can do in black and white, and I think that Kieth and Oni is going to turn out to be a match made in heaven. In a Previews month where I felt like blowing my brains out with most of the pages that I flipped, this was one of those big bright spots. (page 326) DAVE: I like Kieth too, and a tale of trouble with pets sounds right up my alley. Y'know, retailers should really push Kieth's stuff on the girls and young women who're helping make manga such a phenomenon of late. Kieth always has strong female characters, good insights into teen angst, and, of course, there's that great artwork. Pink Sketchbook Vol. 1: Grrr! TPB (Adhouse Books) - RANDY: Is ten dollars for 32 pages an insane price tag? Well, yeah, although it's fairly typical of these sketchbook type thingies at Cons. Will I be ordering it anyway? You're damn skippy I will. I've seen enough of Morse's sketches to know that they're worth a large amount of dinero, and I've seen a color piece from this particular sketchbook that sealed the deal. Throw in that Adhouse has one of the best senses of design in comics (I even keep their press kits, that's how good these guys are at design) and you've got $10 burning a hole in my wallet come August. Make sure and order this one from your retailer, there won't be any restock and most of them probably won't order it. They'll be too busy sating your demand for Rob Liefeld comics. Christ. What the hell is wrong with you kids these days? (Warning: This is your first indication that this Down the Line is taking a turn for the mean. We're soon approaching the "on hiatus" Runaways and the inexplicable return of X-Force. Stay tuned, I might burst a blood vessel.) (page 204) DAVE: I'm slowly backing away from you...but the sketchbook sounds pretty cool. Morse rocks. Punisher MAX Vol. 1: In The Beginning TPB (Marvel Comics/MAX) - DAVE: The "mature readers" Punisher has been a pretty entertaining ride so far, but like so many Punisher stories, it's ultimately even more hollow than most superhero books. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon if you're in the mood for a bit of the ultra-violence though. (page M67) Queen & Country Vol. 6: Operation: Dandelion TPB (Oni Press) - RANDY: Once again, an Oni Press series, through a variety of bad timing elements, doesn't get the reviews it deserves from me. I only covered a couple issues of this very political, very diplomatic story of Queen & Country, which is too bad, because it's probably my favorite story since the sex/industrial espionage tale of Operation: Blackwall. Mike Hawthorne turns in some fantastic artwork and Rucka makes the machinations of politics absolutely riveting. I'd love it if the industry was such that he could do more of this type of stuff and less superheroes, because he's so much better with the more realistic material. But too many folks won't buy anything without a cape in it. Seriously, what is wrong with you kids these days? (page 326) DAVE: Video games, man. Anyway, I'm really, really looking forward to this trade. I loved the first two issues of the arc it reprints, but I decided to move strictly to trades on the book midway through it. It's a fantastic series that everyone and their cousins should be reading. Runaways #18 (Marvel Comics) - RANDY: From my capsules two weeks ago: "If we don't support Runaways, folks, then we just don't deserve books this good, and we should resign ourselves to a dozen or so X-clones and mediocre writing, because it's what we will have earned." Well, enjoy your shit sandwich of new Chuck Austen books and more X-books, folks, because this is the final issue of Runaways. Oh, I'm sure Vaughan will bring things to a satisfying conclusion, and the book always seemed like one that should have had a limited run, but I was thinking more like three years instead of one and a half. And you can forget all that hiatus shit. Even if it doesn't mean what it usually means (polite euphemism for "cancelled"), the rumors are that if the kids do return, they'll be joining Academy X, which misses the point so badly it makes me want to weep. Or maybe strangle everyone who bought Uncanny X-Men instead of Runaways. Yeah, that second thing. (page M45) DAVE: ... (backs even farther away) Actually, I hear ya. The best new series from Marvel in years and it's cancelled even as Emma Frost presses onward. There's something colossally fucked-up about that. I've a touch more faith than you do, though, that Vaughan will be able to work some magic with this turn of events. Apparently the trade did brisk business, and I just wish Marvel had used that as a foundation on which to promote the existing series rather than, y'know...cancel it. Scandalous GN (Oni Press) - RANDY: J. Torres and Scott Chantler, who told the enchanting story of a fictional '50s girl group in Days Like This, return with another look a showbiz faux history with Scandalous, a tale of '50s Hollywood and gossip columnists that sounds more like L.A. Confidential than That Thing You Do! It's a match-up of a press columnist who is mouthing the draconian party line of a screwed-up government against a rumormonger who speaks his mind and wants to shake things up. And if that doesn't seem particularly relevant to what's going on in modern society, well, I hope you enjoy your vote for Bush/Cheney in 2004. (page 326) DAVE: I like this premise and the preview art's even got a cool ‘50s vibe to it. Secret Skull #1 (IDW) - DAVE: I've said before that I'm not much of a Steve Niles fan - and I'm still *not* - but this book has a fun premise nevertheless. It's a pulp homage featuring a skull-faced killer...who only kills bad people! Okay, it's not a GREAT premise, but I'd be pretty happy if someone could just bring some old-school, eye-for-an-eye pulp fun to comics outside the realm of superheroes. Last time I saw it done well was in the late '80s, Tarantino-esque (yet pre-Tarantino) Shadow series by Andrew Helfer, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Kyle Baker. Man was that a good series! (page 315) Six OGN (Image Comics) - RANDY: Michael Avon Oeming, he of Powers and Hammer of the Gods and Bastard Samurai fame, teams with co-writer Dan Berman and co-artist Ethen Beavers for what sounds like truly trippy science-fiction. Six is an agent who is "taking a trip through the human psyche" to find alien agents like himself who have gone native and gone crazy after interacting with humanity's dream logic and emotions. It sounds like the kind of thing Grant Morrison would come up with, and it's got a stirring promo image courtesy of Oeming. (page 149) DAVE: Oeming as a writer isn't much up my alley, but I'm struck by how the Six premise sounds like something from another artist-cum-writer - Phil Hester. I'm just more drawn to Hester's writing than Oeming's. Star Wars: Panel to Panel TPB (Dark Horse) - DAVE: It's so strange that I have a touch of Star Wars hype lately, but the Clone Wars cartoon and especially the Dark Horse Star Wars comics have managed to impressively counteract George Lucas's failings. This latest from Dark Horse is a 192-page collection of the best Star Wars-related art they've produced, and just looking the preview, it's some goooood stuff. Adam Hughes, Dave Dorman, Cam Kennedy...this is gonna look nice. (page 40) Students of the Unusual #1 (3 Boys Productions) - DAVE: Kind of a wild card title here, but it looks interesting. Sporting a Charles Burns-esque cover, it describes itself as a horror anthology "aimed at not only scaring or twisting the reader but also educating them about arcane and often obscure facts and legends." Could be fun. (page 336) Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told TPB (DC Comics) - DAVE: I own the original printing of this collection, and I remember well my reaction on first reading it: "How the HELL did Superman become the ultimate superhero icon with stories this wretched?!" I've actually got a fondness for some Golden and Silver Age comics, but not most of these! The collection was rescued somewhat by an issue from Byrne's run, a crossover with Kirby's Fourth World series, and Alan Moore's brilliant "For the Man Who Has Everything." Well, it looks like Moore's story has been cut (it's reprinted elsewhere) but some other notables have been added, including Joe Kelly's "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?" and the Mike Mignola-drawn "Return to Krypton." Might end up a pretty decent balance, but man, brace yourself when you're reading the early stuff. It can break a man. (page 74) Sylvia Faust #1 (Image Comics) - RANDY: Jason Henderson, like myself, lives in Austin, Texas. I mention this not because I know him (in fact, I've only met him once, briefly) but because his setting for Sylvia Faust draws such obvious inspiration from local theatre/bar/restaurant the Alamo Drafthouse that it's automatically hooked me, because I know the nature of the Drafthouse and it's indie movie cool and it seems like an ideal setting for a strange magic type story. Sounds like this will combine horror weirdness and geek movie cred, which is nifty enough, but when you throw in artwork by Greg Scott, in full color, well, you've definitely got my attention. (page 153) DAVE: Man, that does sound potentially cool – and I was just at the Alamo Drafthouse the other day! I love the cover by Scott, too, whose work is becoming more impressive with each successive project. Tales from the Bully Pulpit (Image Comics) - RANDY: I do seem to be on something of a weird high-concept kick this month, don't I? Well, screw it, I guess that's where my head is at, and Tales of the Bully Pulpit sells me just on the concept alone: Teddy Roosevelt and the ghost of Thomas Edison time traveling and having adventures. Tell me that doesn't sound like fun. (page 154) DAVE: All right, Randy: "That doesn't sound like..." No...wait...yes it does! The Terminator: Rewired GN (IBooks) - RANDY: The Terminator concept doesn't really hold a lot of interest for me these days... I'm kind of full, given that I've got the three movies on DVD and I've read plenty of the Terminator stories in the past. However, this trade does catch my attention, as it features notable names like James Robinson, Matt Wagner and Guy Davis. Dave, explain to the folks at home how underrated Guy Davis is, and how cool the notion of him illustrating the Terminator could be. (page 310) DAVE: Man, Davis is da fuggin' MAN. Anyone who's ever read Sandman Mystery Theatre (or his currently-running B.P.R.D. - A Plague of Frogs) knows this. The dude can do no wrong with his detailed, weather-beaten style, and I'm just hoping we get to see his image of the apocalyptic Terminator future. Hey, and that Matt Wagner's no slouch either. Texarkana GN (Mad Yak Press) - RANDY: Not much to say about this one, just that I loved Patrick Neighly's Subatomic graphic novel, and his work with artist Donny Hadiwidjaja on Black-Eyed Susan was quite a bit of fun as well. So another graphic novel, this time blending Southwestern influences with Asian ones into a futuristic tale of conspiracy and suspense sounds pretty good to me. (page 320) Tommysaurus Rex (Image Comics) - DAVE: Doug Tennapel, creator of Earthworm Jim and the original graphic novel, Creature Tech, knows how to bring the weird. Case in point: Tommysaurus Rex tells the story of a kid who, while trying to cope with the death of his dog, finds a live, 40-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex trapped in a cave behind his grandfather's house. I frickin' love this guy's art, which isn't dissimilar to the art of Calvin & Hobbes' Bill Waterson, and his idiosyncratic writing goes down pretty well for me too. I think folks should check this out. Sample page here. (page 156) RANDY: We're in agreement here. I found Creature Tech to be a lot of fun, so much so that the borderline crazy evangelical Christian leanings of the material didn't even register with me. Ultimate Nightmare #1 (Marvel Comics) - RANDY: In his recent newsletter, Ellis called this his "Year of Whoredom." Sign of the '90s Return #1: Ellis writing primarily for Marvel's superhero comics. I'm unsurprised that conspiracy/weirdness fiend Ellis is writing a tale that centers around the Tunguska blast, but kind of shocked that Ellis is making a return to Marvel for two books, both of which are pure superhero. Still, I don't blame him for subverting the principles he espoused so loudly for many years; I blame the fans for not supporting more esoteric work, and all of the folks who just about wet themselves because Ellis was returning to Marvel and could do some real comics now, instead of those crazy weird ones that were all his own ideas and didn't feature any characters that had been around for 40-odd years. (page M4) DAVE: It's all true. Message boards have been abuzz with word of Ellis and Brubaker doing more superhero work and Bendis continuing to immerse himself in it, and all I can think is that it's such a colossal waste of their respective talents. I hate that having a former indie/"mature readers" writer working a high profile superhero book is seen as something to be cheered on and hoped for. I know this is a great paycheck for 'em – seriously, they deserve it – but support 'em when they do their own thing, dammit! Ultimate X-Men #50 (Marvel Comics) - RANDY: Sign of the '90s Return #2: The returning popularity of kewl characters like Venom, Carnage and Gambit. Yes, because you demanded it (and if you did, will you please shut the hell up with demanding things already?), it's the return of Gambit to the pages of Ultimate X-Men! Sure, he's written by the talented Brian Vaughan instead of Chuck Austen this time, but he's still one of the stupider characters in comics. Much as Carnage coming to Ultimate Spider-Man spiked my interest in that book, Gambit returning to Ultimate X-Men killed my interest in this one. Or at least, it would have, if Ultimate Mr. Frikkin' Sinister hadn't shown up in the current issue. Having Ultimate Mr. Sinister is as ridiculous as introducing Ultimate... you know, I'm trying to come up with something more ridiculous, but I keep coming back to Ultimate Mr. Sinister as a point of comparison. Jesus, Marvel has been smart about keeping the expansion of Ultimate titles slow, but that hasn't stopped them from flooding the Ultimate universe with every third-rate crappy '90s character as fast as they could, which is just as bad if not worse. (page M1) DAVE: Word, bro. Ultra #1 (Image Comics) - RANDY: The original concept of Powers as I understood it, before I knew it was a cop book, was viewing superheroes as celebrities, complete with all the vacuous pop culture that entails. I loved what we got, but I always wondered what Powers might have looked like if my initial impressions of "E! presents superhero fiction" were correct. Ultra might answer that question, and while both of these creators are no-names now, so were Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Avon Oeming at one time. Cautiously optimistic about this one. (page 158) DAVE: And I'm just burned out on new superhero creations, period, so I can't work up any interest. Why I Hate Saturn SC (DC Comics/Vertigo) - RANDY: Probably Kyle Baker's best work, or at least neck-and-neck with the hilarious Cowboy Wally show, I'm glad to see this slice-of-life tale with a wicked sense of humor coming back into print. I'm happy for you poor suckers who don't already have it, I mean. I bought this years ago, and I could go reread it tonight. Trust me that this is your chance to be in the same position, and you should really take it. (page 122) DAVE: Message received. That's right, I still have never read any Kyle Baker work. But you've never seen the movie The Warriors, Randy, so don't get holier-than-thou on me. RANDY: Yeah, but I know what The Warriors is about... I can even quote one of the famous lines. All you know is that Kyle Baker is the guy doing Plastic Man... what? You got something to say? Bring it! DAVE: Oh, maybe you just "accidentally" missed it earlier when I championed his work on DC's The Shadow revamp in the '80s? Oh snap! Someone just got served! Wildcats/Cyberforce: Killer Instinct TPB (DC Comics/Wildstorm) - RANDY: Sign of the '90s Return #3: Joe Casey's smart, sophisticated Wildcats 3.0 can't find enough of an audience to earn a planned ending, much less a complete collection in trades, but Wildstorm will no doubt find sales success with this horribly-written crossover of X-Men rip-offs Wildcats and Cyberforce meeting for the first time. I don't blame the publisher, because this is a pretty sure money-making bet, given how many folks jizzed themselves over the return of Jim Lee and Marc Silvestri to company-owned superheroes. I blame the fanboys who make this a hit and in so doing doom much more interesting work to cancellation. I know I'm being a little more judgmental than usual this month, but what the hell is wrong with you kids today? (page 107) DAVE: C'mon, Randy, it's a return to super to the DEATH-BLOOD-EXTRYME days! Red-smoking-hot! Sixteen variant holofoil die-cut covers! Comes with polybagged pubic hair from Jim Lee and Marc Silvestri! Writers on Comics Scriptwriting Volume 2 TP (Titan Books) - RANDY: The first volume of this book, released several years ago, was a terrific series of interviews with a variety of big name writers. More than just the usual puff pieces we tend to get, it actually explored the process of writing and the specifics of each writer's career. I'm a little worried that the name of Mark Salisbury, who did all the interviews for the first volume, is replaced by Tom Root and Andrew Kardon, but if these two can maintain the same style Salisbury had while talking to writers like Bendis, Millar, Mignola, Geoff Johns and Rucka, this will be one hell of a read for those who like to consider the craft of comics as well as the finished product. (page 393) X-Force #1 (Marvel Comics) - RANDY: For the rest of you, there's X-Force. Well, in theory, although we all know that Rob Liefeld hasn't finished a project that he started in... well, ever. So more than likely, we'll see one or two issues of this book before someone else more talented and oddly less popular jumps in to finish it. At any rate, if this project, with its horrible characters and horrendous artwork holds some appeal to you, I'm afraid that you deserve what you get, and I don't have the energy left to explain why the return of X-Force is Sign of the '90s Return #4, and perhaps one of the more egregious signs. You deserve what you get. I just don't know what the rest of us did to deserve it. (page M25) DAVE: KHAAAAAAANNNN!!! X-Men: Days of Future Past TPB (Marvel Comics) - DAVE: How can there be so many X-titles, yet the best representation of the series ever – the Claremont/Byrne run – still gets treated like some redheaded stepchild? Don't get me wrong, I'm sorta happy to see the seminal "Days of Future Past" story back in print along with a few other issues from its era, but could we please stop pussyfooting around and just reprint Claremont and Byrne's ENTIRE RUN?! These stories didn't exist in a vacuum, Marvel. They were all part of a tapestry that included Claremont's infamously long-running subplots, and the smartest thing you could possibly do would be to simply put them ALL in print over a SERIES of trades. Maybe I can even help: you reprint issues 108 through 143. Simple! Better yet, reprint the "all-new, all-different X-Men's" entire Golden Age, issues 94 through 200. You've done right by reprints of Simonson's Thor and Byrne's Fantastic Four, so howsabout doing the same for your most successful franchise ever? (page M60) RANDY: I'd agree with you, but the tail end of this column has broken my spirit. Instead I'll just feebly whimper "Damn you, Marvel!" once for more effect. X-Men: The End Book One: Dreamers & Demons #1-2 (Marvel Comics) - RANDY: Oddly, I have some interest in X-Men: The End, despite the fact that only The End one-shots have been good. Three six-issue miniseries seems just far too big for this story, but that will give Claremont room to use all the words in the dictionary in his overfilled dialogue balloons, and Lord knows that X-cess in terms of titles and length of miniseries if a veritable tradition in the hallowed X-book halls. On a slightly less snarky note, the preview pages of X-Men: The End here are pretty solid, with some nice work by Sean Chen, inclusion of some '90s continuity elements that didn't cause too much of a groan and four cool Marvel alien races showing up. I don't think I can bring myself to hope for great, or even good, but this over-long "Elseworlds" style ending of the X-Men does give me reason to hope for occasionally fun, at least. (page M24) DAVE: I cringed more than a little as a spotted some Joss Whedon-isms in the preview's narration, but overall this does look potentially fun. I like that Claremont's old-school enough to remember a time when the X-Men were larger-than-life and had a history of intergalactic adventures – you know, before Hollywood's influence cowed the series' imagination. But here's Chris giving us a finale that opens with scenes featuring the Brood, the Kree, the Shi'ar...fun possibilities indeed, and Chen's art looks good. I almost wish Claremont had a co-writer, though, to curtail his prose excesses and quirks. X-Ray Comics Vol. 1: Filth TPB (Amaze Ink/Slave Labor Graphics) - RANDY: Though these guys are known for Little Gloomy, I was a much bigger fan of X-Ray Comics, which has the same sort of weird, funny sensibilities as books like The Goon and Scurvy Dogs. These were some of the earliest indie comics I reviewed (although those reviews are just horribly written, and will thus never be reproduced on this site) and I loved the book at the time. Very surprised, and very glad, to see it coming back into print as a trade. (page 215) Youngblood (Arcade Comics) - RANDY: If you're going to buy X-Force, you might as well throw your money away on these unfinished Liefeld gems as well, finally available after being on sale for a year at conventions and from unlucky comics retailers who bought direct. There are two covers for Bloodsport, three covers for Genesis and, for you true masochists, "maximum editions" of Bloodsport featuring two other Liefeld covers and a Rob Liefeld sketchbook with two covers. That's nine covers for three books, one of which is a sketchbook and none of which will ever see a second issue. Don't forget to save some money for the shotgun and shells you'll want to blow your own head off when you realize how much money you've wasted! (page 222) DAVE: I cannot possibly top that rant. Save us, Mark Hamill! Email Randy Lander and Dave Farabee comments about this review.