Uno Maas!

Following on Josh's posts of the characters presumably being presented for the post-"Siege" new Avengers line-up (not to be confused with the "New Avengers" line-up) here's another announcement:

The purple and blue is back!

That makes three definites:
Captain America
Spider-Woman
Hawkeye

Of course, who is under the masks could still yield a surprise or two...


Oh and read Josh's review of "Siege" #2 below this post!! What are ya a lazy bum? Just lookin' at the pictchas...

This is What Is Going To Pass For My Siege #2 Review...


Seriously, though, this is good stuff. It is a little like candy- you like it because it's packed full of sweetness and despite the fact that there isn't a whole lot of substance- but in the end this is good stuff. Olivier Coipel is at his absolute best here. His figure work strikes a perfect balance between cartoon-y and serious, and his sense of scope is really quite impressive. I think I said this last month, but Coipel (and his colorist, Laura Martin), are really the stars here.

Bendis, too, is on the top of his game and I think it's because he lets his artists do the storytelling- Siege #2 may have the least number of words of any comic that Brian Bendis has ever written, and it just works. In fact, even when there are a lot of words, there's a certain economy to them; arguments that would have gone on for pages elsewhere end simply and easily here.

I know that many comics readers have grown tired of events like these, and believe me when I say I understand why, but think about it this way- Siege started in January and it will be over in April. We've reached the midpoint, and so far it's been pretty much non-stop action. Yes, this isn't GREAT COMICS, but it is great comics. Sometimes we forget that superheroes aren't necessarily all about doom and gloom. Sometimes it's important for us to remember that over the horizon there is a Heroic Age or (I can't believe I'm about to type this) even a Brightest Day. It makes me wonder if we actually have reached the last hurrah for superhero deconstruction- is now the time that our heroes get to be heroes again?

I certainly hope so.

Gazing Into the Abyss of Steve Ditko

Last night (at precisely 7:35 PM) my Facebook profile stream read like this:

Jon attended YOE INTERVIEWS FAUX DITKO w/Faux Stan Lee. · Comment · Like

Jon Gorga I am watching two men pretend to be Steve Ditko and Stan Lee by holding little placards with drawn representations of the two men's faces in front of their own.

This is among the more surreal things I have ever seen wih my own two eyes!
Yesterday at 7:35pm

And it is true! Although what I didn't mention (because it hadn't happened yet) is that there was a wonderful and actually informative session after the scripted dialogue.

I think I shall write more about this event later because it was in fact the fourth in a grouping of events I attended over the last month (with one more tonight celebrating the return of the brilliant "DEMO" at Rocketship Comics in Brooklyn) and I think it would be best to have them in some vague kind of chronological order.

So look forward to a small series of
Jonathan Gorga's NYC Comic-Book Events of January And Early February!!

Excelsior!

Bendis You Lying Scum!

I just bought a copy of "Siege" #2 a few hours ago and I see no bacon on my plate! No bacon!

WATCH THIS NOW. Or actually you could Google "bendis bacon". First hit. You can skip to the end.

False advertising... False advertising...

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 2/3/2o1o!

Hello true believers!

On this upcoming Wednesday, when I take a trip to my local comic-book shop to pick up my comics I'm most definitely going to buy:

"Invincible Iron Man" #23

Wow. That was actually quite hard this week! Considering that "Siege" #2 comes out this week and apparently "The Siege has begun and it claims its first victim as AN AVENGER WILL DIE!!" Who could it be? Who could it be?! Oh I may not lay my head down to rest until I know!!! I'm assuming that based on what I picked as my top choice of the week... you can tell that's sarcasm.

On top of that, a graphic novel I've been waiting for since it was announced at the MoCCA Festival way back in June is coming out! I urge you to take a look at Raina Telgemeier's "Smile". It looks human and sweet and funny and sad. All the things good autobiographical comics should be. It's available in both a hardcover and softcover edition tomorrow at considerable difference in cost!

Plus the second volume of Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan's "Demo" starts up this week. That can't NOT be good.

And that is pretty much my whole pull-list, actually. Light week, thank goodness!

Check back to see what becomes a part of the Gorga-Cave!
Don't worry I don't actually call my home that...

One More



Now we know that Spider-Woman (who I may have forgotten to handicap a couple of weeks ago. Woops.) is going to be on Brian Bendis and John Romita Jr.'s team too (and JRJR has really hit these two previews out of the park, hasn't he?), as well as Cap and probably Spidey. I also should have mentioned that yesterday that we also know Iron Man and Thor are going to be on this team too.

For more info, go here.

Two Members Confirmed (ish).

So, at the very least we know that Captain America is going to be in the new Avengers series, which will be written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by John Romita Jr. Also of interest is this post by Romita Jr. saying that Spidey was involved in the new monthly he was starting up, so I think it's safe to say that we now know at least two members of the new Avengers status quo.

Cool.