Zombies Vs. Robots

To all you zombie fanatics, check out the stunning over-sized Zombies Vs. Robots hardcover from IDW. Created by the Eisner Award nominated team of hugely popular artist Ashley Wood and writer Chris Ryall, Zombies Vs. Robots answers the question that plagues all comic geeks: who would win in a fight between two trivially parties?As the story goes, in a world overrun by zombies the survival of the human race relies on a small team of robots that must protect a single cloned human baby. Yet, the one remaining edible human brain is driving the hordes of zombies wild as the attack the robots for a final meal.

Wood's distinctive sketch style serve the comic better than many of the other projects he is currently working on and is greatly appreciated in the oversized format. Plus, he draws some killer 30's style robots! The hardcover book also includes a cover gallery featuring all the variant covers.

The series will continue with Amazons Vs. Zombies Vs. Robots, so you can look forward to more tales of carnage from the creative team of Wood and Ryall in the future.

-Jon

Ennis and Branson, Pilots of the Future

So how much do you know about He of the wavy eyebrows, Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future? Probably not as much as you think you do. It seems every few years someone wants to reinvent the classic British space hero. There have been many iterations since the creation of the character, including early 80's video games, cgi-tv shows, and 2001 AD revamps. Even Grant Morrison reworked the character back in 1990 for the comics magazine Revolver.

But this November, Dan Dare is going around the track again. Virgin Comics has announced that this fall will see Dare return in a monthly comic written by Garth Ennis. Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Comics (and Virgin Galactic), is a big fan of the classic 50's space hero, saying "Dan Dare is an heroic, thoughtful and fiercely independent character; I was an avid reader of his epic journeys. It is a pleasure for Virgin Comics to be involved with such a legendary character - one of the original great aviators."

And apparently, comics are not all Sir Richard has sights set on. He also acquired the film, television, video game, and all publishing rights associated with Dan Dare. Not surprisingly, it is already being reported that Virgin is shopping the comic around to get a movie made. This comes on the heels of the news that Guy Ritchie will helm the movie of his own The Gamekeeper, also from Virgin Comics. Is this what VC second stage business plan is? Create and develop properties that can then be translated into other mediums such as film? I know they sold off Virgin Interactive a few years back, but it seems to me that Sir Richard is a pretty smart cookie. He owns a record company, and a chain of "mega-stores" to sell the records in. He owns an airplane company, and is developing the next type of airline even as we speak. Could it be that he has his sights set on a "Virgin Studios", or even another game company as well? Comics, movies, video games, all under one roof, metaphorically speaking, and all answering to the same head? Make the comic, if it does well, make the movie, then develop a game based on the movie. Which in turn spurns more comics, then more movies, and so on in perpetuity.

-Dan

Mouse Guard Winter 1152

Mouse Guard, the surprise indy hit of 2006, returns with it's second series Winter 1152. For this story arc, creator David Petersen explores the effect the brutal winter weather has on the lives of his noble mice. As the seasons change and the weather cools, the guard of Lockhaven realize they are severely short on supplies. Consequently, Queen Gwendolyn sends the guard on a treacherous journey to retrieve important elixir to save the life of injured guard-mouse Rand. The Guard, led by Celanawe (the famed Black Axe), travel the dangerous snow-covered paths between villages and come under attack by a hungry owl. Yet, equally as threatening to their quest is the bureaucracy they face as their diplomat barters with the governor of Sprucetuck for the supplies needed for Lockhaven.

Petersen's art is as gorgeous as his debut effort Fall 1152. Still, he strengthens Winter 1152 with more dialogue and story, the only criticism I had of the last series. It appears a third series is already in the works as well. Called Black Axe 1099 - 1116, the only information on the official Mouse Guard website about this series is cover art (pictured below) and what you know of the character from Fall 1152.


If you missed the first story, issue one of six of Winter 1152 is the perfect place to get enthralled in Petersen's mouse fantasy.

-Jon

Busting Marvel

Around my place this summer has been known as "The Summer of No TV". Not a lot to explain, we just haven't had cable since back in May, and no rabbit ears means no TV at all. The first couple of weeks were bad, but now I don't even care anymore. There are the few exceptions, I would like to be watching the new Dr. Who's, and the news would not be remiss once in a while. Of course the Mythbusters would chose now to do a special on Super-hero gadgets. Jerks.

I haven't been able to find out much about exactly which gadgets they will be doing, but this part comes directly from the episode synopsis "...the Marvel comic maestros are put under the MythBusters microscope". So Marvel gadgets, yes? There really aren't that many are there though? Cyclop's visor, Falcon's wings, the Iron Man armor (not much of a gadget though), T'Challa would have a bunch, but not any that are really known well. Spidey's web shooters would be cool, but which one to bust, the shooter, or the fluid? Lets hope for both.

Mythbusters airs daily on Discovery, but "Superhero Hour" airs Wednesday August 29th, at 8:00pm. You might want to check their website for repeats if you miss it.

Dan

Akira Club

Available for the first time in an English-language addition is Akira Club, the official companion to Otomo Katsuhiro's post apocalyptic science-fiction epic Akira. The book features rarely seen alternate art, preliminary drawings, production skethes and a variety of Akira posters, advertisements and products, accompanied by commentary by Katsuhiro. One particularly awesome feature is the pictures of the Akira pinball game, an artifact that belongs in Harukiya, the bar Kaneda and Tetsuo gang hang out at.

If you are either a manga or anime fan and have never read Akira or seen the ground-breaking film, do yourself a favor and pick up the Akira trades as well. In my opinion it is the only manga that is an absolutely necessary to read, and the film is still hands down the best anime feature film ever.

Also, while research this book a came across this unbelievable picture:



Apparently, Neo Fukuoka, a japanese motorcycle manufacturer made an exact replica of Kanada's motorcycle. To show you just how close this replica looks, here is one of the movie poster from Akira Club.



So get your mind melted for the first time or all over again and join the Akira Club!

-Jon

Eastside/Westside: Increase the Peace

Holla holla for the amazing posse of talent coming to the Lou from 2 to 6 PM Saturday, August 25 2007! Respect to the WESTSIDE:

JASON AARON, WRITER (Scalped, The Other Side)
KELLY SUE DECONNICK, WRITER (30 Days of Night: Eben & Stella)
MATT FRACTION, WRITER (Iron Fist, Casanova)
SETH PECK, WRITER (Sorrow)
STEVEN SANDERS, ARTIST (Five Fists of Science)

And representing Missouri's EASTSIDE will be Matt Kindt (PISTOLWHIP, 2 SISTERS), signing his new book SUPER SPY while his SUPER SECRET STUDIO is installed in our gallery! Matt will be giving away free sketches with every purchase!

Don't miss this opportunity to meet some of the freshest new influences in comics. Be there to INCREASE THE PEACE YO!! And don't forget your scrilla... fo' shizzle.

Editors note: Jeremy Haun and B. Clay Moore had to, unfortunately, cancel at the very last minute.

-Ben

What? You Still Haven't Read...

Here we are, back for the second part of the Best Books You Haven't Read. We used to do these all the time in the store, but we've been doing other things lately, and I thought I'd toss some up here. So buckle in, here we go.


(Alternate Cover)
Justice League Of America #11
written by Brad Meltzer
art by Gene Ha

This is a tale of desperation and hope, of humanity at it's finest, and it's weakest. It's what all comics could, and should be. Brad Meltzer and Gene Ha work their magic with unprecedented skill in a story starring two of the League's newest members, Red Arrow and Vixen. Trapped in a sinking building, Roy and Mari must work together, despite both being grievously hurt, to find an escape from their ready made tomb. Amidst all the chaos and gigantic story arcs that have been the DCU, this is a small and very personal story. Gene Ha has been one of the very best artist's in comics for over a decade, and it shows here. Each panel feels cramped and dark, even when it's a full page shot. Normally when a artist uses a repetitive shot, it can be boring, but in this case it just draws the moments out and doesn't let you forget for second how bad things are for our heroes. Brad Meltzer really understands these characters as well. He knows their history, their influences and their hopes, but more then that, he knows what drives them. This is the book that will win "Best Single Issue" at the 2008 Eisner's, count on it.



Batman #666
written by Grant Morrison
art by Andy Kubert

I hate to say it, but this comic is nothing like the previous one. It's sci-fi glib, cotton candy noir, and silver age homage all wrapped into one. Frankly, this is exactly the kind of story I would have expected to see back in the heyday of giant typewriters and super-animals. Not that it could ever have actually been made then, but if someone told me that Morrison stole this from Gardner Fox, well, I wouldn't be surprised. But no, this story could have only been told in the here and now, and only by such a talented team as Morrison and Kubert. Morrison's ideas have always been huge, and this small one shot, not even really a one shot, but a issue lifted straight out of the future, just proves the point. I'm reminded of when Image was just starting out and they put out the 25th issue of all their comics a year ahead of time. You come into the middle of what's obviously a larger story, and leave before it really gets to an end. Sure, this individual night ends, but you just know this case isn't finished yet. And sadly, you know it never will be.

Andy Kubert's vision of a future Batman, well, it's like nothing before it. Many times we see Batman's costume get sleeker, more high-tech, but Kubert gives this an almost Victorian feel, something I would have expected to see in Gotham by Gaslight or the like. But it works, it doesn't seem silly or out of place, it fits just as Barbara Gordon fits as the Comissioner. And the fact that they created so many new villains just for this one issue! Each one fits though, if this is the future Batman, then yes, this is what his Rouge's Gallery would be. The one thing that does really tie into the here-and-now is the two page origin of Batman (Damien Wayne) at the start. Do you need this comic? Maybe not. But it want's you.


Stay tuned for part three, where I'll be taking a look at a few lesser known titles such as The Programme, and Killing Pickman.

-Dan

Raisin Pie

Just released from Fantagraphics is the fifth issue of Raisin Pie, the joint comic by husband-and-wife team Rick Altergott and Ariel Bordeaux. This issue will be Ariel's last, as she goes into a brief retirement to raise their new son Eddie Altergott! Ariel will conclude her part in Raisin Pie with two stories "Maple Valley Public Library" and "Queen of the Geeks." Rick Altergott continues the saga of his hapless hero Doofus in part five of "Blessed Be" and will take over Raisin Pie entirely for issue six, which features the thrilling conclusion of his current Doofus epic .

Altergott's Doofus is one of the most disturbing comic book heroes since R. Crumb's Mr. Natural. Sporting a Dutch-boy haircut and slaving away at his predilection for women's underwear, Doofus is a creepy protagonist to say the least. His Raisin Pie adventure has him searching for his missing sidekick Henry Hotchkiss on a nude beach and getting intwined in a deadly plot involving a woman's missing boyfriend.

Also available from Fantagraphics is the Doofus Omnibus (pictured), collecting the pre-Raisin Pie adventures of the panty-huffing hillbilly.



Congratulation to Rick and Ariel for their new baby, and pick up the current Raisin Pie because they got a new mouth to feed on a indie comic salary.

-Jon

Good Comics for Bad People

Again, my disappointment knows no bounds. I was working on the new order for this month when I noticed several books that I think are just fantastic that are just not selling well. The only thing I can think is that you just aren't aware of how good some of these stories are. So I'm going to tell you.


Booster Gold #1
written by Geoff Johns & Jeff Katz
art by Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund

Now I know everyone loves to make fun of Booster. He is, after all, the DCU's resident punching bag. A bigger joke then even Guy Gardner used to be. But in 52 we saw BG grow up a bit, and realize there are bigger things at stake. At the start of his new series, this attitude seems to have rubbed off a little and he's back more like his old self. But not for long. After yet another encounter with Rip Hunter (the most underused character in the DCU) Booster sets off on a quest through not only the 52 universes, but all of time as well. Geoff Johns also does his customary last page preview, including a panel of Booster and all three Blue Beetles kicking the shit out of Max Lord. Apparently, that's Geoff's favorite page as well. Elsewhere on Newsarama , Booster even gave his own interview about the new series.


Hellblazer
written by Andy Diggle
art by Leonardo Manco

When Mike Carey took over Hellblaze a few years back, I was pretty excited. Carey took Constantine back to his roots, story roots leastways. He took stories that had lain fallow for years and brought them back around, answering many lingering questions, and putting not a few demons to rest. What Andy Diggle's doing is different. He's taking the CHARACTER back to his roots. Gone are the shabby clothes, unkempt appearance and like. It's all about being a well dressed Bastard. Well not all about, but you get the idea. In the newest issue, Constantine walks right into the middle of a crime scene, chews out the lead detective, assumes control, rummages about, and then scoots before anyone's the wiser. All balls and bravado. Fantastic. It's the way you've never seen Constantine, but the way you always imagined him. And by the way, there's not a better Hellblazer artist then Manco.


Ok, that's it for now, but just for now. Look for more reviews, including Batman #666.

-Dan

Matt Kindt Show

Ever wonder what an artist's creative process is like? Matt Kindt (PISTOLWHIP, 2 SISTERS) will transform the Star Clipper gallery into a replica of his SUPER SECRET STUDIO using actual artifacts such as his drafting table, drawing instruments and references. See his work in progress, displayed in sequence and meticulously annotated from concept to script to pencils to publication.

Matt will also be signing copies of his highly anticipated new release from Top Shelf, SUPER SPY, on Saturday, August 25 from 2 to 6 PM! His show runs August 18 to September 1.



-AJ

Casper the Friendly Ghost collection released through Dark Horse

It's a g-g-g-Ghost!"

For over sixty years now, this alarming catch phrase has been synonyms with misunderstood Casper the Friendly Ghost. Known primarily as the protagonist for the largely popular paramount movie and cartoons, Casper was also a successful children's comic published throughout the 50s and 60s by Harvey Comics. Dark Horse recently released the first of a series of Harvey Comics Classic collections, with volume one featuring over 100 "Casper The Friendly Ghost" comics from 1949-1966. Casper was drawn by a variety of the paramount cartoon animators, giving the comics a crisp motion that stands out from its contemporaries. The collection is reprinted in beautiful black and white directly from the Harvey archives, with sixty four pages reproduced in restored color.

Casper follows a familiar formula; as the young ghost seeks companionship, he ironically scares away potential friends because of his haunting form, leaving him lonely and longing for a different existence. However, due to his friendly nature and good intentions, Casper inevitably wins the friendship of those he initially scares.

To illustrate a typical Casper plot, here is one of the more famous Casper cartoons "There's Good Boos To-Night":



The Casper collection also features stories by other Casper regulars including Spooky, Wendy, Nightmare and troublesome Ghostly Trio. The introduction is written by Jerry Beck and contains early sketch illustrations and historical memorabilia. It is a perfect collection for adults and kids alike.

-Jon

TED MAY'S INJURY from Buenaventura Press

Rich with badassness, sumptuous with irony and 100% sucka-free, TED MAY'S INJURY #1 unfolds into a new dimension of funnybook laughs. INJURY sees the return of Manleau, May's signature fighting cyborg, as he battles the Fighting Cock in "Your Bleeding Face" while in "The Perils of Heracles" the titular hero has been cloned-- twice-- but since he hates himself, epic self-abuse must follow! Ted knows what the people want: a chicken in every pot and blood on every face. BA-BAM!!!

And in a special hometown treat, Jeff Wilson recants the tale of his first encounter with "Panama Red," illustrated by Ted. Obviously this one strikes a deep chord with the townies, specifically those of us who grew up in South County. I hope to see more of this please (I enjoyed my K-SHE classic rock more on the mellow side but otherwise it was delightfully nostalgic, cheers).

INJURY hits shelves September 2007 and I expect everyone in St. Louis to buy a copy. Certainly everyone in SoCo. $4.95 and worth every penny.

-AJ

Spider Boom

Uglydoll co-creator Sun-Min Kim just released her first solo toy project Spider Boom. This lovable plush is the spider of all spiders. But don't let her near cake, because spider boom will eat it whole and become pregnant. That's right, feed Spider Boom a piece of cherry cake and bam, you have a baby Cherry Boom. Or, If she gets ahold of a piece of chocolate pie, all the sudden you have a Choco-Boom baby on your hands. These hungry cuties might just eat you out of house and home.

Spider Boom is available in 3 different plush sizes and is also released in vinyl form, complete with a collectable Qee also designed by Sun-Min Kim.

Bakeries beware!

-Jon

Under the Sun

The guys behind "28 Days Later", director Danny Boyle, and writer, Alex Garland bring us another psychological thriller this summer with "Sunshine". First off, I want to point out that I have no idea why there is such a limited release on this thing. "Sunshine" is what I would consider a big budget sci-fi thriller. It's not that I have anything against the Hi-Pointe, I really like the place actually. But I guess since this technically is a "foreign" film, the bigger theatres aren't going to touch it.

"Sunshine" follows the voyage of the multi-national crew of the Icarus II on their mission to re-ignite the dying sun. The sun has impacted a Q-ball and it's eating all of the suns hydrogen. The previous mission, aboard the Icarus failed and never dropped their payload, a massive dark matter bomb, into the sun. No one knows what happened to them, they were never heard from again. The mission is supposed multi-national and you can tell just by the name of the ship. NASA and the American government would never name a ship after a failed ship, itself named after another failure. That's just bad luck. Unfortunately, I guess it really was bad luck for them. Following the same course that the Icarus took seven years earlier, the movie starts while they are in-between the orbits of Venus and Mercury. And since they are following the same course, what do you think they find? Yeah, the Icarus. So now the question, do continue with the mission, or do stop and try to find out what happened? I'll say this much, when you find yourselves in situations like this, "Do we keep going, or do we stop and get out?" KEEP GOING! How many movies do you have to see to know you don't stop the car, you don't go in the alien spaceship on the weird planet, and you most certainly, never, ever, EVER, GET OFF THE BOAT!

But forget the horror flick aspect, that's really just secondary. Really everything in this movie is secondary to the Sun. It's very impressive, even if it is dying. The special effects through out are just spectacular really. As I sad, I was really surprised, especially afterwards, that a movie with so many large scale special effects, usually something more aimed at the masses, was in such limited release. Most people who would go to the Hi-Pointe usually would be looking for something more artistic then this was, story-wise at least. And most of the people who normally might go see exactly this type of movie may be put off by idea that it's showing at a typically art house theater just because its "fur-ign".

Oh, and I guess it is technically sci-fi, but it's about as close to scientific fiction as you're going to find in the movies these days.

-Dan

The Return of Captain America???

Heads up. When I originally wrote this blog little was known about this Captain America comic, but news travels fast nowadays and information about this maxi-series has already been updated at newsarama. Here is the original blog -


It lasted a little over six months but it looks like Captain America is returning in some form or another, with artist extraordinaire Alex Ross responsible for the project. Working for Marvel again for the first time since the Earth X trilogy, Ross will be reunited with writer Jim Kruegar to create this yet untitled Cap series. As reported by newsarama from Wizard World Chicago, Ross will be a designer, co-writer and the artist for all the covers of this series. Unfortunately, details on whether or not this is the Steve Rogers Captain America or someone new is still undetermined. Honestly, I think it could go either way, but Ross' focus on iconography leads me to believe that the image of Captain America is more important than who is behind the suit. Ross explains:

"The very nature of doing any story related to Captain America is about iconography. His very power as a character has less to do with his being a part of a super-solder program, and more with him having an effect upon a world of super-humans he is far weaker and more human than. Cap is a living symbol - more than Superman, more than Batman, he is all symbol. When Cap walks into a room, he has an effect upon everyone one in it. That's what's at the core of his power."

Ross speculates that the word "return" in the above picture can mean just as much about his personal return to marvel, as it has to do with Captain America, and this project has been in the works for over two years so Cap's death is just an interesting coincidence.

In other Cap news, Ed Brubaker's amazing run on Captain America is being collected into a new omnibus hard cover collection for release in September. Encompassing issues 1-25, the omnibus includes the Winter Solider story-line and the now infamous "Death of Captain America" issue. The cover is pictured below:



With the impending return of America's greatest war hero, Hulk better start watching his back!

-Jon

The Astonishing Ellis

Yeah, ok, you get it, I like Warren Ellis. I don't have to beat you over the head with it anymore. I'm sure most people are thinking that I am really psyched about Ellis taking over Astonishing next year, but to honest, not so much so.

Ellis has always been one of those people that, at least on commercial comics, you bring in when something is broken. Marvel did it back in the 90's with most of the X-line, just not the big titles. The smaller offshoots like X-Man and the then soon to be defunct X-Force. And his commercial comics can come off pretty similar when you get right down to it. Which is not to say that they're carbon copies of each other, it just that he has common themes that he likes to talk about, and that influences the style of the stories he tells.

So will this be techno-future X-Men, or fight-comic X-Men? Newuniversal or Nextwave? What I found to be really interesting was the different viewpoints of the people involved so far. Alex Alonso, X Group Editor over at Marvel, has one view, bringing in another superstar creative team to one of the hottest properties Marvel has right now. Ellis, on the other hand, seems to be looking at it more from a "what can I learn here" perspective, with a healthy side dish of pre-conception bashing. And as far as Bianchi goes, I get a vibe of "I'm just happy to be here, everyone is just fabulous, please don't break my fingers." His art is just beautiful though. I can't even think of anyone to compare it to, maybe a bit of Greg Land, but that's all that comes to mind right now.

Hope you enjoy the interviews. Hope it sheds a little light on how the different creators are approaching this project. Best of luck to them, while I still wish Whedon and Cassaday were staying, I can't think of a better team to pick up the book.

-Dan

Inkstuds

If you are a fan of independent comics and are looking for a good news source to keep you updated on the world of underground creators, I suggest listening to the Inkstuds radio show. Inkstuds is a weekly internet show hosted by Robin McConell, featuring new interviews ever Thursday from 2:00-3:00 p.m. The interviewees consist of indy comic creators common to such publishers as Fantagraphics, Top Shelf, and Drawn & Quarterly, which includes the likes of Tony Millionaire, Jeffrey Brown and Dan Zettwoch. The most recent interview was with one of the godfathers of American underground comics Kim Deitch, creator of Waldo the Cat, pictured below:



Other popular alumni of Inkstuds included Warren Ellis, Tim Sale, and Ivan Brunetti. What more, the whole crew of our upcoming Fantagraphics' "Buddies" show on September 8, featuring Peter Bagge, Johnny Ryan and Jim Blanchard, have all had hilarious interviews. Of the three, I recommend the Blanchard interview (pictured below), his unabashed humor and wit makes for an amazingly entertaining conversation.



Here is another helpful link for Inkstud archives.

-Jon

Picture Time

I must admit, one of my favorite parts of Comic-Con, excluding the panels, are some of the pictures that come out of there. While a lot of people haven't got all of theirs up yet, I have managed to pull together a few that I thought were worthy of viewing. Hope you enjoy!

Matt Wagner figures! Awesome!



But not as awesome as the Kirby figures! That's two more figures closer to finishing my Morrison JLA collection (Orion and Mr. Miracle).



You might have seen it before, but I bet it didn't look this good.



Uhm, I hate to nitpick, but isn't her hair the wrong color? You would think someone would have caught that. But you know, otherwise, yowza!



That is just Strange. And creepy.



Geoff Johns just realized he was playing the worlds most dangerous game. If you don't know, don't ask.



I honestly did not know my beard and Warren's were cousins.



The Cylons apparently are coming to Earth. Looks like they lost their luggage at the airport though.



The main reason you will never see me at Comic-Con. Dude, put on some pants!



And the main reason to go to Comic-Con. Did I say yowza before? Hotcha-momma!



This one's all for you Ben!



I've thought of doing this with the giant ones we have in the front window. Gets my vote for "Best in Show"!



There you go, some of the more interesting pics out of this year's Comic-Con.

-Dan

Pangaea

Arriving this week to Star Clipper is Pangaea, created by my good buddy and former roommate Kevin Wolf. From 2005 thru 2007, Pangaea was painstakingly hand-drawn, written and self-published by Kevin in manic bouts of inspiration and lunacy. Trust me, I was there. Telling the story of three anthropomorphic protagonists Zephyer Amazon, a monkey, Kyle the dinosaur and Henry Koala, Pangaea draws upon Kevin's own twisted imagination, personal experiences, and drunken debauchery, and makes for a charming yet delirious read. Influenced primarily by Bill Watterson's Calvin & Hobbes, Pangaea shows a broad range of references from Chris Onstad's Achewood, Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County and Johnny Ryan's Angry Youth Comics, with hints of Get Fuzzy, Pearls Before Swine, and Peanuts.

Here are two examples of Pangaea:



Here are a few facts about Kevin and Pangaea that will help you enjoy his comic more:

1. The characters Kyle and Henry are named after Kevin's cats or vice versa. Kyle often spilled left out glasses of water or wine on notebooks full of Pangaea.

2. Kevin has an unhealthy fixation with McDonald's Grimace. He thinks Grimace gives him power! One of our old house paintings had multiple Zephyer the Monkey torturing Grimace's insides.

3. Kevin is also obsessed with Transformers. Inevitably, I think he will make all his character transform into cars or household appliances for no apparent reason.

4. Kevin once owned over 100 regular nintendo games. He boast that he can beat any side-scroller.

5. Kevin really wants you to buy his comic. They are on consignment at Star Clipper for a reasonable $8.00 for over 80 pages.

I give Pangaea 9 Clippies out of 10 because he didn't use my suggestion and name the book "Bazooka Barf", something Kevin is known for doing.

-Jon

Willingham's Penal Colony

As anyone who's been reading comics for more then five minutes knows, super-villain prisons are an oxymoron. I must give credit to Marvel for coming up with the idea first though. If these guys keep escaping every time they're thrown up the river, what the hell is the point? Hence the 42, a prison in the Negative Zone. Now I guess they got to ignore the whole part about the Negative Zone already being the home to some pretty nasty individuals by having them all invade the Marvel U. in Annihilation Wave. Once the villains are there, where do they really have to break out to? I mean, who really wants to rule the Negative Zone? Even the guy who did thought it was crappy compared to the regular universe.

But DC is taking a bit of a different tact with the same basic idea. Sure, prisons (and Asylum's) in DC come with as much of a revolving door as they do in the Marvel U. How many times Joker broken out of Arkham? At least once for every time he's popped up in the DCU. And if you know how many times that is, well, I can't do 'nothing for ya man, Flava Flav's got problems of his own.

So let's get rid of them. Toss them somewhere where they'll never bother us again. Much like the JLA did with the General back in the day. Strand them somewhere with no hope of return. A penal colony. A penal planet. At least that's Bill Willingham's idea.

Salvation Run will be a seven issue miniseries launching in November. The basic idea is that the powers-that-be are tired of all the crap. Get them out of here. You want to rule the planet? Fine, here's a planet all of your own. Have fun. Don't come back. And we're talking the big guns of the DCU villain community too. Joker. The Rouges. Lex Luthor. And not to worry, there will D-listers aplenty too. But these three seem to at the core of it all. Joker needs to terrorize people. But people live in cities. And there are no cities here. What else to do but build one? Lex Luthor wants off. He doesn't want to rule a planet. He wants to kill Superman and have humanity recognize his genius. And that's not going to happen in a penal colony in deep space. Others see the potential in a world with heroes. Why go back and get beaten to a bloody pulp time after time, when there's no one HERE to stop us? Take the opportunity for what it is, and someday you might have your picture on the equivalent of a Twenty dollar bill.

Like I said previously, this is the book that I'm looking forward to the most this fall. It just sounds like it has so much potential. Shame that it's only limited series. Check out an interview with series writer Willingham over at Newsarama.

Dan

It Came From Outer Space

My brother Mark found this the other day while out surfing the news, and I just had to share it with all the other geeks out there. About a week ago a meteor came down over Croatia, and may or may not have been captured on film. I say may or may not, because, a) I can't understand a thing the guys on the news are saying, b) there has been absolutely zip reported about it over here, and c) while searching for more news on the event I found one person who did understand what the news was saying, and said it was stock footage. Eh.

Eyewitness reports say that it (the meteor) sounded like fighter jets directly overhead, while several other reports say that it may have broken up before impact. Which is supported by the fact that so far scientists have not found a new crater. Oh well, all in all, it still looks cool as hell. Very much what i would imagine an incoming ICBM to look like. Me and my doomsday fetish, ya' know?

Dan

DIY Deck Show

The Drive Agency Gallery is hosting the DIY Deck Show from August 3 to September 21. Featuring over 160 skateboard decks all designed by independent artist, including locals Peat Wollaeger and Matthew Maddox, the show reemphasizes how Skateboarding is perhaps the only sport about self-expression and artistry, from the design on the deck to the way the skater rides it.

Like the Star Clipper St. Louis Munny Show, the DIY Deck Show allows local artists to take a standard replicated object and transform it into something entirely their own. So even though this dose not have anything to do with comics or even a Star Clipper event, as the purveyors of cool in St. Louis I thought we would help spread the word. Our expansive art book section has plenty of collection that features Skate Deck style artwork, so if you're looking for some inspiration we've also got it covered.

The Drive Agency Gallery is opened Monday through Saturday and is located at 1617 Locust Street in St. Louis, MO.

-Jon

Less is More

If you weren't following the comic news this weekend, lot's of stuff was announced at the San Diego Comic-Con. Over the course of next week or two I'm going to be offering some comments on some of the bigger things, and highlighting some of the small stuff people may have missed.

Chief amongst these, are the plans for Spider-Man over at Marvel. I had never been a Spider-Man fan until JMS started writing Amazing Spider-Man, but afterwards I found myself really getting into the character. Even being really happy that they brought him onto the New Avengers and picking up Ultimate Spider-Man religiously. I never really got into the others, Sensational Spider-Man, or even Peter David's book, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. I did read Marvel Knights Spider-Man, which morphed into Sensational, but I stopped when Mark Millar left.

Now Marvel has announced that after this fall's big event, One More Day, they are canceling all Spidey titles but Amazing. Amazing will start to ship three times a month, and will have four, yes FOUR, different creative teams on it. All at the same time too. I am not sure how this is going to work exactly, but here is what I kind of envision, oh, and this is not the order in which they are coming out, this is just me tossing the creative teams into a random order.

Month One

1 - Zeb Wells & Chris Bachalo
2 - Bob Gale & Phil Jimenez
3 - Dan Slott & Steve McNiven

Month Two

4 - Marc Guggenheim & Salvador Larroca
5 - Zeb Wells & Chris Bachalo
6 - Bob Gale & Phil Jimenez

Month Three

7 - Dan Slott & Steve McNiven
8 - Marc Guggenheim & Salvador Larroca
9 - Zeb Wells & Chris Bachalo

Month Four

10 - Bob Gale & Phil Jimenez
11 - Dan Slott & Steve McNiven
12 - Marc Guggenheim & Salvador Larroca

Make sense? Yeah, I know, not really. Basically each team is responsible for three issues every four months. Not bad actually, they should have plenty of time to finish issues. Of course, if I understand this right, they will all be writing their own story arcs. So if you like Dan Slott & Steve McNiven, but not the other teams, you will have to get every fourth issue. This is what new Spider-Man editor Steve Wacker had to say "The new creators have laid out about a year's worth of story arcs for Peter Parker and the cast. Over that, they're coming up with stories that will move the uber-plot along, so that each story has the same writing and art team and no one is left writing Part 3 of some else's story." I will also point out, this was all decided before Wacker left DC, or so they say.

Of course this makes it hard for you guys too. Unfortunately we can't just put you down for all the Slott issues, but none of the rest. It's an all or nothing type of thing. You could however, order the issues you want individually. I know this is not the preferred method, but it's pretty much the only way unless you want all four teams.

At least, this is how I think it's going to work, it's pretty confusing. And I could be completely wrong, they could be working it out where Slott and McNiven do three or four issues, then Gale and Jimenez do an arc, and so on. But why not just announce Slott and McNiven, and then the next, and then the ones after them. I guess we'll see soon.

-Dan

DC at SDCC

So we return to San Diego today after a brief hiatus. DC announced a few new projects, Dan Didio got a new shirt, and fans got their questions answered by the truckload. Well, they got to ask their questions, whether or not they actually got answered is another matter entirely. Here are a few of the things that I found most interesting, along with, of course, some comments

First, Grant F-ing Morrison is writing Final Crisis. What more can you say? Morrison had this to say though "Anthro the First Boy will be on the first page and Kamandi the Last Boy will be on the last page". Ok. I have no idea who Anthro is, but whatever.

I hope to see the "Dan Didio must die!" spoof t-shirt being offered any day now. I must have one. Down at the store we came up with a corresponding Marvel t-shirt as well. A manic Skrull sitting behind a desk labeled E.I.C., with "Joe Quesada is a Skrull".

Marketing came up with "Heroes Die, Legends Live Forever", so ask them, not Grant Morrison.

Geoff Johns will write "Alpha Lantern(s)" after Sinestro Corps.

Contrary to previous reports, Dwayne McDuffie said while no one will be leaving Justice League of America, there will be some additions. Good. I actually find myself liking this new team, and #11 has my vote for best single issue come next years Eisners.

Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheo will be doing more Arrowsmith. About damn time.

There are at least three Legion of Super-Heroes. I really hope they do more with the post-Zero Hour group, who are still my favorite.

Grant Morrison will be writing more DC One Million. Good thing I brought a change of pants, these are ruined.

Jamie Delano and JOCK will be making a Hellblazer OGN named Pandemonium. So who sold their soul to devil to get this made? Cause seriously dude, if you need anything just let me know, I'm here for you.

Didio has run out of JLI characters to kill so he's moved on to Young Justice. But he's taking suggestions for the next team to kill. Geoff Johns suggested the X-Men.

More on this in later blog, but Bill Willingham will be writing a little book called Salvation Run. Being the one that I'm looking forward to the most, expect to hear me talking about it for the next six months.

Dan

He Just Can't Help It

Remember when I talked about Stan "The Man" Lee last time? It gets even better. Apparently Marvel is putting out a Marvel Legends Stan Lee Action Figure. While the costume they are using is the outfit he's wearing on Stan Lee Meets Spider-Man, I really wish they had used the picture I found of Stan from the mid-70's. During which period I believe he started to dress as his characters, or at least, as Dr Strange. It's either that or Ditko just patterned the good Doctor's look on Lee. Maybe that will be a chase variant!

-Dan

World War Hulk Printing Error

Due to a printing error, all copies of the regular version of World War Hulk #3 have loose, or separated pages. This is not an isolated event with some copies, but a problem with the entire print run. Marvel is aware of the problem and is printing more, but these may not arrive in stores for at least two weeks.

Anyone who buys a damaged copy of World War Hulk #3 will be eligible to exchange it for a new copy when corrected versions arrive. Simply bring your receipt and the damaged comic into the store and we will take care of you. As said, we do not know precisely when these will arrive, but will keep you informed.

Thank you.

-Dan

Stardust

So you guys remember me telling you how much I liked Stardust, yes? If not, check out my review, or Ben's review if you don't trust me.

Anywho, Stardust releases next week on the 10th, and boy can I not wait to see it again. I actually wanted to see it again as soon as we walked out of the theater, but being a sneak peak, they really won't let you do that. : (

But, guess what? That's right, this Thursday at 4pm we will be giving out passes to another sneak preview showing next week. I don't exactly which day it is yet, Wednesday I believe, but you can bet you'll see me there. We will also be doing a drawing for a free copy of the new Stardust HC graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess. There will posters and other free schwag as well, and I have a special offer to all of our loyal blog readers.

Come in anytime next weekend, Aug 10th to Aug 12th, bring your Stardust ticket stub with you, and get 15% off the Stardust HC. Limit one book per ticket, not combinable with any other offers.

So there you go, hope to see you all this Thursday!

-Dan