________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- " C O M I C B O O K E - M A G " Issue 17 - Jul 10, 1995 "Brought to you by the fine folks at the COMIC BOOK Network!" Editors: Ed Dukeshire Network Administration: Mike Imboden Mike Imboden Ed Dukeshire David Leblanc Bobb Waller Special Thanks: Ryan Brewster Anthony Palacio Walter Tietjen Chris Oarr David Leblanc William Hughes Nathan Bredfeldt Jeff Watts John Keady Jim Murdoch ________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -1- The Bullpen ........................... David Leblanc -2- The 25th Hour ......................... Mike Imboden -3- Splash Page ........................... Annoucements -4- CSNsider .............................. W. Batty & C. Biggers -5- Suspended Animation ................... Michael Vance -6- Recent Reads/Random Thoughts .......... William Hughes -7- Komic Komments ........................ John Keady -8- Some Stuff ............................ Nathan Bredfeldt -9- Comicunications ....................... Ryan Brewster -10- Feedback .............................. Mail -11- BBSes Linked into CBN ................. Net Admin Team ________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -1- The Bullpen by David Leblanc AUCTION REPORT A while back I told everyone about Joey Johnson and his fight to beat a killer disease. Joey Johnson is an eight year old child with Adrenal Leukodystrophy, a fatal disease. Joey Lost his sight and most of his hearing before he was two years old. Joey's life has been extended through the use of experimental medicine among them an oil similar to Lorenzo's Oil. Joey is the first child in the United States to receive a new oil, DHA under the supervision of Johns Hopkins and the National Institute of Health. Joey's Health is improving under this treatment. This disease is extremely rare so almost all funds for developing treatments and a cure have been raised by the parents of these children through the United Leukodystrophy Foundation. On July 1, in a lake side park in Worcester, Massachusetts another fund raiser was held and one of the main events was an auction of Comics, comic art, and pogs. The appeal for material to auction was put out to the various computer network comic conferences by myself, and to the comic publishers by the folks at That's Entertainment, the store running the auction for the Johnson's. The response was tremendous. While the weather forced the auction to be suspended part way through all product will eventually be sold and 100% of the proceeds will be used to fight leukodystrophy. Here is a list of the items we received and the companies and friends who gave so that others might live a little longer: KITCHEN SINK The Crow - trade paperback signed by O'Barr DARK HORSE Star Wars: Dark Empire - GOLD editions #2, 3, 5, 6 Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - GOLD edition #3 Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridors - #1 signed by Ellison ARCHIE Showcase Packs (3) - assortment of comics and digests TEKNO Mike Danger poster by Frank Miller Gene Roddenbury's Lost Universe - Special Edition # 1, 2, 3 signed IMAGE Spawn #12 - signed by Todd McFarlane WildC.A.T.s #1 GOLD signed by Jim Lee Gen 13 - Vol.2 #1 signed by J. Scott Campbell DC Superman #75 - PLATINUM EDITION signed by Mike Carlin Batman: Dark Joker (hard cover) Justice League of America Archives #1 - Ltd edition (#31 of 250) signed by Schwartz and Anderson ACCLAIM Solar #46 - signed by Dan Jurgens Bloodshot #30 - signed Bloodshot #32 - signed X-O #46 - signed Eternal Warrior #36 - signed Turok #1 GOLD Bloodshot #0 GOLD X-O #0 GOLD Ninjack #1 GOLD Psi-Lords #1 GOLD Original color art: Harada #0 page #8 Master Darque sketch Valiant characters Christmas group SPECIAL INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS: Mark Badger His original finished inks of 2 pages of BATMAN:Run Riddler Run, and 2 of the painted pages used to print the comics. Autographed posters of Batman:Jazz. Contributions from the personal collections of members of The Comic Book Network: Mike Imboden, Chris Oarr, and Ryan Brewster: 6 Marvel Hologram cards from the 1st and 2nd series X-Files #1 Secret Wars #8 (1st Black Spiderman costume) Magnus Robot Fighter #12 (1st Turok) New Mutants #1 Daredevil #181 & 190 (Frank Miller) FF #238-241 244-245 (John Byrne) Dooms IV #1/2 (Wizard edition) Rune #0 (coupon send-away) Infinity Gauntlet #1 signed by Perez WildC.A.T.s #0 ashcan Neil Gaiman's Technophage #1 - STEEL Edition Tyrant - ashcan preview Many thanks from the kids who will benefit from the generous contributions, the Johnsons, Paul Howley of That's Entertainment, and yours truly. To make a donation or for more information, call Joe or Joanne Johnson at (508) 831-0158. ....----====*David LeBlanc> ComicBkNet@AOL.COM david.leblanc@linkbbs2.iii.net RIME->5179 FIDO 1:322/743.1 ________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -2- The 25th Hour by Mike Imboden I decided to share a review with everyone that I posted over on CBN's Small Press echo. You'll get another one of these next week. Be forewarned - I don't really like reviewing stuff... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't normally review stuff unless something really catches my eye and makes an impression on me after reading it. Other folks out there tell you what NOT to buy and that's fine - it's an invaluable service. But I'd rather save it all up for the books I enjoyed and try to convince you to try it as well, making everyone happy. This is one of those times. So curl up by the fireside, (in the middle of July? To each their own, man), and get ready for a review of one of the best comics I've read in awhile.... ************************************************************* I first saw this stuff at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD this past June 23rd. I looked in my flier for last year's show and saw that the creator was there was well. How the heck I missed this last year is beyond me. What and who am I talking about? Creator Stephen Conley and his book "AVANT GUARD". The first thing you'll notice about AVANT GUARD is the nice, crisp clear covers on the books. Done in full color they are very slick and professional looking - with enough "movement" to let you know something's happening but not so much that you can't tell the backgound from the foreground as I've seen on some self-published work. Did I mention Conley self-publishes AVANT GUARD, (under the Day 1 Comics banner)? I probably should as first glance might make you think it's from one of the "big guys". This is that nice looking a book. Ahh, I hear you saying that a lot of small press stuff has a pretty, flashy cover with interior artwork that looks like it was culled from third grade art class. Worry not, Stephen does an excellent job on the interiors as well. Illustrated completely on a Mac using Aldus Freehand and Adobe Photoshop, Conley's style is heavily influenced by Steranko and his dialogue has a bite and wit to it that it rare in today's comics. Not that it's slapstick mind you, but it has a nice "realistic" sense of humor to it. The dialogue between Trespass and a female buyer of a piece of the stolen equipment is price- less. From her telling him he looks like Kramer (from Seinfeld), which he does , to this gem; Trespass; "...care to continue it over some dinner?" Female: "Normally I'd say yes. But normally it's not YOU asking." So what's it about you ask? Well, it's about this group of four men hired by The Avant Corporation to test four proto- type weapons, (which by the way, Conley details nicely in little one page back up features in the first couple of issues). The men are all code-named after their respective weapon; Feedback wears a "hyperbioelectric vest" that transforms him into a living taser. He can drain other power sources and is virtually immune to other forms of electrified objects. Think Tank wears a "Psiber-Helmet" that allows him to read minds, relay messages among team members and allows him to "scream" thoughts at his opponents, shocking them. And that's just a start. Citadel, the team's leader, carries a shield (an homage to Steranko maybe?), that can do just about everything from deflect bullets to bending the light around it's user making him invisible. and Stonehenge who wears a "macrodensity belt" and bracers that allow him to increase his own mass up to 5000% enabling him to lift a whole heckuva lot of stuff. They also serve as a form of protection by hardening the body and increasing the body's metabolism, increasing the speed at which wounds heal. The story starts with the infiltration of The Avant Corp by a master thief named Trespass who, aided by a computer hacker called Lord Veltane, steals four different prototype equipment. When Trespass defeats Avant's defenses they call upon the untested AVANT GUARD to Trespass. Trespass almost easily defeats the team who aren't used to acting as such, and goes off to sell his wares to three different buyers. The team then confronts Lord Veltane as Think Tank enters a VR world to do battle and trigger a logic bomb that will lead Avant to the hacker. This issue, (#2) is chock full of computer and Internet references (Internet? Bah. CBN.. ) that are all dead on and accurate which make it quite enjoyable. The third issue has the Guard running a controlled test, while The Avant Corp waits for homing beacons in the stolen equipment to activate so they can track them down, to explore their weapons a bit when the test suddenly becomes a mite uncontrolled and one of the team suffers what looks to be a pretty serious injury. I can't stress how entertaining this title is. The cover of the first issue claims "Remember why you started reading comics in the first place..." and Conley delivers in spades. AVANT GUARD is _the_ comic for fans who miss old fashioned super hero comics. Apparently since no one else was making them anymore, Conley has decided to do it himself. And with Conley's use of the computer for the artwork the book lives up to it's name. AVANT GUARD is published four times a year by Day One Comics with a cover price of $2.50 and is available through Diamond and Capital City distributors so there's no reason why your comic shop shouldn't have a copy. You can reach Stephen at; Day One Comics, 1021 Arlington Blvd., Suite 912, Arlington, VA 22209 or on the Internet at SConley@aol.com. M!ke (who can be reached the same way he lists each week - at comicbknet@aol.com, or netmail to 1:109/748 or 23:403/0 (for CBN) or directly at The Daily Planet BBS 301-831-8057) ________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -3- Splash Page We got a reply for "more information" at the PO BOX the other day and a CBN kit was mailed out. The request came on a nifty little postcard advertising a comic which is being solicted this month. Here's the lowdown. "Joe Chiappetta and John Porcellino are now publishing SILLY DADDY and KING CAT together in a full comic size, flipbook format. The 34 page, b&w SILLY DADDY/KING CAT Flip #1 retails for $2.75, is offset printed with glossy cover, and is available now! (Dave Sim, Julie Doucet, Dan Clowes, Jim Woodring and the Comics Journal have been chalking up praise for Silly Daddy/King Cat.) Yeah. Stand back Don Juan! Silly Daddy is on the prowl. But is it love, or lust? "Half Baked Barroom Romance" has these answers & more; candid tavern guytalk, reactions to Pulp Fiction, & even a wild sex filled roadtrip through the apocalyptic future! And on the flipside, King Cat: "Belmont Harbor" is a retro-flashback to high school in the '80s story, when being under age, kind of cool, but kind of alienated came with the territory. A haunting must for all would be rebels. Watch for it in cooler comic shops, or order direct for $3.00 postpaid. Send concealed cash or checks payable to; JOE CHIAPPETTA * 2209 NORTHGATE * N. RIVERSIDE, IL. 60546" All in all it sounds pretty cool. And who knows, maybe we'll see Joe stopping by CBN once in awhile in the future.... M!ke (mike.imboden@f748.n109.z1.fidonet.org) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRESS RELEASE Now Available . . . The Independent Universe Collector Card Set Dilemma Productions is proud to announce the birth of an exciting new universe in collectable cards, designed to showcase the fabulous artwork found only in today's Independent Comic Books. The Independent Universe Collector Card Set represents one of the largest collaborative efforts ever among Independent Comic Book Publishers. From the pages of your favorite Independent Comics numerous publishers have joined together to bring you an outstanding set of cards. You'll see fabulous artwork with exciting characters like: A-Girl, Bloodshed, Bru-hed, Capt. Africa, Capt. Jolly, Chakan: The Forever Man, Legend Killer, The Primitives, Rib, Shaloman, Vendetta, and many many more!!! This unique card set contains 90 original Independent Universe Collector Cards using powerful black & white and vibrant full color images. All sets are handsomely packaged in a clear plastic collector's box, and each contains 1 of 9 different Gold Foil cards, personally autographed by the respective creator. With the rising popularity of Independent Comic books, these cards are sure to be a milestone for collectors everywhere! note: This set is available for $7.95 from: Dilemma Productions P O Box 803 Easthampton, Ma 01027 Or may be ordered through all major distributors. ________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -4- CSNsider contributed by David Leblancc This is the CSNsider from CSN #422, which will be in shops on 7/19/95. It is reproduced in its entirety with the expressed permission of COMIC SHOP NEWS! Millions of potential X-Files comic book fans will be exposed to the Stefan Petrucha-Charlie Adlard X-Files series through an exclusive comic story in the July 15th TV Guide;TV Guide's circulation of approximately 13 million could translate into a massive influx of X-Files comic book fans into comic shops across the nation... Dark Horse is adapting Timothy Zahn's novel Star Wars: Heir to the Empire in a six-issue limited series beginning in October... In other Star Wars news, Dark Horse plans to replace their current Star Wars film adaptations as George Lucas rereleases revised versions of those films beginning in 1997; before the old versions are taken out of the marketplace forever, though, Dark Horse is reissuing the original adaptations in November in trade paperbacks and as a three-volume boxed set... James Robinson's long-awaited Vigilante series, featuring the motorcycle-riding cowboy of the Golden Age, begins in mid-September; Tony Salmons supplies the art... Peter David is working on a Savage Hulk one-shot set in the early days of Bruce Banner's Hulk experience... Andrew Vachss & James Colbert's Cross: Genesis, the first in a series of Cross novels, is being presented in comic book form even before the release of the novel; look for the kickoff issue of the series in October... Ron Marz and Bernie Wrightson are working on a two-part Aliens story slated to appear in Dark Horse Presents #s 101-102; this will offer fans their first glimpse of Wrightson's Aliens prior to seeing them in the upcoming Batman/Aliens crossover... The X-Men/WildCATs crossover series is a go, with Scott Lobdell writing and Jim Lee illustrating; plans call for three crossover books, each featuring standalone stories, one set decades in the past (featuring Logan and Zealot), one set in the recent past (featuring Marvel Girl and Grifter), and one set in the present... According to Denny O'Neil, Bat-fans can expect to see a plague striking Gotham City in the near future; the groundwork for that storyline is already being laid in Azrael... X-fans can also look forward to a Storm miniseries, another Gambit miniseries, and second Cyclops-Phoenix miniseries... 20th Century Fox recently named Dark Horse Comics their licensor of the year; obviously comics fans aren't the only folks impressed with Dark Horse's superb work!... Two companies are scrambling to secure the rights to bring Quentin Tarantino's film concepts to comics... Bucking the trend towards higher prices, Malibu is lowering the price of all Ultraverse titles to $1.50 beginning in September with the Ultraverse Black September books... Peter David and Ariel Olivetti reveal the fate of the Avengers in The Last Avengers Story, an Alterniverse miniseries beginning in late September... Marvel upgrades all Spider-Man titles to the $1.95 deluxe format in September, at the same time they replace the old titles with Web of Scarlet Spider, Amazing Scarlet Spider, Spectacular Scarlet Spider, Scarlet Spider Unlimited, and Scarlet Spider (don't worry ... the change isn't permanent)... Extreme Studios plans a major revamp/relaunch of Youngblood in September, courtesy of Rob Liefeld, Eric Stephenson, Roger Cruz, and Danny Miki; the new team members were chosen in response to a reader poll... The future Superman, last seen in the Kamandi series, returns in the Elseworlds one-shot Superman: At Earth's End by Tom Veitch and Frank Gomez; this time, he's defending Batman's body against mad geneticists... Another Elseworlds series, League of Justice, features versions of the DC heroes in a grand fantasy setting; look for it in late September... Groo and Gen 13 star in two new trading card series from WildStorm studios this fall, while Cyberforce is featured in a Topps card series... Galoob will offer Jonny Quest toys in '96 to tie in with Hanna Barbera's upcoming Real Adventures of Jonny Quest series... Are the rumors true? Are two major publishers working on a multi-book intercompany crossover series that brings together a large number of their heroes in a cosmic-scale adventure? No one's saying right now. CSN #422 features a cover feature on Big Guy & Rusty from Dark Horse Comics plus more news and reviews. The only way to get Comic Shop News is to visit a shop that carries CSN. The publication costs the shops just a dime each and is generally free to customers. If your shop doesn't carry CSN, nag 'em until they do. After all, isn't your business and satisfaction worth a dime a week? Visit our WWW site! http://www.actwin.com/csn Ward Batty wardo@netdepot.com Cliff Biggers cliffbig@netdepot.com (c)1995 CSN, Inc. All Rights Reserved. úúúúÄÄÄÄÍÍÍÍ*David LeBlanc> ComicBkNet@AOL.COM david.leblanc@linkbbs2.iii.net RIME->5179 FIDO 1:322/743.1 ________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -5- Suspended Animation by Michael Vance SUSPENDED ANIMATION by Michael Vance Judge for yourself. In a world of corruption, immorality and violence, he is absolute, unbending LAW. He is judge, jury and executioner embodied in one hulking man, Judge Joe Dredd. The quickest way to court death is throw yourself on the mercy of his court. Not ANOTHER grim, dark and violent vigilante comic book!? Yes and no. In this world, a murdered President, a corrupt Chief Judge and his jackbooted thugs -- the Ministry of Fear -- have perverted the Law they've sworn to serve. Computers sentence perpetrators who are shuttled to "Iso blocks", jails that few ever leave. And the bad guys win while Dredd naps.... for fifty years or so. Then, Mega-City One becomes a radioactive wasteland, and Dredd promptly kills, sorta, his papa and a whole bunch of rioters. If it still sounds like more yes than no, persevere. You haven't met the _mime_ judges yet. Judge Dredd is down, dirty and.... funny? It is dark, grim and violent satire of dark, grim violence. Dredd's tongue is so firmly stuck in cheek that it near pokes yer eye out. If that's not enough, plotting is tight, characterization is abundant and there's enough twists on cliches to keep readers hopping. If that's ALSO not enough, the art is better than drab and seems to improve with each issue. There's also BIG guns, bombs, bullets and clenched teeth! And if THAT'S not enough, at least you'll learn an important, albeit, dreadful, moral lesson. Judge not lest ye be judged. Hey! _I_ have a tongue, to! JUDGE DREED is available from DC Comics/ words: Andrew Helfer; art: Doug Selogy and others. MINIVIEW: NEXUS - THE WAGES OF SIN. Science-fiction, superheroes, satire and slapstick, it remains one of the best romps in comics. MINIVIEW TWO: STAR WARS - DROIDS SPECIAL. R2D2 and Threepio in great robotic fun for hardcore fans and young readers. (Mr. Vance is a professional writer having written for numerous magazines like CBG, Starlog and Comics Interview. His work has appeared in over 500 newspapers and he's had work published by Comico, Renegade, Innovation and Rip Off Press. SUSPENDED ANIMATION appears in 14 publications reaching 214,000 readers in the U.S., Ireland and Portugal. Comments on his column may be directed to mike.imboden@f748.n109.z1.fidonet.org and will be forwarded to him from there.) ________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -6- Recent Reads/Random Thoughts by Williaam Hughes Independence Day! And of course it's raining... oh well, leaves more time to read comics, I suppose. To help celebrate independence, I've got two more offerings from the SMALL PRESS EXPO in this column... SNOWBLIND by Martin Wagner and RUBBER BLANKET by Dave Mazzucchelli. : EXCALIBUR #88 : Marvel Comics DREAM NAILS TRILOGY part one Not a bad issue, with Larry Stroman on pencils. This is still not the Excalibur that I used to love, but this issue isn't as bad as it _has_ been recently. Of course, it centers on Kitty Pryde and Pete Wisdom, so it doesn't get under my skin the way that it tends to do with the pod-people characters. (Brian and Megan, who bear little resemblance to the original characters.) Wisdom is summoned back to England by and old friend in danger. Kitty tags along. They arrive to late to save Wisdom's friend, who has died from an unidentifiable cause, and find themselves caught up in a web of intrigue and mystery, with agents from Wisdom's own organization trying to kill them. As I said, this issue was definitely better than the average Excalibur title of late, (pre-AoA included). I rather enjoyed the fact that the story had little of the "typical" mutant elements, such as the evil mutant on a rampage, etc. If Warren Ellis would bring Brian and Megan back, and continue with this sort of direction, things may be improving. Especially if Stroman will be on the book for any length of time as well. --- : X-MEN #43 : Marvel Comics Paul Smith's pencils are a bit better on this issue in comparision to last, but still not anywhere near as exciting as his original run on UNCANNY. The battle between Exodus and Holocause continues, and Avalon is destroyed! As the pieces of the space station fall to Earth, long-time X-Men fans have to be feeling a sense of deja-vu! Jean Grey falling to Earth, bombarded by radiation? Could they...? Would they...? Is this the first step to the return of Phoenix, in deed as well as in code-name? I guess we'll have to wait until next ish!!! --- : X-ARCHIVES: CAPT BRITAIN : Marvel Comics Captain Britain- member of Excalibur, loving brother to Psylocke, and hero of England. This series reprints his earlier UK appearances, and features the early work of Alan Davis, and later, Alan Moore. I own some of the original work, it's great stuff, featuring alot of the characters and elements later taken up in EXCALIBUR and other mutant titles, like the Crazy Gang, Roma, Satyrnine, and the captain's sister Betsy, who later became known as the X-Men's own Psylocke. The material in this first issue takes place early in the Captain's career, even before the material that I have in my possession. And I must admit, the pre-Moore issues are a bit... hokey. I can't honestly recommend this issue, unless you're a big-time Alan Davis fan, and wish to get a look at his early work. But NEXT issue, well, that's an entirely different animal. Next issue will feature some of the Alan Moore work, as well as Alan Davis on pencils, and it's classic material, highly recommended. --- : PREACHER #5 : DC Comics This series gets more graphic with it's grotesque portrayals with every issue. This book definitely earns the Mature Readers label, this ain't for kids. I have a little trouble with how far Garth Ennis pushes the envelope of taste within his comics. Unlike the work of say, Peter Milligan, I think Ennis sometimes crosses the lines of good taste for no real reason, and not for the sake of the story. (Most of my problems with Ennis' work take place in another series, GODDESS, so I have no idea why I'm bringing it up here.) In any case, in this series the grotesque at least seems to be a part of the overall plot, so it works for me a bit better here. This issue introduces two new characters, cops on the trail of a serial killer who chops up his victims and sends identifiable pieces to the victim's family. In this issue, we're shown one such victim have the skin of his face removed and shown to him. Again, this series contains graphic violence, foul language, and in my opinion goes out of it's way to gross people out. If that's not your cup of tea, consider yourself warned and stay away! On the other hand, if you're into that gory sh*t, as well as a decently developing storyline, then this one's for you. --- : GREEN LANTERN #65 : CBN: DC Comics DC is really killing my interest with these little crossovers that they feel compelled to do. I've already dropped HAWKMAN due partly to the crossover, now it looks like GREEN LANTERN is the next to go. If I wanted to read about the TITANS, I'd BUY the freakin' TITANS!! I don't appreciate having a title I read interupted by a storyline that began elsewhere, and will be continued elsewhere! --- : STATIC #26 : DC Comics Another excellent issue. Virgil instigates a mini-food fight in school, has a brief run-in with PYRE and his cohorts at Utopia Park, visits his girl-friend, and then is talked into "crashing" the opening day at the park by Dusk. Also, Frieda winds up in a dangerous situation at Utopia Park. STATIC is a great series that fans of older (better) Spider-Man comics will definitely enjoy. If you haven't already done so, check it out. --- : STARMAN #10 : DC Comics James Robinson and Tony Harris deliver a great issue. The Shade notifies Jack about the danger of the poster that we've seen in previous issues. Also, Jack is prodded by Jade of The Blood Pack into searching the sewers of Opal for Soloman Grundy. This is one of the best-written super-hero titles around, highly recommended. --- : EGYPT #1 of 7 : DC Comics One of my favorites of the Vertigo regulars, Peter Milligan is the scribe on this mini-series about a homeless man who becomes a part of an experiment by a group of college students investigating death and it's ties to the ancient pharrohs. They re-inact a death ritual on the homeless guy, intent to find out how long a man can be suffocated and still revived. (The homeless guy has the same reaction you are probably having, "Oh no, FLATLINERS 2!" Vincent (the homeless guy) is indeed suffocated by the sadistic college crew, but he doesn't die. At least not in the traditional sense. He awakens to find himself in another man's body, in another time, another land. Specifically, Egypt. After a short time he discovers that he isn't dreaming, dead, or mad. The fact was, somehow he's found himself in Egypt. An interesting beginning to this series. I look forward to finding out answers to what's going on in the next issue! --- : MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER #56 : Acclaim Comics Kieth Giffen continues to rework the elements from previous Magnus adaptions in this series. The characters have aged, time has passed, but old wounds do not heal quickly, it seems. The old grudges still exist. And someone is gunning for Magnus. Has someone finally succeeded in eliminating the Robot Fighter? --- : SOLAR #50 : Acclaim Comics Solar's time on the world he created draws to a close with this issue, as he leaves to return home. What will he find when he gets there? How much time has passed? To what will he return? And the characters of the BRAVE NEW WORLD are drastically affected by the realization that they have met their God, and fought him. I look forward to the FLASHPOINT mini-series by Jurgens to see how they come to terms with this, and how their world will be affected by the events of the last few issues. --- : X-O MANOWAR #50-O : Acclaim Comics Another punch'em up issue, Aric versus Alloy. Not much on plot development in this one folks, but the art is decent enough. One question though: Why are the word balloons so incredibly small??? --- : MARTIN WAGNER'S SNOWBLIND : Small Press SNOWBLIND tpb by Martin Wagner b/w, $15 cover price (216 pages) SNOWBLIND is the title of the second HEPCATS trade paperback, and contains material previously released in HEPCATS #1-8. I've never read the series before, nor the COLLEGIATE HEPCATS tpb that precedes it, so it's all new to me. SNOWBLIND is about a girl named Erica, who has elements of her past come back to haunt her, and almost destroy the life she has built in Texas with her fiancee, Arnie, and their close friends Gunther and Joey. It's a very human tale, in which the reader finds himself immediately absorbed. It seems Erica isn't who she claims, and the secrets she has kept are threatening her new life. Oh, and all the characters have animal heads. Yeah, you read correctly. Although the actual story and characters couldn't be more real, each of them have an animal's head. They don't seem to realize that this is the case mind you, it's as though everything is supposed to be this way. Nothing about the fact that they have animal heads ever effects any other element of the story. I've never read alot of anthropomorphic comics before; in fact the last I can remember is CAPTAIN CARROT & HIS ZOO CREW from DC Comics way back. I don't claim to understand the need for this oddity in an otherwise "reality" based drama. But, it's something that Wagner has felt compelled to do, so it's something that the reader has to accept early on in the series, otherwise you ruin an otherwise engaging piece of fiction for yourself, wondering why the characters have these peculiar heads. Another element of the series that stands out, is the amount of detail that Wagner puts into his background art. It reminds me of Katsuhiro Otomo's work. It's plain that alot of sweat goes into each panel, and the end result is worth it. The only complaint I have is where the author chose to end the tpb. It leaves you COMPLETELY hanging! I would have preferred to have seen the entire story arc in one volume instead. Still, I found it to be an enjoyable experience, and I definitely want to see how this story line is completed, so I'll be adding HEPCATS to my pull list. --- : RUBBER BLANKET #1-3 : Small Press I picked up the first three issues of this magazine-sized comic at the suggestion of STRAY BULLETS creator, David Lapham. It's an anthology title, with all sorts of different strips by Mazzucchelli. Some of which are really bizzarre, such as the opening tale in the first issue, NEAR MISS, which is about a man with a terrible fear of death by meteor, so he decides to sit in the desert with a telescope awaiting disaster. My favorite issue would be the third, and my favorite installment in a piece called BIG MAN, about a monstorous man, and how a small town reacts to him, it's similar to Frankenstein. I found the third issue to be the most enjoyable, so that's the one I'll recommend to pick up. It's rather expensive at $8 but that's with seventy two pages. This won't be everyone's cup of tea, heck- alot of it isn't mine. But I'm recommending it simply because it shows how different the medium of comic books can be, and how much one artist's work can vary. Serious fans of sequential art only. --- : STRAY BULLETS #4 : Small Press Normally I try not to go into alot of detail with my Random Thoughts on STRAY BULLETS, because it's a book best left to experience first-hand, rather than given to you thru a third party in a short blurb. This issue is no execption, and yet I feel compelled to go into greater detail than usual. So, for those of you who plan to read this book, read no further! Elements of plot and such will be discussed! However if you the curious type, join me after the... SPOILER WARNING! In issue number two of this series, a little girl was a witness to a murder. Her sister, who had been spending her time otherwise engaged with her boyfriend rather than watching her younger sibling, threatens her to never reveal what she had seen that night, not aware of what she had witnessed. This event seriously effects the child, and causes a reaction thru-out her life, that eventually ends in a very chilling circumstance on Halloween, where she ends up seriously beaten by other children. Lapham ended that issue with no clear answer to whether or not the little girl survived that beating. Until this issue. Issue number four opens with a little girl who is later revealed to be Virginia Applejack, the same girl from issue two, hitchhiking out west. She is picked up by a man who convinces her that he's a gangster, and tells her she can be her partner. It is apparent that he has his own objective concerning the little girl, and as I read it I began to feel fear and aprehension that this man was going to molest the little girl. Thru the entire comic he is depicted with an evil grin, or really giving the kid the once over. Thru the entire comic, the reader awaits the inevitable outcome, hoping that the kid will get away, but knowing that she won't. Then, the ulterior motives of the man are revealed-- he's running for congress, and thought he could garner a few votes and free publicity by returning a runaway to her home. His betrayal is far better than what the reader had thought the outcome would be, and totally unexpected. And that is what this series has been in every single issue: unexpected. Just when you think you know what's up with STRAY BULLETS, Lapham throws a wrench into your thinking. Sometimes it's graphic with its' violent content, sometimes subtle. Or, in this case, it's all in your own head. STRAY BULLETS is one of my favorite monthly publications right now, and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT TO ALL LITERATE MAMMALS! --- : STRANGERS IN PARADISE #5 : Small Press The cover to this issue proudly boasts "Two Harvey Nominations," "Four Eisner Nominations!" And deservedly so. This is a great series, and one that can be easily recommended to non-comic book fans. I hate to call it alternative, when it's actually more mainstream in relationship to other entertainment mediums than super-heroes. Well, after a comedic break last issue, things are certainly getting serious now. Katchoo is having nightmares about her ex-lover Emma who recently died, Francine has a run-in with her ex-boyfriend who caused her nervous breakdown, and unbeknownst to both of them, Katchoo is a suspect in a possible murder case. This is another series that I recommend to all who breath. --- : POISON ELVES #2 : Small Press It's been a hectic few weeks, so forgive me if I'm repeating myself here. I can't remember if I ever got that review of POISON ELVES #1 out around the time of The Expo or not. POISON ELVES has recently moved to SIRIUS, and started an all-new series, perfect for new readers to jump in on. I count myself among the new readers. First off, if your expecting cute little elves, or Pini's Cutter and Company, you've come to the wrong place! The main character, Lusiphur, isn't even a likeable character, and he's one mean bastard! He's a stone-cold killer, and he doesn't always fight fair. Creator Drew Hayes is obviously a Dave Sim fan, certain elements of his work seem to be influenced by Sim, artistically at least. The world he's created for his characters combines aspects of both reality and fantasy. For instance, his elves carry guns. So far, two issues into the series, I've found it to be an interesting start. POISON ELVES is a welcome edition to my pull-list. --- : DAWN #1 : Small Press Joseph Michael Linsner is an incredible artist. I am in quite literally in awe of some of the work he's produced. I'm afraid I missed the CRY FOR DAWN series, so I am still relatively new to his work, and especially the character of DAWN. That doesn't matter a bit as far as enjoying this comic, however. It's capable of standing on it's own. DAWN takes place in New York City, one unlike we've ever seen. The scenery looks familiar, but with differences, such as a ritual Saturday night battlefest in Times Square, where the characters look like they've stepped out of a Conan book. Darrian is one of these combatants, until he's seduced by the beautiful Dawn, and begins to think of things beyond the life he has led. He begins a quest in search of Heaven, and decides the most logical place to start is the church outside the city. This book is well worth the $2.95 cover price for the artwork alone. Highly recommended. --- : JR WILLIAM'S BUMMER #1 : Small Press Fans of the magazine MAD will probably love the work of JR Williams. This comic offers some great satires of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND and MR. ED, as well as comedic autobiographical pieces such as THEY MADE ME A MONSTER and THE WOMAN WHO TRIED TO EAT ME ALIVE which are also quite funny. It's priced at $3.50 for 32 b/w pages, and is magazine-sized. Bill Hughes!! ________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -7- Keady's Komic Komments by John Keady : Robin #20 : DC Comics Robin wrestles animals, kids and homeless bums with grand delusions! The situation with Ari is touching and it's good to see Alfred back! It's gonna take some getting used to Weiringo's art on this title since I was also a big Grummet fan! GOOD --- : Guy Gardner #34 : DC Comics The final part of the Way of the Warrior was as mediocre as the whole series was. Appearances by Lobo didn't impress me much and you all know how much I hate Campos' artwork! AVERAGE --- : Action #713 : DC Comics The Savior reaches the full level of his new found power as he charges Superman with being a fake and a possible connection between this baddie and another Superman fought recently is revealed! Not as good as the last few issues of the Superman line but you can't win every time! AVERAGE --- : New Titans #124 : DC Comics Part one of the Siege of Zi Charam was better to understand as I started with Green Lantern then got this one through Hikeeba. WIth this title ending at #130, I am more interested in getting the Meltdown storyline which happens after this one is over. AVERAGE --- : Hawkman #23 : DC Comics SNORE...............SNORE............... SNORE...............SNORE............... This says it all! BELOW AVERAGE --- : JLA #102 : DC Comics Not a bad issue, especially with the developements between Ice Maiden and Fire and the growing mystery surrounding Obsidion! Otherwise a pretty average issue. AVERAGE --- : Flash Annual #8 : DC Comics A rather interesting insight into the early years of Wally West as both Flash and Kid Flash. Art work was pretty consistant with many of the art I've seen on the Flash books. GOOD --- : S7 #2 : DC Comics Well, I'm dumping this title after I get the ones I preordered. Until they decide to explore the characters more and stop the mindless violence. BLECH! ________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -8- Some Stuff by Nathan Bredfeldt SOME STUFF by Nathan Bredfeldt Hi, Nate here. I haven't much time these past weeks, faithful readers, for I have to have a first draft of an english paper finished by Monday, and a final draft by Wednesday. Argh! Anyhow, I try my best to keep these columns coming, but I feel kind of rotten, having missed a week after being regular for a mere two, but the good folks at CBEM seem to have more than made up for my absence with the wonderful CBEM #16! (Let's do more like those, guys.) I was up at work this past thursday (I work at school. Saves me time commuting), looking over the comics my friend brought me, because between school and work, I don't get to go to the comic store. Something bothered me about the new issue of Static (#26). Not the fact that I passed on the previous issue (Yes, because of the cover price. I don't care how good it is, $4 is too much to pay for something that short!); the `PREVIOUSLY' deal on the first page (which I've never paid too much attention to, I admit) got me up to speed quickly. My problem was on page 10. You probably noticed it too, when you read it. If I'm not mistaken, the gentleman in the foreground of panel #2 is Holocaust (I'll go out on a limb, and act as though I'm right). So, what the HEY is he doing with a namebadge that says Pyre? This pestered me all through work (it's work. There ain't much to do), and I think I finally figured out why shortly after. I had been thinking about that Alter-X universe "character" over in Marvel's X-books named Holocaust, during the four months that it was going on. I was wondering why Milestone didn't get a lawyer, and make them Marvel "people" switch the name. After all, Milestone's came first, by a long shot. After all, that's what Marvel always does whenever a character or comic book title comes even CLOSE to a Marvel character's name or comic title. I stopped thinking about it when that alternate universe stuff ended. I heard they were all wiped out. Why worry? But, there on panel 2, page 10 of Static #26, there's Holocaust with the name Pyre. Of course, I don't want to turn this into a bitter `why everything stinks' column, so I'm not going to point any fingers, but let you the reader think about it for yourselves. (And, hey. If you do know why the name was changed, let me know: at ComicBkNet@aol.com [Attention: Some Stuff] ________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -9- Comicunications by Ryan Brewster Comicunications -------The Comic Book Net's Weekly Comics News Journal-------- Volume 1, Issue #22 Wednesday, July 5th,1995 _______________________________________________ Mason & Ulm Resign From Malibu: [Source: Dave Olbrich] 6/28/95 - Tom Mason, Vice President of Marketing, and Chris Ulm, Vice President of Editorial, are leaving their positions at Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. effective Sept. 8th. They will then launch a new entertainment-related venture. Mason and Ulm co-founded Malibu Comics Entertainment, Inc. in 1986. Malibu Comics was acquired by Marvel Entertainment in 1994. Their new company will create "Intellectual Properties" and explore new business opportunities in the entertainment and multimedia fields, including comic books. Malibu has pledged its full support of Mason and Ulm's new venture and have agreed to maintain a strong future relationship. Malibu Slashes Prices: [Source: Hank Kanalz] 6/28/95 - Beginning with issues shipping in September, all normal Ultraverse comics will bear a $1.50 cover price. [Note: All September issues are Black September "Infinity" issues... see Comicunications 1.18 for more info] The only change will be the paper stock, which will be switched to a 35lb. Mando. The coloring process & page count will remain the same. Capital City Looking For Exclusivity: [Source: Heath Fitts] 6/20/95 - Capital City Distribution has been sending letters to various retailers in an apparant _campaign_ to attract independent comics publishers to signing exclusive contracts with them and retailers to opening accounts with them. The letter read as follows: "As you well know, the comic industry is undergoing rapid and dramatic changes. The direct maket is changing from a market where distributors sell all available products to some of the retailers to one where each distributor sells a portion of the product to all the customers. In an exclusive world, Capital City Distribution will be the exclusive sales agent for a package of medium to small size publishers that no retailer can live without. "...It is in your best interest to open an account with Capital as early as possible and begin placing orders right away so that you will have an established relationship with our customer service, credit, and sales departments when the exclusives are announced." The Comics Journal Signs David Peter??: [Source: Geoffrey Robert Mason] 6/29/95 - Fantagraphics, publishers of The Comics Journal, faxed the following announcement to various industry professionals: "For Immediate Release: COMICS JOURNAL SIGNS DAVID PETER FOR MONTHLY COLUMN!" "Seattle, WA - June 20, 1995: The Comics Journal announced today that David Peter will be writing a monthly column starting with its 178th issue. The column is titled "Butt-Eye Address" and will feature Peter's patented mix of controversial opinions, first-person accounts of his many professional anecdotes from the world of comics and movies, and a great deal of shameless name-dropping." "Peter, a highly respected and prolific member of the comics literati, has written one novel every week for the past four years, in addition to his regular comic book titles, Junior Strikers, The Incredible Stump, Sacco and Venezuela, and his occasional collaborations with fan favorite artist Skip Nisker, as well as such movies as Space Posse: The Legend of Brock Lightray and Space Posse 2: Tazer's Revenge." "Journal Managing Editor Tom Spurgeon was shocked when Peter approached him with the idea of a column. "I thought he hated the Journal." said Spurgeon, "but in the spirit of mutual accomodation, we think this is a wonderful fit. He'll balance our more elitist contributors and expand the Journal's readership to fans of The Incredible Wad." Peter himself commented, "I've made a career out of criticizing the Comics Journal once a week for the last three years I thought I might as well get a paycheck from them, too." "Peter's colum will be filled with the kind of fun-loving fanish reminiscences and trenchant opinions his fans have come to know and love. "I'll be criticizing my peers who make mort memories of being one of the greatest and most popular writers who ever graced a comic. My tastes are closer to Joe Fan than the Journal's usual roster of elitist snobs, so I'll make fans feel good about buying and loving books like Annihilation Five, The Glory Wars, and my own mini-series, The Wad: The Final Days." At Peter's generous request, all moneys generated by the column will be donated to Friends of David Peter." "Peter's column debuts in Journal #178, on sale in late June. The issue also features interviews with caricaturist David Levine and Neil Gaiman's interview with Los Brothers Hernandez." "For more information, contact Tom Spurgeon, Managing Editor, The Comics Journal "(206) 524-1967" Peter David responded to the parody: "What's really sad is how unoriginal this is. There have been at least two parody versions of my column that I know of, and probably more that I don't." "I'm not concerned. I'm sure that the thousands of retailers who presently order zero copies of TCJ will very like order twice that." The REAL Peter David can be read every week in The Comic Buyers' Guide, and monthly in Overstreet's FAN magazine as well as various comic books. Overstreet's FAN Gets Wired: [Source: Overstreet] 7/4/95 - Readers of Overstreet's monthly FAN magazine can now write to FAN via e-mail! FAN maintains the following internet addresses for comments, questions, criticisms and praise: fanmail1@aol.com *or* fanmag@jagunet.com. Overstreet's FAN is a 220-plus page, full-color, monthly magazine covering many aspects of comic & card collecting. It also contains the Overstreet price guide. FAN is the first new publication bearing the Overstreet name since Gemstone Publishing, Inc. purchased selected assets and liabilities of Overstreet Publications, Inc. in September,1994. Gemstone Publishing, Inc. is a sister company of Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. Dan Jurgens Does Spidey: [Source: Tom Brevoort] 7/5/95 - Dan Jurgens has signed to create a new Spider-Man title (jokingly referred to as "Spider-Dan"). The new Spider-Man book will replace the Web of Spider-Man title. In related news, Spider-Man and Batman will be crossing over in September (could get pushed back further, though). JM DeMatteis will write with Mark Bagley and Scott Hannaw drawin' the pictures. Carnage & Joker will be the villains in the inter-company crossover. Marvel Responds To Net Inquiries: [Source: rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe] 6/16/95 - Marvel Comics Entertainment responded to various complaints posted on the internet newsgroup rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe in the following letter, mailed to a participant in the group: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for your recent letter and your insight as both a shareholder and a customer. First, let me assure you that not only do I monitor the "Net" on a regular basis, I pass hard copy printouts to senior management throughout all of our groups. We evaluate these issues as well as the nature of the participant, e.g., retailer, artist, fan, etc. Furthermore, we review these names to see how broad based this group is, i.e., the loud vocal minority syndrome. All of the information is considered in the development and execution of our various business plans. As a shareholder, I think you'll be interested to know that for over a year now we've been evaluating the various on-line services to determine what type of persence Marvel should have in cyberspace. In addition to communicating with the minions you referred to, this is a forum which can and should be quite lucrative for the company. However, this has not been the approach by most companies as they have sold their souls and given away their birthrights in order to have this presence. For an intellectual property company, this is a travesty. We hope to have a considerably better alternative for Marvel within the next few months. Along these lines, we have been working with the leading consultants and experts in this field for some time. Again, we appreciate your writing and sharing your observations. An on-line presence for Marvel will be a reality in the near future and it should benefit both shareholders and fans. Make Mine Marvel Terry Stewart Vice Chairman TS:ra 387 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016 PHONE: 212-696-0808 FAX: 212-576-9289 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- CFD Productions To Publish Prose Book: [Source: Joe Monks] 6/29/95 - Joe Monks is working on a 200-page, prose anthology collecting some of his old Cry For Dawn work, some more recent NightCry releases and several originals & rarely seen limited edition works. It is tentatively entitled "Stuff Outa' My Head". DC Crosses Over _Three_ times in September!: [Source: Previews] 7/5/95 - In September, the DC Universe will be dominated by three separate crossovers. First, the Trial of Superman will overtake the Superman titles, as Superman's powers are drained by the Parasite. He is abducted by an intergalactic tribunal and put on trial for the destruction of Krypton. Steel, Supergirl, Superboy, The Eradicator and Alpha Centurion join to rescue him. (Ron Frenz also makes his debut as the new regular Superman penciller) Second, Superboy crosses over into the 30th century and the Legion of Super-Heroes. The Legionnaires rush to the 20th century to save Valor's life, and Superboy gets snagged back into the 30th century, only to meet the Scavenger. Last but not least is Mark Waid's Underworld Unleashed, in which Neron tempts various villains and heroes with greater power in exchange for their souls. A quick run-down of Neron's victim's: Aquaman #14: Major Disaster Azrael #10: Azrael Damage #18: Copperhead Green Arrow #102: Tezcatlipoca Guy Gardner #36: Cheetah, Earthworm, Blackguard Manhunter #12: Psycho-Pirate Extreme Justice #10: Plastique, Star Sapphire Flash #107: Shadow Thief (Guest starring Captain Marvel) Primal Force #13: Lord Satanus Spectre #35: The Spectre, as opposed to Jim Corrigan Green Lantern #68: Mr. Freeze Hawkman #26: Scarecrow JLA #105: Deadshot, Deadline, Bolt, Chiller, Merlyn the Archer R.E.B.E.L.s #13: The Ice Man Starman #13: Dr. Phosphorus (vs. Ted, not Jack) Detective #691: Spellbinder Fate #13: Blaze Impulse #8: Blockbuster Ray #18: Atomic Skull Steel #21: Metallo In addition to the 3-issue Underworld Unleashed mini (by Mark Waid) there will also be several one-shot tie-ins: Underworld Unleashed: Apokalips: Dark Uprising in September, and Underworld Unleashed: Batman: Devil's Asylum, Underworld Unleashed: Abyss: Hell's Sentinel, and Underworld Unleashed: Patterns of Fear in October. Sam & Max Hit the Small Screen: [Source: Lawrence Denealt] 7/3/95 - A Sam & Max animated series is currently in the works for the fall '96 Saturday morning cartoon season. Sandman Spins Off: [Source: Greg Clow] 6/29/95 - Terry LeBan (Unsupervised Existance, CUD) will be writing one of the two books that will be spinning off Sandman once Sandman is finished. The two books are entitled The Dreaming and The Endless. Tekno On The Web: [Source: Cedrick K. Chan] 6/29/95 - Big Entertainment's Tekno-Comix now maintains its own web site on the Internet's World Wide Web. Clicking into the Pulp Section of the Sci-Fi Channel's "Dominion" web site will bring up "TeknoNation". TeknoNation will feature a variety of exclusives, including original newspaper strips from Mickey Spillane's Mike Danger and a John Jakes (Mullcon Empire) on-line interview. The Sci-Fi Channel's web site URL address is "http://www.scifi.com", without the quotes of course... New Tick Toys Ship in September: [Source: Previews] 7/5/95 - The following toys, based on Ben Edlund's popular Tick character, will be shipping in September: 6" Action Figures: Evil Tongue Thrakkorozog, Propellerized Robot Dog, Mucus Tick, Twist and Chop American Maid, Hurling Tick and Color-Changing Chameleon. Tick's Rooftop Fortress Playset 6" Talking Tick Action Figures: Each one (of four varieties) says one phrase. Tick Micro City Playsets: Arthur's Apartment, The City and City Streets. The BOX: The "evil contraption" from the first episode... ________________________________________________________________________ Legal Stuff: Copyright (c) 1995 Ryan Brewster. Distribute ONLY IN ENTIRETY! ________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -10- Feedback Date: 95-07-05 11:54:07 EDT From: LMihalovic To: ComicBknet@aol.com Hi, I was at the Small Press Expo in Maryland and met some of you guys from the ComicBook Net. Could you please send me a copy of CBEM_16.txt (I couldn't find it in the AOL library)? I'd be interested in reading your review of the expo. --| RESPONSE |------------------------------------------------------ | | | That was either Bill Hughes or myself. Issue 16 should be | | available on AOL by the time you read this - sometimes it takes | | them longer than usual to get a file online. | | | | You be assured of never missing an issue of our little, ever- | | evolving "e-mag" by getting on our subscription list where it will | | be zapped right to your AOL Internet address. I'll inform the | | person in charge to add you if you'd like. In the meantime, you | | can drop him a line at Xenozoid@cris.com | | | | Thanks for reading the CBN E-Mag. :) | | | | -M!ke | | co-editor | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Send feedback to: Internet .......... ComicBkNet@aol.com Fidonet ........... ComicBkNet at 1:324/134.0 ComicBook Net ..... 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