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Column Negative One: Warm-Up Exercises for the Dead - Part Three
Previews -- A Book of the Dead
To just about every structure of human creation, every job, procedure, construct, etc. there are a set of rules as well as a set of tools to aid. In the comics industry, there is a thick piece of dead trees published every month by the "monopoly" of comics distribution, Diamond. Although other distributors do exist, it's kind of hard when comics' heavyweights such as Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image Comics sign exclusive deals to distribute only through Diamond. Imagine if Coke and Pepsi signed an exclusive agreement to only be sold in Wal-Mart stores, although there would be remaining stores that sell other soda products, the big name brands would only be sold in one location. Kind of crappy, innit?
I won't bore you with further elaboration on Diamond's status, since most of you probably are already aware of it, but I will go into selecting products from Previews, Diamond's monthly catalogue. I'm ordering my comics these days from My Comic Shop, who have a nice little ordering feature that allows you to easily scroll through an online version of the magazine, as well as having fairly decent sales and shipping rates. I urge people strongly to support their local comic shops, if in fact that shop supports you as well, but in my case, I simply haven't the time nor energy to go weekly to a store. Especially since the one nearest me seems to deal exclusively in Marvel and DC comics with limited selection of anything else. That, and unfortunately I can get better deals online.
Anyway, without further ado, please allow me to spotlight some of the products landing this October. Er…that reminds me actually of another thing ass-backwards about the industry, the fact that you have to preorder anything that you'd happen to want at least two months in advance, if you actually want to be guaranteed to get it.
I'm going to dispense with any of Previews structure for listing and just post these alphabetically by title. Keep in mind that I'm choosing most of these titles at random, since I've not really been reading comics for about a year now.
13th Son: Worse Thing Waiting #1 -- AUG05 0025
I'm a sucker for anything illustrated by Kelley Jones. His art was one of the reasons I initially followed Vertigo's Crusades series a few years ago. I also love horror in general. I've been impressed previously by what Dark Horse has done, with the renewed horror focus about two years ago under the direction of Scott Allie. The premise of a monster who hunts monsters isn't exactly new, but I'll give it a chance.
Four issue mini-series, 32 pg., $2.99 US. Published by Dark Horse Comics.
Acme Novelty Library #16 -- AUG05 2917
It's kind of amazing how I can go away from comics for a year and still not miss an issue of Chris Ware's uniformly excellent Acme Novelty Library. It's sad that a book like this can't come out more frequently; one that experiments with the form and structure of the medium as well as tells a flat-out entertaining story, but I'll take what I can get. This apparently starts a new narrative featuring Rusty Brown and Chalky White, showcasing "an uncomfortably vivid and uncompromising look into the life of a social outcast." To those of you balking at the price, don't. This book is worth every penny.
56 pg., $15.95 US. Published by Fantagraphics
Albion #4 -- AUG05 0258
You've already read my thoughts on the first two issues of this series in my last instalment. Although I've not been completely taken by the series, I am going to see this one through to the end. It also cements in my mind that America's Best Comics for all intents and purposes are dead without Alan Moore's genius driving it. No disrespect is meant to the talent continuing on with the various series, but to me, it just doesn't feel the same. Moore's magic is gone from the imprint.
Six issue mini-series, 32 pg., $2.99 US. Published by DC | WildStorm Imprint
Amazing Spider-Man #525, Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man #1, & MK Spider-Man #19 -- AUG05 1886, AUG05 1884, AUG05 1885
You know, I'm well aware that I'm probably going to hate this. I read the early issues of J. Michael Straczynski's run on Amazing Spider-Man and honestly didn't like them all that much. It wasn't so much his elaboration on a new Spider-mythos, but the writing and the story structure seemed so ham-handed. Given that this crossover comes out of those seeds, it's with trepidation that I try these books. Add to this my indifference to Marvel in general and you have to wonder why I'm picking this up in the first place. Well, I could say that it's the promise of the fact that Peter David is writing the first three chapters and I want to be able to enjoy his and Mike Wieringo's Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man (which I do, but would have preferred the book be unfettered by being bogged down in a crossover at its launch), but that wouldn't be the real reason.
The reason for trying this comes down to a single thing: product knowledge. I'm dipping my toe back into comics, and in doing so, in order to effectively comment on its myriad aspects, it's necessary to try numerous things. This will be one of them.
32 pg each, $2.50, $2.95, $2.95 US. Published by Marvel Comics
Batman: Gotham County Line #1 -- AUG05 0179
In my nature as being a sucker to a horror story, I developed an affinity to many of the stories written by Steve Niles. From 30 Days of Night through Cal MacDonald, I've been entertained by most of his stories. Although I wouldn't call them mind-bending or groundbreaking in any sense of the terms, they've been solid entertainment, which is something that most comic books fail to achieve on a regular basis. With that in mind, I'm certainly going to check out his take on Batman -- certainly one of my favourite characters within the DCU, who sadly, I really couldn't give a damn about any of his "in-continuity" ongoing books -- especially when it's being illustrated by one of the industry's best painters working today, Scott Hampton. Hampton's work has a dark, ethereal quality to it, but unlike an Ashley Wood or Ben Templesmith, he doesn't sacrifice storytelling for atmosphere, he's more than capable of providing both in ample measures.
Three issue mini-series, 48 pg., $5.99 US. Published by DC Comics
Batman: Journey Into Knight #3 -- AUG05 0187
I'm probably about just as tired of stories featuring Batman's formative years as anyone, but I'm not going to miss up something written by Andy Helfer. I still have fond memories of his twisted The Shadow series, and I'm interested to see what he can do with Bats.
Twelve issue maxi-series, 32 pg., $2.50 US. Published by DC Comics
Big Questions #7 -- AUG05 2892
Big Questions is Anders Nilsen's previously self-published series, now picked up by Drawn & Quarterly. It's an experimental comic in the vein of the works of Paul Hornschemeier, only with a more dreamlike quality as Nilsen gives his kitchen sink approach to storytelling. I only hope that being picked up by D&Q will garner the greater attention that Nilsen deserves and he can be recognised alongside Charles Burns, Chris Ware, Adrian Tomine, among others as one of the premier independent creators today.
32 pg., $4.95 US. Published by Drawn & Quarterly
Bold Blood #1 -- AUG05 2724
I remember Joe St. Pierre from his days illustrating Marvel's Spider-Man 2099. I remember liking his art, but aside from that book I know of absolutely nothing else that he has ever done, which makes it kind of odd that I'd be picking this, but as I said before, at this point, I'm just trying things at random. The book itself looks like a simple fantasy, but more than that's hard to tell from the cover and the solicit.
48 pg., $5.95 US. Published by Astronaut Ink
Comics Journal #271 -- AUG05 2919
As if I was going to pass up an issue of TCJ, since it's the only comics magazine that is consistently worth reading.
192 pg., $9.95 US. Published by Fantagraphics
Conan #21, Conan & the Demons of Khitai #1 -- AUG05 0016, AUG05 0015
Like the horror genre, I'm also a sucker for anything to do with Conan. It's one of those properties that I'll check out no matter what it is. I already have experience with Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord's take on the character, so I know I won't be disappointed on that front. For the Demons of Khitai mini-series, though, I'm left unsure. I know that I'll like Paul Lee's art, having previously enjoyed it on The Devil's Footprints and Lurid, but Akira Yoshida is an unknown quantity to me. I've read the reviews of his Marvel work and sadly, he seems to leave me underwhelmed in my prospects of enjoying his writing. I will, however, still give it a shot.
Ongoing series, Four issue mini-series, 32 pg., $2.99 US each. Published by Dark Horse Comics
Doomed Magazine #1 -- AUG05 2975
It's a new horror magazine from the publisher who brought us 30 Days of Night. Do I need to say anything more?
$6.99 US. Published by IDW
Elk's Run Vol. 1 TP -- AUG05 3101
This one kind of comes on the recommendation of Steven Grant, but in general I'm intrigued by Speakeasy Comics. This publisher seems to have popped up en masse while I've been away and on a whole it looks as though most of their books appeal to my sensibilities. While being wildly disparate, they each seem to embrace an offbeat weirdness and willingness to try something different that makes me want to give them my full support.
80 pg., $7.99 US. Published by Speakeasy Comics
Escape of the Living Dead #1 -- AUG05 2734
Avatar seems as though it's going in waves right now as to what it wants to be. About a year ago, to me it was a house for publishing offbeat and somewhat downright depraved comics by some of the industry's luminaries that couldn't or wouldn't be published anywhere else. This is after previously being a warehouse for what seemed like exploitation titty books (admittedly I didn't read them, but that's what they looked like). Now, they look like they're going after licences. Now, usually I'd be game for comics adaptations of things like Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street, I mean, you've already read that I'm a sucker for horror. The only problem is that they're all written by Brian Pulido. I personally loathe his writing and creations and have absolutely no interest in supporting anything that he's writing.
Escape of the Living Dead, however, is thankfully not written by him. This is a pseudo-sequel to Night of the Living Dead by the original writer of the movie. To me, it should be interesting to see, just in parallel to where George Romero took the series in film form. Oh, and don't forget the zombies.
Five issue mini-series, 32 pg., $3.99 US. Published by Avatar Press
Fables #42 -- AUG05 0284
Bill Willingham's Fables is one of probably two series that I would be able to read month in and month out without ever getting tired of it. This issue introduces some of the 1001 Nights characters into the mix and it definitely should be interesting.
32 pg., $2.75 US. Published by DC Comics | Vertigo Imprint
Fear Agent #1, Sea of Red #8, & Strange Girl #5 -- AUG05 1644, AUG05 1693, AUG05 1697
Rick Remender seems to be going to toe to toe with Steve Niles as to how many horror-tinged titles one man can produce at any given time. Oddly enough, though, none of them seem to deal with zombies. Did I mention that I'm a sucker for horror? I enjoyed Remender and Kieron Dwyer's Black Heart Billy, so it should be interesting to see what Remender can do on his own writing (or in the case of Sea of Red joined by Dwyer) rather than as an artist. I've already ordered the back issues of Strange Girl, which seems the most interesting of the bunch to me, and I'll probably pick up a Sea of Red trade depending on this issue, and Fear Agent, I'm obviously getting in at the ground floor.
32 pg., $2.99 US each. Published by Image Comics
Fell #2 -- AUG05 1673
This looks like crime storytelling from Warren Ellis in the vein of his own crime fiction work for Avatar. From the solicit info: "Someone in Snowtown is killing pregnant women and stealing their fetuses...", sounds like one of the darker episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. At the price, you really can't pass it up.
24 pg., $1.99 US. Published by Image Comics
Flash #227 -- AUG05 0212
Have you noticed the resurgence of the writer/editor? DC is certainly heralding the trend by making people like Mark Waid, Geoff Johns, and Grant Morrison continuity editors/consultants for the company, as well as enlisting Andy Helfer to write a Batman maxi-series, Bob Harras (former Marvel EiC) to write Breach and JLA, and now Joey Cavalieri to write Flash. I can't say I remember reading anything written by Cavalieri other than copy, but I will say that he's one of the nicest, forward-thinking editors I've ever come across. I'm not likely to buy into the Infinite Crisis codswallop, but I'll definitely check out Cavalieri's writing.
32 pg., $2.50 US. Published by DC Comics
Gatesville Company #2 -- AUG05 3102
Another book from Speakeasy that's caught my eye, featuring some beautiful artwork and an intriguing premise: "Gatesville is a ghost town, where the souls of killers go to meet their last trial before they move on to their afterlife. The souls are from all over the world; in every era of history. Gatesville is their final chance to slay their dragons."
32 pg., $2.99 US. Published by Speakeasy Comics
Girls #6 -- AUG05 1679
Like Rick Remender's Strange Girl, I've gone ahead and ordered the back issues of this series. Although the covers would make it appear as though the series were somewhat along the lines of a skin book, the solicitation copy makes it appear more along the lines of say Twin Peaks. Certainly seems like something that'd be right up my alley.
32 pg., $2.99 US. Published by Image Comics
Goon 25-Cent Comic -- AUG05 0028
The Goon is likely to be the other comic that I could read month-in and month-out without ever getting tired of it. Case in point, although I definitely already have the lead story in this book, I'm still going to be picking it up just to have something to hand around to try people on the book. That, and I could have sworn I read that there was going to be added material as well, but that might have just been the Fancy Pants hardcover that was solicited last month.
32 pg., $0.25 US. Published by Dark Horse Comics
Grimm Fairy Tales #1 -- AUG05 3318
This book just sounds twisted. It claims that it's doing adaptations of the Grimm's tales as they were originally written. That sounds interesting, however, there's also mention of the "Twilight Zone" and "The Howling" and the fact that on the cover, Little Red Riding Hood is definitely drawn in a rather cheesecake style.
22 pg., $2.99 US. Published by Zenescope Entertainment.
Haunted Mansion #1 -- AUG05 2648
This sounds interesting to me, a series based on telling the life stories of the 1001 ghosts (or however many there are) that live in Disney's Haunted Mansion. Were it just that I'd probably pass it over, but the series is being handled by Roman Dirge and the fine folks at Slave Labor Graphics.
24 pg., $2.95 US. Published by Amaze Ink/Slave Labor
Hellblazer #213 -- AUG05 0285
I know that Mike Carey's run on Hellblazer is ending very soon and that I've missed the last year of it. I will, however, still be there to see it out. I really liked what I had read of his run and will probably work to track down the issues I missed, if not purchase them in trade collections. This stand-alone issue, though, I wouldn't miss at all, considering that it features artwork by Frazer Irving, who is currently working wonders on Grant Morrison's Klarion series.
32 pg., $2.75 US. Published by DC Comics | Vertigo Imprint
Hero at Large #2 -- AUG05 3104
I was quite taken by the cover to the first issue featuring a take off on the classic Norman Rockwell covers to The Saturday Evening Post and so I've ordered this issue and the previous one. The solicitation information for the books themselves as well as the preview on Speakeasy's website make it feel akin to The Tick actually, which certainly isn't a bad thing. Superhero parody played straight in a fashion that both satirises and celebrates the genres conventions. The art, in a similar style as Skottie Young or Humberto Ramos, will probably take some getting used to, though.
32 pg., $2.99 US. Published by Speakeasy Comics
The Hunger Vol. 1 TP -- AUG05 3108
I firmly believe that the world cannot have too many zombie stories.
144 pg., $14.99 US. Published by Speakeasy Comics
Infinite Crisis #1 -- AUG05 0205
This is it! The comic that everyone has been waiting for and that everyone will be talking about for the foreseeable future and beyond! Better than Watchmen, more important than Dark Knight Returns, and more infinitely infinite than Crisis on Infinite Earths (huh? wha?) it's the start of the mini-series that will break DC's back…or rather, is currently challenging many DC Universe fans wallets. Honestly, Infinite Cash Grab is going to pass me by fairly easily. You know, part of me just wants to start up a "Staring into Infinity" feature to mock and lambaste the DC titles.
Seven issue mini-series…er…yeah, I believe that. 40 pg., $3.99 US. Published by DC Comics
Jack Cross #3 -- AUG05 0219
Interesting. How many ongoing series is Ellis writing right now? There's Desolation Jones and this for DC, NextWave and Iron Man for Marvel, Fell for Image. Certainly not complaining. Jack Cross actually sounds like the flip side of Desolation Jones, the intelligence intrigue played straight. Ellis tends to excel at this sort of thing, and with art by Gary Erskine, I'm not going to pass it up.
32 pg., $2.50 US. Published by DC Comics
Justice #2 -- AUG05 0223
In which Jim Krueger, Alex Ross, and Doug Braithwaite try to tie in years of DC continuity with their entirely convoluted Marvel alternate future/revisionist history of the Coma-Inducer X Saga, or something. Honestly, the book will probably look pretty, but read a lot like a text book. Did anyone actually manage to make it through the entirety of their Earth X, Universe X et al. series? I fell asleep about halfway through Universe X.
Twelve issue maxi-series, 40 pg., $3.50 US. Published by DC Comics
Kindly Corpses TP -- AUG05 3105
"Up until now, Dr. Hempel has lived a simple, reclusive life as a forensic doctor. But when bizarre corpses show up on his doorstep, and the Ministry of Death imposes new, demanding guidelines, the good doctor will learn there is much more to the world around him than he ever bargained for." Ministry of Death? The price seems a little steep for the page count, but I'm still going to give it a shot.
104 pg., $17.99 US. Published by Speakeasy Comics
Living and the Dead GN -- AUG05 3107
Another horror title for October and another Speakeasy comic, I'm certainly seeing a pattern in my selections for this month.
128 pg., $14.99 US. Published by Speakeasy Comics
Loveless #1 -- AUG05 0279
I'm one of those people who absolutely loved Brian Azzarello and Danijel Zezelj's El Diablo mini-series from several years back, I also appreciated the nice gelling between Marcelo Frusin's artwork and Azz's storytelling on Hellblazer, so I definitely think I'm going to enjoy this one. It'll certainly be interesting to see whether or not this and the forthcoming Jonah Hex could start a renaissance of the western genre in comics.
40 pg., $2.99 US. Published by DC Comics | Vertigo Imprint
Man with the Screaming Brain TP -- AUG05 0029
Um…this is a comics adaptation of a b-movie script co-written by Bruce Campbell, the "unadulterated" form. Interesting.
104 pg., $13.95 US. Published by Dark Horse Comics
Marvel Monsters: Devil Dinosaur, Fin Fang Four, Monsters on the Prowl, & Where Monsters Dwell -- AUG05 1931, AUG05 1932, AUG05 1933, AUG05 1934
These just look like big dumb fun. I expect the first two, featuring art and stories by Eric Powell and Roger Langridge respectively, will be the best, although all four are going to feature reprint back-ups from Jack Kirby and his collaborators on the monsters, making them at least fun.
48 pg., $3.99 US each. Published by Marvel Comics
Mome Vol. 2 GN -- AUG05 2925
"Ambition makes you look pretty ugly…" Well, kind of. Mome certainly shows ambition, claiming in its solicitation copy, "Mome is the first all-comics literary anthology designed to sit alongside publications like Granta, The Baffler, and McSweeney's, and is designed to appeal as much to fans of contemporary literary fiction as longtime comics fans." Tom Spurgeon was disappointed by the first issue, but it's new Paul Hornschemeier material (along with Anders Nilsen, Gabrielle Bell, and Sophie Crumb). You just don't give up on that.
136 pg., $14.95 US. Published by Fantagraphics
New Avengers #12, Young Avengers #9 -- AUG05 1908, AUG05 1919
Why is it that whenever I read the title Young Avengers, I want to append "…in love" to it? Anyway, I'll be picking up these two titles for similar reasons as the Spider-Man ones, basically to figure out what's going on. These are apparently two of Marvel's "It" books, but I can't help but think that they're missing two letters.
32 pg., $2.50 Each. Published by Marvel Comics
Nightmare World Vol. 2 -- AUG05 2936
Hey, it's a horror anthology.
As an aside, did you know that there used to be a comic called Wrangler: Great Moments in Rodeo as published by Wrangler Jeans? That, to me, is true horror. I wonder if there's anyone out there with fond memories of the series and wouldn't mind seeing it back in print.
112 pg., $12.99 US. Published by FC9 Publishing
Of Bitter Souls #3 -- AUG05 3110
You would not be mistaken if you said this were another Speakeasy comic that I'm pre-ordering. I can pretty much say that I'm taking a sampling of almost their entire catalogue this outing. …and yes, there are more zombies, but it does have Norm Breyfogle's art.
32 pg., $2.99 US. Published by Speakeasy Comics
Red Sonja #5 -- AUG05 2845
Don't you think chain mail undergarments, even when the only thing worn, would kind of hurt? Wouldn't they chafe and rub the skin raw? Didn't Dave Sim cover this in an issue of Cerebus? Anyway, see above for my reaction to Conan and place along side that my reaction to Red Sonja. Hell, I'd pick up a King Kull comic, if anyone were to publish it.
32 pg., $2.99 US. Published by Dynamite Entertainment.
Revelations #3 -- AUG05 0027
Rex Mundi notwithstanding, I figured it was only a matter of time before more comics began taking on subject material akin to the current publishing juggernaut of Dan Brown's DaVinci Code. Surprising, though, that it would take so long and there be so few. I mean, everybody and their brother is currently publishing a novel about historical intrigue, church secrets, secret societies, ancient mysteries, and so on, you'd think that comics would have a smattering of them, but I guess most publishers are too busy navel-gazing and inbreeding with mega-crossovers or putting out books about zombies (and no, zombies do not automatically equate to Roman Catholics) to bother reading a book.
Six issue mini-series, 32 pg., $2.99 US. Published by Dark Horse Comics
Rocketo #3 -- AUG05 3111
This series looks a lot like Age of Bronze if it were illustrated by Brett Weldele. That's not a bad thing. The series certainly looks like something different.
32 pg., $2.99 US. Published by Speakeasy Comics
Saw: Rebirth -- AUG05 2984
Saw was creepy, I certainly enjoyed the movie. Whether or not the atmosphere of the film will translate to the comic is something else entirely. Thankfully, this isn't an adaptation of the film, but instead a kind of prequel.
32 pg., $3.99 US. Published by IDW
The Sentry #2 -- AUG05 1909
I greatly enjoyed the first mini-series, introducing a "lost" hero from the early days of Marvel. The Sentry obviously never existed before, but the series playing it up as though he had really existed back in Stan and Jack's days and was merely "erased" from our memories was actually kind of fun. The story was intelligent and had some fairly moody, evocative art from Jae Lee. It was also one of the first books that I read back in '99 or whenever it was after I had taken an even longer leave of absence from reading comics. Although this series is also being written by Paul Jenkins, I can't help but feel that I'm not going to like it nearly as much with John Romita, Jr. handling the art chores.
Eight issue mini-series, 32 pg., $2.99 US. Published by Marvel Comics
Seven Soldiers: Klarion the Witch Boy #4, Zatanna #4 -- AUG05 0233, AUG05 0234
I'm really enjoying all of the Seven Soldiers books for reasons that you'll find out shortly when I "officially" launch the first instalment of eddy currents. That, and the fishnets. It's got to be the fishnets.
Four issue mini-series, 32 pg., $2.99 US each. Published by DC Comics
Shadowplay #2 -- AUG05 2990
Ashley Wood and Ben Templesmith on the same book, you'd think that would be somebody's idea of a joke. If it were any longer than a four-issue series, you'd probably go into non-sequential storytelling atmospheric art overload. You may very well anyway. Since it's vampires, expect copious amounts of the colour red, mixed in the ruddy browns and steel grey tones that the two artists seem to have patented overtop of black ink.
Four issue mini-series, 32 pg., $3.99 US. Published by IDW
Smoke and Mirror #2 -- AUG05 3113
With parts of the story told in flashback, delineated nicely by a shift in art, I certainly am not going to be passing this one by. The change in artistic style to match a different storytelling period is one of the tools unique to comics and I wish I could see it employed in more outlets.
32 pg., $2.99 US. Published by Speakeasy Comics
Swamp Thing #20 -- AUG05 0288
Swamp Thing is probably the one character that I will suffer through just about anything in order to continue reading. I mean, I'll follow the character through highs and lows and continue reading the book no matter how awful it happens to get. Sadly, I've missed most of this incarnation, but I do have all of the issues on order and they should arrive here any day now. Anyway, as per the solicitation copy, does anyone else get the impression that Joshua Dysart enjoys dilysergic acid? "Wearied by tumultuous recent events, Swamp Thing attempts to escape by creating smaller and smaller versions of himself. Finally, he shrinks into a quantum state, exploring the subatomic universe. But what is John Constantine doing there?"
32 pg., $2.99 US. Published by DC Comics | Vertigo imprint
…and that's basically what I'll be getting in October.
Next: Nothing
-- d. emerson eddy
d. emerson eddy may be dead, but he hasn’t started yet to decompose. So there may be hope yet, although he is feeling a little bit peckish.
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