And the Winner Is...

One of the things that I always look forward to come out of San Diego are the Eisners. Oddly enough though, this year it was incredibly hard to find out who won what. Usually you hear all about it the panels, people kidding each other about winning or losing, companies send out e-mails congratulating themselves and their people on how many they won. But this year was weird. I actually had to go and Google it to find out something. Oddly enough, the San Diego Comic-Con people have nothing about it up on their site. If you want, go here and you can see the complete list of winners. Here though are a few highlights. Congratulations to all the winners!


Best Short Story
“A Frog’s Eye View,” by Bill Willingham and James Jean, in Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
Batman/The Spirit #1: “Crime Convention,” by Jeph Loeb and Darwyn Cooke (DC)

Best Continuing Series
All Star Superman, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (DC)

Best Limited Series
Batman: Year 100, by Paul Pope (DC)

Best New Series
Criminal, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Marvel Icon)

Best Writer
Ed Brubaker, Captain America, Daredevil (Marvel); Criminal (Marvel Icon)

Best Writer/Artist
Paul Pope, Batman: Year 100 (DC)

Also, a special mention to Earth-2 Comics out in Sherman Oaks, CA. They have joined the elite few, ourselves included, to win the coveted Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailing Award. I hunted around and found a few pictures of their shop for you to take a look at.





-Dan

The Damned Picked Up By Dreamworks

Many congratulations to Brian Hurtt and Cullin Bunn for getting their really awesome comic, The Damned, picked up by Dreamworks!

From Brian:

"This is no more than me bragging but I wanted to share the following info with you all. Some of you already know some of the details--I've known all of this for months but now I can officially announce it:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117969147.html?categoryid=1350&cs=1&query=the+damned+oni

I'm pretty excited about the good news! Fingers crossed that this turns into something.

-brian"

So, many congratulations to this outstanding creative team! I for one can't wait to see it on the big screen...so let's hope someone at Dreamworks can make it happen. For those of you who haven't read it, you should really pick up a copy. I know we sold out this weekend, but we have lots more coming in stock tomorrow. It's a fun read, and as usual Brian's art is striking and interesting.

-b

Jeff Smith's RASL

Bone creator Jeff Smith always seems to have something new up his sleeve. Recently, we've seen the release of Smith's take on DC's Shazam! with "The Monster Society of Evil".If you're not reading this, do yourself a favor and pick it up, it's very good and even non superhero readers can appreciate it's charming take on Captain Marvel . Also, as I previously reported, he is prepping the cover art and introduction for the re-release of Walt Kelly's Pogoseries. Just two weeks ago we got "The Art of Bone," an gorgeous look at the creation of his magnum opus, that is essential to any Bone fanatic like myself.

However, as reported on Boneville.com, Smith has a new original series called RASL scheduled for 2008. This is very exciting news my friends. As Smith explains, "The image above is the cover for a 6 page preview comic I'm working on for the San Diego Comic-Con International. It's also going to be the cover of RASL no.1 when the series starts coming out from Cartoon Books in 2008." Unfortunately, there has been very little other info released on RASL.

Our own Kevin Gaussoin will be at the San Diego Comic Con so I will try to have him get the inside scope from Smith himself. Hopefully, all will go well for Kevin, but if you know how busy San Diego gets with comic "enthusiasts" the Bone booth might be swarmed. I can just see it now, Smith muttering "Stupid, Stupid Rat Creatures" for an entirely different reason than intended in Bone . Just kidding convention goers.

I will keep you updated on RASL as more info is released.

-Jon

A Week of Ellis

So good ol' Warren had four new books hit this week. FOUR. That's just really quite something. Of course, one was his new novel, Crooked Little Vein, and the other three were from Avatar. And Avatar probably wanted them all to hit at the same time to maximize sales, and the fact that they were all out in time for the San Diego Con didn't hurt I'm sure.
Crooked Little Vein is delightful. Delightfully short and dated actually. I hate to say it, but it really is. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but much of the Ellis cool is being introduce to new things. And there just really wasn't anything new in there. Most of the "Holy Shit!" technology that he swings about is quite commonplace, where it might not have been a year or more ago. That's how fast technology is moving. Oh well. If you're a hardcore Ellis fan, you will enjoy it for what it is, a great three hour romp that leaves you feeling dirty and violent. If you're not a Ellis fan, and even if you are, try the new Warren Gibson book, Spook County.

Black Summer really turned around on me though. The preview left me feeling a little flat, probably because I had seen most of it through previews and such. Don't you hate that? Say you go to see a movie you've been waiting all summer for, watching trailers, listening to cast and crew interviews, all kinds of stuff. Then when you watch the actual movie, all you can think is "Oh, here's that spot from the trailer!", and you lose the next 10 seconds, and it ends up feeling like a bunch of scenes stuck together. That's how I felt about the Black Summer preview. The comic, on the other hand, was great. Good pacing, scenes of horrible violence, followed by the main character stopping, pausing, and then on again. It never slows, just lets off the throttle for a few seconds while it takes the corner.

I have not ready Cercy yet, so don't ask.

And as far as Doktor Sleepless? Well, it's Mek, Transmetropolitan, Future Stomp, Global Frequency, and all the rest thrown in a crock pot and simmered for six hours. Future Science Jesus indeed.

Oh, and apparently some madman let him in to sign at the San Diego Con. I think he infected himself with something. He already took out Grant Morrison. Read all about it!

-Dan

Origins of Banksy

When I hear the name Banksy, a lot of things go through my mind. How much I admire his work, his tenacity, and his enduring resistance to compromise, and how he's opened doors for other street artists/graffiti artists. And how funny his prank on Paris Hilton (which I will get to in a moment) was.

But I mainly think about a guy who paints on walls. Which, by the way, is who Banksy is. Banksy is an artist, a street artist if you will. No one knows who he really is, his name, or
anything about him. Few people who've seen him actually knows what he does. What we do know is that he's the type of guy who likes to make statements on the sides of buildings.

Most of Banksy's works (which can usually be seen in London or around the UK) are humorous and political in nature. While it would take a lifetime to try to explain the artistic road trip of a vandal who can make thousands of dollars by painting a mural on someone's home (true story, by the way), I will try to summarize.

Banksy is anti-war and pro-freedom. Many of his stenciling work, which is the most recognizable, depicts a working class view of the upper class and of life itself. Banksy, who uses rats, policeman, children and the elderly (among other things) in his work, paints his images anywhere and everywhere: streets, lampposts, buildings, even statues.

Although Banksy began as a traditional graffiti artist, his antics have brought him notoriety. Some of his best pranks include switching out Paris Hilton's cd at record shops in England for his own album covers with titles such as "Why am I famous?" and "What Have I done" and painting outcries on animal cages in a zoo. Another fine prank occurred when Banksy replaced Queen Victoria's face with Princess Diana's on English money notes and then people actually tried to use them.

It should be stated that Banksy's work, though illegal by terms of the government, has also been very fruitful in terms of finance. Many of his works have sold for over hundreds of thousands of dollars and many of his works are considered collectibles.

If you'd like to hear of all things Banksy, you should check out his forum or if you want to see more of his art, check out the Banksy page at art of the state.



His book, Wall and Piece, is available at Star Clipper - until they run out!! And if you feel like discussing Banksy or any other street artist, feel free to start up a conversation!

Evey

New Giant-size Walt & Skeezix From Sunday Press Books

Sunday Press Books will be releasing the giant-size "Sundays with Walt and Skeezix" on August 15. Collecting a large sampling of the first 15 years of Sunday "Gasoline Alley" strips, the book is the second of a series, following the "Little Nemo in Slumberland" collection, to reprint the comic strip in the actually newspaper-size format of it's original release. Created by Frank King in 1918, "Gasoline Alley" followed the lives of Walt Wallet and his adopted son Skeezix. The first sunday comic appeared in 1921 and uniquely explored themes of humanity. Sunday Press publisher Peter Maresca explains:

"Like McCay, Feininger, Herriman, and others of that era, King was a graphic innovator. His panoramic layouts, themed styling, and whimsical cartoon conceits explored new artistic methods. But he also had a great knowledge of story and character, presented with a warmth and humanity never seen before in comics, and rarely done as well since. He went beyond the gags and slapstick of his contemporaries to create vignettes of genuinely human characters; showing them relating to each other and, particularly in his Sunday comics, to the world around them."

Designed by Chris Ware and with an Introduction by Jeet Heer, this is the ideal way to either reread or be introduced to Walt & Skeezix. I will warn you though, the only problem with these giant-size collection is finding a space on your book shelf.

We've already had a few request for "Sundays with Walt and Skeezix," so let us know if you're interested and we will see about getting it in for you.

-Jon

Judge a Comic by its Cover!

When it comes to comic books the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" simply dose not apply. Comic collectors are notorious for being extremely opinionated about all aspects of comics, and covers have a particular importance because they're the initial selling point for entire issues. With this basic understanding of the comic cover's significance, I think the Comics Pro's argument about variant covers makes perfect sense. Retailers need to be able to purchase covers to adequately meet customer's buying preferences. When the major distributors force retailers to buy a 50/50 split of variant covers, retailers are inevitably buying above their true cost, resulting in excess unwanted inventory and a loss of basic operating cash. If its the retailer's responsibility to meet customer demand, and the distributor's responsibility to meet the retailers needs, then having this 50/50 split policy clearly exemplifies there is something wrong with the way distributors operate within this business model. An industry can't work against itself if it wants to maintain a healthy existence.

So to ease the mood, here are a few good websites that focus specifically on the lighter side of comic covers. The image above is from a website called Superdickery. It focuses on the humor of silver age DC covers, specifically ones where Superman is acting like a jerk. Thanks to Star Clipper's own Nick Kuntz for showing me this link. Also, check out the Grand Comic Book Database, a site that has indexed over 70,000 comic book covers. Finally, check out a site claiming to be the best page in the universe for some of the best unintentional sexual comic book covers ever, including this one:



That should just about "cover" everything.

-Jon

The Comics Journal Vs. Scott Pilgrim

I'm not a regular reader of The Comics Journal, nor any comic magazine for that matter. Most of the time anything I read in the mag's is a month out of date. Oh sure, the reviews are worth reading, same as the opinion pieces, but mostly I'm looking for news, not reviews. But the other day I was putting tags on the new TCJ, May 2007 (well, new to US anyway, thanks Fantagraphics!) when I saw a page from Scott Pilgrim. I'm a big O'Malley fan, I even have all of his music, and I wanted to see what they had to say, especially given that back in March they named Vol. 3 as one of the best books of 2006. What I found instead was an attack piece written by someone, who even under his own admission, did not get the series at all. If I could, I would point you to his review somewhere on the web and then respond to every part of his breakdown. Since I can't, I will just do one paragraph.

The reviewer, Tim O'Neil, had this to say "It is unfortunate, then, that the story these character inhabit is defined by such a lamentable lack of imagination. Until about four-fifths of the way through the first book, the Pilgrim series seems to be setting up a nice soap-opera narrative, touched on the edges by a few bizarre bits of magical realism but still grounded in a firm and recognizable universe of coherent motivation and restrained whimsy. But at the end of Precious Little Life the series' true focus becomes apparent, and the shock is enough to totally derail the series in one fell swoop: Scott Pilgrim is a video-game in comics form."

To the first part, the "lack of imagination" part? The story world these characters inhabit is, for all intents and purposes, the real world, even going so far as to include real life locations, complete with fun facts about each. This isn't supposed to be an imagined world, or even culture really. Just a culture where some of the things that we see in video-games are actually real. And let's get this straight once and for all, when we say "video-games" we really mean Super Mario Brothers, because that's where many, if not most of the references come from.

As to the "soap-opera narrative" bit, well, who the @#$*! wants to read a soap-opera? I'm sorry, but, most of the things that I've seen in soap-opera's, and to be frank my experience is mostly limited to magazine covers in the supermarket checkout line and the old TV show "Soap", are complete B.S. and don't happen to people in real life. Oh sure some of it might, but a rich white girl from the East Coast being kidnapped by South American guerillas because her babies daddy is the guerilla's leader and he's fallen madly in love with her and just can't be apart and if he can't.... and then she falls for him, takes him back home to the Hamptons and Daddy's house where they all live happily ever after till next season when he meets the new maid and her Wall Street broker/ex-fiance reappears, THAT'S soap-opera narrative!

God. I think my brain just melted.

Alright, I'm calling it a day here, I think you can get the idea that this review just drove me insane. Scott Pilgrim is one of the best, most original series to come out in years. O'Malley's art, pacing, characterization, and dialogue are fantastic. The only bad thing about the whole series is how long it takes to come out. But, on that front, there is some good news. I was just over at Radiomaru this weekend, and guess what? Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, the fourth volume, comes out this September! September 19th to be exact.

-Dan

Ashley Wood

If you've been in Star Clipper at all lately, you have seen Ashley Wood's work. Maybe you haven't recognized it, maybe
you've picked it up and looked at it, maybe you just walked by it only to have it catch your eye on the way out. But you've seen it.

Ashley Wood, in my opinion, is one of the most recognizable artists/illustrators working in comics today. As his website shows, Wood is a one of a kind. His brilliant use of traditional painting techniques, along with digital photography and graphic programs on the computer make for a largely exciting and daring look for comics.

But perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me introduce Ashley Wood. Wood is an artist originating from Australia and has worked for over ten years in most major fields in entertainment. Wood is an established fine artist and has worked for rock bands in creating album covers. He has credits to TV, film, comics, video games, and much more. His entire affiliates/clients list can be found on his website, if you'd like to peruse it.

But right now, Wood, whose blog can be checked for daily information, has a couple of major projects; the first is bringing a newly revamped look to the cult classic Tank Girl, along with writer Alan Martin.



Another project is Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty an adaptation of the PlayStation Portable game that was very popular.



The last of his big projects - 48 Nudes - has been released this past week. It's basically a collection of some of his works.

Ashley Wood has been infamous for using explicit images as a way to garner attention, but no one can deny that Wood, with his expressionist style and adaptability to whatever he is working on, will continue to delight comic book fans everywhere. At only 36, he has already accomplished a multitude of dreams and continues to push the envelope.

What wonders will he cook up for us in the future?

Evey

ComicsPRO Releases First Position Paper

If you read this blog regularly, you know that Star Clipper is a member of ComicsPRO - the Comics Professional Retailer Organization. ComicsPRO considers itself the comic book retailer advocacy group and one of the purposes of the group will be to release opinions (called 'Position Papers') on various subjects that affect retailers.

We finally released our first Position Papers - this time on Variant Covers. You can read the whole thing over at Newsarama and check out the commentary, too. I think most folks who've sounded off agree with us, but of course you can't please everybody.

My position on variant covers is pretty simple - I'd rather not have them, they're a pain in the ass to deal with and generally have little to no impact on how we order our books. Of course, the publishers will probably continue to print variants because they tend to positively impact a publisher's bottom line. How? By encouraging retailers to purchase larger quantities of regular cover books to reach the numbers required to qualify for a 1:50 or 1:100 variant cover. The retailer will regularly eat large volumes of unsellable regular covers for the chance to make a large sale on a variant cover. Usually, though, the overall profitablility of the line drops like a rock when a retailer takes a chance like this. So in general, variant covers help retailers like us, who already order and sell large quantities of normal covers (because the variant is just gravy) but hurt smaller retailers who are trying to score big on a single book.

So why would I be against them in general? Well, using variants as a way for publishers to increase their sales on a book only skews the sales numbers on a title in a way that doesn't reflect the volume that is actually selling to end-users (readers). It's wasteful, because a large proportion of the books are never sold or read and in the long run it hurts smaller retailers by negatively impacting their profitability - and I'm very interested in the long term health of the industry.

This is also an issue with 50/50 variant splits. Books like Justice League of America, which routinely ship with two covers - usually a good and a crappy one. Star Clipper *has* to order them on a 50/50 basis, but I know I will probably sell 1 cover 2-3 times better than the other cover. The publisher knows this and is hoping I'll increase my overall order so I have enough of the good covers to satisfy my customers. So I'm actually forced to order more of a book than I know I can sell or risk making my customers angry. The publisher tries to soften the blow by also offering rare variants (1 in 10 or 1 in 50) so for me to recover the profitability of the line, I have to sell the variants at stupidly inflated prices. I'd much rather be able to order the covers efficiently - in the quantities that I know I can sell (at cover price).

Of course since we're basically forced to play the game, we're going to price the variants for what we can sell them for, and we try to be competitive with other retailers - but I'd rather they were just gone.

Anyway, read the position paper for yourself - I spent several hours working on it, after all. I'd love to know what you folks think. BTW, I don't mean to take the credit for writing this position - it was a group effort of the 'Position Paper Committee' over at ComicsPRO which includes 7 or 8 folks - most of whom contributed a great deal to the paper.

-b

Johnny Ryan's XXX Scumbag Party

Just released through Fantagraphics is Johnny Ryan's XXX Scumbag Party, the second collection of the fantagraphic issues of Angry Youth Comix. Containing issues 6-10, XXX Scumbag Party continues with the same low brow excellence of Ryan's previous works, returning to the disgusting adventures of characters such as Boobs Pooter, Loady McGee, Sinus O'Gynis and Blecky Yuckerella. If you've not read Ryan's absurd strips before, I strongly suggest also picking up his first collection What're You Lookin' At, if not to just get the issue containing Comic Book Skool. In this, Ryan's signature character Loady McGee teaches all the essential lessons of creating comics, including lesson VI:

Always have "panel after panel of ordinary, normal, run-of-the-mill sons-o-bitches being endlessly humiliated." Accompanied with a picture of one such average joe being barfed and peed on by a couple of slack jawed yokels. And this is one of the relatively tamed steps!

It might sound stupid but I guarantee it is hysterically funny all the way through.

The best quote to define Ryan's is by fellow comic oddball R. Crumb, "Generally speaking, (Johnny Ryan's) comics are really dumb & infantile, and prove beyond a doubt that chemical pollution, television, video games, pop music, ect. is making us all stupider by the minute..."

Regardless of the filth and the fury, Ryan's work returns indie comics to an unpretentious and funny good time, ignoring the sappy sensitivity now common of the genre.

Johnny Ryan will be at Star Clipper on September 8, accompanied by Peter Bagge and Jim Blanchard, for a Fantagraphics art show and book signing. Yep, all my favorite comic creators are coming in! So, don't miss it!

-Jon

Look What DC Got Me For My Birthday!

DC has released a few of their October soliciatations, and already my birth month is looking to be good with eight new series starting up! But lets talk about a few of the ones that I'm looking forward to the most.

First up is Justice Society of America #10 and part one of the "Thy Kingdom Come" story arc. I think the cover to this pretty much says it all, but I'll spell it out for you, the Superman from Kingdom Come is joining the Justice Society! How! Why! I don't know! And how is Starman gonna react to ol' Kal-El showing up? On a side note, what about Wonder Woman and their kid? Or is this just another example Superman Returns), of Supes being a deadbeat Dad?

Another Superman storyarc, "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" starts this October in Action Comics #858. Again, this cover pretty much speaks for itself. If you can't quite place the art, that would be Gary Frank, most recently of Supreme Power and Squadron Supreme. I think this is nice move, but I really hope he takes some pains to make Superman different from Hyperion. Though if he goes the other way (which it looks like it will), and makes them look exactly the same, well, that might be okay too. Superman is off to the 31st century to see just what the hell is going on, and boy does he look pissed!

Last but not least, Countdown #30 will
be coming out October 3rd. I must say, I didn't really include this for any reason other then the cover. If you notice, there in the background is Mr Kyle Rayner. Not only free of the Parallax being (which we all knew would happen), but more importantly, sporting a new costume and a power ring! And this is not a fluke, if you look at the cover for Countdown Presents The Search For Ray Palmer: Crime Syndicate, he's sporting the new costume there as well. Not a huge deal, but I guess the Guardian's plan for him being the Torchbearer are no more. Oh well.

Some of the other titles to watch out for, Batman and the Outsiders #1, Green Arrow/Black Canary #1, Death of the New Gods #'s 1& 2 and finally Superman #669, which kicks off a new Busiek arc called "The Third Kryptonian".

-Dan

Tokidoki

Star Clipper isn't just about comics, folks - although that is how we make our bread and butter. How we make our desert is by selling fantastic designer vinyl toys and art books. Yes, it's true; Star Clipper is every bit as awesome as everyone tells you that it is (at least I think so)!

Truthfully, one reason Star Clipper can claim the word edgy is Tokidoki, a company started by an Italian named Simone Legno and the owner of the American cosmetics company, Hard Candy. Weird right? A Japanese-named business with owners and partners who are not even Japanese?!?

Tokidoki was started in 2003 by Pooneh Mohajer, her husband, and Simone Legno. It started as a Japanese-themed (Tokidoki, by the way, is *sometimes* in Japanese) designer line of toys and has since become a phenomenon in the way of jewelry, watches, bags (for Lesportsac) and even cosmetics with Smashbox. Tokidoki has become a worldwide lifestyle
brand that reaches even into Hello Kitty and Sephora (for all you girls who are reading this, it's true. Check the local Sephora if you don't believe me).

Now if you're thinking, what does this have to do with Star Clipper, I have an answer. Tokidoki has brought out a wonderful line of stationery, journals, vinyl toys, and even a comics, all of which are available at your one and only, Star Clipper.



So, for all of you who are interested, check out the Tokidoki blog or come by the store and we can help you find the Tokidoki item you are looking for!

-Evey

DC Signs Toy Deal With Mattel

Late last month DC announced that they had inked a deal with Mattel to produce toys based on any and all DC properties. So what does this mean to us comic fans? Well, quite a bit actually. First and foremost I was worried that with this move we would get more of "Marvel Legends" feel to all action figures coming out of DC and that DC Direct would stop producing figures. Not true. DC Direct will continue to publish figures based out of particular story-lines and artists. These products will still be available only to the direct market from what I can tell, keeping them, and even elevating them a little bit, as more of a collectors item.

What Mattel is doing will be multifaceted. First, they are going to keep producing many DC and Warner Bros. properties that they already had access to, such as Justice League Unlimited and the Batman movies. They also have free reign to produce toys of any character in the DC library, and while they may chose to focus more on some of the "big guns", they by no means have to. Of course, the flip side of that is that DC Direct no longer really has to worry about there not being Superman or Batman figures available, and free them up to dip deeper into their own back-stock of characters. How about a Starman series of figures, DC? Next, Mattel is planning on incorporating many DC licenses into pre-existing lines such as Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, and Barbie. Mattel has already produce several heroines under the Barbie line, but most of them have been
prohibitively priced and are more collector items then actual toys. Personally I can't wait until the backlash hits and we start getting comments about how Wonder Woman and Power Girl set unrealistic examples of beauty and body shape for little girls. And can you imagine the cool Batmobiles that the guys over at Hot Wheels are going to start producing, I mean, that's just a no-brainer. Lastly, Mattel will also be looking to create DC branded Super-heroes sections in toy aisles. So a year from now I can go to the local Toy's 'R Us (is there one?) and ask, "Excuse me, where is the DC Comics aisle?"

-dan

The Sinestro Corps

Writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver, the team that brought you "Green Lantern ~ Rebirth" the triumphant return of key Lantern Hal Jordan, are really shaking up the DC universe with there one shot "The Sinestro Corps." For those who have not read this issue, beware this is going to be a major SPOILER ALERT.

Sinestro's sinister return is not only going to threaten the Lantern Corp, but all of the heroes of DC. What has happen thus far is that Sinestro has recruited his own Yellow Lantern Corp, and villains from all over the 52 multi-verses are now in league with the John Waters look-a-like. Recruiting everyone from Cyborg Superman, the Anti-Monitor and a failed attempt at Batman, Sinestro's most genius enlistments was Superboy Prime and believe it or not Kyle Rayner. If you read the Infinite Crisis, you might remember that the whole Green Lantern Corps. took on Primeboy and couldn't stop his reign of terror, resulting in the death of 32 Lanterns. It took two other Supermen to force Prime into Rao, the red sun of Krypton, to give the
Lanterns another opportunity to capture him in a containment field. Unfortunately, Sinestro and his Corp. broke Prime out of Lantern prison and another dozen or more Lanterns are dead.

Rayner is a little more complicated. He wasn't actually recruited but more kidnapped and possessed by the Parallax entity. Pictured below is the new Kyle Rayner/Parralax:



Damn right, cool!

We are sold out of the first printing of the Sinestro Corp one shot, but are expecting a second printing, especially with how monumental this event has already become for the DC universe. Green Lantern 21 continues the saga, with Geoff Johns furthering what will perhaps become his greatest Lantern achievement.

A quick shout-out to my roommate and co-creator of Ghost Rider Munny Keith Parson is necessary. I guarantee Keith is the biggest Green Lantern fan in St. Louis and he has got me really interested in a series I don't normally read. Thanks buddy!

Finally, I leave you with Sinestro's new oath:

In blackest day ... In brightest night ...
Beware your fears made into light.
Let those who try to stop what's right...
Burn like my power ... Sinestro's might!

-Jon

Harry Potter and Who?

I went and saw the new Harry Potter movie on Wednesday.
That's right, opening day. I don't do it often, but I've been waiting for this one for a while now.

I must admit, I was a little disappointed by this one. Not all that much, but just a little. The movie was good, the acting was just as good as ever, and everything worked well. It was more a question of content. There were a bunch of things that I was really looking forward to that just never showed up. I know that they have to drop content for the movies, especially on this one since it was the longest book of the bunch, but geez. One of the main things that I had been looking forward to seeing was the Order itself, and they just weren't in it that much. So many of the great characters that make the first part of the book so good, Tonks, Moody, Lupin, Sirius, and the rest of the Order just weren't there much. Maybe ten minutes right at the start, but that's about it. Sirius shows up a little more then the rest, but again, just not that much. In fact, other than Harry, the characters you run into the most are Umbridge and Finch. I think Finch was in this more then the rest of the series
combined actually. I understand that Kreacher was going to be cut from the film entirely, but Rowling told the producers that he would be essential to the seventh film. One of the cuts that was made was Cho's friend who she brought to the DA meetings and who eventually ratted them out.

One of the things that really impressed me, and I don't know if it was supposed to or not, was just how haggard the actors looked. By this I really mean the people who were in the Order proper. Mr Weasley, Lupin, and even the twins, Fred and George, looked they had lost weight and a lot of sleep before stepping on cam. Most of them also had longer hair in the last movie, while this time many of them went for shorter, more in fashion looks.

So it's not really a question of whether or not it was good, it was. It was really good. It just didn't have a lot of the things that I thought made the fifth book the best. Oh well.

Sunny California

I thought I'd write a quick blog about the vacation I'm on right now. I flew out to California yesterday and will be spending the next 11 days out here. It's been great already - I flew into LA about 9:00 am local, got to my parent's house and spent the entire afternoon swimming and playing with my nieces. I even got a little sun burn - and it was just the first day!

AJ is manning the fort - of course, I'll be doing a lot of remote work, but AJ will still have a heck of a workload when I'm gone - so be nice to her!

I'll be posting regular blogs - Dan is about 12 blogs behind right now, in case you've been wondering why we've had so many blogs from Jon in a row. I expect you'll see a truckload of blogs from Dan over the next weeks as everything balances out.

In comic retailing news, Cold Cut Distribution got put on the market yesterday. This is a pretty big deal for a store like Star Clipper, which carries a large number of smaller-press books. We've actually been ordering less from Cold Cut for much of 2007 since they changed their discount structure and shipping terms, but we still order a fair amount from them. It would be nice if their warehouse were moved somewhere a little more centrally located in the United States. Right now they're in Salinas, CA, and shipping on our orders takes about 5 days. Compare that with next day shipping from distributors like Diamond or next day (free freight) from Baker and Taylor's warehouse in Chicago, and you can probably understand why we've been ordering less from them.

Anyway, St. Louis could also use a good comic distributor locally, right. I'm not predicting anything, I'm just saying...it would be nice.

-b

The Tick's 20th Anniversary

The Tick, a parody superhero best remembered for his short lived animated TV show in the mid 90's, is celebrating his 20th Anniversary. Originally created as a mascot for New England Comics, the company recently re-imagining the "Mighty Blue Justice" by having 30 different comic creators, including St. Louis' Matt Kindt, tell new stories for "The Tick's 20th Anniversary Special Edition" comic. Unfortunately, those sold out faster than we were expecting, but don't fret because this week sees the release of "The Tick's Comic Con Extravaganza."

More on the "Extravaganza" in a second. First let's do a little more refreshing on this one-of-a kind superhero. The Tick is known for fighting a rouge gallery that rivals both Batman and Spider-man, with villains such as Chairface Chippendale, The District Manager and The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight. In order to battle these meanies, the Tick enlisted sidekick Arthur, as well as The Caped Wonder and Man-Eating Cow, and all have survived some pretty wacky adventures.

Let's watch one such adventure as The Tick comes up with his catch phrase:



With this years San Diego Comic con coming up July 26 - 29, "Tick's Comic Con Extravaganza" should be the perfect comic to get you in the convention mind set.

Spooooon!

-Jon

I Killed Adolf Hitler

For those of you that are fans of Norway's minimalist comic artist Jason, you're in store for a welcome surprise with his new book "I Killed Adolf Hitler". Released at the end of the month through Fantagraphics, "I Killed Adolf Hitler" tells the story of a violent world where contract killers are as common as door-to-door salesmen. One such assassin is hired to do the bizarre job of going back in time and killing Adolf Hitler before he starts the holocaust. However, when the hit-man makes it back to 1939 he is overpowered by Hitler. After this confrontation, Hitler escapes to the present, leaving the killer stranded in the past.

Jason continues the story by simply telling the mundane events of the killer's wait, decade after decade, until he reaches the time he came from. Now an aged man, the Killer's only recourse is to team up with his much younger girlfriend to hunt down the escaped Nazi leader.

Oddly, this paradoxical time chase can only be told in Jason's unique simplistic style. Jason is the rare comic artist that can tell a story where long stretches of events have absolutely nothing happen, but the reader is still surprisingly entertained. Often his books have little to no dialogue, relying on his neo-clear-line artistry to tell the story. As a splendid plus, "I Killed Adolf Hitler" is Jason's third book in understated color. A true master of graphic storytelling, all comic fans should read at least one of the many books by Jason.

Thus, may I also suggest, "The Living and The Dead" Jason's rave up to Zombies, and "Meow Baby!" a collection of short humor pieces staring his anthropomorphic cast of oddballs.

-Jon

The Artist Within

There is no better way to appreciate comics as a visual medium than to recognize the artists who create them. In Greg Preston's new book "The Artist Within: Portraits of Cartoonists, Comic Book Artist, Animators, and Others" he does exactly that. His dramatic black and white photographs of such comic greats as Jack Kirby and Frank Miller, to underground sensations such as Craig Thompson and Adrian Tomine, give us a revealing look into the world of many of the greatest artist of the last century. Featuring 100 portraits, with an accompanying biography for each creator, "The Artist Within" is a essential lesson in understanding the comic book's past, present, and future.

Preston capture the majority of his subjects in their personal studio giving the reader a true since of the environment their favorite artists work in. Thus, unlike meeting these iconic artist at a comic convention or store signing, you meet them in a place that is truly their own. Preston's subsequent triumph is the personality he creates with his images of these comic visionaries. Will Eisner shows a mature charm. Family Circus creator Bil Keane has a persona of studiousness and focus. Robert Crumb is portrayed with the same mellon collie as the documentary of his namesake. Even controversial figures like Marvel current editor-and-chief Joe Quesada is examined with the honest eye of Preston's camera, showing Quesada strengths through his industriousness.

This is a perfect coffee table book for comic fans and casual readers alike.

-Jon

Simpson's Movie Almost Here

Ay, Caramba.... The Simpsons Movie is Almost Here.

One of the first blogs I ever wrote was about how unnecessary I felt it was that a Simpsons Movie was being made. You can refresh you're memory here.

Now that the movie is right around the corner, I'm going to maintain my opinion, asking "whats the point." If Fox was going to make a good Simpsons movie this should had happened ten years ago when the show was in it's prime.

Still, I have to admit that the trailer is pretty darn funny, and easily the most I've cared about the Simpsons for at least two seasons. What more, the movie's promotional website is awesome, mainly because you can create your own Simpsons avatar character. That's right, try to design yourself in the Simpsons style and then have your character hang out at Moe's Tavern with Homer and the rest of the barflys.

The big debate now is whether I'm going to go see the movie or not. My first thought is that I should stand behind my opinion that the Simpsons really needs to end. The show has already lost so much of it's original integrity and the sooner Matt Groening lets it finish the better. Yet, the cleaver marketing has me interested in the Simpsons again. So perhaps I should listen to Bart's rudimentary advice and you know not " have a cow."

-Jon

Hominid Mania

For the first time in over 3.2 million years, Lucy will get to see the United States. I know this is a little off topic for what we usually talk about 'round here, but if Ben can blog about a phone, then I can blog about a bunch of old bones. The Houston Museum of Natural Science is arranging the tour, though beyond their own they have not said which other cities will be visited. Officials from Ethiopia have commented on also including Washington D.C., New York, Denver, and Chicago. So no, no St. Louis date. We just ain't good enough I guess. At least Chicago is only about 4 hours away (though I made in just over 3 hours once). For those of you not in the know, Lucy is the skeleton of a Australopithecus afarensis, which lived in Africa roughly 3,200,000 years ago. The afarensis is the earliest known hominid, and Lucy is the most complete skeleton found to date.
Interesting side note, not everyone is happy about Lucy coming to the US. The Smithsonian has strongly objected on the grounds that the stress of a tour may damage the remains. Randall Kremer, National Natural History Museum spokesman had this to say; "This is one of the most important specimens relating to human origins in the world. We think it is too much of a risk to have it travel for the purposes of public viewing." Even in Ethiopia the remains are not on permanent display, they are housed in a locked vault while a replica is kept on display in the nation's capital, Addis Ababa.

-Dan

Happy Independence Day

Is there really a better way to celebrate the 4th of July than to set off official Captain America fireworks? Of course not! Unfortunately, we didn't get any of these patriotic flaming balls in stock, but even if we had, we're closed on the Holiday, so we couldn't sell them to you anyway. So, from all at Star Clipper, enjoy the 4th and have fun finding these fireworks. We open again on Thursday July 5 at 11 am, and we have all kinds of great stuff coming in. See ya then!

-Jon

THEY'RE ALL TURNING INTO ... SKRULLS!!!

Three months ago, when Marvel's most iconic superhero Captain America was assassinated, I wrote a blog about the potential ways they would bring him back. You can refresh your memory. So far, Marvel has kept their word and not brought Cap back from the dead, but two similarly eerie panels have both Dan and I wondering what is next for poor old Steve Rogers.

First, please look at exhibit one:



This panel, from Captain America #26, proves two major things. One, Captain America is really dead, and two, without the super solider serum Steve Roger would had been a squirmy wimp.

However, this panel has a startling new insight when you take a look at the end of New Avengers #31.

Next, please observe exhibit two:



Yes, when Elektra was stabbed by Echo, her body reverted back to the form of a Skrull! To quote Iron Fist from the end of the issue, "What does this mean?" Especially with regards to Caps recent death. New Avengers writer Brian Micheal Bendis had this to say about this "suspensions" turn of events:

"Captain America is dead, and, as we've shown, if you kill someone, when they plop to the ground they go back to Skrull form, So if Cap was a Skrull he would have Skrull-ed up."

For the rest of this in depth interview from Bendis click here. and for more on Cap's death click here.

There are an awful lot of clues leading me to believe caps death is bigger than we were originally lead to think though. In fact, it's way bigger than America. It's even bigger than this world! I know in my early Cap blog I joked that it was really U.S. Agent who died, but let's get serious here for a moment. Taking the revelation that Elektra was a secret Skrull infiltrator lets make an assumption that Skrulls have taken the place of many of the other key superheroes in the Marvel universe. We know from the Annihilation series that the Skrulls feel entitled to earth. We also know that Cap's body was taken by Iron Man, and has been relatively hidden from the public and other super-heroes. So, if you make one more assumption, that Cap and Iron Man are secretly Skrulls, we have a whole Skrull conspiracy on our hands. With the Initiative putting teams in every state, If Tony Stark actually is a Skrull, America is going to be one easy target.

The current issue of Wizard has a cover story on exactly this issue, so for the first time since I was twelve, I'm going to suggest you pick a copy up today.

Here's hoping Captain America is not reveled to be a Skrull!

-Jon

New Mutants? No, New Warriors.

I don't know if many of you are checking this book out, but if you're an X-Men fan, you probably should be. I didn't really know what to think of it myself, but the couple of characters that have shown up made me change my mind and got me to pick up the second issue. The writing is decent, and the artist, Paco Medina, is already pretty familiar with the characters from his run on New X-Men: Academy X. Characters from New X-Men: Academy X? That's right. I am throwing some spoilers as to the lineup here, but try not to hate. As many of you know, after M Day most mutants lost their powers. Well now somebody is out to change that. Not with alien crystals like they're using in X-Factor, but with technology. Among the few who have turned up so far are Sophia Mantega, a.k.a. Wind Dancer, Barnell Bohusk, a.k.a. Beak (yeah Beak!), and Jubilation Lee, better known as Jubilee. Nice, huh? So I don't know if the team will be filled of people who used to be mutants, or if we will some known heroes, or even some all new people. But I do like that they are not throwing these couple of characters away, but are actually using them in a new and unique way. Look for the second issue this coming Wednesday.

-Dan