Michael Deeley has been reading comics since he was 12 years old. His first book was an issue of Silver Surfer by Jim Starlin, leading him to see all comics as ideological conflicts with big-ass fight scenes. At the very least, he expects a comic to be entertaining in some fashion, which is why he thinks Secret Wars II is better than Dark Knight Strikes Back. He has never work in the comics field, but he does have a belligerent attitude and a lot of free time.
During his brief intervals in the real world, Michael looks for a paying job that should, (theoretically) lead to a better life involving more comics, privacy, and women.
He currently lives between Pittsburgh, PA, and the Pittsburgh International Airport, in a suburb so new, it only has one McDonalds.
“Comic shops are the worst outlet for anything!” -Jimmy Gownley, SPACE 2003
I know that this week, I promised to write reviews of comic-based video games. Well, I also promised you pictures from the SPACE and Pittsburgh conventions. Seriously, I was going to play video games this week when editor-on-high Jason Brice came to me with a job. He needed someone to enter .jpg file names into a list of products from the Previews catalog. I agreed to do it for $7.00 an hour. It was the hardest $70 I ever made. I will never do data entry again.
On the plus side, I got a unique look into all the different things Previews offers. The August issue has 2400 different listings for products ranging from comics to toys to magazines to T-shirts. And just like every-single-other-on-line-comics-columnist, I too will give my opinions of the Previews catalog.
First, let’s get a few things out of the way. I never was, nor will be, comfortable with the idea of nearly all comics and related products being distributed through a single company: Diamond Distribution. A company that, from what I’ve heard, has strict rules regarding when a product can be listed, service of inconsistent quality, and a sales tracking system that doesn’t even tell you how many copies of a comic were ordered! But until Cold Cut starts handling Marvel and DC, Diamond is all we’ve got.
Having said that, you can get a lot of great stuff from Previews. All you have to do is borrow your shop’s copy of the catalog, stand around for an hour reading all the descriptions in tiny print, then point out each item to your clerk who has to submit a form separate from his usual order form, and if the products ship on time, you’ll get them in 2-3 months, by which time you’ll have forgotten ever placing the order at all. Simple.
And here’s what you can get from the August volume:
The Big Five
Honestly, Dark Horse is offering as many products as they are comics. They’re selling PVC figures based on Tim Burton’s book, “The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories”. I’ve never even heard of that book. And what the hell is PVC anyway? To me, it’s just a fancy way of saying, “tiny, overpriced figure with no articulation”. The Rocket Comics line continues with the release of ‘SYN’, and the second issues of ‘GoBoy’ and ‘Hell’. These could be some interesting sci-fi comics for the two years before their inevitable cancellation.
The KISS comic book reaches its 12th issue. How? I don’t think KISS has released a new song in over a decade. And will somebody try to sell KISS products after all four band members are dead? A post-death KISS fan would probably be sadder than a current KISS fan. If that’s possible.
As usual, DC’s most interesting products have nothing to do with the DCU. ‘The Spirit Archives’ Vol. 11 begin collecting Will Eisner’s post-war work on the series, which many agree to be among his best work ever. ‘Y: The Last Man’ gets a second TPB with ‘Cycles’. Neil Gaiman and others contribute to the ‘Sandman: Endless Nights’ hardcover special. Grant Morrison’s ‘The Filth’ concludes, meaning that I can buy the trade book early next year. And finally, Warren Ellis and John Cassaday bring us back to the secret history of the world when ‘Planetary’ resumes publication with its 16th issue.
Oh, and Jim Lee’s Batman, new Batman/Superman team-up series, big changes for Flash, blah blah blah.
Marvel’s pushing their new series ‘Supreme Power’ by J. Michael Straczynski. It will follow the lives of a world’s first superheroes from birth to adulthood, and the effects they have on the world around them. So it’s ‘Rising Stars’ with characters from Squadron Supreme. Still, I loved the original ‘SS’ mini-series, and its trade book is coming back into print. I’m still keeping my original copy since its ink contains the ashes of Mark Gruenwald.
The other big series for that month is ‘1602’, Neil Gaiman’s story about a monk that could fly. Marvel’s been very quiet about the details of this series, but it seems it does take place within the Marvel comics universe, and some character analogs will be making appearances. So it’s an Elseworld. Got it.
Plus, ‘Daredevil’ reaches its 50th issue; Nightcrawler’s origins are explored beginning in ‘Uncanny X-Men’ #429, and the Earth X saga finally concludes with ‘Paradise X: X’. More Marvel Masterwork books come back into print, with ‘Silver Surfer’ Vol. 2 and ‘Dr. Strange’ Vol. 1. A new printing of ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ Vol. 2 is also published. Man, if I had a real job, I’d be buying every new Masterwork that came out. For now, I’m just waiting for the Fantastic Four and Thor books.
Over at Image, ‘Powers’ continues to explore the origins of superpowers in its corner of the universe. ‘Puffed’ tells the woes of an amusement park employee forced to walk through a bad neighbor stuck in his cartoon costume. The ‘Masters of the Universe’ mini-series concludes before its move to CrossGen. And McFarlane releases a set of action figures based on “Soul Calibur II”. You know, there was a time when you could go into a video game store and not see ANY action figures. No toys whatsoever. Now there’s shelf space being taken up by unsold Metal Gear Solid figures that should be used to display the Atari Jaguar. Thank for nothing, Todd!
Image has other stuff, but I just don’t care. It’s amazing how far off my radar Image comics are. ‘Savage Dragon’? ‘Rex Mundi’? Lots of fans, sure, but it still don’t read them. Never even flip through them. ‘Battle of the Planets’ left television before I started watching it. And ‘Witchblade’ and ‘Magdalena’ embarrass me as a reader and a man. If Image shut down tomorrow, I wouldn’t notice it for half a year. That’s how narrow my focus is.
My list puts CrossGen down amongst the “miscellaneous” comics. I thought they were a premiere publisher now? Anyway, their new TPBs include ‘Mystic’ Vol. 5 and ‘Way of the Rat’ Vol. 2. I already own the copies of ‘Forge’ and ‘Edge’ that include the same material, so I won’t be buying them. ‘The First’ #34 is supposed to reveal the true origin of the god race. Ties into ‘Solus’ #5. Looks like they’re bending that “No Crossovers” rule.
Everyone Else
Archie is still making comics. Why?
‘Red Star’ issues 5-9 and the annual are available for reorder. Another series I’ve heard good things about, but just can’t work up the interest to read. I have read first trade book at the library, and that was enough for me. Is the publisher gearing up for the series’ return?
Now I might check out ‘Luftwaffe 1946’, an alternate-history series about WWII lasting longer than it should have. The publishers have a real cottage industry going with this book. In addition to the newest issue (#12), there’s a manga book, a technical manual, a t-shirt, cap, and a CG animation DVD. Does anyone who reads the series love it enough to buy all this?
Several complete mini-series, or consecutive issues of monthly series, are available for ordering. If you want, you can get the full run of ‘Strange Killings: Body Orchard’, ‘Rising Stars: Bright’, or ‘Rex Mundi’ #1-3, now’s your chance.
Going through the list, I’m ashamed by al the soft-core porn books I see; Comics with nude variant covers, swimsuit specials, and the many Japanese sex comics. I’m surprised a series called ‘Latex Alice’ isn’t listed “adults only”. In my article on the Pittsburgh convention, I wrote how I told Jim Balent that his Broadsword comics made me ashamed to bring a woman into a comics shop. I guess it could worse; at least Balent can draw. I’ve seen some of these other books. They’re not only perverse, they’re badly drawn! If you’re going to do a sex book, it should at least look good.
The Friends of Lulu are releasing a collection of comics stories by women with interviews conducted by Jen Contino. It’s listed after those Japanese sex comics; right below the ‘Co-Ed Sexxtasy’ 1-7 pack.
The comic mini-series based on “CSI” is collected into a TPB. At the same time, a new mini-series is launched: ‘CSI: Bad Rap’. Both are written by Max Allen Collins and neither one will sell. Although it’s entirely possible the comic is better than the TV show. Which wouldn’t be hard to do.
The small press is made up mostly of people who work for the love of comics. They don’t care about fame or fortune. These are people with unique, individual visions that will not be compromised to fit popular tastes. Do these maverick thinkers, I salute you, and your comics: ‘Kickass Girl: Skeletons in the Closet’, ‘Trailer Park of Terror’, and ‘Wahoo Morris’. Your strange comic book titles make reading Previews a fun and strange experience.
I’m seeing a lot more manga books. Most of the publishers are switching to the book format, but some still publish monthly comics. There’s the comics adaptation of the movie version of the manga book ‘Battle Royale’. (Take another minute to work through that.) There are so many ‘Ranma ½’ books that the early volumes are going into second printings while new volumes come out. And then there’s ‘Hamtaro’.
Hamtaro?
HAMHAM! HAM HAM! HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM HAM!
I’m sorry about that. I saw the show once last year. It had enough cuteness for 3 lifetimes. I’m still taking pills for the nightmares.
Magazines
The one section I always overlook is the magazine section, because I don’t want to read magazines about comics. I have the net! Turns out there are way more genre and fan-based magazines than I ever imagined. There are magazines for sports cards, role-playing games, animation, horror movies and Asian cinema.
The most unique is ‘Wrapped in Plastic’, the fan magazine for the “Twin Peaks” TV show. For the benefit of non-American readers, “Twin Peaks” was a TV mystery-drama that ran on ABC for 2 years in the early 90’s. The series was supposed to be about an FBI agent solving the murder of local girl Laura Palmer, the latest victim of an unknown serial killer. However, the series was created by filmmaker David Lynch, he of “Blue Velvet” and “Lost Highway” fame. So “Twin Peaks” became one of the weirdest, stylish, mind-bending and downright bizarre TV shows of all time. The series has been released to VHS and DVD, allowing fans to re-examine the series and recruit more fans.
“Twin Peaks” was cancelled 10 years ago, but ‘Wrapped in Plastic’ is still going. Its view has expanded to include anything by David Lynch and other “Peaks”-related works, (including “The X-Files”). The upcoming issue #66 looks back at Kyle (FBI Agent Cooper) MacLachlan’s early talk show appearances, including a very funny “Saturday Night Live” sketch that perfectly skewered “Twin Peaks”. If “Wrapped in Plastic” can still find something to write about 10 years after the reason for their creation was cancelled, more power to them.
“Wizard” is redefining itself, beginning with its upcoming #0 issue. This will include original Spider-Man and Batman comic stories, interviews, new features, and other stuff that makes “Wizard”, “totally redesigned from previous issues”. Also included are the Top 100 X-men comics of all time, and an expanded price guide. Wow, they reverted back to their old selves in no time at all! Literally.
Why are “Playboy”, “Penthouse”, and “Hustler” sold through Previews? What are porn mags doing in a comic book catalog? Or is that a rhetorical question?
Movies
Lots of Hong Kong and Asian movies on DVD. Not my thing, but I am curious to see the “City Hunter” movie starring Jackie Chan. I wonder if the family-friendly Chan plays the manga character with or without his lechery?
The third and final Flash Gordon movie serial “Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe” is coming to DVD. It may look campy, but it’s still a fun adventure series, even by today’s standards. And you can pick out the parts George Lucas ripped off for Star Wars.
Complete seasons for “Alias”, “Beastmaster”, and ‘La Femme Nikita” are coming to DVD. Why?
And finally, for all of us “MST3K” fans, the complete movie serial “Radar Men from the Moon”, starring George Wallace as Commander Cody, and Clayton Moore, TV’s Lone Ranger, as a “traitorous spy”. “Radar Men” was mocked regularly on early episodes of “MST3K”. Now’s your chance to see why it deserved the honors.
Etc.
There are hundreds of other things in this catalog: T-Shirts, role-playing games, figures, bobble-heads, and something called “laser cels”. There just isn’t enough time or interest to go through hand talk about each and every one of them. It’s enough to know that Previews offers a huge selection of products covering all interests and hobbies. This month, take a look through the catalog’s back pages. Odds are, you’ll find something truly unique that you didn’t even know you wanted. It could be the graphic novel ‘Voodoo Child’, or Lord of the Ring miniatures. Take the time to look.
Just don’t expect anything from ‘Slave Labor Graphics’. They’re not listed in August.
And now for the new stuff:
Battle Royale Vol. 1 -
Japan’s fascist government captures a class of high school students for the hit TV show, “The Program”. Each teen-ager is given a weapon and told to kill one another until only one remains. Anyone who refuses to play is killed via their tracking collar. English language by Keith Giffen.
Yes, it’s a series about school children killing each other for national entertainment. There’s no way in hell this could have been made in the U.S.! This is one of the greatest horror comics I’ve ever read. It is sick, violent, and dehumanizing. But it’s the characters that really give this book the impact of a sledgehammer. You meet most of these kids for only one chapter, but it’s enough to make you feel their anguish, their fear. These are, for the most part, ordinary people forced into a horrible situation. Some go mad; others surrender. A few strong ones survive. Those few turn out to already be mad or brutal.
‘Battle Royale’ promises to show what happens when all the rules of order and civilization are removed from the lives of teen-agers. We all remember what high school was like; an artificial social system fueled by pettiness and image. Now the ones who enforce that system have weapons. As does everyone else.
Once again, the villain of the piece displays strong effeminate qualities. I’m convinced Japanese society has strict definitions of what is masculine and feminine.
Raijin Comics #24 -
Saeba Ryo learns who’s trying to kill the actress he’s protecting. We meet Ling Wang, master of another branch of Hokuto fighting, and see how Baki joined the world of underground fighting. Sakuragi practices his rebounds, Tasuke braves the highway to retrieve the Shitenrin, Keiji pisses on the enemy, and stuff happens in “Bow Wow Wata” Also included is a short story from the creator of “City Hunter”. A young man dreaming of true love meets his daughter from the future. But is her mother the one woman he can’t stand?
Uncanny X-men #424 -
The pope of the Church of Humanity is revealed to be a former nun who wanted to bring down the Catholic church. She’d wanted to manipulate Nightcrawler into becoming the new Catholic Pope, disguised with an image inducer. At the right moment, the inducer would fail, Nightcrawler would be exposed as “the Beast”, and the CoH would control the resulting apocalypse. But the X-Men beat everyone up and everything’s fine again.
Joe Casey first created the Church of Humanity during his all-to-brief run on the title. His origin of the Pope, (from Issue #400), told the story of an immortal who’s mind had been stretched across the universe. Combined with the art of Eddie Campbell and Ashley Wood, this made the Pop seem particularly unhuman; even supernatural. I got he feeling Casey was setting up a long, deep storyline involving the Pope and Nightcrawler that would be played out for months, even years. Instead, Casey got fired, and the loose ends with the Church are wrapped up in, (and I have to be honest), a cop-out of a story. I’d like to know what Casey had originally intended to do with the Church, Pope, and Nightcrawler. Sadly, we may never know.
Mark of Charon #3 -
The Ligis-bearers and the Lawbringers learn how Charon created the Lawbringers from his own madness and mental illness. Javi also learns of the existence of Appolyon, the one being with the power to confront Charon. Javi leads his team to the place Appolyon was banished, hoping he’ll help them destroy Charon.
If you think about it, this story is like the classic God vs. Devil battle, with the roles reversed. Think of it this way: The Devil brings order to chaos then creates his unholy host. When they prove too hard to control, he creates men to conquer and subdue the universe in his name. God opposes the devil and is banished to Hell. Centuries pass. The Devil revives a mortal, marks him, and gives him the task of enforcing his will and judgment over his empire. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but this story does have a strong sense of mythology.
Ultimates #10 -
The Ultimates and SHIELD find the alien base at Micronesia completely abandoned. Then it blows up. Back at the Triskellion, the Wasp finds the entire base has been taken over by the alien shape-shifters. I know they’re not dead; you know they’re not dead; the question is, how aren’t they dead?
Fantastic Four #498 -
The title’s switching over to its old numbering soon, so we’d better get used to it. Franklin is trapped in hell. The team realizes Doom has taken control of Valeria, and go to Latveria to face him. Turns out Doom has cast an anti-technology spell over the entire country. With the Thing acting as the calm voice of reason, our heroes find themselves completely out-classed by the seemingly all-powerful Doom.
And Reed Richards has no idea what to do.
At this point, I don’t care how the story ends. This is one of the greatest single issues of the Fantastic Four I’ve ever read. I’m even warming up to Mike Weiringo’s art. Well done Mr. Waid.
And finally, all the old books. Still good reading.
Uncanny X-Men #225-228; Arsenic Lullaby: Apathy for the Devil; The Brothers MAD, (50th Anniversary ed.); The Death of Superman TPB; Marvel Milestone Ed.: Iron Man #55; Alec: The King Canute Crowd; Mage: The Hero Defined Vol. 1; Raw, V2, #3; Fables :Legends in Exile; Millennium Ed. Detective Comics #395.
And that’s it. Next week, I promise, video game reviews.
