Showing posts with label comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comics. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

This Week In Comics - January 14th

May the Force be with you!

It's January 14th and you know what that means!  Star Wars #1 from Marvel is finally here and it looks amazing.  Written perfectly by Jason Aaron and drawn beautifully by John Cassiday, I can say that this book reads like a continuation of the original film.  There doesn't seem to be a focus on any one of the core group, which is exactly what's needed from this book.  Make sure you come in to pick this book up!  Visit our site for what's going on today!


That's how they're referencing them?

So there may be extremely minor spoilers in this one, but only very minor.  In the newest issue of Spider-verse we get references to Turn Off the Dark, Electric Company and both movie versions of Spider-Man.  For Turn Off the Dark and Electric Company Spideys the references are spot on and funny.  As far as the movie versions, they are pretty spot on and funny, but there are so many other funnier references to be had with them. Ugly crying, disco dancer for Toby Maguire anyone?  Here's the link to a quick article about it.

Stay Classy Denizens!
Zach

Zach "Erik" Burruby
Comics Manager
Dragon's Den

Thursday, March 1, 2012

This Week in Comics





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New 52 Wave Two
The Second Wave of DC's New 52 starts in May. Take a peek now.
Don' forget:

Pre-ordering is the best way to guarantee you get your comics!

Pre-orders for product shipping in May are due by Tuesday, March 20th

EARTH TWO #1
by James Robinson and Nicola Scott

The multiverse returns! James Robinson, who wrote the classic JSA story THE GOLDEN AGE, gets his hands on Earth-2, home of Jay Garrick, Alan Scott and (possibly) other Justice Society characters. Not a lot of information out there about this one, yet, but I imagine we'll hear more soon. Given all the changes made to the "main" Earth of The New 52, it's hard to say what'll have changed on Earth Two. We'll find out in May.
Comixology Link
®, ™ and © 2012 DC Comics. All rights reserved.
GI COMBAT #1
by JT Krul, Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and more.

This looks like a MUCH stronger attempt at a war book than either Blackhawks or Men at War.  Smart move on DC's part, using one of their "old" war titles to give this genre another chance. I have to tell you, I'm curious to see what Palmiotti and Gray do with the UNKNOWN SOLDIER. I think this is going to do much better than either of the aforementioned titles did last fall.
Comixology Link

®, ™ and © 2012 DC Comics. All rights reserved.
BATMAN, INC #1
by Grant Morrisson and Chris Burnham


The end of Morrisson's Batman run is nigh; With the identity of Leviathan now revelaled, the last act of this years-long story kicks into gear. I don't know how long this book will go for, but it's Grant doing his thing. The Batman graphic novels are our best sellers, and besides the classic Bat-books (YEAR ONE, LONG HALLOWEEN, DKR), the Grant Morrisson volumes are our fastest movers. If you read BATMAN, INC before the New 52, this is merely a continuation of that series and the one-shot BATMAN: LEVIATHAN that came out a month or two back. Time to jump back into the madness, Morrison is back.
Comixology Link

®, ™ and © 2012 DC Comics. All rights reserved.
WORLD'S FINEST #1
by Paul Levitz, George Perez & others


Huntress and Power Girl are stuck on our Earth, and want to go home. This is an interesting idea: re-using one of DC's better-known titles (and catchphrases) and assigning it to two female characters. The Huntress mini-series has done extraordinarily well here, but the pre-New 52 (ugh, hate typing that) Power Girl was a very poor seller. Given how much grief DC got last summer at San Diego about the lack of female characters and creators involved in the re-launch, I'm glad to see that they've honored two popular characters with their own book. WORLD'S FINEST looks like it's going to detail the adventures of two super-heroes trying to get back home. Levitz' writing on Huntress has been spot-on. I think this is going to be great.
Comixology Link

®, ™ and © 2012 DC Comics. All rights reserved.
DIAL H
by China Mievelle and Mateus Santolouco


It gives you power, but want to destroy the world. A device powerful enough to help you become a hero, but power always come at a price. Best selling novelist China Mievelle jumps into The New 52 with a dark story, told in the vein of ANIMAL MAN and SWAMP THING. This book looks like it'll be playing on the edges of the DCU, while telling great stories. Should be fun.
Comixology Link.

®, ™ and © 2012 DC Comics. All rights reserved.

RAVAGERS #1
by Howard Mackie and Ian Churchill.

GEN 13 Return- Wait, no I think I got that wrong.
Sorry folks, I saw Caitlin Fairchild busting out of her clothes on the cover, and had a "I want all 13 covers" flashback. (Points to anyone who knows what that one means.) Spinning out of SUPERBOY and "The Culling" storyline, Fairchild and a mix of new and old heroes are on the run, while trying to work together. It's like Teen Titans, but with a twist or three. Glad to see some more of my Wildstorm characters making a return.

Comixology Link
®, ™ and © 2012 DC Comics. All rights reserved.


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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Making Sense of Marvel

I grew up as a "Marvel Zombie". I always thought their characters and stories were superior to The Boy Scout (Superman) and his friends. The Avengers were cool, I thought. The X-men by Claremont were the best-sellers for -decades-, and everything else was big and fun and flashy and all that. Marvel rocked. DC = zzzzz.

But the last couple years have not been kind to Stan Lee's wunderkinds. Event fatigue, the $4 price point, Marvel editorial's reluctance to care much about continuity (the hallmark of great Marvel comics) and the feeling that not every comic matter... all these factors led to people walking away from Marvel comics.

To be blunt, I question whether the last couple years worth of Marvel comics have held up, quality-wise. It feels to me that Marvel's last great story was Civil War. I think most of you will agree that CW was a great mini-series, but the follow-ups have not been nearly as strong. Secret Invasion was too long (and felt like a series of boring fights in The Savage Land), Dark Reign was, well, Dark and Siege was.. honestly, I don't even remember what happened in it. The Spider-Man One Last Day story is still loathed by many readers (not all good press is bad press, Marvel) and then there's Fear Itself which just wrapped up.

I promoted Fear Itself pretty heavily in the months leading up to it's launch. I did a 1-on-1 phone interview with Matt Fraction about the series, put up signs, mentioned it to customers, and when the book shipped I was... underwhelemed. It was good, mind you, but it wasn't GREAT.

And maybe my expectations are high (tell me if they are), but if you or I are spending $4 on a comic, it better be GREAT. Money doesn't go as far as it used to, and every dollar counts. It's a different world, and comics are not a necessity. Gas, food and rent are. So, if I'm going to recommend a comic to someone, and it's $4, it'd better be worth every cent. I'm not certain that Fear Itself was worth the money. I hate saying that 'cause I love a lot of Fraction's (Hello, Casanova!) other works, but FI just didn't do it for me.

Now don't get me wrong, there's been other good stories since Civil War. The Annihilation stories were top-notch, World War Hulk and Planet Hulk were superb, and the long-form Death of Captain America story that Brubaker wrote in the Captain America book was fantastic.

But most of Marvel's recent output comes off as "ehh-" worthy. The only exception would be Uncanny X-force. While the recent Hulk and X-men relaunches have done very well, The Dark Angel Saga is, in my mind, the best story Marvel's published in years. The Avengers titles feel like a re-tread. Norman Osborn, again? Really? Seriously, let's give that guy a break already.

Before the holidays, Marvel cancelled a number of new mini-series, and also announced that they'd be double-shipping a lot of their best books in the spring. This is clearly a cash grab, leading to increased revenue, but it also has the potential to push people away from their comics. I have a number of customers who only come in once or twice a month to grab books off the wall. Imagine coming in, having $8-10 to spend on your favorite 3 titles, only to find that there's been 2-3 issues of each published while you were gone. $10? Try $20, easily. That's not fair to the consumer, but Marvel doesn't seem to care. That may sound harsh, but it's true.

So, where does Marvel go from here? Well, you're going to see a lot of your favorite books being double- and triple-published over the next year. Another Avengers book is on the way, in addition to the next Marvel event, Avengers v. X-Men. I think you're going to less mini-series being published, and that's something that's way over-due. Not because the books are bad, but because Marvel has been flooding the market.

In a way, I think Marvel owes DC. If it wasn't for the influx of new customers that The New 52 has created, I think Marvel's numbers would be even lower.

As always, you the customer, will vote with your dollar. Right now, your dollars are going to DC, not Marvel and your feedback to me supports that. In the end, Marvel's going to have to make some changes or face the new reality that DC is the #1 publisher in the Direct Market. Maybe that will make Marvel change.

'Nuff said.

S.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Dominance of DC

Four months after The New 52 crashed into comic stores, I'm still feeling the shock waves from DC's mega-successful re-launch. We did extraordinarily well in September and I don't foresee any time in the future when DC doesn't outsell Marvel in our store. I don't have access to 20+ years of sales data, but I feel pretty confident in saying that that has NEVER happened in the history of the Den. Not like this, not on this scale. The New 52 created new customers, and brought old customers back to the store. The New 52 was and is a success.

In addition to showing the power of targeted tv ads, The New 52 did a great job of re-invigorating their most popular characters. Neither Wonder Woman nor Superman & Action Comics were selling well, pre-launch. Post-launch, Wonder Woman and Action Comics are very strong sellers, Superman a little less so. I think that book will pick up when Dan "I Killed Superman" Jurgens returns to the book in a couple issues. In addition, the Bat books are selling strong. After Justice League, Batman by Scott Snyder is our best seller by a country mile. Snyder's pre-New 52 run on Detective was AWESOME (check out the hardcover of The Black Mirror that just came out) so this isn't a surprise. In terms of returning their main heroes to critical and commercial acclaim, DC succeeded.

The surprise break-out hits have been the Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Demon Knights and (to my surprise) Deathstroke. They're well-written, well-drawn and have a lot of buzz behind them. If they had been launched by themselves at any point within the last 5 years, I don't think they would've lasted long.

Not all of the New 52 are successes, though. Captain Atom, Mister Terrific, Men at War and a couple others are struggling. I don't know that having Blackhawks and Men at War was really necessary. Two war-themed books was overkill in a market that hasn't successfully sold war-based comics in decades (outside of GI Joe). I'm not entirely certain that all of The New 52 will make it past the 9 issue mark. I'm hoping they've got some new books being prepared. A lot of Stephanie Brown fans really want her back as Batgirl, so I've got my fingers crossed for that.

Some of the books have gotten better, too. I wasn't enthralled with New Guardians #1, but the 2nd, 3rd and 4th issues were MUCH better. Stormwatch #2 & #3 were an improvement, as was Resurrection Man. That said, I still think an extra month preparing for The New 52 would've given some of the creators a bit more time to put everything together.

When I reviewed all of The New 52 in September, one of my conclusions was that the books were very, very dark. They still are, and I' still wish they'd gone with a bit more variety. I think letting some of the books find their own voice instead of being editorially driven, would've been a good idea. But  they didn't ask me, the fools. :)

The other black mark I'm giving to DC is regarding pre-New 52 continuity. It's becoming more and more obvious that they have NO idea which stories from the last 50 years still count. A Facebook update on Dan Didio's page in October made the oblique comment that none of the Crises ever happened. Um, really? Going down that road already? I mean, I'm assuming Bane broke Batman's back, I'm hoping No Man's Land actually happened, and I'm praying that Gotham Central still counts for something. And if I find out that Starman by James Robinson didn't take place, I'm going to lose my mind.

On a smaller scale, DC isn't quite sure what to do with some of their other characters. I read an interview with JH Williams on Comic Book Resources, and found that DC doesn't know what they're doing with Renee Montoya, aka The Question. Given her popularity and prominence as one of the few lesbian super-heroes, you'd think that DC would know if her back-story still holds in The New 52. Apparently, noone's figured it out yet. That's pretty disappointing, if only because I could sell boatloads of a new Question series - especially if they got Greg Rucka to come back and write it.

So, continuity issues are a problem. The tone is still a little much for me. But I'm very impressed that all the trains are running on time. All of the New 52 have come out on time, except for Justice League #5, which is due to Jim Lee's wife having a baby over the holidays.

I'm not surprised that there's already been some creative changes. Ron Marz is off Voodoo, Gail Simone left Fury of Firestorm, George Perez is moving off of Superman, Ann Nocenti is taking over Green Arrow. and now it's been announced that Jim Lee won't be on Justice League #7 and #8. That's really disappointing. I mean, I'm happy Gene Ha is drawing #7, he's no slouch. But I honestly figured we'd get 9-12 issues from Jim Lee om Justice League. He may end up doing #9, but how many more will he get done after that? That's adowner

And yes, Voodoo is still my guilty pleasure. I'm still seething a bit at seeing my precious Wildstorm characters have their histories wiped away, but Voodoo is entertaining, so I'll live.

All in all, I think the New 52 has done a good job. There's a number of things they could've gone differently, but September was a success and created new customers. I can't complain about that.

As for the cancellation of Static Shock, Hawk & Dove, Blackhawks, Men at War, Mister Terrific & O.M.A.C... I'm disappointed, but not surprised. I think putting two war-themed books with the initial launch was a mistake. Mister Terrific was a good idea, but the first issue failed to execute properly. Hawk & Dove proved that Rob Liefeld still has fans, but not enough for an ongoing series to succeed. Losing Static Shock is a tremendous disappointment.

The replacements look stronger. An ongoing Earth 2 book by James Robinson harkens to his epic JSA 50's tale, The Golden Age. That, plus the Batman Inc series and World's Finest will more than make up for the loss of sales of the 6 cancelled books. As for Dial H, The Ravagers and G.I. Combat, I'm not sure how they're going to do. Another war book? Ehh... We'll see.

--

So what about Marvel? How did the Hulk and X-men re-launches do? How did Fear Itself end up? What's going on with X-Sanction, Avengers v. X-men & the Return of the Phoenix? Is the House of Ideas still cranking out greatness?

One word answer: Uhmmm... uhhh..

Okay, that was two.

To be continued tomorrow.

Be good.

Scott.


Monday, January 9, 2012

Looking Ahead - Feb/March 2012

Happy New Year!

I am as excited about comics in 2012 as I have been in awhile. The success of The New 52 is the gift that keeps on giving: We're starting to see sell-outs across the board, as we get more and more new customers. I'm fairly certain we're going to see some new announcements from DC within the next month or two, so keep your eyes peeled to teh interwebs for more info. In addition,  new works by Robert Kirkman, Nick Spencer, Ed Brubaker, and other fan-favorite creators have been announced, and it's only January.

On top of all that comic goodness, we've got movies for The Avengers, Batman, The Hobbit and more. The dwarves singing in The Hobbit trailer gives me goosebumps. I know it's easy to get down with all the economic news, gas prices and such, not to mention the fact that we're in an election year - I've barely recovered from the last one - but it's going to be a great year for comic fans.

Speaking of fan-favorite creators doing their own thing, let's start the year off with a bang. 


SAGA #1 
by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Comixology Link for Reservists

* Y The Last Man's BRIAN K. VAUGHAN returns to comics! We all know Y The Last Man, right? One of the best books of the 00's, it propelled it's creators into household names. While Vaughan went off to Hollywood to make the Big Green TV Dollars, he's kept his foot in the comic door, doing small projects here and there, and now he's back with his newest series, SAGA. Billed as Star Wars meets Game of Thrones, and the first issue is double-sized for only $2.99.


INFESTATION 2
by Duane Swierczynski and David Messina
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Zombies vs. the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Okay, I'm sold. The TMNT re-launch from IDW has done gangbusters and last year's Infestation cross-over was very popular. Now the zombies are back, and infiltrating the GI Joe, TMNT, D&D and Transformers universes. TURTLE POWER meets AUTOBOTS, TRANSFORM meets I CAST A FIREBALL meets YO JOE meets UGGGHHRHRH BRAINS.

Links to other parts of Infestation 2:

Infestation 2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Infestation 2 Transformers
Infestation 2 GI Joe
Infestation 2 Dungeons & Dragons
Infestation 2 Team Up














SUPURBIA #1
by Grace Randolph and Russell Dauterman
Comixology Link for Reservists
* I hate the Housewives franchises, but this just makes me laugh. Supurbia is the "behind-the-scenes... TMZ-fueled" story of what happens when the superheroes come home, take off the costumers, and sit down to eat a meal with the Mrs. and the kids. I expect this to be slightly raunchy, possibly inappropriate, and the Guilty Pleasure of All Guilty Pleasures. I will never admit to reading this in public, but you know it's going to happen.














BATMAN BEYOND UNLIMITED #1
by Adam Beechen, Derek Fridolfs, Dustin Nguyen and Norm Breyfogle
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Terry McGuinnes returns! Batman Beyond was one of the casualties of The New 52 DC relaunch, and I'm psyched to see it return in a new format. In a thicker-than-normal 48 pages, you also get a back-up story featuring the Justice League Unlimited team.












FAIREST #1
by Bill Willingham, Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning
Comixology Link for Reservists
*Who's the Fairest of them All? Featuring all-new tales of the female characters from Fables, Bill Willingham dives even deeper into the Fables universe. The Fables comic, much like Y The Last Man, has been one of the most consistent comics out there, with no ending in sight. This is a great jumping-on point for anyone looking to learn more about these classic characters, and adds depth for any current Fables readers.















ROCKETEER ADVENTURES 2 #1
by Various Creators
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Noone drew Betty Page quite like Dave Stevens. Returning for another round of creator tributes, IDW has put together a second mini-series featuring the much-beloved character. (My goal with this mini-series is to make sure I have enough copies for everyone this time.)














AVENGERS vs. X-MEN
by "The Architects"
Comixology Link for Reservists
* I wish Marvel would publish more "big event comics", don't you? .... yeah, I got nothing here. Here's hoping it's less disappointing that Fear Itself. Is that a good sales pitch? Oh, who am I kidding, we're going to sell a ton of this of just on the name.














THIEF OF THIEVES #1
by Kirman, Spencer & Shawn Martinboough
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Ooh yes.. yesyesyes. Robert "Walking Dead" Kirman and Nick "Morning Glories" Spencer team. Given how fast Morning Glories #1 flew out of here last year, and given that Walking Dead #1 sells for hundreds of dollars, I guess I don't have to tell you how hot Kirkman and Spencer are. These creators working together means that this book will not only be hot and highly sought-after, but it's going to be a great comic, too. Oh yeah, what's it about? Something about thieves, I'm sure. :) Seriously, these two writers working together is all you need.














DOMINIQUE LAVEAU: VOODOO CHILD #1
by Selwyn Sefu Hinds, Denys Cowan and John Floyd
Comixology Link for Reservists
* What comics need is an ongoing voodoo/mystery series set in New Orlea- Oh. There you are. I swear, the editors at Vertigo are mind readers. I was thinking the other day, "I can't wait for Treme season 3 to start on HBO, I love a good story in New Orleans." And BOOM!, now there's a new comic for me to salivate over. "Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child" is too long for a title, but I can forgive them for that small transgression. The series takes place in post-Katrina New Orleans, and explores the hidden mystery of the Voodoo Queens and their role in shaping the events in The Big Easy. This looks very intriguing. Check out the first issue when it ships.














WINTER SOLDIER #1
by Ed Brubaker and Butch Guice
Comixology Link for Reservists
* I'm alright with Ed Brubaker writing more Bucky-as-badass comics. Ed Brubaker has done a terrific job with the Captain America franchise for years. Giving Bucky his own title as the Winter Soldier is one of the few new Marvel #1's that I can truly get behind, because I trust the creator implicitly. This is going to be Bucky working behind-the-scenes in the Marvel Universe, and if it's anything like the recently-released Fatale, it's going to be dark and very cool.














THE SECRET HISTORY OF D.B. COOPER #1
by Brian Churilla
Comixology Link for Reservists
* So, he jumped out of an airplace with a bag of stolen money, and noone ever found him? I didn't know who DB Cooper was until a year or two back, when I caught a cable special, talking about "the only unsolved air piracy in American aviation history." More here.  It's a fascinating story, so getting a comic book that plays off of that should be something different and unique.














THE TWELVE #9
by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston
Comixology Link for Reservists
* The Twelve Return: Ladies and gentlemen, Hell hath frozen over. The Twelve is a confounding beast. This 12 issue mini-series started when I was still a music teacher upstate, but stalled after 8 issues. What made the late-shipping so irritating is that The Twelve was really, really good; Perhaps writer J. Michael Straczynski's best work in comics, to be honest. A lot of retailers got behind the book, many were calling it Marvel's Watchmen, but that joy led to frustration for readers when the issues started getting farther and farther behind. The book is all done, and will be shipping the last several issues over the next couple months. In addition, Marvel has put out a softcover of issues 1-6 and a reprint of issues 7 & 8, so anyone who wants to jump in, can. I'll say it again, just because it may be hard to believe: The book is completely done. So, have no fears that it won't be finished.














THE MANHATTAN PROJECT #1
by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Jonathan Hickman loves science-fiction and it shows. The Manhattan Project is another Image mini-series by Jonathan Hickman, writer of Marvel's FF, Fantastic Four and Ultimates. This story is an alternate timeline, where "black" projects were taking place behind the scenes of The Manhattan Project. Last year's The Red Wing was superb, as were Hickman's other Image mini-series (Pax Romana, Red Mass for Mars, Transhuman, and The Nightly News). I love seeing new creators keep their feet in superhero work, while staying true to other genre work at other publishers. This is why, incidentally, Image is going to be my publisher to watch this year: They're knocking it out of the park.














SUPERCROOKS #1
by Mark Millar and Leinil Francis Yu
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Another Mark Millar mini-series? Works for me. Millar has his own style and has been moving away from superhero comics for awhile, his last work being on the Ultimates line last year. He seems more interested in telling his own stories, his own way. I'm okay with that, as long as he can get them out on time, which is a perception shared by both readers and retailers. Supercrooks is an Ocean's Eleven-type story, featuring all supervillains pulling off "one last heist", in Spain. OLE!














COLDEST CITY HC
by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Being a spy sounds fun, until everyone wants what you want, and you're on your own. When you grow up reading the adventures of Jack Ryan, and one of your favorite movies is The Hunt for Red October, it's going to be hard to turn down a good Cold War yarn. Antony Johnston, who I've mentioned here before for his incredible work on Wasteland, has written a graphic novel about spies in Berlin before the war went down. Look, that should be enough for anyone who's ever loved a Tom Clancy book; The Cold War is and has been rife with fiction opportunities, and I'm glad to see another writer telling a tale of suspense and espionage.















FLASHPOINT THE WORLD OF BATMAN SC
by Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso and various
Comixology Link for Reservists
* The best Batman story in YEARS.. is collected in Flashpoint The World of Flashpoint featuring Batman. This collection contains the Batman: Knight of Vengeance mini-series from last year's Flashpoint event, plus several other great stories. But this book is worth it, just for the Batman story alone. In the Flashpoint reality, Bruce Wayne was killed while his father, Thomas Wayne watched. Now, Thomas Wayne wears the cowl, but he's old and weary... and that's all I'm going to say about this story, because any more detail would spoil it. This book comes with our highest recommendations!

Publisher links for product shipping in March 2012:

Dark Horse: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=3
DC Comics: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=1
IDW: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=12
Image: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=4
Marvel: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=2
Vertigo: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=1&i=3
Zenescope: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=47

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

COMICS: A Conversation with Matt Fraction

The following features quotes and excerpts from a conversation I had with Matt Fraction, writer of Uncanny X-men, Invincible Iron Man, Thor, and the upcoming mega-event, FEAR ITSELF.

I got a phone call from Hawaii over the weekend. Matt Fraction, writer of the huge Marvel event, FEAR ITSELF was calling as part of a promotion with comic book stores, to answer questions and stir interest in the book.

"It's about something you've never seen before. It's a new story." - MF

"[Fear Itself's] about something you've never seen before. It's a new story." Matt told me.  "It's a war of the gods, that the heroes are [caught between]." Originally, he and Ed Brubaker were asked to do a Captain America/Thor mini-series to coincide with the movies this summer. The story quickly grew until it became something much bigger, "like Civil War", Fraction said.

"The new Red Skull [Sin] discovers that Odin is not the All-Father, as previously thought." He said. "She frees an ancient evil, who grants her god-like powers as thanks. This leads to Captan America and Thor's worst nightmare: For Cap, an ultra-powerful Red Skull with the power of a god; for Thor, it's the knowledge that everything he knew and believed is based on a lie. He [no longer] knows who he is."

"He is forced to choose between standing with men, or standing with gods."

I asked Matt about whether readers are going to be forced to buy the spin-offs and one-shots, and also about how hard it was going to be for new readers to jump into the event.

"You don't need a PhD in Marvel to read the books." He said. One of Marvel's goals was to make the book as "clean and accessible as possible, without writing down to older readers."

As for all the extra mini-series and one-shots, Fraction put it simply. "The spin-off's are all stand alone. If you love the character, you'll love the spin-off." At the same time, "You don't need to buy the extras to enjoy the whole event."

He implied that each issue of the main issue comes with something big happening, or an event. "I want there to be something big in every issue," he said, "We hear from readers that [they want] events that matter." He let slip that something huge happens in issue 3 that will bring about a lot of mainstream media.

(Don't tell anyone I said that.  :) )

"There is something to keep people excited in every issue," he continued. "We want this to work as a mini-series where you can't wait until the next issue."

Since Civil War was brought up as a comparison, I pointed out that Civil War shipped behind schedule for the last couple issues, due to medical issues involved with some of the creative talent. I asked how far they are in the process of putting the book together.

He admitted that they've already dealt with behind-the-scenes issues, but it hasn't affected production. He also pointed out none of the talent involved are known for falling behind. "We can't predict anything, but we're doing our best and [we're] not known for not producing." He told me that they're already into issue #4 of the main series, which puts them about 2-3 months ahead of where they should be at this point in the solicitation cycle.

Like Civil War, Fear Itself will have resounding effects on the Marvel Universe. "This book sets the tone for the MU for the next two years."

We'd like to thank Matt from taking time away from his vacation to call and chat.

--

Follow-up notes: I'm a big fan of Fraction's work on Uncanny X-men, Iron Man and Thor. Based on the way sale have gone on these books the last 6 months, many of you agree. He's done a great job putting out quality material, and getting it out on time.


In other interviews, the entire creative team has stressed how important this event is to Marvel and it's future, and how they didn't want the spin-off books to be absolutely necessary to enjoy the story. I believe that they're telling the truth, and believe that the event is going to be worth the money.


Fear Itself: Book of the Skull comes out this week.


We'll have copies.

-Scott.



Monday, February 7, 2011

Looking Ahead: April Comics

[Looking Ahead is a monthly column where Scott scours Previews and highlights new and upcoming comics]

Greetings, earthlings! Lots of great stuff coming out, so let's get into it.

- The Fear Itself Prologue kicks off in March, followed by the first issue in April. This is Marvel's first major event since Secret Invasion, and they've put together a stellar creative team in Matt Fraction and Stuart Immonen. The storyline features the Red Skull's daughter, Sin, and the ancient Norse God of Evil. I'm happy that Fraction, who's become one of Marvel's go-to guys, and Immonen who is a workhorse and knows how to get product out on time, are working together. This is most likely going to be one of the two biggest events of the year.

Other Marvel Titles:

- Speaking of Matt Fraction, Thor relaunches with a new #1. I can imagine a couple people rolling their eyes right now, saying "Another #1 from Marvel? What a surprise." I can't lie, I feel the same way sometimes, but this is a book where you want to jump-on, not jump-off. The fact that Oliver Copiel is returning to Thor after a prolonged absence makes me very happy. His work with JMS for the first two years was stellar, and he's come a very long way since his Legion work for DC (see below).

- One of my favorite parts of the MU over the last couple years has been the Cosmic books. Annihilation, Annihlation Conquest, War of Kings and the recently-ended and supremely-awesome Thanos Imperative. Now, the writing team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (aka DnA) are back with The Annihilators. Think of it as a group of ultra-powerful Cosmic Avengers, taking on the Dire Wraiths from the old Rom and the Spaceknights books. Yes, it is going to be that cool.

- Another book that may have dropped under your radar is the 5-issue Silver Surfer mini-series. While the Surfer has never been the most popular of characters or considered an "A-lister", he's the Herald of Galactus and that makes him a force to be reckoned with. Greg Pak is writing this series, and Pak is responsible for two of the best Hulk stories in years: Planet Hulk and World War Hulk.

Some very cool Marvel graphic novels being solicited:

- Thor: For Asgard is a treasure. Written by Robert Rodi and drawn by Simone Bianchi, this Thor mini-series flew under the radar due to all the other Thor products being released. Don't miss out! Robert Rodi also wrote the wonderful Loki story that's being re-printed in February as Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers. 

- Thunderbolts Classics Volume 1 was a great series written by Kurt Busiek about a group of super-villains masquerading to the world as super-heroes. I'm psyched to see this back in-print.

- Marvel goes old-school with X-Men Lifedeath and Spider-man The Death of Jean DeWolff, both published in their Hardcover Premiere Format.

Diving deeper into Previews, I found some real gems.:

- From Dark Horse Comics, Dark Horse Presents returns! The legendary anthology is back, with a sneak peek of Frank Miller's prequel to 300, Xerxes.


- Alan Moore: Storyteller features interviews, art, photos, and an audio cd by the legendary writer.

- There is a plethora of all-ages material being published every month. From Fraggle Rock Volume 2 to Boom! Studio's numerous Mickey Mouse softcovers to all the Archie material, there's a tremendous amount of great product available.

- Speaking of Mickey Mouse, long-time independent publisher Fantagraphics has acquired the license to some of the Mouse's earliest works. Published in a similar format as The Complete Peanuts, Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Volume 1: "Race to Death Valley" is going to be the first of many reprints of this great material.


- In the mid-80's, Berkeley Breathed created a talking penguin named Opus and somehow turned his strip Bloom County into one of the great political newspaper comics of all time. Volume 4 of the Bloom County Complete Library has Steve Dallas getting his back broken by Actor Sean Penn. Ah, the 80's. Ack! Pthpw!


- Finally.  I have waited an eternity for these Legion stories to come out. A little back-story first: I was never a big Legion of Super-heroes fan (sorry, diehards); The large cast of characters, the epic back-story, it was all too intimidating. My personal tastes also veered towards stories that had a little edge to them, and the Legion always seemed bright and happy and cheerful.

Around ten years ago, DC decided that the Legion needed a shake-up, so they hired DnA and Oliver Copiel to wreak havoc on the LSH. Reprinted under the DC Comics Presents format, we see the first arc of their tremendous Legion run, Legion of the Damned, brought back in-print. When a Borg-like menace from deep space takes control of most of Earth and most of the Legion, the few remaining Legionairres are pushed to their limits in an effort to free their friends and everyone on earth from captivity. Featuring some of the first Big-Two work by Oliver Copiel.

The Legion of the Damned arc continues in one of my all-time favorite stories, Legion Lost. A group of Legion members are separated from their home galaxy in a freak accident. Lost, alone, and despondent, they're forced to find their way in alien space. As the 12-issue mini-series progresses, the team falls apart until the very end, when they're forced to face their very worst nightmare... and I'm not going to tell you what that is, because that'd just be cheating. You don't need to be a Legion fan to enjoy these stories.  Legion Lost will be published as a hardcover and comes with my highest "if you like science-fiction, the Legion, a great story, or any combination of the three" recommendation.