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We have our usual shenanigans planned for this week, but first I wanted to acknowledge the recent passing of an artist.

For those of you who may not have heard, Seth Fisher, the wildly creative artist who was responsible for such works as Green Lantern: WillWorld, Flash: Time Flies, and the recent “Snow” arc in Legends of the Dark Knight died after falling from the roof of a Japanese club. I, of course, did not know the man, but I was endlessly impressed with his work. He did everything that I thought would look silly or cheesy in a comic and yet it was always perfect. I like a lot of artists, but Fisher’s stuff just blew me away. The tragedy is only compounded his youth and the family he left behind. Here’s a collection of articles dedicated to his untimely passing.

Newsarama #1, Newsarama #2, The Pulse, and Comic Book Resources

And now, we awkwardly segue to the news.


Wacker Gives It to You Straight

While most of the editors of the DC Universe will have to make adjustments when their titles jump “One Year Later” in March, for Stephen Wacker, jumping around the DCU timestream is old hat.

In addition to two OYL books, Firestorm and JSA, he also edits a “TYL” (Thousand Years Later) title in Legion of Superheroes, a “OHTYA” (One Hundred-Thirty Years Ago) title in Jonah Hex, and of course, the pivotal upcoming “OMY” (One Missing Year) weekly series, 52.

Newsarama managed to pin down Wacker between his editorial temporal-hopping for a few moments of conversation about the past, the present, the future, and yes, that weekly series set somewhere in-between…

He ain’t go no time for games at Newsarama

I should preface this article by saying that Stephen Wacker strikes me as a pretty excellent editor/human being. He made the DC panels in San Diego and this interview here is not too spoiler-y but it also does not go over the top with “ooooooo, nothing will ever be the same…but I can’t tell you anything about that.” It’s just a shame he is only editing four books after the flip. Of course, one of the books is 52 (no more asterisk…so sad) so I guess that is still a generous helping of monthly editing.

I enjoy the image of Didio just endlessly bagging and boarding all the copies that he can get his hands on of the Superboy comic he co-wrote. It strikes me as something I would do (I enjoy all consuming obsessions, thank you very much).

So Supergirl is Supergirl here (or umm, in the present DCU, I mean) and in the 31st Century? Good to know. I think how Wacker took the air out of Waid’s hyperbole. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some good hyperbole, but I also love some good hyperbole deflating too. Especially if it means actual answers.

Hey, “the little book that could”. That’s what I called Firestorm too, right in these very pages. Do you think DC is stealing my material?


Kal-L Do You Recognize This Voice?

In February, the 3-part story “This Is Your Life” will run through the pages of SUPERMAN #226, ACTION COMICS #836 and ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #649. This pivotal tale, written by Joe Kelly, ties in to INFINITE CRISIS and features artwork by some of comics’ hottest names.

Now, DC Comics provides the full list of talent contributing artwork to these issues. All three are available now for advance reorder!

Find out who is behind curtain #1-a billion at Newsarama

Quite a lineup there. Yes, sir. Quite a lineup.

Can you tell that I just do not have anything to say? Is it obvious? I’m sorry…that’s very unfair to you. Perhaps if I tell a joke, it will make things right? Oh, it will? Thanks, I appreciate that.

So, did you hear the one about the snail and his car? No. Well, it is great. Here it goes: A snail takes his car to the shop to have it detailed. After picking out a spoiler, neons, and a banging new system, the snail asks the shop if they could possibly paint and “s” on the front hood. Retail Associate Chad says, “Sure, no problem. For snail, right?”

The snail responds, “Umm…not really.”

“Oh? Why then?”

“Well, it is silly, but every since I was a kid I always want to be able to drive down the street and have people say, ‘Wow, look at the s-car go!'”

Get it? S-car go? Escargot? Hilarious, no?


Cameron on Conventions

Comic conventions can be weird places, even for comics fans. I’m in Toronto at the 2005 Canadian National Comic Book Expo to arrange an interview with Cameron Stewart, the artist behind CATWOMAN, SEAGUY and – most recently – Grant Morrison’s insanely thrill-powered MANHATTAN GUARDIAN. I’m too stunned and bewildered to find him, though. There’s a degree of nerdiness on display here that even a lifetime of comics buying – and a lifetime of writing phrases like “Grant Morrison’s insanely thrill-powered” – has failed to prepare me for. It’s like geek nirvana, Narnia and hell, all rolled into one.

Brave the frozen Canadian tundra (metaphorically) to read Ninth Art

The description of the convention that opens this interview is so very depressing. In part, because it’s true. In part because it is an utter simplification, highlighting the worst parts of conventions without making mention of anything decent or normal about them.

It is a particularly odd preface to the story of a man who get where he is to day in part because of attending a convention.

Oh well, sometimes I suppose it just does not pay to get hung up on the superiority factor of some writers who cover conventions (I have enough of my own superiority factor, thank you very much).

If you skip the intro, the rest of the interview is very good. Well worth a read, especially to see how Stewart had his big break on Catwoman “accidentally”.


The Most Exciting Italian Import This Side of Pasta

Most American comics fans probably think of artist Simone Bianchi as the new kid on the block turning heads. His work with Grant Morrison on “Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight” for DC Comics may mark his first American comics publication, but his freshman status in the States is a bit deceiving. The Italian artist has been honing his craft for over 11 years now for various publishers throughout Europe.

Yes, I know pasta was actually, originally, Chinese. Just visit Comic Book Resources, okay, wiseass?

His cover work is very impressive (check out those Batman covers…wow!) but Bianchi’s sequential work has still failed to move me in a positive way. Shining Knight was too dark and muddy and, when paired with an already confusing story, nigh incomprehensible in places. His interior work on GL a couple of months back was much cleaner and I liked his figures a lot there. However, panel layout/storytelling wise, the book was all over the place. I can tell that the man has talent to burn, but I am still waiting for that potential to yield a comic that succeeds on a story level for me.


Underachiever Finally Makes Something of Himself

After selling out at DC Comics less than a week after arriving in stores on January 18, INFINITE CRISIS #4 is going back to press for a new printing!

Scheduled to arrive in stores on February 15, the INFINITE CRISIS #4 Second Printing (DEC058118) reprints the story written by Geoff Johns, and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, Andy Lanning, Lary Stucker, Marc Campos, Oclair Albert, Jimmy Palmiotti and Drew Geraci. The new printing features a pencils-only version of the issue’s cover by Jim Lee.

This story at Newsarama reminds me of the first time Jamie Hatton managed to successfully a grilled cheese sandwich. It was last week and he was just SO proud.

Huh…Infinite Crisis is finally selling out. Took long enough. Must not be all that popular (I kid, DC, I kid. Please relax).

Is it wrong that I just don’t care for the only pencils cover look? I can admire the craftsmanship, certainly, but… Well, I guess it does not matter since I already have a copy of this book and I will not buy another, regardless of the cover, but I would have liked to have seen a new cover. But I tend to make irrational and unfair demands.


NUMBER$

With INFINITE CRISIS in full bloom and “One Year Later” just around the corner, DC Comics didn’t have any big launches in December 2005; it was a rather uneventful month in terms of new titles, all of which were aimed at the lower regions of the chart.

The highest-selling new DC Universe book in December was SUPERMAN SECRET FILES 2005, which showed up at No. 66 of the chart. Debuting outside of the Top 100 are a spin-off of a spin-off, the two-issue prestige-fomat series JLA: CLASSIFIED: COLD STEEL; the sole survivor of 2004’s Focus line, HARD TIME: SEASON TWO, which is only nominally a DC Universe title; as well as Vertigo’s TESTAMENT #1 and WildStorm’s TEAM ZERO #1.

In related news, another canceled DC title made its comeback in December with FALLEN ANGEL #1 — only this time, it’s published by IDW, of course, so it’s in the “Other Publishers” section.

11 of DC’s November releases in the Top 300 remained relatively stable, deviating from the sales of their previous issues by less than 2.0%. Four titles showed increases of more than 2.0% over their previous issues, two of those more than 10.0%. The issue to show the biggest gains in December was HARD TIME: SEASON TWO #1, which saw a sales increase of 49.6% over the final issue of the book’s previous run. The sales of 49 titles dropped by more than 2.0% since their previous issues, meanwhile, 13 of those by more than 10.0%. The largest issue-to-issue drop came from JONAH HEX, which lost 22.3% with its second issue.

Of DC Comics’ 70 recorded new releases (Nov 2005: 80; Dec 2003: 78; Dec 2004: 78) which made the Top 300, 44 were DC Universe titles. (Nov 2005: 47; Dec 2003: 46; Dec 2004: 49.) The average new DC Universe release in December 2005 had a cover price of $ 2.94 (Nov 2005: $ 2.76; Dec 2003: $ 2.77; Dec 2004: $ 2.88) and sold an estimated 44,993 copies. (Nov 2005: 42,342; Dec 2003: 29,263; Dec 2004: 36,925.)

Via its Vertigo imprint, DC Comics released 9 new titles in December. (Nov 2005: 11; Dec 2003: 8; Dec 2004: 12.) The average new Vertigo release in December 2005 had a cover price of $ 2.88 (Nov 2005: $ 2.90; Dec 2003: $ 3.01; Dec 2004: $ 2.78) and sold an estimated 16,320 copies. (Nov 2005: 15,730; Dec 2003: 13,456; Dec 2004: 14,649.)

Through its WildStorm label, the publisher released 10 new titles in December. (Nov 2005: 15; Dec 2003: 17; Dec 2004: 8.) The average new WildStorm release in December 2005 had a cover price of $ 3.04 (Nov 2005: $ 3.39; Dec 2003: $ 3.31; Dec 2004: $ 2.95) and sold an estimated 15,068 copies. (Nov 2005: 16,255; Dec 2003: 18,359; Dec 2004: 15,693.)

The average new DC Comics release recorded in the Top 300 in December 2005 had a cover price of $ 2.88 (Nov 2005: $ 2.85; Dec 2003: $ 2.87; Dec 2004: $ 2.84) and sold an estimated 33,163 copies. (Nov 2005: 30,654; Dec 2003: 23,920; Dec 2004: 27,895.) See below for a more detailed account of the changes.

Thanks to Milton Griepp and .com for the permission to use their figures.

An overview of ICv2.com’s statistics can be found here:
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/1850.html

Figure out which book has gotten too popular for you to enjoy at The Pulse


TIM’S TIRADES

Is All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder Any Good?

When issue #1 hit stands, comic fandom was divided. It seemed…off for an “iconic” rendering of Batman and his boy ward Robin. Batman seemed a bit too intense, the police seemed a bit too crazed and corrupt, and Jim Lee’s art seemed, at times, to be out of sync with the tone of the story. Plus, what the heck was up with Vicki Vale’s “assets” (that’s even funnier if you are thinking in terms of puns, trust me.)? However, for most, the book was given a sort of “I’ll wait and see” from fandom.

Then issue #2 hit…and all hell broke loose. Batman was CRAZY, Batman ran over cops in his huge car, the car flew, Batman repeatedly struck, threatened, gassed, and terrorized the child he had, essentially, kidnapped. The “What are you, retarded? I’m the goddamn Batman,” became one of the most parodied of lines online, a sort of “I wish I could quit you” for four months ago.

The battle lines were now drawn. On one side stood fans who hated the project. “That guy might have been wearing the costume, but he was NOT Batman,” was the rallying cry. On the other side, were fans who embraced the project. “Come on,” they said, “it’s satire. Don’t you get it?” Side 1 responded, “Oh, I get it. I get that it sucks.” So who’s right?

I admit that I am not entirely sure. I respect Frank Miller very much. He bought me a beer the first year I was in San Diego, I sort of have to. I mean, I do love beer, especially good (Sam Adams in this case) free beer. Not like Jamie Hatton loves alcohol because he, of course, has a problem, but I do enjoy the suds.

More seriously, however, he wrote (and drew a large portion of) the quintessential run of my favorite comic character, Daredevil. He wrote one of the best Avengers moments ever, in my opinion, when Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor descended on Hell’s Kitchen in the wake of crazed super soldier Nuke’s rampage. He wrote Batman Year One. He wrote and drew 300. The list goes on for awhile. Some of my favorite comic stories of all time have known the hand of Mr. Miller. So I have a very difficult time believing that he just woke up one morning and stopped trying. I am kind of inclined to buy into the “it’s all a satire argument” for this very reason.

However, when I look at the book as a satire, it still does not work for me. For one thing, it is not very funny. The goddamn Batman line is good for a snicker, but otherwise…I’m not feeling much by way of humor. Three issues into a satire and you’ve only rung out one good laugh line? That isn’t good. The book does not even trade in the pitch black humor of his multiple Sin City minis which would not necessarily qualify it for satire but would, at least, bring the funny.

And, if it is a satire, what is it satirizing? The grim ‘n gritty era of comics were heroes always grimaced and deaths of nameless throngs was treated with little concern or further mention? The very era his Dark Knight Returns accidentally spawned? If that’s the goal, boy did they miss the expiration date on that satire. Perhaps then, it is a satire of comics in general? It is possible, but if that’s the case, the book is sorely lacking on over the top theatrics and melodrama that would be needed to make that point clear.

The final possibility, the one that many bloggers have put forward, is that it is, in fact, a parody of fans’ (or, to use the derogatory term, fanboys’) expectations. Of what they want: gratuitous T and A, “sexy” machines, and macho attitudes. That kind of guess requires us to know what, exactly, Frank Miller thinks of comicdom which we do not. We can get hints of his attitudes through Eisner/Miller and those hints do seem to indicate that this theory might be on to something, but I do not like to guess with such a lack of evidence.

However, for the sake of argument, let’s assume a moment that the final theory is, in fact, correct. Miller’s reasons for doing it would be obvious; to take the air out of the same people that gave him crap for playing with “their” Batman when he wrote his Dark Knight Returns sequel (that group would include me). Fine. Fair enough. You get a chance to put forward an opinion, why not go for it.

But the question then is: why would DC greenlight it? Think about it. You are the second most popular (in terms of sales at the time) comic company in the United States and you have just dreamed up a line to compete with Marvel’s Ultimate titles. It is sort of similar, a stripped down, “iconic” take on a character but with superstar creators (as opposed to up-and-comers which both Bendis and Millar where at the time the Ultimate line started) and in self contained titles that do not share a “common” universe. A chance to get Frank Miller is a great thing. However, a Frank Miller story that mocks the people who are most likely to buy it? Is that any way to launch a brand new line of books intent on gaining as many readers as possible?

In the end, I suppose it does not really matter whether or not DC knew what it was doing when they greenlit this book or Miller is looking down on us all. We can debate intent until we are blue in the face and we can debate DC’s business practices even longer probably. The bigger question still stands: is All-Star Batman any good?

My answer? Not really, no. Not because that’s not Batman. Of course it’s not, it is All-Star Batman, he’s not supposed to be exactly like the DCU Batman or there would be no point in having the book at all. It’s not because Vicki Vale wears lingerie. I have seen more exploitative images in comics with their tongue infinitely less in cheek. And it certainly isn’t timeline or continuity issues. The reason it is not good, satire or straight story, is because it is static. It’s inert. It’s dead on arrival. In any other field of entertainment it would have been shrugged of as “not very good.” It achieves controversy here because this is comics and we love to overreact. But honestly, there’s really nothing all that controversial about its benignity.

The book is hardly the “worst thing ever” that some make it out to be. It is just below average comics.

As an aside, it is also not evidence that Miller is washed up or out. Not every project is going to work no matter who you are. You may not like this particular effort from Miller, but let’s not drive the nails into his comic writing coffin just yet, shall we?


COMING ATTRACTIONS

NIGHTWING #117

While I have not been really feeling this title since issue #100 (which was almost 2 years ago?!) I did enjoy a lot of Grayson’s run and I have a lot of respect for how she tried to tell her story with all the editorial interference going on and a dedicated group of fans calling for her firing (and, worse, callously implying that she had only managed to rise to her current job status through dating the “right” people). Plus, I’m a sucker for series finales and the end of long run on a comic has the same feeling to me.

TEEN TITANS #32

With this be a Superboy v. Superboy rematch? Or the a different view of their battle in IC #4? Either way, I’m excited.

Maybe Risk will make another appearance. Because he is not dead. He’s just missing an arm. He’ll be back.

Right? Please?


OPINIONS ON THE WORK OF PEOPLE FAR MORE TALENTED THAN I

GOTHAM CENTRAL #40

Rucka dodged the only bullet I was concerned about being fired (what a strained metaphor!) by keeping Montoya from becoming Bullock II. The ending, if you think about it, is the only other way to close this story without completely undermining everything that came before it. Still, I was sad to see it. Oh well…catch you in 52 Renee, catch you in 52.

SEVEN SOLDIERS BULLETEER #3

I started to write the review of this and it just kept getting longer. Before I knew it, it was a full length one, so I figured what the heck, and submitted it that way instead. Sorry, but you can read it here a full two days before its street release day. Cause I’m a decent guy like that.

SHOOTING BACK AT THE GRIMACE

Let’s crack open the ol’ e-mail box, shall we?

I love the sound of y
ou w
alkin
g a
way
you wal
king aw
ay.

Eeek!kebab.

-Iain Burnside

Every now and again, Iain will shoot me an e-mail. They are always funny but they also have a tendency to be in response to a column several weeks prior so I can’t use them. This one though…this is gold.

Now if only I could decipher its hidden meaning.


Hey Tim! I thought this was a great column. I would now like to thank you for making not feel so bad about missing Smallville ever since they moved it to 8pm. I work until 8 and usually don’t get home until 8:30-9:00. I should have just stopped reading your rant before Clark went to pull the Groundhog Day stunt. Then I might have still felt really bad for not trying to tape the show or whatever else I could have done. Then I read the 2nd half and by god I am glad I missed it. So thank you. Now if I could only figure out how to drop some titles in my pull list like you dropped Smallville.

-Ryan Connor

See, people, this is what gratitude looks like. You all could learn a lot from Ryan here.

Anyway…

Ryan, I’m just happy to help. If you need help paring down that pull list, you just let me know.


What’s the deal with you and Jamie Hatton? Do you guys really not like each other?

-Shellie Diven

No, no, no. No worries Shellie. Jamie and I could not be more fond of one another. We are just like oil and water though. We can never occupy the same space at the same time. The best was I can explain this is through the meme that has been making the round lately. See below.

Always remember that…

And


Image provided by Exit Weekly

And I think that sums up, nicely, why Jamie and I have our…unique repartee.

***NOTE: Being an East Coast boy, I am not flashing the “West Coast” symbol in the photo. I am showing my “Wing” because I am a Wu-ington boy, born and raised. If you can’t tell the different between the “Wing” and “West Coast”, well, you’ve probably never been to the Wu. So don’t ever come to the Wu. Because you wouldn’t understand the Wu.***


Well, I think that is all from the mailbox. Be sure to drop me a line at parallax2@juno.com or visit the fun online at our handy dandy message board. It’s been increasing in activity as of late and we’d just love to have you join the party.

Well, that’s it. I’m out of here. Congrats to any Steelers fans out there. Good for you, I say. I would have preferred the Seahawks, but hey, no hard feelings. How can I hate a team with The Bus (not to be confused with the Deimos Bus)?

Un Gajje CANNOT BELIEVE the Officiating in That Game.