Immortal

It's early in the morning as I write this and, clearly, I've lost at least a little bit of my mind, so I'm going to go ahead and do two things:

1. I'm going to claim, based on the above photo evidence alone, that I am the Immortal Iron Fist.
2. I'm going to review an old comic.

Well, not a comic that is that old, just one I am behind on-- in this case, the only relevant comic, Power Man and Iron Fist #1. Those of you who read this blog regularly probably know that my favorite superhero comic of all time is the sixteen issue run of a book called The Immortal Iron Fist written by Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker and drawn by the incomparable David Aja. That comic is nearly perfect, uncannily written, beautifully drawn, edited in such a way that it takes advantage of some aspects of a monthly publishing schedule that I would usually consider flaws; The Immortal Iron Fist is the book that I point to when people ask me how one could possibly take super hero comics seriously.*

When I finished with that, I was convinced I loved Danny Rand as much as I loved Captain America and, perhaps, it was true; since then, however, I have come to believe that creators are more important than characters and I have taken to saying that it's not Iron Fist on the whole I love so much as I love the Brubaker/Fraction/Aja Iron Fist. This, too, may very well be true-- I don't buy New Avengers even though he's all over that book these days-- but when my boy Danny shows up in a book written by Fred Van Lente, well, it's a reason to be cautiously optimistic.

Let me tell you, after reading the first issue, the optimism is warranted. FVL handles these characters perfectly and, although he doesn't approach the character from the same direction that Immortal did, he doesn't give short shrift to that book's overwhelming legacy. I was a little worried that he was going to drop the mythical aspects all together and just play the veteran martial artist off of the new Power Man in a straight up buddy cop comedy (an idea that Van Lente himself may have put into my head when he spoke to us last year) but I really shouldn't have been, in hindsight. FVL is one of the best writers in comics these days and this is among the best things he's ever written-- it's both charmingly funny and deadly serious, and he mines the difficult relationship between the crime fighting duo for gold.

While Danny struggles in his mentor role, the new Power Man-- a young man named Victor Alvarez-- wears the cocky rookie cliche like a glove, with one major exception: those guys think they're immortal, and, as Danny puts it, Alvarez really is. Van Lente gets extra credit here for recognizing how tired these tropes are, both in superhero comics and buddy comedies, and for playing with them so that they seem fresh even though they aren't, not really. In some ways, the whole book feels like that, like something that we've seen before but that's also... different. FVL, in taking old ideas and making them feel new, is doing here what he's done perfectly elsewhere (particularly with Incredible Herc). Comics like these are precisely what the modern age needs, precisely the antidote to the sixteenth or seventeenth iteration of the same old story with the same old tensions. There are new villains here, incredibly intriguing ones, even as the plot ties back into the history of Luke Cage and Danny Rand, into things that even I didn't know, things that go further back even than Immortal. Every thing old is new again, and everything new feels classic.

The art is damn good, too. I don't know that I would say Wellington Alves is one of my favorites, but he does a great job here-- not quite photorealistic, but not completely stylized either. It's a nice look, and he mixes up his style to fit the tone as it changes, although this might be the work of inker Nelson Pereira. Whoever's responsible, it looks great. It's not David Aja, not by any stretch, but it's hard to overstate how much the fact that the book just looks nice helps here.

Power Man and Iron Fist #1 is a great book in a good looking package and, despite my fears, I can't wait for the next one. Luckily for me, being behind is a great advantage in this case-- it's already out. Sweet.


*Well, ok. That and Brubaker's Captain America.

Talking Over Balloons: artist Reilly Brown

In the strange, painful, but wonderful career of comic-book penciling perhaps the most strange, painful, but wonderful job you can get is to draw a small 'tie-in' part of a larger ongoing crossover 'event' story. With dozens of comic-books arriving on different weeks, all expected to create one multi-angle story, scripts change, continuity flows, schedules are tight and the number of corrections any one artist must make to keep that ongoing continuity mostly accurate in any one comic could be staggering. And undoubtedly makes for a challenging assignment.

So The Long and Shortbox Of It has secured an interview with Reilly Brown, Marvel artist who was himself recently put into this challenging position. Reilly's (@Reilly_Brown) work can be seen in this year's Hercules "Heroic Age: Prince of Power" mini-series, the wonderful back-up story that appeared in "Chaos War" #1 and the upcoming "Chaos War: Alpha Flight" one-shot written by Jim McCann (@JimMcCann) hitting comic-book stores everywhere tomorrow!

Jon Gorga: Let's get right into the delightful muck of continuity right away, you drew the back-up feature in "Chaos War" #1 that explained where one of the central characters, Hercules, has been cosmically stuck since the events of "Assault on New Olympus" and you also drew the "Alpha Flight" one-shot coming out this week that ties-into the larger "Chaos War" 'event'. Now, as I understand it, despite the fact that you've had an involvement with the past and the present of this story as well as the character himself you would still probably find that if you draw Hercules into a page of "Chaos War: Alpha Flight" you would find some surprising notes about how he looks NOW: wounds, hair, bags under his eyes, damage to his costume and any number of crazy other things that can happen to a demi-god in the Marvel Universe. Without giving away anything you can't, is that an accurate assessment of the game?

Reilly Brown: The majority of the coordination of these events takes place with the editors and writers, so if you really want the nitty gritty on planning a crossover event, you should ask them.

For my part I'm mostly at the mercy of what's in the script, which do contain certain notes about characters to keep me up to date. For instance in the Chaos War event, Mikaboshi the Chaos King is constantly growing throughout the story, and that's something that the script for Alpha Flight mentioned, but I really didn't feel that was any different than any other note I might get in a story set in a shared universe like Marvel's. For instance, scripts frequently have reference photos attached to them, usually containing images of character's most recent appearances, so as long as I use that as a guide, I should be in the clear.

The most specific note I've seen went to another artist based on something I drew. The short Hercules story that appeared in Chaos War #1 was originally planned to appear in an earlier comic, so I actually drew it a while ago, while the last Incredible Hercules story, "Assault on New Olympus" was going on which was drawn by Rodney Buchemi. In the final issue, there's a scene where Typhon is breaking Hercules' bones, and the script was written to specifically match how I was drawing my story, with his left arm and right leg being the ones that were broken.

JG: That's an impressive display of continuity editing right there: two stories showing the same moment drawn in a different order than they were published, but specifically coordinated to match. Reilly, explain to us, for the hell of it and for anyone who isn't a huge follower of mainstream superhero comics, what is a crossover 'event'? Or perhaps, if you prefer, what are these things that Marvel and DC Comics produce that involve lots of different ongoing comic-books and mini-series woven together? I'm curious about the artist's point-of-view in this narrative machine.

RB: Ha! Does anyone not know? You can't even avoid them these days!

The simplest way to describe a comics "event" is to say that it's a story that takes place in more than one comic book series, and lately the main way to do that is to launch several new series that are specifically based on that event, such as my comic that's spinning off of Chaos War, Chaos War: Alpha Flight.

It's a story that doesn't just affect a single character, but an event that happens in the fictional world that effects everyone, and several characters will have their own stories about how they're dealing with the event.

In the end, if the characters were to meet up later, they could ask each other "what were you doing when the Chaos King attacked?" and we'd have their answer.

JG: That is about as succinct an explanation I can imagine, so tell us how "Chaos War: Alpha Flight" fits into the larger story of the main "Chaos War" mini-series?

RB: Without giving too much away, at one point in Chaos War #3, we've seen that the Chaos King attacks all the pantheons of the world, including all those pantheon's equivalents to heaven and hell. As Alpha Flight fans know, Snowbird is the daughter of an Inuit goddess, so this attack effects her directly. Also as Alpha Flight fans regretfully know, many prominent Alphas are dead, so when heaven and hell get attacked, this effects them as well.

JG: Did you communicate with the other artists like the main series' artist Khoi Pham and the artist on the excellent one-shot "Chaos War: Chaos King", Michael William Kaluta, about how they are drawing the characters, scenarios, objects and on and on required to make the story tick? Is simple comic-to-comic continuity for the things like where a shirt is torn or what time of day it is at any given time managed purely by the writers and editors or some combination of everybody? Where do those continuity notes come from?

RB: Keeping everything straight is really a team effort, but like I said before, it's the writers and editors who figure out most of the nitty gritty. From time to time I'll read the script and ask for more information about things, and the editors are always happy to provide it.

As Chaos War got bigger, someone put together a database with all the scripts and all the art that had been turned in at that point for easy reference, and that was really useful. Also, I'm good friends with Khoi Pham, so we're in frequent communication anyway, so I was always aware of what he was up to.

JG: Have you begun to feel a special connection with the son of Zeus? You've drawn him now in the "Prince of Power" mini-series and a few other places.

RB: Yeah, I've been drawing Herc on and off for a while. First in the Hulk vs Hercules 1-shot, then the infamous "Replacement Thor" story in Incredible Hercules (which was actually reprinted recently in a Thor vs Hercules greatest hits collection, which is pretty cool), then a few fill-in pages in "Assault on New Olympus," and the Agents of Atlas backup stories in the Hercules: Funeral for an Avenger issues, and then Prince of Power and the recent Chaos War short, including designing his new costume.

So yeah, me and the Lion of Olympus are pretty tight at this point!

Fred Van Lente and Greg Pak are great to work with, and have been doing an awesome job with all their Hercules stories, and honestly, working on Herc's the most fun I've had at Marvel since working on Cable & Deadpool a few years back, and some of the stuff I'm most proud of.

JG: That's always great to hear a creator say! I'd imagine after re-designing his costume yourself, you must have a rather detailed understanding of how it would be affected by different circumstances. Tell me, I'm also curious about the other end of the spectrum. What if you suddenly have to draw a corporate Marvel character you've never drawn before? Do you have an official character sheet from a database of some kind to use as reference? Or are you just expected to Google everybody as best as you can?

RB: Ha! Google really is the best reference you could ask for! The writers and editors are pretty on top of things as far as getting reference to me, and I can always ask if there's something else I need to know, plus I typically do my own research anyway-- usually based on Google and Wikipedia. AlphaFlight.net was a significant resource to both me and Jim McCann while working on the new issue.

So to any fans out there-- keep your Marvel fanpages up to date!! The creators ARE looking to you for reference!

JG: That is very funny to me, because the first two sites I ever built were Spider-Man fan pages. I was probably twelve-years-old at the time! Are there more short back-ups coming from you in the "Chaos War" 'event'? What's next on your drawing board?

RB: Alpha Flight's the last Chaos War-related thing you'll be seeing from me. Next up for me are a couple of Amazing Spider-Man backup features, a cover to an upcoming Thor issue, as well as a creator owned thing I've been slowly working on over the past year that I'm almost ready to come out with. Expect to hear more about that in the new year.

JG: That is very exciting, Reilly! The Long and Shortbox Of It wishes you luck in expanding into this new stage of your comics career! New creator-controlled characters and stories are the backbone of any narrative art. We also thank you for making the time to do this for us, of course!

RB: It was my pleasure! Thanks for the interest in the project! We'll have to do this again sometime. And don't forget--Chaos War: Alpha Flight comes out on Wednesday! Look for it at finer comic book stores near you!

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And there you have it Long and Shortbox readers! The artistic side of shared universe storytelling in its glory and complexities. A whole lot of work goes into them funny-books, right? When a crossover 'event' is carefully structured, marketed, scheduled, edited, written, drawn and colored, it is one of the most alive forms of fiction out there because it moves and changes on schedule with the real world!

Check out Reilly Brown's blog at Outpost 51 here on blogspot and his work in the Alpha Flight one-shot out tomorrow!

Heroes for Hire!

Not only are we going to see a new Power Man and Iron Fist mini from Fred Van Lente come December, but we're also going to see a Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning penned Heroes for Hire ongoing, featuring Iron Fist as well as Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, Elektra, The Punisher, Falcon, Misty Knight and Paladin (although the last three are missing from this preview image). All in all December is going to be a good month for Danny Rand, who is (have I mentioned?) one of my favorite comics characters.

For the record, I disagree with FVL that the Frubraker mythology from The Immortal Iron Fist has dried up. I think there are all sort of stories to tell using those ideas and those characters. With that said, though, I'm glad to see Iron Fist at all and in the hands of writers as talented as Fred and DnA. Those Immortal Iron Fist stories are great not only because of those ideas but also because, when written well, Iron Fist is a very, very strong character and I trust that both FVL and DnA have the task well in, uh, fist.

To say that I'm looking forward to this, which could ultimately amount to what I expected of the new New Avengers, is a little bit of an understatement.

Talk Over Balloons: writer Fred Van Lente

One of the many talented writers to more recently make a mark in the American comics industry is the versatile Fred Van Lente. Since 2oo4 Van Lente (@fredvanlente) has collaborated with artist Ryan Dunlavey (@RyanDunlavey) to create the well-loved "Action Philosophers" series and its to-be-completed follow-up series "Comic Book Comics" for their small-scale publisher Evil Twin Comics. He has also done a great deal of work for Marvel Comics including co-writing "The Incredible Hercules" with Greg Pak (@gregpak) and writing issues of "The Amazing Spider-Man" (inarguably among the most high profile comic-books published in America today!) as well as fun stuff like "Marvel Zombies 5" and "Iron Man: Legacy" with many, many various artists.

The Long and Shortbox writers have been aware of his work for a good many years and Fred graciously agreed to answer our questions about his comics writing work- past, present, and future.

Jon Gorga: So, off the bat and into the trenches: By working on comics like "Comic Book Comics" as well as comics like "The Amazing Spider-Man" you straddle the line between the mainstream and the indie worlds of American comics. The truth is you are one of many who dance the same dance at Marvel: Fraction, Bendis, etc. Do you think we're in a new era of creators playing wherever they please, and if so why?

Fred Van Lente: Well, there's a pretty straightforward reason for it: the indie publishers are the farm teams where Marvel recruits its talent from. Fraction, Bendis and Jonathan Hickman were all Image creators prior to coming to Marvel, and I was a self-publisher and had some stuff done through Moonstone. We all began as indie creators and that's how we were first introduced to the comics world, so it's no surprise we want to remain a part of it. The independence and creative freedom of creator-owned work is an addictive drug; a lot of time it can't match Marvel paychecks, though.

JG: I can imagine returning to your roots at Evil Twin feels good when you can manage it. Speaking of your indie work, what stage are you and Ryan Dunlavey at right now with "Comic Book Comics" #5?

FVL: It's almost wholly scripted, and Ryan is pencilling hard. Life has thrown us some bumps along the way but we hope to have it for New York Comic Con in October.

JG: Then we will see you both there! I'm curious, how did a project that's a comic-book about the history of comic-books come about?

FVL: We knew ACTION PHILOSOPHERS would eventually end, and we wanted to continue doing the Humanities in comics form, for lack of a better word. It occurred to me that no one had ever done a comprehensive history comic about comics before.

I also knew way more about comics history than philosophy when we started, as I served for many years on the Curatorial Committee of the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) in New York City, where I'm now a trustee.

JG: MoCCA is among my favorites places in NYC. Always has been. Let's move over and talk about your Marvel work like "The Incredible Hercules". Hercules and Amadeus Cho made a pretty damn strange team. The Prince of Power and the Prince of... sugary snacks? What made them work together for you?

FVL: It's a deceptively simple concept: Brains plus brawn equals great team. Also, it helped Hercules as a character to be paired with someone arguably more irresponsible than he was.

JG: Balancing humor and pathos seems to be something you're particularly adept at. Do you find that it's the reader feedback that helps you find that balance?

FVL: Sort of. It's more of a lifetime of being a wiseass, so it's the feedback from classmates and family members when I was in the eighth grade. The problem with depending on reader feedback is that they're reacting to stuff you wrote quite some time ago, usually about six months, and you've moved on since, so their comments aren't always applicable anymore.

JG: Where did the inspiration come from for those sound-effects in "The Incredible Hercules" issues you co-wrote with Greg Pak?

FVL: Assistant editor Nate Cosby, who started it in WORLD WAR HULK, and carried it over into iHerc and we ran with it. That's why in the climax to SACRED INVASION, when Herc takes out the god of the Skrulls, we made the SFX "NATECOSBOOM" as a tribute to him (and that's now his Twitter handle, 'cause he's a nerd).

JG: I'm actually following @Natecosboom myself. The advice he's giving away for free on there is invaluable. SDCC's announcement pointed to Dan Slott as the new solo writer on "The Amazing Spider-Man". Are you looking forward to reading some "Amazing Spider-Man" you didn't have to sit in a meeting about or are you feeling wistful about your time tag-team writing the series as one of the 'web-heads'?

FVL: It was a lot of fun and a very special way to work. The best part of working on the book were those writers rooms. Since I was doing AMAZING and also the anthology title, WEB OF SPIDER-MAN, I've got to say I'm a little Spider-Manned out, so Dan came to the rescue at just the right time. But I have a couple small Spidey things lined up already for the future, so the readers of AMAZING aren't quite rid of me yet -- and I wrote the lead story in our last "Web Head" issue, #647.

JG: Well I'm glad to know there will be a little more Spider-Man material from you coming to us. Now, all three of us at The Long and Shortbox Of It are big fans of "The Immortal Iron Fist" work from several years ago that really rejuvenated Danny Rand as a character. How much of that stuff is informing your writing of the character for the "Shadowland: Power Man" mini-series that has just begun and next year's "Power Man and Iron Fist"?

FVL: It's definitely a part of it, but IMMORTAL IRON FIST mined that mythology pretty thoroughly. I'm more interested in the mismatched private investigating duo that made Mary Jo Duffy and Kerry Gammil's POWER MAN AND IRON FIST so terrific. It's a spellbinding mystery with El Aguila the center, and introducing a lot of great new villains like Don Pagliacci, Noir and the Commedia dell'Morte.

JG: Before we let you go, a large number of our readers are college-age and plenty of them are aspiring comics-folk. What advice do you have for writers and artists just starting out?

FVL: We're back where we started -- start making your own comics. It's how you're going to get noticed, and thanks to the Ye Olde Interweb, you don't even need a publisher any more to get that notice.

JG: Good advice. Any upcoming releases you want our readers to keep an eye out for?

FVL: Don't forget, CHAOS WAR is the multiverse-shattering climax to me and Greg Pak's "Incredible Hercules" saga, shipping (twice!) in October, and in November I'm doing the tie-in DEAD AVENGERS, which is exactly what it sounds like.

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Fred's writing will be instrumental in Marvel's upcoming crossover-event "Chaos War", pitting gods of the Marvel U against one another! And in October, "Comic Book Comics" will illustrate another chapter of the history of the medium of comics in the Twentieth Century. Check out Fred's website here!

Thanks for reading!

And Fred, a thanks to you for your time! We were lucky to have you!

Thursday's Most Exciting Announcement...

...is Fred Van Lente's upcoming Power Man and Iron Fist mini-series, spinning out of the Shadowland: Powerman mini that begins next month.

Van Lente is a hell of a comics writer, and he's among the few people I trust to bring a modicum of the glory that was The Immortal Iron Fist back to the character. It's no secret that I hold the sixteen issues of that series that were written by Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker and drawn mostly by David Aja in high esteem, so FVL is going to have some high standards to live up to... but I think he'll probably be up to it, provided that he doesn't go too far down the buddy comedy route. In his interview with CBR about the project he sells it as sort of a fun street book and he talks about the way Fraction thinks of the character, which are both good signs.

It helps too that Van Lente's done some of the best comics work out there in recent years, from The Incredible Hercules to Comic Book Comics- Marvel is handing the reigns of one of my favorite characters to an excellent writer and, while I do hope that Fraction and Brubaker return to Danny Rand some day, I have high hopes for what FVL can do.

The runner-up announcement is pretty cool too. While Jon and I had mixed feelings about the first Strange Tales anthology, the list of talent (which includes Kate Beaton, Rafael Grampa, Jeff Lemire, Jhonen Vazquez and the late, great, Harvey Pekar) is mind-boggling, as are the possibilities.

"Sometimes, they're in a basement and they get kind of dungeon-y..."

That's David Petersen, author of Mouse Guard, explaining how some cons are better than others and, in the process, giving his stamp of approval to C2E2. He was just one of the several creators I got to meet and speak to over the course of my first con experience (which, incidentally, Petersen congratulated me on) and one of the people who made my convention great.

Before I get to the bulk of the convention, though, let's get the most important things out of the way first: I want to thank Peter Coogan, ICS and, most importantly, my co-panelist Mervi Miettinen (whose presentation on superheroes and the state of exception was, quite honestly, out of this world), for making my first experience at a comic studies conference great. I look forward to working with Peter again in the future, I hope to begin trading ideas with some of the other comics academics I met over the course of the weekend and I eagerly await seeing more bits of Mervi's dissertation. The conference itself was fantastic and, despite the small audience, it was clear that the people who were presenting were passionate about what they do and were willing to defend their work and, as an aspiring comics academic, it was heartening to see.


As for the rest of the convention, well, it occurs to me that replicating my whole con experience would be a little tedious and boring for the rest of you, and perhaps a bit ejaculatory for me- so I'm just going to give you a summary:

Creators Met: Brian Azzarello (who had been given a badge with the incorrect name and, apparently, had some trouble getting into con), Danielle Corsetto, Evan Dahm, Jeph Jacques, Lucy Knisley, David Mack, David Maliki!, Gordon McAlpin, Randy Milholland, David Petersen, Fred Van Lente, and, as mentioned the other day, Erika Moen.

Things Purchased: Two buttons (one Iron Fist, one Captain America, in addition to all the free ones DC was giving out), a whole bunch of comic books (including some just bizarre and awesome looking stuff), Lucy Knisley's French Milk, the first two volumes of Evan Dahm's Order of Tales, Comic Book Comics #4 (signed by Van Lente), Joe Kubert and Brian Azzarello's Sgt. Rock: Between Hell and A Hard Place (from the CBLDF, signed by Kubert and then I got Azzarello to sign it too) and a Captain America hoodie (which, although I won't share the story, was the most complicated clothing purchase I have ever made).

Free Stuff: Lots, including two posters for Clare. Archaia was giving away everything but the kitchen sink, it seemed like.

For my first con experience, it was pretty great- I hope to do it again, although I think spending two days there may have been too much.

See you next year, C2E2.

The Same Thing We Do Every Comics Convention, Pinky...

This morning, I've done something I've never done before:

I woke up, I put on some clothes, I left my cell phone on my desk (not on purpose), and then I went to a comics convention.

I'm going to do a full con write-up after I get done with the show tomorrow, so I'll leave most of my stories until then, but I do have one thing I want to get off of my chest right now:

The best way to thank creators who you like is to buy their stuff. It's great to walk up to them, to shake their hand, to tell them you love what they do and appreciate that they do it, and I'm sure they appreciate it. But the best way to thank them is to buy their stuff. Which I didn't do at one point when I should have, and now I regret it entirely- mostly because the creator I didn't buy from is awesome, we had a great conversation, and I would really like to see her do more work. Although I did buy something that her tablemate wrote and drew (French Milk, by Lucy Knisley, which looks awesome; when I write about it, I'm going to write about how much I love travel comics) I'm going to attempt to make up for this egregious error by linking to her recently-ended webcomic Dar. It's a fantastic, incredibly honest diary comic and, although I came to it at the end (which, it came out in our conversation, Erika Moen actually thinks is something of an advantage) I'm glad I came to it all.

Anyway, thanks to Erika and everyone else who made my first ever con experience great. Stories about Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente and Gail Simone's Comic and Mythology panel (with some great FVL quotes), Brian Azzarello's nametag, meeting webcomics creators and buying more stuff than I expected to, after tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, although I am bound not to toot my own horn too much, you should heed one post below, if you get the chance.

"Everything always slips through my fingers--"

"Keemia's Castle" - "the Amazing Spider-Man" #615 and #616 from Marvel Comics 

If you can imagine something sadder than children being ripped away from their family half-unfairly by child services... well, I can't. That's the last-minute twist ending of Fred Van Lente and Javier Pulido's entry in the current huge ongoing Spider-Man storyline "The Gauntlet". Talk about heart-wrenching. How often does a Spider-Man comic move you? Well, you're talking to someone for whom Peter Parker is the ultimate model of how to be a man. So... couple times a year. This is one of those times. 

The story starts off more conventionally: a girl named Keemia has gone missing under strange circumstances, Spider-Man takes it upon himself to find her. Plus there's a double-spread in the early pages of part one devoted to the reactions of J. Jonah Jameson and Joe 'Robbie' Robertson to the major event of the previous issue: the destruction of the Daily Bugle building. These two pages had some of the most excellent character work I saw in mainstream superhero comics last year. Then, Peter Parker learns that his friend who works at the NYPD crime-lab Carlie Cooper is accused of carelessness when three murder weapons seem to "walk" right out of the office. Peter now has to find this missing child, determine whether the murders are related, and find the murder weapons to clear Carlie of the besmirchment to her name. He has to do all this while appeasing the Mayor's office staff (that is his current bill-paying job, after all) who want the loss of the murder weapons blamed on Carlie so the NYPD doesn't look inept as a whole. All in two issues! 

A big job for a little Spider-Man, as usual! Bits and pieces of the stories he hears from various people eventually leads Peter to bet on one of his old villains: the Sandman a.k.a. William Baker a.k.a. Flint Marko a.k.a. Sylvester Mann. Like I said, fairly conventional Spider-Man story. 

But even in these old-school Spidey-as-detective sequences both Van Lente and Pulido shine: Spider-Man swings through the South Bronx wearing ear muffs, a scarf, and leg warmers. Hilarious and surprisingly stylish-looking! He lets himself into the apartment of one of the victims only to be shot at by a little old lady with a shotgun! (Javier Rodriguez's colors deserve mention here, as the light-up/washout effect at the moment of the shotgun's "BWOOM" is awesome.) 

"I'm a friend--can't you tell by my big, expressive eyes?" The panel including this line, and the panels that follow in the two-page scene, are wonderful. Spidey stands lanky and tall, upside-down, on the ceiling connecting with and offering help to this stout, fierce elderly lady still holding her shotgun who has just lost her daughter and doesn't know where her great-granddaughter is. Some of the panels are straightforward, some are POV, some are in silhouette. I was simultaneously touched and tickled by this scene. 

This wonderful scene is followed by a quick meeting with long-standing supporting character Betty Brant. (She has been around since a brunette was seen at J. Jonah Jameson's front desk in "Amazing" #2 and was named in "Amazing" #4, which was the Sandman's first appearance!) This gives us another great scene in which Betty reveals to us that since "the Daily Bugle" is no more, she plans to start a BLOG (yay!) called "Bugle Girl". This scene is another two-pages, yet has too many other good points for me to list here. Suffice to say, it's another great scene. 

In a beautiful 3/4 page panel, Spider-Man gently floats down on a web-parachute to the place Betty's info sends him: Governor's Island (a small, state-owned island off Manhattan, generally closed to the public), where we finally get a bit of action! After canvassing the island, and showing us some nice architecture, Sandman traps our webbed hero in an arena-type space and their visually inventive fight tears through the place! Sandman forms his head into a set of ram's horns and charges Spidey. Spidey swings a metal grate at Marko's head and the little 'waterfalls' of sand falling off the metal bars each have little faces that all yell at him. Who's not going to think that's cool? The first issue (#615) concludes with the discovery that Marko has separated/multiplied his body into many humanoid sand-constructs. 

In the second issue (#616), we get a better perspective on these various SandMEN (and women) and we learn that Marko/Baker/Mann/heroic Sandman/evil Sandman have divided into multiple separate bodies and multiple separate personalities. (This connects nicely with the first time Sandman separated bodies in "Peter Parker: Spider-Man" #154 and #155. In that story, he broke-down into separate personas: super-ego, id, inner child, and inner female.) In fact, the only two things these myriad SandGents and Ladies can agree on is that Spidey has to be crushed and that he (they've?) found a small measure of happiness being a foster father to this girl he has 'kidnapped' and it's worth holding onto. Keemia doesn't want to leave either, as Flint Marko has made Governor's Island into a winter wonderland kingdom just for her. He is her father, the king and she is princess Keemia. A child's dream or her worst nightmare? Separating the two is difficult. (The scene in which Spidey convinces her he's not going to try to take her and then promptly scoops her up and makes a run for it, lamenting his ruse and the nature of "grittier, darker, more morally ambiguous 'super heroes' " is both funny, sad, and a genre commentary at the same time. Keemia's dialogue as she's carried through most of the issue on Spidey's back is hilarious.) 

Spider-Man has to run a 'gauntlet' (chuckle chuckle) made of Sandman's body in the form of a life-size SAND-castle and avoid the army of different Sandmans. It is at this point it becomes clear that Sandman's different personalities aren't communicating very effectively, in fact they're keeping secrets from each other. Three different Sandmen are responsible for the three murders that led Spidey on this goose chase in the first place. (Using his powers, Sandman is both the murder and the murder weapon. Mystery solved.) 

The other Sandmen claim no knowledge of this. Spider-Man states that as Sandman isn't entirely in control of... himself, not taking the girl back to her grandmother would be crazy. Sensible, yes. Sandman won't hear of anything sensible. "One day while I was visiting, just on her own-- Keemia started calling me 'Daddy!' You know what that means to a freak like me, who's never had anything permanent in his life? Everything always slips through my fingers-- like you-know-what!" William Baker has lived a conflicted life. He grew up without a father as Floyd Baker left the family while his son was very young. He became a career criminal like his father was. He used the name Flint Marko as a criminal to escape jail. He was on the wrong atomic testing site at the wrong time and found himself changed to living sand. He became a super-criminal under the name Sandman. He tried to go straight as a superhero for a time under the name Sandman (most successfully in "Amazing" #348). He used the name Sylvester Mann to escape his criminal past. Another villain found him too useful as a pawn and literally suppressed his super-ego to make him a pliable henchmen (in "PP:SM" #12). He began falling apart soon after (in "PP:SM" #22). 

This is, indeed, a man who would seek some permanence, some connection. Some family stability. Baker is defeated, screaming the name of his surrogate daughter. Spidey is free to bring Keemia home to her grandmother. Case closed, good triumphs over evil (or, in true Marvel style, good triumphs over the selfishly deranged and misunderstood), everybody goes home. Not here. This brings us to our aforementioned heart-wrenching conclusion. 

The gut punch: Child Services arrives. 

The great-grandmother was watching TV when Keemia was abducted by the Sandman. "I'm sorry, Spider-Man. I am. But... ...what did you think was going to happen?" 

THE LONG AND SHORTBOX OF IT? 

If I haven't made it clear yet, these two issues are excellent. Excellent writing, excellent art, excellent layouts, excellent colors. Plays with character continuity, yet stands alone. There is nary a misstep in the whole story. Honestly, this probably deserved to be on my "Personal Best of 2oo9" list as they were the last issues of "Amazing" in 2oo9, but I already had a Spider-Man story in there, plus there were TWO Fred Van Lente-written comics and a whole bunch of Marvel stuff and I didn't want to be accused of displaying blatant favoritism! If not for the crazy balancing act of writers and artists that came together to create "Red-Headed Stranger," this would have stolen its spot.  

Man. So damn much information to impart to you! Van Lente and Pulido pack delicious bits wherever they can and I chose to review two of their issues at once! You should check them out. All reviews I do from here on in will be of single issues unless it's a series wrap-up review! 

P.S. ~ Did I mention Paolo Rivera's covers for these two issues are awesome, too? Go look! 

2oo9 in a Shortbox!! Best of the Year

My marathon reading and re-reading of the comics of last year is finally over!! And as last night was Oscar night, here's my Personal Best Comics of 2oo9 List.

Quick important notes: To qualify, a work must be comics and must have been published in its entirety, in English, and for the first time either in print or on the web, between 1/1/o9 and 12/31/o9. The selections are presented by category, but not in any ascending or descending order.

BEST MINIS
"Luke Cage Noir" #1, #2, #3, #4
written by Adam Glass and Mike Benson; drawn by Shawn Martinbrough
One that flew under most people's radar as far as I can tell. Racism is just one of the many themes among class, crime, betrayal, legends, hearsay, and hope at play in this mini-series.
Collected edition has also become available in 2o1o.

"The Life and Times of Savior 28" #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 and the collection.
written by J.M. DeMatteis; drawn by Mike Cavallaro
Possibly the most important work done in the superhero genre in a decade, this mini-series challenges one of the long-standing, most-odious elements of the genre: violence.

BEST GRAPHIC NOVELS
"Asterios Polyp"
written and drawn by David Mazzucchelli
A torturously beautiful narrative of love and loss and realizing how much love it was you really did lose. Mazzucchelli broke the mold on utilizing style in visual narrative here. Brilliant. Although it is, in this writer's opinion, almost made a mess by a sudden and inappropriate shock ending. Making it the polar opposite of the following work...

"365 Samurai and a Few Bowls of Rice"
written and drawn by J. P. Kalonji
379 pages of splash-pages drawn by a Swiss man actually make this surprising graphic novel like a steady rhythm of blood pounding in your ears slowly building toward a fittingly beautiful surprise ending. The end result is a beautiful work of art about life, love, and enlightenment.

BEST GRAPHIC NOVELLA
"The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen" Vol. 3 "Century: 1910"
An amazing continuation of Alan Moore's crazy work of historical/fictional fantasy. Characters narrate their own story in period songs they sing as they go about their work. The background items in the League's headquarters get even more outrageous. Horrifying and beautiful.

BEST STORY-ARC IN AN ONGOING SERIES
"Red-Headed Stranger" Prelude in "Amazing Spider-Man" #601, Parts 1 through 3 in #602, #603, #604, and (epilogue) #605
written by Mark Waid, Fred Van Lente, and Brian Reed; drawn by Mario Alberti, Barry Kitson, Robert Atkins, Javier Pulido, Luke Ross, and Yanick Paquette
Issue #601 by Mark Waid and Mario Alberti gets special mention for being funny, action-packed, romantic, working as a stand-alone story, and being gorgeously drawn by Alberti to boot! The prelude and epilogue material by Mark Waid, Fred Van Lante, and Brian Reed is excellent humorous/romantic stuff that connects thematically to Van Lente's main drama/action story in the three issues between them. Mary Jane returns from a long hiatus from Peter's life and Spider-Man's first supervillain, The Chameleon, gets a fantastically creepy overhaul that allowed Van Lente to examine the role of fear in how we shape our identity.

BEST INDIVIDUAL ISSUES
"Counting Up From Zero" from "Invincible Iron Man" #20 and "Digging In The Dirt" from "Invincible Iron Man" #21
ongoing series issues written by Matt Fraction; drawn by Salvador Larroca
My god. If you told me six years ago that "Iron Man" would be one of the best series Marvel was doing, that it would be the MUST HAVE, the book that had you most excited about comics... I would have laughed in your face. Along came Fraction and Salva (although a great debt is owed to the work done a few years ago by Warren Ellis and Adi Granov, too) and completely blew my socks off with these issues. Following on the heels of some great issues in the "World's Most Wanted" story-arc.

"Sandman: The Dream Hunters" #3, #4 and the collection.
mini-series issues written and drawn by P. Craig Russell; adapted from a short story by Neil Gaimen
This mini was mind-blowing, most-especially for someone, such as myself, who has never been fully immersed in the world of Neil Gaimen's "Sandman". I gave the collection to Clare for Christmas and it turned out to be the best Christmas gift I ever gave US.

"Blackest Night" #1
mini-series issue written by Geoff Johns; drawn by Ivan Reis
Strange, I know, to include the first issue of a mini-series and none of those that followed. Never before in a superhero comic-book had I seen so many characters in such a quick succession of pages be re-introduced, re-invigorated, and made respectably realistic. Johns is a master storyteller on an epic scale.

"Ring Out The Old" Conclusion from "Ex Machina" #44
ongoing series issue written by Brian K. Vaughan; drawn by Tony Harris
On a equally epic scale, if with a smaller number of characters, Brian K. Vaughan continues to bring new dimensions to the story of his ex-superhero mayor of New York City. This issue blew my mind with its kooky SF creations mixed with religious terminology.

"The Great Silence" from "Jonah Hex" #50
ongoing series issue written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti; drawn by Darwyn Cooke
A smart, fast, heart-breaking story by Gray and Palmiotti breathtakingly realized by Darwyn Cooke, the sequential art master of our times. One of the only western genre titles out there today, and a damn good one.

"A Battle Within" from "Batman" #687
ongoing series issue written by Judd Winick; drawn by Ed Benes
Batman stories narrated even partially by Alfred have ended up being my very favorite Batman stories. When asked if he's okay after Bruce Wayne's death, he replies: I'm not okay. My son is dead.

"Saviour" from "Atomika" #8
mini-series issue written by Andrew Dabb; drawn by Sal Abbinanti
After four years of publishing, we finally see Atomika turn that moral corner, realize he is a monster and become a mature... god. It is at this point he embarks on the road to heroism that we will see him complete when the last, twelfth issue comes out.

"That Which Does Not Kill Us" from "The Infinite Horizon" #4 of 6
mini-series issue written by Gerry Duggan; drawn by Phil Noto
Excellent adaptation of "The Odyssey" recounting a soldier's moments of weakness. Circe's magic is replaced by a morphine addiction. Tough choices are made, as the road back home can only continue if the Captain breaks his own leg so that the previous unsuccessful bone setting can be re-done. Holy jesus.

"Planetary" #27
ooooooongoing series' final issue written by Warren Ellis; drawn by John Cassaday
The major work in the superhero genre in the past fifteen years come to a close. The final hurrah was worth the wait. Science fiction at the intersection of hope and history.

"32" from "Daytripper" #1
mini-series issue written and drawn by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Bá
This extremely talented team of twin brothers present their first mini-series. And it is a very auspicious start. We are introduced to their main character, Bras, at 32 years old.

"Comic Book Comics" #3
mini-series issue written by Fred Van Lente; drawn by Ryan Dunlavey
The men behind this comic are the unsung heroes of the comic-book medium right now, because they are attempting to create a history of the comics medium in the comics medium and they're having fun doing it! Honestly, they deserve props for the concept of the comics industry's self-infantilization (which they label the "Logan's Run Effect") alone.

BEST SHORTS
"Photograph"
mini-comic written and drawn by Nicholas Breutzman
A simple story in simple xeroxed pages without so much as a staple between them. A boy and a girl wake up in bed next to each other and through narration from the fella's point-of-view we slowly get a picture of who these people are and how they ended up in so intimate a position.

"...And Call My Lover MODOK!" from "Strange Tales" #1
short graphic anthology story written and drawn by Nick Bertozzi
Awkward, ridiculous, yet moving portrayal of a supervillain and his... concubine? Done in FOUR PAGES. Amazing.

"The Black Widow" from "Strange Tales" #2
short graphic anthology story written and drawn by Matt Kindt
A great, quick spy story set against the Marvel universe. Apparently, superheroes get in the way of your job when your job is being a secret agent for S.H.I.E.L.D. Great use of text, great characterization, all in so few pages!

"Martha" from "MySpace Dark Horse Presents" online Issue 19
webcomic written and drawn by Dave Chisholm
A remarkable little tale of highway violence and familial re-connection. The surprise ending makes this the best thing I read on the web last year.

Here's hoping 2o1o is as good a year! Or better!

[2oo9: The best to the right, the rest to the left! Not quite a shortbox, is it?]

and finally...
The Comics I Would Probably Have Put On The List Had I Bought Them and Read All Of Them
"Stiches" graphic novel written and drawn by David Small
"3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man" graphic novel written and drawn by Matt Kindt
"I Kill Giants" #7 of 7 mini-series final issue written by Joe Kelly; drawn by J. M. Ken Niimura

Already Tired of Tuesday 11/24/09

AHA! Finally a big week of things for me to report on Already Tired of Tuesday!

First off we've got the final story in JMS's fantastic run on Thor- its sad to see the writer leave the God of Thunder as the stories he's told have been unbelievable. He's taken Thor and Asgard to entirely new places and while many of the comics that the Big Two produce seem to be recycling themselves Thor has been blazing its own trail for as long as JMS has been writing it. I did, however, really enjoy Kieron Gillen's first issue of SWORD, so I'm hopeful that the series will remain fantastic, although I'm certainly invested enough in it that I'll probably keep pulling it, even if it blows.

Staying in the realm of the divine, the second of part of Assault on New Olympus comes out tomorrow too- if you're interested, check out this interview over at CBR- and, seeing as I've been digging Incredible Herc so much recently I'm excited to see where Pak and Van Lente take this.

Matt Fraction is keeping the trouble coming for the X-Men in Uncanny #517, Tracy Lawless is sure to find some of his own in Criminal: The Sinners #2 and the JSA is going to tear itself to shreds in #33, the last issue before Matt Sturges takes his team and splits it off into JSA: All Stars.

Additionally, there are two more things I'm going to take a good look at: the new trade dress for The Invincible Iron Man is fantastic, and I've been waiting for a good point to jump on Fraction's Tony Stark story, so I'm going to try it out for a few issues and see what happens. Also, I've been hearing really good things about Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four, so I might be picking that up as well.

Anything else I should take a flip through?

Already Tired of Tuesday...

Short post today, as I have a paper due in a little over 16 hours:

This week is heavy on the Batman, as both the Brian Azzarello penned Batman/Doc Savage Special and Batman and Robin #6, the conclusion of Phillip Tan's work on the title, are out. Also from DC this week is Fables #90 and, as Witches hits its penultimate chapter, I can't wait to see where we go from here. Out from Marvel this week is Daredevil #502, in which I'm sure things will continue to go to hell for Matt Murdock (it sometimes seems like Daredevil is the comic book equivalent of the Book of Job) as well as the first issue of S.W.O.R.D. which looks unbelievably cool- I'll be pulling it at least through issue three because, well, just look at this cover.

Finally, there's Fred Van Lente's history of the comics medium, Comic Book Comics #4, which comes out this week, although I'll probably pick it up at some other point over the internet.

Now, back to Frederick Douglass and Uncle Tom's Cabin.

You know, having seen the following solicit for THE INCREDIBLE HERCULES #136, I'm further convinced that it's going to be Pak and Van Lente who bring the Mighty Thor back into the regular Marvel U:

The face-off Herc fans have been clamoring for since his series began is here at last! God of Strength versus God of Thunder! Adamantine mace versus uru hammer! Olympian versus Asgardian! Incredible versus Mighty! That's right -- HERCULES battles THOR! The Odinson discovers the Lion of Olympus has been impersonating him and he's out to prove nothing beats the original!

Second Week- Jon's Pull List for 8/19/09

From my regular pull-list:

"the Amazing Spider-Man" #603
Mary Jane kicking the Chameleon's ass again? Sounds good to me.

NOTE: I think I am going to be doing the reviewing for this title since Josh is not. But to do so I need to catch up! Hopefully, this week it will happen.

"Dark Reign: Mister Negative" #3 of 3
I enjoyed the first two issues of this mini-series. What can I say? Spider-Man getting mentally warped into an evil mother-fucker and getting involved in Chinatown violence. Great idea, right? Let's see if Fred Van Lente can carry this out on a high note!

Feelin' curious about:

"Ex Machina" #44
Although I haven't been following this title closely since the beginning of the arc involving the Pope (which must have been about a year ago) I am very interested to see if there are some answers to be found about the origins of New York City Mayor Mitchell Hundred's super-powers. They are among the most interesting elements of this series.

I'm also going to take a ridiculous chance. I'm going to see what sense I can make of the final issue of "Rex Mundi".

I am going to buy and review "Rex Mundi" #19 after only having read issue #1. I LIVE TO SERVE YOU. Wish me luck.

...and that's it? The rest of the bunch doesn't seem to interest me too much. We'll see if something jumps out at me on the stands or if one of the others convinces me otherwise!

Whatever Happened to the God of Thunder?

It used to be that I thought Thor wasn't very interesting. I used to believe that the most compelling superheroes were those with whom we could identify, those that we see ourselves as. This is a variation on the oft-stated opinion that Batman is the most compelling super-hero because he doesn't actually have any super-powers (which, incidentally, is untrue: Batman's superpower is being as rich as God. I suppose the argument might work with Nightwing, or maybe a character like Hawkeye or Green Arrow but in the context of what I'm about to say and recent events its mostly a moot point).

Both of those suppositions are wrong*.

The latter is wrong mostly because no-one says it about Iron Man (who is a much better Marvel analogue to Batman than Moon Knight, mostly because the basic character type is the same). The reason that no-one makes this argument on Tony Stark's behalf is that, mostly, Tony isn't as interesting as Bruce Wayne, because his hook isn't nearly as fantastic. Iron Man really is just a dude with a lot of money and training; Batman is a dude with lots of money and training whose parents were killed by criminals, scarring him into becoming a psychopath, albeit an awesome one.

I discovered that the former isn't true because of J. Michael Straczynski's run on Thor. I love JMS's Thor. I love it so much that I'm willing to throw out one of my core beliefs about what makes a good superhero concept simply on the basis of a series that I've been reading backwards, from #602 back to #8 (which is far, far less impressive than it sounds, considering the renumbering). I love it so much, in fact, that I have since bought (and fallen in love with) Matt Fraction's Thor One-Shots**, and some Walter Simonson Thor issues out of a fifty-ceny bin.

So, basically, Thor is by far one of the best superhero comics being released at the moment. The problem is, of course, that I have to use a term like "released" loosely, because the timeline between issues seems to roughly consist of forever, and this is extremely frustrating.

Unfortunately, JMS is leaving Thor, apparently beacuse of the big upcoming "Siege of Asgard" event referenced here. Rich Johnston has a couple theories about what this might be, here and here, and although the former has been discredited, the latter seems to be within the realm of possibillity.

That is, until one considers that the most recently announced Marvel Event is called Assault on New Olympus, which sounds sort of similair to "Siege of Asgard" insofar as it involves attacking a new representation of an old home for ancient gods. Now, Marvel is sort of notorius for appropriating ideas from elsewhere (take that Identity Disc miniseries from a few years back or the upcoming Necrosha event, which is basically Blackest Night featuring mutants) but stealing from yourself is a little absurd, even for the House of Ideas.

So, True Believers, the question is this: Is it Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente who are going to bring the God of Thunder back into the Marvel U. proper? Will it be Bendis and Copiel, as Rich proposes? Or is it something else entirely?

For what it's worth, my allowance is on the first option: given both Herc's status as a former Thor supporting character and Amadeus's previous history with helping out heroes in need, as well as the title similarities pointed out above, and the dots seem to connect in all the right places. Still, the second option isn't inconcievable and (despite my modest bashing of Bendis earlier this week) would probably be quite wonderful.

Whatever happens, I'm excited to see where Thor goes- although JMS's issues were so few and far-between, he concocted a great setup for the next guy, and I can only hope that that guy is someone equally as talented.

------------------------------------------------

*This is a sweeping generalization- the kind I should have learned my lesson about with the sweeping generalization made in the introduction- and, as is usually true of such statements, it is incomplete. There are two sets of comics characters who are compelling because they are identifiable, and a third who sort of fits the bill. The first two, are, of course, the X-Men and (if my limited knowledge is correct) The Doom Patrol, both of which are made of heroes both hated by humanity and sworn to protect them. Spider-Man sort of fits the bill, except I suspect we like Peter Parker mostly because we like him, not because we feel like we are him.

**Now, Fraction's work makes me suspect that my first sweeping generalization wasn't so wrong after all- what he makes clear is that Thor exists as we know him in the Marvel comics because he was flawed. Thor was, essentially, cursed to be bound with a mortal because he was a holier-than-thou ass, which rubbed Odin the wrong way. Perhaps if the sweeping generalization is modified into "The only heroes that aren't compelling are those heroes that aren't flawed" which would, of course, mean that Superman may be the least interesting cape of all time- as near as I can tell (despite attempts by people like Brian Azzarello, who's Superman run is fantastic) Supe's only flaw is that he's got this moral code that no one can live up to but him, which maybe the least realistic flaw of all-time. I have no problem with suspension of disbelief (I am blogging about comics, after all), but that's just absurd.

A Marvelous Wednesday: 08/12/09

Uncanny X-Men #514
-Fraction's run on Uncanny has a lot of detractors, or, if they aren't detractors, certainly people who think that it's astonishingly mediocre. In some ways it is (the criminal under usage of Nightcrawler, who you would think would appear more often in a comic that features him on the cast page, being a good example), but mostly it isn't, and when it suffers, it suffers mostly because Fraction is trying to do too much.

This is not a bad thing.

In fact, it's a fantastic thing, because nobody (with a few notable exceptions, like Jeff Parker) tries to do too much anymore. The vast majority of the books released by the Big Two these days are not-so-great "wide-screen comics (which, incidentally, is further proof that Warren Ellis is this generation's Alan Moore) in which not much ever happens. It's a crime that story arcs these days last as long as they do, because what most writers do in six issues, writers like Fraction can do in four.

With Utopia, Matt Fraction continues to prove that he's capable of writing exciting comics, despite the fact that the issue is dedicated mostly to tension building. In a Bendis book, this would be three pages of action and nineteen pages of characters talking at each other; here, we've got real character interaction, a sudden change without unnecessary exposition about that change AND the kind of cliffhanger that really makes me want to shell out four dollars for the next issue of Dark Avengers. Ultimately, Fraction is writing the best summer crossover I've ever read.

And that's even before we get to the art. Terry and Rachel Dodson draw the book to perfection, perfection that is made all the more brilliant by Justin Posner's fantastic coloring (has anyone else every colored Emma's diamond form like that before? If not, why not?). I'm not sure I can say anything useful beyond that; if anything, the art alone is worth a looksee.

Incredible Hercules #132
-This book is as good as everyone says it is. I couldn't tell you what's different about it now than the last time I picked the book up, but it's much, much better than I remember it being. It's possible I just didn't give a fair shake, or for whatever reason the issues I picked up (which were mostly the Secret Invasion ones) just weren't very good.

Maybe Kid Zeus makes a better foil for Herc than Amadeus Cho? The character is good enough that I certainly hope he sticks around, even when Herc and Cho reunite.

Anyway, it's good enough that I'm going to pick up the issues featuring THE SECRET ORIGIN OF AMADEAUS CHO as well as the Thor-cules ones, and hope that maybe whatever I didn't like about it before doesn't come back.

The Marvels Project #1
This is one of those books where my expectations weren't met mostly because me expectations weren't exceeded. I realize that's entirely unfair but, at this point, if Brubaker and Epting put together a comic that's anything short of mind-blowing, I'm disappointed.

With that said, this is a damn-good comic book, although it is mostly set up for what's to come. As a prologue, it's perfect; seeing as The Marvels Project is essentially a history project, I'm really glad that Brubaker decided not to start out in media res, and instead begins, as any good teacher of history, by setting up the context and the status quo.

I'm excited for what's next.

Two More Things:

Meh on B.P.R.D 1947 #2. Some interesting stuff, a whole lot of boring non-action, made worth the purchase by the great art.

Meh, too, on Fables #87. Although the issue isn't bad, it's not great either. I like the idea of the storyline, though, and there was enough going on to keep me interested in the story that I'm excited to see what happens next. The real interesting thing here, though, is the preview in the back for Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth. I love Lemire's work. Essex County is one of the greatest things I've ever read in comics form and, although The Nobody was ultimately disappointing, I'm excited to see where this goes. I am a little (and only a little) worried about the coloring; I'm not sure that this coloring (or any coloring, really) adds to Lemire's artwork. Still, the preview is excellent and I hope that I'm wrong about the coloring.

The Long and Shortbox of It?
Along with everything above, I also purchased Wednesday Comics #6, which may be the best yet. The Flash strip, in particular, keeps getting better and better, as do both the Adam Strange and Kamandi ones. With that, plus the three great Marvel books from above, we've got a pretty good week.

Till next time, True Believers.