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Before we start out this week, I just want to alert to some rather sad news from the field of comics. Not sure if you have heard it by now or not, by Sam Loeb, Jeph Loeb’s son, past away at age 17 on Thursday of last week. An article on the teen can be found at Newsarama for all those interested. As for myself, I recognize that nothing can provide comfort during a time like this, but I send my best wishes to the Loebs and the friends and family of Sam. I hope they are in the best spirits possible and coming together to help one another through this trying time.

Now, there’s no good way to transition to this, but let’s return to the frivolity of the comic book industry. Shall we?


Because Johns Doesn’t Have Enough Work

As Geoff Johns writes the upcoming Infinite Crisis series that spans the entire DCU and touches essentially every character, consider, for a moment, the work involved other than the writing.

In preparation for Crisis, Johns has to essentially follow every character in the DCU, every storyline leading to Crisis, know their starting position, both role and endpoint in Crisis, and have a pitch-perfect working familiarity with them so they’ll remain true to their own voice within the pages of Crisis.

Almost sounds like a whole other job, doesn’t it?

Well, it is.

See if this is the task that breaks the camel’s back at Newsarama

With all the changes the DCU is bound to be going through, this probably isn’t a bad idea at all. Plus, given the sheer numbers of titles that Johns has under his belt or has just finished up with, the man is certainly familiar with a large part of the DCU. I just hope the position doesn’t exhaust him too much. We are a selfish bunch, we are, and we demand good books from him!


The DCU Falls Into Dangerous Hands

Teased by Geoff Johns when he was discussing his own expanded role at DC Comics in the build up to fall’s Infinite Crisis, Newsarama has gotten the lowdown on just what Grant Morrison will be doing in the DC Universe as the dust from the crossover settles. Dan DiDio, Executive Editor of the DCU explained: “Grant was working on Seven Soldiers, and once he got started, the ideas were just overflowing – not just ideas about characters for that project, but revived characters, concepts, and takes on how they could fit into the DC Universe. He was throwing them at me a mile a minute. He got Seven Soldiers on paper, but he had so many other ideas, and every one was better than the one before it.”

As DiDio went on to recount, the ideas were just too good to waste, and he figured that he should just put Morrison to work in the DCU in a consulting/development relationship, similar in a way to what Geoff Johns has with the publisher. Rather than working to shepherd characters and situations into and out of Infinite Crisis more smoothly however, Morrison is looking at the post-Crisis DCU, helping to populate it, or, more accurately re-populate it with some revitalized characters and concepts. Some will be written by Morrison, while others will be moved to other creators for execution.

Thrill to Morrison playing puppet master at Newsarama

Now, I am thrilled for Johns and his new position. It is well earned and I have no doubt he’ll do the DCU proud by his efforts. That said……this is so cool!

God knows if half these ideas of Morrison’s will see the day and if they do if they’ll be any good at all or too weird for words. But you know what, at least DC’s giving it a shot. I’ve been genuinely enjoying about 90% of the Seven Soldiers stuff that I have read, so if this is born of the same spirit, I can imagine that I’ll feel similarly.

Of course, I have to be a downer about all things, so I do have a concern or two. A.) “Repopulating” the DCU would suggest that there will be a need to repopulate it. While death in comics does not bother me as much as it does most, I do imagine that even I have only so high a threshold for it. B.) That the repopulation will be too large and unwieldy. I wasn’t around for the DC title explosion or implosion of the late 70’s (or is it early 80’s) but I’ve read up enough about it to know that isn’t a great thing. While I’d hate to see a really good idea exiled to guest appearances and cameos, I’d prefer that fate to seeing it appear in a book only to have the book shut down 8, 10, 12 issues later and the idea thusly abandoned.

But hell, why dwell on the bad when this launch is so far away? Why not just enjoy the promise of Morrison running amuck in the DCU? That’s what I’ll be doing for now.


Marketing Revamp

Changes continue at DC Comics it seems. Over the last week Newsarama has reported on both upcoming changes in content with “One Year Later…” coming out of Infinite Crisis, as well as upcoming changes in the editorial ranks. Now the company has confirmed that its marketing department has also seen a change, with Bill Rosemann, who had been working as Manager, Creative Services since November of 2004, moving to Manager, Marketing Communications.

Will this be a hard or soft reboot? One way to find out: read Newsarama

With respected industry veteran Bill Rosemann moving into the position of manager, marketing communications at DC Comics, many in the mainstream comics community wondered what this meant for longtime director of sales and marketing communications Patricia Jeres. Rosemann’s new position brings with it duties similar to those undertaken by Jeres in past years. Additionally, the line of communication described in yesterday’s news story at Newsarama was between Rosemann and Senior Vice-President Stephanie Fierman, not between Rosemann and Jeres.

Get more in depth about the Jeres side of the deal at The Pulse

What’s great about the latter article is the uniformly kind things that retailers, reporters, and creative types have to say about Jeres. In an industry where it seems like at least one person will always have something lousy to say about you, such universal support and praise is rare and it is heartening to see it. I think Rosemann was and continues to be a great pickup for DC, but with all that love, DC would be foolish not to hold onto Jeres for dear life. The update from Newsarama would lead one to believe that that won’t be the case, but it has yet to be confirmed, so I’ll hold out hope.


Titans Together! For Mugshots

At his blog, artist Tony Daniel has posted the new headshots of the Teen Titans which will appear in the roster segment of each issue. The new illos will replace those by former Teen Titans artist Mike McKone.

Spot your roommate in the facebook at Newsarama

There is, of course, only one purpose in looking at those headshots. To spark random speculation as to how is in the blanked out square. Also, to ask the question as to why Gar looks more like Risk than his old Beast-y self.

In all seriousness, Daniel does some nice work here. Too bad his interiors work is only for an issue.

Oh, and my pick for that blanked out member is Vext.

Suck on that Stone King! There’s your revamp!

(Honestly, revamp “Vext”? Do you people hate me?)


‘Villains’ Selling Like Gangbusters

The excitement of the upcoming INFINITE CRISIS continues to build as VILLAINS UNITED #2 has sold out at DC Comics two weeks after arriving in stores on June 1!

Now, the issue is going back to press for a new printing, scheduled to arrive in stores on July 7. This edition reprints the story by Gail Simone with art by Dale Eaglesham & Wade von Grawbadger, and features a black and white version of the issue ‘ s original cover by J.G. Jones.

See ‘Villains’ make a killing at Newsarama

File this under “Huge Surprise (Sarcasm)”


Press Release City

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #20 (FEB050262), the first chapter of the 6-part “With a Vengeance” storyline, has sold out at DC Comics less than a week after arriving in stores on June 1. This fast-paced adventure reunites SUPERMAN/BATMAN writer Jeph Loeb with the series original art team of Ed McGuinness & Dexter Vines.

The fantastic VERTIGO saga OTHERWORLD, written and pencilled by Phil Jimenez, will reach the stunning conclusion to its first act with issue #7, coming in September.

Come for the sellout, stay for the awkward cancellation at Newsarama

The S/B piece is good news for DC, but hardly shocking. What is interesting here is the Otherworld info. Because of its (very) low sales, the conspiracy theory is that this mini was going to go the way of the dodo and that the press release allows Jimenez to save face. Thusly, there will never be a volume 2.

I think the conspiracy theory goes a bit too far. However, I do think they are right about there not being a volume 2. A low selling mini that is left midstream by its creator? That does not quite sound like the type of thing a company would be anxious to revisit. Who knows though, maybe there will be such a fan outpouring that DC will have to bring it back. Again, doubtful, but still possible. The only real possibility I see for its return is that Jimenez is really in love with it and totally dedicated to bringing it back so DC lets him as sort of a “thanks for a job well done” in reference to Donna Troy. I’d file that under longshot (no, not the three fingered mutant) though.


NUMBER$

Your Poor Aching Wallet

Over the last several months as Marvel and DC have aggressively promoted their respective universe-wide events – House of M and Countdown to Infinite Crisis – both publishers have gone on record saying neither intends for or expects its fans to read every issue that’s been marketed as a tie-in to the main series.

Each has been sure to make it very clear fans can read what titles interests them and will be able to follow the stories on individual basis and/or the larger event without the satellite tie-ins. In fact, DC has gone so far as to provide weekly recaps of key events on their website for fans being selective as to what titles to read.

But here at Newsarama we don’t like to leave any stone unturned, and no fan gets left behind. So as a service for those brave souls who do want or intend to read it all, we got out our abacus…abacuses…abacai? and did a little calculating for you. Newsarama has figured out approximately what one can expect to spend if one’s dedication to each storyline knows no monetary bounds.

Bear in mind the following estimates cover only announced tie-ins so far and assumes the original suggested retail cover price for past and/or current issues demanding more on the after-market, and estimated standard cover prices for issues not yet solicited.

Find a shoulder to cry on (about the loss of your funds) at Newsarama

Isn’t that just insane? All that money for one crossover. I am just so thankful that I’ve never been a crossover completist. I might be a within title completist (thus why the upcoming Titans fill in issues present such a conundrum to me), but for crossovers, I’ve always been happy just picking up my titles and, maybe, the core mini. If I wasn’t…well let’s just say that the Student Loan folk would not be thrilled with my decisions.

Just looking at those costs hurts me. And what’s worse is that DC hasn’t named all the tie-in issues yet. I ache for those of you who wish to pick them all up.

So much so that I beg you listen to me and resist those temptations. Starting this week, I will have a quick guide to the Infinite Crisis tie-in issues that will tell you if it is worth picking up or not. For this first edition, I will try to catch up with all the ones to date. Yes equals “yup this is an actual tie-in”, Borderline equals “well…sort of” and No equals “This is red sky territory people”.

YES

JSA #73-74: Spectre raising all sorts of Hell In Khandaq. Sure, we all know that the ultimate Cap v. Spectre battle is happening over in DOV, but this shows us how round the bend Spectre has gone and let’s us see how some non-magic heroes deal with the unstoppable Spirit of Vengeance and his sudden turn.

BORDERLINE

Superman #217, Adventures of Superman #641: The robot OMAC shows up and smashes through walls (this appears to be his talent). Cool appearances by the robot, but little ties into the actual mini. Adventures is notable for indicating that OMAC may be able to learn and adapt from prior combat (like that robot from the Incredibles).

Birds of Prey #83: Mentions that Blue Beetle is missing and Barbara’s running into OMAC (in digital form) a few issues back. This is so close to red sky territory, but it does actually mention the events so we’ll call it borderline.

NO

Nightwing #109: No way, no how. No mention of anything having to do with Villains United. There is a villain in the book, Black Mask, but Mask has had zero (or essentially zero) on panel time in Villains United. Unless he’s Mockingbird. Dear God, don’t let him be Mockingbird.

Anyway, this could not be less of a tie-in. It’s not physically possible.

Don’t believe me? Check out Kevin’s Nightwing review. He’s got my back.


DC Take the Lead in the Summer Sweepstakes

The battle for summer sales chart supremacy just got turned up a notch.

Just two months removed from Marvel’s dominant and unprecedented margin of victory in Diamond’s March 2005 Actual Sales Market Share charts, DC Comics has built upon their April comeback and in May had their best showing in recent memory, charting in at the #1 positions in both the Dollar (percentage of dollars generated for all products sold) and Unit (the percentage of raw books sold) Market Share categories in the same month for the first time in nearly 5 years.

There’s nothing like reducing creativity to a race, or so says, Newsarama

I feel the same way about this information as I feel about the monthly sales figures. Thus, I have no analysis to offer.


COMING ATTRACTIONS

TEEN TITANS #25

Insiders: Part 1 was incredibly brutal, both physically and emotionally. Part 3 finds us essentially where Part 1 left us so I’m looking for this one to up the ante as the arc rolls into its climax.

ASTRO CITY THE DARK AGE #1

I still haven’t decided if I’m going to pick this up or wait to do it in trade (I just love those Astro City trade so). Nonetheless, it deserves a mention because it is a great series and one that will be wonderful to have back on shelves.


OPINIONS ON THE WORK OF PEOPLE FAR MORE TALENTED THAN I

I’ve already got BIRDS OF PREY #83 and Ex Machina #12 covered on the main page. Here’s the rest.

DAY OF VENGEANCE #3

The action felt rather perfunctory this time out, particularly what happened to Eclipso. I’m hoping that that is not as “over” as it looks, but I think that it very well might be. However, the book is still a lot of fun. I have no feel for Blue Demon whatsoever, but his narration was pretty good. Only one objection: did he really hold back on Eclipso because she’s a woman? Ugh…do I hate that device. Detective Chimp and Nightshade have a great moment when she finally snaps at him for questioning her worth. Looking forward to seeing Gail Simone’s creation from Birds of Prey showing up here next month. And hey, I actually dug Captain Marvel in this appearance. That saying something because usually he holds all the interest of wallpaper to me.

MANHUNTER #11

Things are definitely closing in on Kate. What’s great is that she has no idea. She’s got Dumas coming in on one side, Mark Shaw on another, DEO Agent Chase flying in from Washington, a tabloid journalist hot on a story that he still doesn’t grasp the magnitude of, and an elderly gentlemen stalking her son and ex-husband. She is aware of what, one of those developments? Things are going to get intense and quick it seems.

I know nothing of Shaw’s clone that battles Dumas this week, but I continue to be impressed with how Anderyko can draw me into a character in a few panels or pages when this is either the first time or one of the first times I’ve encounter them in a comic (see also Monocle, Shadow Thief, and Chase Lawler).

Oh, and Dylan Battles is one of the best supporting characters out there right now. It needs to be said.

SEVEN SOLDIERS KLARION THE WITCH BOY #2

Ahh. Much like Lost, Morrison has slowly been revealing little pieces that connect each mini with one another and the whole arc of the series. This is probably the largest example of that yet with a die making an appearance (see Zatanna and Guardian), Guardian’s helmet, the street children, the bodies of pirates, and out of control trains (see Guardian for all those). So that’s very cool.

It wouldn’t mean anything however if the story still wasn’t strong on its own. Thankfully, it is. Klarion to paraphrase Badde in this issue, is one odd boy. What’s not clear is if that is odd villainous or just odd odd. I suspect the latter but that it will occasionally lead to the former and so far that seems about right.

Frazier’s work here is just as strong as the previous issue. It’s an example of a different art approach that really works for the story, unlike the art found in Shining Knight which is too dark and unwieldy to de a story that is also confusing any favors.

For a very different take on this book, check out what Coren has to say about it.

TRIGGER #7

The fact that this book is done in two more issues really hurts it this time out. The story isn’t bad per se. It fleshes out how debilitating an experience being a Trigger can be for one’s civilian (real?) life by showing us another Trigger besides Carter. However, with only a couple of more visits to this world left, this is a stop I’d just as soon not take. With more time to explore, sure, fine. When time is of the essence, however, a sidetrack like this feels like a waste of time

VIMANARAMA #3

And, I remember this book. Glad to finally have the last issue in hand. Sadly, it doesn’t live up to the fun and energy of the first two issues, but it’s still not a bad read. Nice to see that my expectation about Ben Rama was sort of met without being exactly what I thought it was going to be. I like that Morrison does not have everything return to how it was but rather gives us an epilogue that the world, at least in some part, has been changed. The weakest of the three chapters, no doubt, but it was still a neat little mini.


MOVIE TIME

BATMAN BEGINS

Well, it took them long enough. But, I suppose a little anticipation can be good for the soul.

In this case, it was also good for the movie.

I won’t compare this Batman to the initial Burton/Keaton collaboration. It’s a respect thing.

What I will say is that this is, for damn sure, the best Batman film since and it, hands down, features the best Bruce Wayne/Batman performance since as well. Christian Bale is, in a word, excellent. He does get private Wayne, he does great public Wayne, and he does great Batman. Honestly, I don’t find fault with his performance.

The thing is, he’s not the only one who does an A-level job. I don’t find a weak performance in the bunch. Cillian Murphy is the right combination of creepy clinician and physically weak presence. I’ve been bitchin’ on and off for a couple of months about how long it has been since I’ve seen a scary Scarecrow on the page. Well, this isn’t in a comic, but it certainly fits the bill. The only disappointment in his effort is the lousy way he leaves the picture. It makes sense, but there is something just a little too laughable about it.

In quick order: Michael Caine may not possess the typical upper crust English accent that Alfred has been portrayed with to date, but in every other way he is exactly as he should be. Gary Oldman’s Gordon is actually a viable character, not a ham or a glorified extra. Morgan Freeman’s Lucius Fox is great fun. He may not exactly be the Fox of the comics, but he works in the context of the picture and he nails Fox’s ability to see the truth of Wayne behind his goofball playboy image. I’ll even give props to Katie Holmes’s young ADA. Yes, she does seem impossibly young to be an ADA (especially, if the movie’s internal timeline is to be believed, for as long as she has), but the movie actually never shoves the love story down our throats. It’s more of a wistful so close yet so far away approach that makes perfect sense to me.

I’d be lying if I said this was a perfect film though. My two chief complaints are this: the opening hour and the fight scene editing. Personally, as a comic fan, I love that first hour. It’s everything I’ve never seen on screen about Wayne’s pre-Batman days. Viewing as a film fan though, it’s overlong. It could be tightened by about 20 minutes without, in my opinion, adversely affecting the film.

The fight editing is probably the most confusing I’ve seen to date. A lot of superhero films (Daredevil, Blade III, Elektra) have been accused of overly quick cutting, but this is the first time I’ve ever felt it was really the case. With the exception of Batman’s first foray into crime fighting on the docks, where the editing adds to the fear and otherworldliness of this man or creature in black, it serves only to muddle the action on screen. A particularly grievous example is the fight sequence in the Chinese prison. I defy anyone to know (not guess) what the heck is going on there.

However, in every other category, I left the theater satisfied. Nolan nailed it. The actors nailed it. The script nailed it. If it was available, I would have stayed and watched the sequel right away.


NOSTAGLIA TIME (Brought to You by a Quality Batman movie. It’s like the 80’s all over again)

Adventures of Superman #627-640

I know. This is an odd choice for Nostalgia Time. The story did only wrap two months ago after all. Ideally, it wouldn’t find its way into this section. However, as I lack a “near recent history” category, this is where it finds itself.

It is also weird for me to be reviewing Superman books as I haven’t bought one (excepting Lex Luthor: Man of Steel and S/B) since that Superman Forever one shot. You know, the one with the Alex Ross cover where Superman stops being Red and Blue and starts being a normal hum…err…kryptonian again.

Anyway, it is weird, but my friend Tim said to me that if I didn’t read it he’d shoot me. Actually, he said, “Did you read Rucka’s Superman stuff?” I said no and then he said, “You still like Rucka right?” I nodded. “You should borrow it then,” he recommended. So I did. And that’s how we got here.

What Worked

The reporting side of things. Rucka invests a lot of time and energy into making Lois Lane not just Superman’s woman or an overbearing annoyance, the two traps that many other Superman writers seem to fall into. She loves Superman, she’s an excellent reporter, and both sides can co-exist rather nicely, thank you very much. Rucka also invest some time in the Clark Kent, reporter at large side of Superman, showing that he isn’t just a guy in tights who can write the story because he was part of it.

The art, provided by Matthew Clark is quite nice. He does good job of making Rucka’s revamped and new villains a reality: Replikon (a sort of updated Amazo), the new Parasites (twins with the old Parasites abilities), and, of course, Ruin. He is Superman is strong, his Clark Kent is convincingly schlubby.

The Mxy issues also tended to be a lot of fun.

What Didn’t

The Clark Kent reporter side of things is never really developed beyond the first two issues or so and I was never really convinced how Clark working crime happened or why it was such a slap in the face to his integrity. I was hoping we were in for more of an exploration of the man aspect of the character, but the focus quickly returns to the Super.

While I enjoyed the issue that reveals the identity of Ruin, I’m not in love with who was revealed. It certainly has an explosive quality to it, but it comes too quickly on the heels of another man in the same position going all nuts and villainous. Plus the reasoning, somehow related to learning that Clark is Superman, feels undercooked. I have a similar issue with the Mxy issues. As I sited above, I found them a lot of fun. What I didn’t find them was overly helpful to the overall arc of the story.

Finally, I know it would have driven me nuts to have the Shazam/Superman story cut in just before the issue where Ruin stands revealed if I was reading it month to month. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the story, because I did. I just got to put it off until the end rather than have it interrupt the narrative flow of Rucka’s work.

Stand Out Issue

Issue #640, no doubt. I might not feel the final identity revelation justified well enough, but I can’t deny the strength of the story leading up to it, or the power of the device that Rucka uses. Lois narrates while looking over a photo album and the present day is spliced in between her narration. It gives the whole thing a wistful quality that might sacrifice a bruising, visceral approach to the story but does so while introducing a far deeper and more resonant emotional factor.

Bottom Line

It’s not perfect, but it is a hell of lot more interesting than any Superman titles I had read as of late. It earns one of the highest compliments I can give a Superman book. It made me consider picking it up.


And there you have it. A little light on news, certainly, but plenty of reviewing to make up for it. Hope all of you had a wonderful Father’s Day and that you’ll enjoy the coming Summer Solstice. See you next week.

Un Gajje Figures He Could Probably Take Christian Bale in a Fight. You Know…If He Needed To