Weekly Comics Continue With Countdown

With the light at the end of the tunnel of 52 glowing brighter every week, fans everywhere are beginning to wonder what they'll do every Wednesday after the series ends. What, with the major delays rampant throughout the industry, what book can they count on to be there week in and week out? DC has the answer: Countdown.

Countdown will be a year-long weekly series beginning the week after issue 52 of 52 is released. But here's the cute part-- instead of issue #1, that issue will be #51! The following issue will be #50, and so on until #0, when I can only hope some giant spacecraft is launched.

At the New York Comic Con, some artwork was released that gives some insight into what may happen in Countdown. Slogans in the pictures included "Jimmy Olsen Must Die" and "The Seduction of the Innocent" (the latter accompanied by a picture of Mary Marvel and... someone else's arm). Check out the photos over at the Newsarama story. There are also a bunch of other fun announcements made at the DC panel.

-Elizabeth

The Complete Pogo series announced by Fantagraphics

Walt Kelly's long out-of-print comic strip Pogo will be re-released in glorious hard-cover book form this October by Fantagraphics Books. According to Fantagraphics' blog, the collections will be released in 12 volumes, comprising the entire series from 1949-1973. On top of that, lifelong Pogo admirer and Bone creator Jeff Smith is responsible for each books design and overseeing the introductions.

Pogo chornicles the tale of Pogo Possum and is heavy with social and political commentary from the McCarthy era, all the way to the Nixon Administration. Kelly's most famous satirical character was a wildcat name Simple J. Malarky, a direct poke at witchhunt senator Joesph McCarthy and a very brave statement to make during the height of the senator's power. His strip was even consider such a political threat that the creator's phone was tapped to monitor his actions.

Pogo's influnce on the comic medium is also hugely important as everyone from Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson, to Watchmen writer Alan Moore and the aformentioned Jeff Smith have cited Kelly's strip as a major influence. With the comphrensive series soon to be released a whole new generation will be introduced to Pogo's brilliance, and as fantagraphics
president Gary Groth explains, "Our Pogo books will present Kelly's work the way it should be published -- in a beautifully designed hardcover format, with careful attention paid to reproduction quality, and with knowledgeable introductory material."

Also, Star Clipper would like to congradulate Fantagrahpics for the recent opening of their first brick and mortar store in Seattle. Good luck and thanks for all the great comics.

-Jon

Twisted Toy Fair

As you may know, the American International Toy Fair just finished up in NYC. The Toy Fair is a chance for toy companies to preview the awesome, rad, and sometimes tubular products coming out in future months.

Minimates were popular, with a Ghost Rider set, a 24 set... and a Battlestar Galactica set! Check out Starbuck having a little bitty Minimate cigar! Baltar's plastic hair is out of control! Awesome!



Transformers ruled the fair, thanks to the upcoming Transformers live-action movie. Check out Opitimus Prime, with painted on flames! Rad!



And Hasbro turned out some fantastic toys in their Marvel Comics line, including lots of Spider-Man. My favorite is the Spidey themed Mr. Potato Head. Watch as mild mannered Peter Parker Potato becomes the web-slinging Spider-Spud! Tubular! (HAHA get it? Tubers are potatoes).

-Elizabeth

I Wanna See 300!

Wanna come, too? If the answer is yes, I have some good news for you! Star Clipper has scored some passes for a special sneak preview of 300 on Monday, March 5th. While in the past we have given passes out all whilly-nilly, we're gonna have some order this time around! To win a pass, you'll need to take our 300 trivia contest: just five little questions about the graphic novel for you to answer. You'll have to come in and fill it out while you are here though, since otherwise you'd just Wikipedia all the answers, and where's the fun in that? However, I will give you a little leg up on the competition and give you one of the questions now: What is 30 x 10?

Whew, that's a tough one, isn't it? Good luck with that.

But what do you win if you happen to be good enough? Those of you who get 5 right answers will also get entered into a prize pack drawing. We'll have several prize packs full of goodies, but the grand prize winner will also get special reserved seating at the show. You won't even have to show up early or anything, we'll hold a seat for you. The drawing for the grand prize will be picked at random, and while bribes are welcome, and appreciated, they won't have any effect on the outcome.

There's another way to get reserved seating folks: dress up as a Spartan or other character from 300 - but please, let us know in advance so we can make sure everyone in costume gets a reserved seat (this is your big chance to shine, folks - there's likely to be newspaper and TV coverage of this event!).

Dan

Shhhhh! Star Clipper is Hiring Again...

You heard me right. Star Clipper is hiring again! After losing our much beloved Nick to the allure of a 9-5 day job, we need some new blood. If you're interested in the illustrious world of specialty shop retailing, let us know. You *must* be able to work weekday days and weekend nights - so if you can't, please don't clog our in-box. That's about it, you can apply here at the store, e-mail me your resume at dan@starcllipper.com, or grab one off our website here.

Good luck to all of you!

Dan

A sniffly goodbye from Nick

After two years of loyal servitude, its time for me to say goodbye to the Clipper of Stars. Its with great sadness and joy, that I move on to a 9 to 5 job that my mom actually kinda approves of. Because as they say, 'Mommas, don't let your babies grow up to be comic store clerks.' We're never at home and we're always alone...even with someone we love.

I'm writing this on my last 'official day', but I'll be back to fill in here and there or, at the very least, to shop. In fact, I'm already scheduled to work this Saturday for Dan. I've lived in St Louis for 3 years and Star Clipper's been a big part of my life in that time. Thanks to Ben and AJ, Dan, and the young-uns for making it a pleasure. And thanks to all the regulars for, you know, coming in and buying stuff and shooting the shit and all. I've made lots of good friends here. Keep in touch.

If you want to keep up on the continuing adventures of Nick, come by my site or visit my blog for updates, comics, and all sorts of nasty gossip about my former co-workers. Or just drop me a line at nickmain@gmail.com

word

-nick

Biggest Delay Ever!

Since I'm Star Clipper's resident "expert" on everything Ghost Rider, I guess its my responsiblity to keep you updated on what is going on in the Flame-head's world, in an recap I'd like to call the Ghost Rider minute.

Obviously, the biggest news is that the Ghost Rider movie you've been hearing so much about came out 2/16/2007, starring Nic Cage, the man who brought you such masterpieces as The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off and dare-I-say The Wicker Man. I'm not even kidding about his unbelievable filmograhpy, so get ready for a Nic Cage party thats off the "chain."

However, what is probably bigger news to all you Ghost Rider fantatics out there is the release of the long awaited issue 94, which has been delayed no less than eight years. In the words of comic book guy, let us all grumble in unison "Biggest Delay Ever!!!"

So the question now is, "Jon, whats with the delay? Can you enlighten us?"

Well blogsters, I certainly can.

Way back in that crazy decade called the 90's, Ghost Rider was a very popular character for Marvel. Unfortunately, by the end of the decade Ghosty's popularity, along with countless other characters, took a dramatic decline and Marvel filed for Bankruptcy. Marvel was slated to end the series at issue 94, but when Rider editor Tom Brevoort took his winter vacation he returned to find Marvel had stop production of the series at issue 93, stating that they could not put out any comics that would likely lose money. So to the dismay of all the diehards, Ghost Rider ended with no conclusion, until now. Ghost Rider #94 finally ends the saga of the 90's Danny Ketch era.

As a bonus the comic also includes issue 93 to refresh your memory on what happen all those years back in 1998. And if you really want a memory jolt the Essential Ghost Rider vol. 2 just came out as well, collecting issues 21-50 of the Johnny Blaze era.

Don't let the cold weather keep you away, jump on your flame-cycle and cruise down to Star Clipper for some Ghost Rider nostalgia, or I will take vegenance on you! This concludes the Ghost Rider Minute.

-Jon

Ghost Rider Review

Ahh, Ghost Rider. I went into the theater with the hopes that it would be bad. With Mark Steven Johnson at the helm, the man who wrote both Daredevil and Elektra, there was a good chance that it might cross the line of bad into embarrassingly hilarious bad. Sure enough, ten minutes in, they're in a field carving 'Johnny and Roxanne Forever' into a tree. But I still wasn't sure if it was safe to laugh. Was I going to be spoiling the film for others who were really wrapped up in this love story? I gave it another ten minutes and it was clear that the audience had given up hopes and were laughing at things that probably weren't supposed to be funny, like the Ghost Rider's previously unknown power of making everyday shit look bad-ass in his presence, as he does with the motorcycle, jacket, and a shotgun. (yes, to some of us shotguns are everyday objects) But here's the thing. A lot of it WAS supposed to be funny and that's the one point where it did succeed. As a comedy, the movie was alright.

Lifetime comics fan, Nicolas Cage, did a pretty good job. He fit into the role well (though did anyone besides me think he was 'elvis walking' when he first changed into Ghost Rider?). Sam Elliot was a nice surprise as the old cowboy caretaker, a role he could play in his sleep, but the character was kinda wasted if you ask me. Peter Fonda and Wes Bentley as Satan and son were not so good, but again, supplied some laughs.

Overall, pretty subpar. I give it 3 Star Clippies out of 12. You can check out the Ghost Rider movie blog to see video of Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendez answering such hard hitting questions as 'What was it like working with the director?'...'uh...he has a good sense of humor?'

-Nick

Creator Spotlight - Eric Wight

Eric Wight has been in comics for years. Even if you don't recognize his name, you've probably seen his work. And if all the press he's been getting for his new book is any indication, you'll recognize his name soon.

Wight's new My Dead Girlfriend has been getting great reviews across the board, like this one by Augie De Blieck Jr. at CBR, or this one by *ahem* me, at playbackstl.com.

His work can also be seen right now in the Action Comics Annual, and on Fox's hit teen drama, The O.C. Apparently some kid on The O.C. likes to draw comics, and Eric Wight is the ghost artist! Pretty cool, huh?

And if you recall, for a while there was talk of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer animated series. Unfortunately, the project wasn't meant to be, but Mr. Wight would have been doing a lot of the work on that. You can see some of the art from the would-be at his online portfolio.

So watch out for Eric Wight! He may be your next favorite comics artist!

-Elizabeth

Another Greeting Card Company Day

Actually I get it from my mom, she hates Valentines Day. Well, not hates, but she has no use for it. I remember when I was a little kid I'd come home from grade school with all those construction paper hearts with candy hearts either taped, or glued(YuM!) to them. I'd ask my mom what dad was getting her and she'd tell me how Valentines day was just a day made up by the greeting card companies to sell more cards at a time when there was no other holiday. Now just to put things in perspective, my mom just turned 70 this year, so there's a bit of a generation gap between us, two really.

But that's not the point of all this actually. That was just to explain why I don't really care about V-Day. The point is, OMFG, we suck! Every year we do decorations for the different holidays, Halloween, Christmas, anything we can get away with, U-City has some weird rules about window decorations. This year, as usual we did some decorating for V-Day, nothing too fancy, kind of a low key thing that works on a subconcious level. We've had it up for a bout a week, which I said was too early, but I don't really get a vote as I thought it should go up the day before and come down the day after.

A couple of weeks ago, I come in and the guys next door at Rag-O-Rama are putting their display up. They got the manequins dressed in pinks, whites, and reds, some with angel wings, all kinds of eye catching stuff. Nice. Later I go out to grab a coffee from down the street and they have the whole thing done. There's red and white feathered boas for streamers, heart shaped lights, roses, red and silver wrapped presents, the whole nine yards! And I look over at our window and all I can think is, DAMMIT! So Rag-O-Rama, I'm putting you on notice right now. Next year, it's ON! I am going to embrace the spirit of Valentines Day to fullest and kick your @$$#$ up and down Delmar! Oh, and just you wait till the Fourth of July. You'll see.


Yeah, I'm not bitter. No way. But after thinking about it for a couple of days, this is what I have to say:

Dan

What Do Shins Read?

Sundays are normally tedious cleaning days for Elizabeth and I, with not much excitement around the old' Clipper, but a suprise visit from indie stars the Shins, who were in town playing a sold out show at the Pageant, really liven up the afternoon.

It took me a second to overcome my disbelief that the biggest band on Sub Pop Records since Nirvana, who currently has the eighth best selling album on the billboard charts, Wincing the Night Away (it debuted at #2), was casually shopping around for comic books.

So what were the shins shopping for? Well, right away lead guitarist David Hernandez asked Elizabeth, "What is that Alan Moore book that's kinda dirty?" Which, of course, turned out to be Lost Girls, one of the few items in the store that you have to be over 18 to look at. He ended up passing on it, relieving all at Star Clipper from the responsiblity of a spontaneous change in direction in the Shins music to an over-sexed funk act induced by Moore's series.

However, their touring bandmate, whose name I didn't catch, did pick up The Sweeter Side of R. Crumb, which should give you a little insight into the minds of the Shins.

My thanks go out to the Shins, ecspecially Keyboardist Marty Crandall, for not only getting me into the show but also hooking me up with backstage passes!

Congrats on the success on the new album!

-Jon

Lions and Tigers and Bears...

Oh, my! The new Beasts! hardcover from Fantagraphics is a wholly amazing book. It is a gorgeous encyclopedia of all kinds of mythical monsters often obscure ones, with original art by some of the greatest visual artists of today. It is edited and designed by Jacob Covey, art director of Fantagraphics.

This book is truly a delight for lovers of mythology, great art, or just very pretty books. Beasts! would be quite at home on any bookshelf or coffee table. I could even see a it becoming the favorite book of a kid who really enjoys playing make-believe (as long as they didn't get too afraid of the illustrations or too offended by occasional semi-nudity ok... maybe it's best left to the grown-ups).

Publisher's Weekly gave it a glowing review, and also give a little more background on where the idea from the book came from.

A couple of my favorite pieces are Katy Horan's rendition of the Banshee, Jeremy Fish's Kraken (with a t-shirt that says "What's Kraken?) Attaboy's Melusine, and... you know what, they're all my favorite. So there.

illustration above by Tim Biskup

-Elizabeth

Ghost Rider Contest Winner

Congratulations to Tom Bazzle, the winner of our Ghost Rider Drawing Contest. Tom has won a sweet prize pack but everyone who entered gets passes for the sneak preview Thursday night and maybe some extra swag to those who ask nicely, so come pick up your passes and original drawings ASAP. Here's Tom's vengeance-riffic drawing plus some of our other favorites...






Thanks to everyone who entered

-Nick

Return of the Wizard

I know I have spoken of this already here, but now Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil has actually shipped, and I've gotten a chance to read it. And yes, it is everything that I hoped it to be. Jeff Smith is kind of an oddity in the comics world. He's pretty famous, an 8 to Frank Miller's 10, he can work on any project that he wants, he never has to work again if what I have read is right, and he's only written one book. One. Granted it took him well over a decade to do it, and it's kinda of short for that amount time, only 55 issues. But over that time he has honed his craft to a level that is not seen in the comics industry all that often, and in a genre, kids, that hardly anyone works in. That's not to say that his comics aren't for adults also, it's just that they are some of the few comics out there right now that really can be enjoyed by both kids and adults equally, and mostly for the same things.

Just look at many of our classic super-heroes(which, by the way, I just found out is a trademarked word, and has been for like ten years!), Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, all these characters have had their stories become so complex, so "adult" in both story and art, that kids don't read comics anymore. Oh sure, there are books that are made specifically for kids, Justice League Unlimited and Spider-Man Adventures to name some, but, and here's a little secret, I sell more of those to adults then I do to kids. Why? Because kids don't have the money that adults do. And as much as we like to think we do, retailers don't have the control over the industry that the publishers do. And from the publishers stand point it's easier to get the weekly Wednesday buyer to pick up a book like The Boys then it is to convince Mom to bring Jr to the comic store to buy him a comic book thats just the same thing he could be watching on TV at home for free. Sorry, but its the truth.

Alright, so a little off topic, sorry about that.

And I've been trying to sum up just what it is about Shazam: MSOE that really makes me like it so much, and I think I finally figured it out. It's simple. Not simpleton, just simple. There are bad guys, and there are good guys. No shades of grey. It doesn't spend two pages explaining anything, things just are. You just accept it and move on. I like that. And I think lastly, its FUN. When was the last time you sat down with a comic, or even a pile of comics, and afterwards said to yourself "Man, I had so much fun reading that, I can't wait to do it again". Sure, there are books that are funny, PVP, books that suspensefuly draw you in, Powers, but truly, geniunely FUN? Not that many spring to mind, the beginning of Ultimate Spider-Man or Invincible maybe, but even those came around eventually and dumped in the drama by the ton. I mean geez, this books even got secret decoder messages in it! On the back page there's a word scramble that you can put into a decoder on the DC Comics web page for a hint about the next issue.

But if you can't take my word for it(heh, lets see how many of you get that), go to the DC Downloads page for a special sneak preview of the first issue.

-Dan

Rage Against The Machines

Deciding on the the right comics to pick up ever month can be a very daughting task, but there is one comic that everyone should be picking upwithout question, Ex Machina. Written by the inquisitive Brian K. Vaughan (Y the Last Man, Pride of Baghdad) and illustrated by the truely unique Tony Harris (Starman), Ex Machina is quickly becoming the best comic
currently published.

The post 9/11 drama tells the story of New York mayor Mitchell Hundred, the worlds only superhero who gave up his title as the Great Machine to serve his country within the system. As the Great Machine, Hundred is able to communicate to any type of machinary, simple or complex, and have it obey his ever command. In Ex Machina's continuity, the Great Machine is even responsible for preventing the second tower from falling on 9/11 by rerouting the terrorist plane with his ability.

However, Ex Machina's genius is that Hundred gives up his superhero mantle, even though he remains to have remarkable powers, and becomes a sort of anti-spiderman, an individual who gives up lone vigilantism and publicly acknowledges his powers, while serving society thourgh the established government. Yeah, spiderman recently tried a similar thing but we'll see how long that lasts.

Ex Machina also has a remarkable interesting cast of side characters, ecspecially Hundred's mentor Kremlin, a boisterous Russian immigrant who wants the hero to return as the Great Machine. On top of that, the series is timely and deals with many serious political issues like gay marriages and school vouchers in a non-partisan way. Obviously, this isn't your average comic book.

I know many of you regular blog readers are already reading the series, but for those of you who haven't started it, now is the perfect time. Ex Machina just started a new story arc with issue 26 called Power Down where mayor Hundred suddenly loses his ability to communicate with machines in the middle of a city wide blackout.

Vaughan claims the series will end after fifty issues so get it while its hot.

-Jon

Whoops, They Did It Again

I don't "really" hate Marvel, but geez I hate Marvel.

And it's all wrapped up in this mess they have made out of Civil War. The Civil War story itself is good, but the timing of the whole thing, the amount of time it's taken to get out, the delays on other books, the endless crossovers that don't mean anything, it's all just left a sour taste in my mouth. Originally I was impressed that when CW was going to be delayed they decided to delay some other books, notably Punisher War Journal, Amazing Spider-Man, and Fantastic Four among others. But now, as they reach the end of the road, so to speak, it seems they just don't care anymore.

This week two titles came out that are post-CW, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and New Avengers. Next week Sensational Spider-Man, another post-CW book will come out. And these are just the ones I happen to read, I would not be surprised to hear that the new Ms Marvel is also post-CW. This just unbelievable as there are some titles, Black Panther, where they are still playing catch-up to the main story. Now I know this must be hard for them, so many of their books having been held up by just one, but if they are serious about trying to build a cohesive universe, this is not the way to do it. Is it so hard to sit on a book for a couple of weeks so that things come out in order? I know it hurts, but it will all be over soon.

-Dan

Ghost Rider Contest Update

One week left to turn in Ghost Rider drawings for a chance to win fabulous prizes (scroll down for more info) The way its looking, you're bound to at least get a free pass to the sneak peak. So get em in here pronto. I'm not eligible but I had to do one anyway...hope you like.

Oh, yeah - don't forget our sweet-ass Valentine's sale is TOMORROW!!! From our newsletter:

"Don't miss the best honey of a sale we've had in over a year! We're offering a sweet 25%-50% off everything in the store from 11 AM to 1 PM, then 20% off until 10 PM. This is your big chance to save on everything from our new urban vinyls to that graphic novel you've been giving the doe-eyes. Come on, darlin’! Don’t be shy!

Sorry, the sale is not applicable to special order or subscription items and is not combinable with any other offer or incentive. Our love is jealous."

-Nick

The Boys Are Back In Town

Sorry, guys. I just could not resist that blog title. Anyway, as the title suggests, there is news about Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's superhero smashing series The Boys. It will be back in print soon, over at Dynamite Entertainment.

The news broke Wednesday afternoon at Newsarama that the creators and Dynamite had struck a deal. Ennis and Robertson will still both be working on The Boys, and the cover price will remain the same, $2.99.

As of this writing, Dynamite has not yet put out a press release concerning the deal, but hopefully the next issue will come out quickly. It will probably be a pretty lucrative acquisition for Dynamite, whose best-selling book is the barbarian epic Red Sonja. They're also the home of Army of Darkness and the Battlestar Galactica comics.

Now that the series has a stable home, fans can look forward to a long run; the series is planned to run for about 60 issues, total. So there's your good news for the day, folks. You're welcome.

-Elizabeth

Eau de Magnet-eau

AJ got me this for Valentine's Day. It's totally great - not necessarily great smelling - but great the way Marvel Romance Redux is great. You know, great like watching a train wreck unfolding in front of you. The kitsch value is enormous. But what you're not seeing the insane sample of Pierre Cardin in it's phallus shaped sample jar. Don't believe me? See for yourself.

Anyway, it's a pretty cheap smelling fragrance - ask Elizabeth, it leaked all over my hands when I tried to show it to her and then clung to me like a leech the rest of the day. Obviously, it's the packaging that matters here.

And on a side note - how many of your watch Heroes? Did anyone catch the awesomeness of Hiro's father (played by George Takei) as he got into his Limo - with the New York license plate of NCC 1701? In case you're unaware, NCC-1701 were the numbers painted on the Enterprise, where George Takei played Sulu. God, but I felt like a nerd.

-ben

Whedon's Wonder Woman Woes

This is a classic example of what happens when two of our bloggers don't communicate with each other. If you don't understand what the heck I'm talking about, read yesterday's post. Ordinarily, I'd make one of them do another blog, but I'm feeling giddy with exhaustion this morning.

Joss "The Boss" Whedon is officially off Warner Bros. screen adaptation of Wonder Woman. He had been writing the screenplay, and all set to direct the film, but apparently he didn't see eye to eye with the studio on what this movie should be like.

This is a pretty big bummer for fans of Whedon and Diana alike. It was cool to see Joss attached to such a high-profile Hollywood project; he's proven himself in comics with Astonishing X-Men, but is still considered by many in film and TV as a cult writer and director, after his hits Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly/Serenity. And for fans of the lovely Wonder Woman, the movie is now pushed back more than ever-- after all, they probably need to find someone new to write the script!

Whedon posted the announcement on whedonesque.com on February 3rd, and as of this writing, imdb.com has still not been updated to reflect this change, nor has the new leader of the project been announced.

And of course, Wonder Woman herself remains un-cast. Joss even claims there was never a fore-runner for the role, which seems pretty strange since the movie was slated to be released sometime this year.

But these things happen. Here's hoping the whole thing doesn't just get scrapped altogether.

-Elizabeth

Whedon Walks Off Wonder Woman

Bad news this week for the Wonder Woman movie. Joss Whedon stepped down from his position as screenwriter and would-be director. He explains everything over on Whedonesque but the gist is that he was having some difficulty with it, he and the studio had different visions for the film, and it was a mutual decision for him to move on.

Of course, we know Whedon has several other things lined up we can look forward to (Runaways, Buffy), but I think that was the last chance the movie had at being any good. Not to mention the last last chance at having a Wonder Woman that women will like.

Although I will say its interesting that they've already picked up another script and it has Wonder Woman set during World War II. (Whedon's was present day) Since I've always kinda wanted them to remake Superman as a period movie around when he was created, this might be worth looking at.

Similiarly, Batman Begins writer David S Goyer's script for The Flash movie got dumped too. eh.

-Nick

Tricia Helfer (Caprica Six) in Playboy!

I know, I know...this is totally old news. Tricia Helfer, who plays Caprica Six in the hugely successful Battlestar Galactica TV series is in the latest issue of Playboy magazine, baring I'm not exactly sure what to all and sundry.

Here's the news: Star Clipper, which has long eschewed abjectly pornographic materials - that is, objects that appealed solely to the prurient interest - except in the case of special orders, has decided to carry SHELF COPIES (you read that right) of the Tricia Helfer Playboy issue.

Yes, you'll say we carry Lost Girls, which Alan Moore himself calls porno short and simple. OK, you've got me there.

I guess we're taking our first step down that slippery slope - who knows, by year end maybe we'll convert our theater room into St. Louis' biggest selection of adult comix and books! YES!!!! (Don't hold your breath)...

So come and get your copy fast - they won't last long...half the staff plans on buying it, too.

-ben

I've Got Ace Frehley, I've Got Peter Criss

Get ready for a brand new comics publisher: KISS Comics Group. That's right. The band that understands makeup and pyrotechnics like no other is launching a new title, and this time they'll be in charge. Well, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, anyway. KISS Comics Group will be working in conjunction with Platinum Studios to create the newest thing in awesome.

There have been KISS comics in the past, but this one will certainly take the cake. Entitled KISS 4K, it will be the first series actually produced with the input of the band themselves. And the special over-size collector's edition of KISS 4K #1 will go down in the record books as the biggest single comic book ever printed. This "Destroyer Edition" will probably be the most rockin' thing to hit comics stores-- EVER. When shown a photo of the ginormous comic, Jon just said "WHOAH! That's as big as Paul Stanley. At least as big as his hair." I think that really says it all.

Fans can look forward to an ongoing series starting by May, with Ricky Sprague writing and Kevin Crossley penciling. Promo art reveals some pretty rad characters, like "Starchild" and "King of All Beasts". I can't help but wonder what Mr. Frehley and Mr. Criss think of all this, but they probably signed away their right to an opinion about KISS or any product involving KISS long ago.

The Destroyer Edition of KISS 4K #1 will, it seems be available only at Wizard World Los Angeles this March. If you miss it, there will be a regular old traditionally sized comic available, too. But it won't score you nearly as many points with the ladies.

-Elizabeth

Mouse Guard

Oh, those modest mice! We humans so often overlook their small endeavors, mistaking them for food for our pet reptiles, a good prank to let loose in enclosed areas, or just a nice way to get rid of excess cheese. But through the mind of Mouse Guard creator David Petersen, a mouse's role in the world is a lot more complicated than you ever imagined.

In Petersen's six issue mini-series, which he recently concluded, mice are a noble race that have cleaverly devised a way to protect themselves from their much larger predators in establishing the mouse guard. The guards primary responsiblity is to protect civilian mice as they travel the trails between the different secret villiages. The plot thickens when a merchant mouse goes missing and the mouse guard is sent to find him. After battling a snake that has eaten the missing merchant it is discovered that the mouse was actually a tratior carrying plans that would help overthrow Lockhaven, the guard's main city. As the story continues, the guard get caught up in an all out war, but I would spoil it if I gave anymore plot away, so you are just going to half to pick up the series for yourself.

Mouse Guard's biggest strenght is Petersen's wonderful art work, which is essential in telling the story because there is so little dialogue, and the lack of dialogue does leave something to be desired. Hopefully this problem will be elevated when the series is collected into one hardcover volume in April. So keep your eyes open for the collected Mouse Guard if you can't find all the single issues. If you really end up liking the series you will be pleased to hear that the mouse guard adventures will
continue this July in a new mini-series about the struggle to survive winter.

In other Mouse news, one of my favorite bands Modest Mouse will be releasing their new album in March, so this should be prefect music to read the series too.

Next blog I'll do my best not to write about anthropomorphic animals, but I am an animal lover, so will see?

-Jon