---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed Dukeshire and Mike Imboden Present: THE COMIC BOOK NET ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE ISSUE NUMBER 209 4/09/99 Edited by: David LeBlanc - ComicBkNet@aol.com FREE VIA EMAIL SINCE FEBRUARY 1995 ______________________________________________________________________ T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] On the Net ............................ David LeBlanc [2] Letters to the Editor ................. Your Page! [3] TRIVIA CONTEST ........................ Win *real* prizes! [4] Network Buzz .......................... News, gossip & rumors [5] Ramblings `99 ......................... Rich Johnston [6] Interview: William Christensen ........ Paul Dale Roberts [7] Had Your Phil? ........................ Phil White [8] And Let Me Tell Your Why .............. David Coulter [9] Venting My Spleen ..................... David Groenewegen [10] You Be The Judge of That .............. Jason J. Larsen [11] M.O.E. Reviews ........................ Paul Dale Roberts [12] My View: COMIC BOOK DREAMS............. David LeBlanc [13] 3rd Annual National Comics Awards ..... Rich Johnston [14] New Comic Book Releases List .......... Charles LePage [A] Submission, Subscriptions, Back Issues, Copyrights, BBS Info ______________________________________________________________________ World Wide Web Home Page-->> http://members.aol.com/ComicBkNet HTML WEB EDITION at -->> http://www.digitalwebbing.com/cbem featuring the exclusive comic strip: HEROES RERUN by Johnny Gonzales ----------------------------------------------------------------------- o \o/ _ o _| \ / |_ o_ \o/ o /|\ | /\ _\o \o | o/ O/_ /\ | /|\ / \ / \ |\ /) | ( \ /o\ / ) | (\ / | / \ / \ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The ComicBook Network was founded by Ed Dukeshire and Mike Imboden ----------------------------------------------------------------------- If you wish to receive each issue automatically through your Email account, please address a message to: ComicBkNet@aol.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the SUBJECT to be placed on the FREE subscription list. To drop it use UNSUBSCRIBE as a SUBJECT. See section [A] for the address to mail material to be reviewed. ______________________________________________________________________ All text contained within is copyrighted to the originating author(s). Except where elsewhere noted, The Comic Book Net Electronic Magazine is Copyright 1999 by The ComicBook Network. You may freely distribute or retransmit this file intact without alteration for noncommercial purposes only. Except for personal archiving, permission must be obtained from the individual authors to reproduce, retransmit, or publish any part of this magazine. ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] On the Net David LeBlanc Congratulations and best of luck to Rich Johnston. You'll find out why in his column this week. Consolations to Angelo Furlan who has the unique bad fortune of being a customer of PATHCOM. That ISP has decided that NETCOM is the new Evil Empire and have blocked all mail from it for this reason: " The reason is becasue (SIC) at some point we were spammed at least once and it originated from their mail server (ix.netcom.com)." Well, EXCUUUUUSE MEEEEE! Yeah a lot of spam comes from/through Netcom. BUT, most of the spam I get comes from AOL!! Have they banned that mail too?? My advise to Angelo was the same to everyone who ends up at an ISP who won't let the Emag through because it is mailed from Netcom. You can continue to press your case and DEMAND they let you have the Email you want, no matter where it comes from or you can find an ISP who has learned how to play in the big leagues and give their customers what they are paying for. Meanwhile, go read some comics . . . DC COMICS Leave It To Chance #12, 2.95 <-- Pick of the week! Martian Manhunter #7, 1.99 Nevada TPB, 14.95 Preacher #50, 3.75 Tom Strong #1, 3.50 Vext #4, 2.50 Young Justice #9, 2.50 GEMSTONE PUBLISHING Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide Vol 29 Avengers SC, 20.00 Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide Vol 29 Legion SC, 20.00 HURRICANE COMICS Chassis Vol 2 #1-3 Pack With Pinup, 8.95 Nothing more disappointing than hitting the store on the usual day only to find that some of the comics are not shipped yet and will be in the next day. I hate when that happens. David LeBlanc - ComicBkNet@aol.com Editor The Comic Book Net Electronic Magazine ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [2] Letters to the Editor If you want to comment on this or any previous issue, want to offer something for us to publish, or just want to shamelessly suck up to the editor to try and get your name in print send Email to: ComicBkNet@aol.com Note: Letters of comment may be used in future issues of CBEM unless you specifically request us NOT to use them. Your Email address and/or name will be withheld upon request. +++++ From: Phillip White To: David LeBlanc CC: memitch@worldnet.att.net Subject: At odds with Odds & Ends An open letter to CBEM: In last Friday's issue, Eddie Mitchell used the fact that it was the week of April Fools Day to lampoon a fellow columnist. He ended Odds & Ends with a disclaimer labeling the column as a "lame parody and not meant to offend. Much." I disagree. It was overtly intended as a mean spirited slam, not just to the other columnist's format and style, but to his taste in comics. Eddie claims his goal in life is to expose more sadly under- exposed comics to comic readers at large. He then writes a column that ridicules a fellow columnist who, week in and week out, promotes more alternate comics than all of us combined. Who is the true comic book lover here? Columnist's tastes in comics, like fandom at large, varies widely, just as our age, education and social backgrounds differ. Some prefer comics that promote a gay agenda or lifestyle, others enjoy a good old mystery story. Some will only buy a comic in color, some only in black and white, still others have a price point at which they draw the line. No matter, we all have a shared love of the medium as our common denominator here at CBEM. It's my impression that we are here to review, promote, recommend, reminisce, educate, speculate and, yes, debate the merits of comic books, their creators and the industry. We are not here to attack each other's style, ability or preferences. There is such a thing as magnanimity and respect for one's peers. Eddie should recognize and appreciate the things we have in common, rather than attack those with different tastes or writing techniques through cruel parody. Giving him the benefit of the doubt (after all, we cat owners must stick together, too) this may be a case where Eddie executed what he thought would be a clever idea, with little thought to compassion or the hurt that he might inflict on another. Sadly, his column read like an inappropriate demonstration of an elitist attitude of intolerance. As Olive Oil's father was fond of saying, "Someone owes an apology!" Phil White +++++ To: Phillip White , David LeBlanc From: Eddie Mitchell Subject: Evening the odds Re: At odds with Odds & Ends An Open Response to Phil White and CBEM A few years ago, The Comics Journal printed a scathing parody of Peter David's Comics Buyers' Guide column, But I Digress. A while later, they ran a send up of Oh So?, CBG's letter column. Both pieces were pretty brutal and provoked a reaction from some readers. At the time, I wrote them off as another gratuitous potshot in TCJ's simmering feud with CBG. I even wrote a letter to TCJ (which never got printed), expressing some disappointment over the wasted space, which, in my not so humble opinion, could have been better used to further promote comics which are worth reading. I found those TCJ's the other day while doing some cleaning and filing in our office/work room/junk room. I started thumbing through them and ended up re-reading the aforementioned pieces. And while my initial impression still, to an extent, held true, I was also able to see them in a different light. Parody is more than just mocking something. Done well, parody can also be a means to comment on situations or issues which a writer feels need to be addressed. These two TCJ pieces were another way for the magazine to repeat some of the things it has been saying for years, mainly that the state of what passes for writing about comics in America is deplorable, focusing on the most juvenile and trivial aspects of comics in place of more in depth, analytical discussions. I'm not seeking to compare my piddly ass column to TCJ, nor am I claiming anything that magazine has done in the past as either inspiration or justification for last week's April Fool's column. I conceived of "Miscellanea, Odds, and Ends" months ago and had been biding my time, waiting for an appropriate opportunity to submit it to CBEM. What I am trying to say is that what Phil White sees as some sort of mean-spirited exercise in cruelty was, rather, an attempt on my part to use parody to make a comment about the state of the comics industry and comics fandom. Actually, I was making three comments, namely: 1) That there are way too many mediocre rehashes of the same old crap flooding the market 2) That there is way too much bad writing, especially on the Internet, passing itself off as comics reviews, and not nearly enough intelligent writing or serious criticism 3) That the state of comics as an expressive medium, as an artform, and as an industry isn't being helped by either of these situations None of these observations should be new to anyone who has ever read Odds and Ends. I've been saying these things since I started writing the column. Last week, I simply chose another way to say them. I thought it was a good idea at the time and still do. Obviously, as a parody it wasn't totally successful for Mr. White, and for that I am sorry. No one wants to spend time writing a piece only to have it miss its mark. I stated at the end of the column in question that my intention was not to offend. I meant that statement and I still do. I apologize for any offense that may have been taken. However, I disagree with Mr. White on three points. First off, I do not have to claim solidarity with, support for, or respect of things that I find to be badly written or poorly done, be they comics or columns, in order to support comics or be a part of CBEM. In fact, I feel that the opposite is true. I best support comics when I support the best comics. Overall, this is what I've tried to do with Odds and Ends, support that which I find to be worthy of support. The April Fool's column was born out of the realization that sometimes you need to change your tactics to get your message across, or at least to recapture people's attention. If that makes me an "elitist," then so be it. I do prefer, however, the label "opinionated," as I feel this to be a more accurate description. Secondly, while tastes and opinions may and should differ (god knows this would be a boring life if they didn't), there was nothing in "Miscellanea, Odds, and Ends" that put down or attacked anybody for having a different view. That was neither intended nor written, and, in fact, Odds and Ends has gone out of the way from the beginning to support differences of opinion and taste. I stated in the first column that any comments I might make about a particular genre should never be taken as a comment directed at a person for liking that genre. I pick at comics, not people. Many reviewers can't say that, including the one parodied last week. Anybody who felt attacked for liking certain kinds of comics is taking things far too seriously and reading a personal message into the piece that was never intended to be there. As to the merits of the column that was the object of the parody, Mr. White and I will just have to agree to disagree. I do not personally know that author of that column, though I am sure he is a decent human being (most of us are, after all). I do have an opinion about the quality of his work, and have actually stated it a couple of times in another forum. Last week, I chose to use that opinion to make broader comments about the state of comics through parody. I don't feel that there is anything else to say on this particular matter in a public forum, although I would gladly discuss this with either Mr. White or the author of that column in private mail. Finally, I wish to state my appreciation to David LeBlanc, CBEM editor, for running "Miscellanea, Odds, and Ends." I wrote him a note when I sent it in letting him know that I would understand and would not be offended if he chose not to use it. I applaud him and am grateful that he chose to run something that could be considered a bit "edgy." I also wish to thank Mr. White for weighing in with his viewpoint, even if we're probably not going to see eye to eye on this matter. After all, like he said, we cat owners have to stick together. ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [3] [TRIVIA CONTEST] **THE FIRST PLACE TO FIND THE EMAG EACH WEEK IS ON OUR HOME PAGE!** IF YOU ARE DESPERATE TO WIN THE TRIVIA, GO THERE FIRST ON FRIDAY NIGHT http://members.aol.com/ComicBkNet/emag.htm QUESTION OF THE WEEK (Prizes donated by THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT - Worcester, MA) (DC COMICS & DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS, INC.) +Submit your own trivia and win the CHEEZY PRIZE(tm) if you can stump+ +the readers! You MUST submit the correct answer with your question.+ LAST ISSUE'S QUESTION OF THE WEEK: >What was the name of the drug that brought Batman out of his coma after >being attacked by Bane? Martin Scherer hit the trivia jackpot (BIG GAME fever) with the knowledge that Decadron helped BATMAN recover. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION: Who first appeared in Werewolf by Night #32? IMPORTANT RULES NOTICE The first correct answer to reach the editor wins the CHEEZY PRIZE(tm). The editor will be the sole judge as to which guess arrived first! Messages with more than one guess will be disqualified. LIMIT: ONE PRIZE PER MONTH PER PERSON! ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [4] Network Buzz News, gossip and rumors from around the industry NEWS: Alter-Ego goes solo Special Announcement! Alter-Ego is going solo! After 6 issues of co-publication with Comic Book Artist, Alter Ego will spin off into it's own independent magazine published by TOMorrow's and edited by Roy Thomas. An "80-Page Giant", Alter-Ego will feature a new cover by Jerry Ordway. The following highlights are from the first issue: Stan Lee gets roasted: A tribute to the Marvel founder from Chicago Comicon 1995, notably by Julie Schwartz The Unseen Wonder Woman: An unused chapter of a JSA story featuring Wonder Woman by Gardner Fox An interview with Irwin Hasen, penciller for Green Lantern and All-Star Roy and Jerry Ordway revisit Infinity Inc. Plus special features Micheal Gilbert, Grass Green and Bill Schelly. Subscriptions are $20 for 4 issues from TwoMorros 1812 Park Drive Raleigh. NC 27605 Phone:919-833-8092 Fax: 919-833-8023 E-mail: twomorrows@aol.com http://www.twomorrows.com +++++ MTV REAL WORLDER TO WRITE BOOK HONORING PEDRO ZAMORA Judd Winick, known to the fans of MTV's THE REAL WORLD as the nice Guy cartoonist from the show's third season based in San Francisco, has signed with HENRY HOLT, Inc., to publish a moving memoir about his friendship with fellow cast member Pedro Zamora, who died of an AIDS-related illness the day after the show's last episode aired. Zamora was a nationally recognized AIDS activist and educator who achieved vastly greater recognition after he began appearing on the MTV real-life soap opera in 1994. In the year after Pedro's death, Winick and fellow cast member Pam Ling (then a medical student, now a doctor) picked up Zamora's mantle and lectured on his behalf around the country. Now, Winick tells the troubling and inspiring story of their friendship, his education, and the loss of his close friend in an unorthodox book done entirely in the form of cartoons and illustration. "It's essentially a graphic novel, words and pictures." Winick says, though he acknowledges that, unlike most other graphic novels, this one is non-fiction. He admits that he was devastated by his friend's death. "It took me a number of years to find the proper distance, and be able to write about this, and as the fifth anniversary of Pedro's passing approached, it felt like the right time." Of course he turned to the form of writing that came naturally to him. "The great thing about Judd's story is that it is simply a great story. If it were prose, it would be a powerful memoir." Said Marc Aronson of Henry Holt. "His talent as an illustrator only makes it that much more accessible and immediate. It is a great privilege for me to work on the book with him." Placement of the book with Henry Holt was handled by Jill Kneerim of The Palmer & Dodge Agency. The as yet untitled work has been slated for release in fall 2000. Winick has spent the last two years writing a syndicated comic strip, FRUMPY THE CLOWN, but ended the strip in favor of doing graphic novels and comics. "I found daily comic strips to be limiting, not just in length and size formats or language, but creatively. I just didn't find the strip fulfilling. Working on this book about Pedro clarified that. I wanted to be a story-teller." His current work, the critically acclaimed comic book mini-series for IMAGE COMICS, will be on the shelves this March, April, and May. THE ADVENTURES OF BARRY WEEN, BOY GENIUS is the continuing tale of a foul-mouthed ten-year-old with a 350 I.Q. A follow-up comic mini-series of BARRY WEEN is in the works as well. +++++ Ultimate Sports, Inc. Announces Shareholder Approval to Acquire AllStar Arena Entertainment LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 7, 1999--Ultimate Sports, Inc., (OTC BB:ULSP), formerly known as Neurochemical Research International Corp., announced today shareholder approval to acquire AllStar Arena Entertainment, a publisher and marketer of sports-related comic books. The closing of the transaction is scheduled for today. AllStar Arena Entertainment has successfully published several comic books featuring animated cartoon Superheroes based on Superstar athletes who battle evil villains, slay monster trolls and make the world a safer place. AllStar introduced their officially licensed characters to the world under the banner, "The Ultimate Sports Force." Current titles include Major League Baseball's greatest Home Run hitters Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, along with Jeff Bagwell and David Justice, who together defend the planet in "Cosmic Slam," and NBA Superstar Karl Malone in the futuristic sci-fi adventure "The Mailman." A full series of Baseball titles, licensed by the Major League Baseball Player's Association, will be released throughout the summer including: "The Shortstop Squad" featuring Cal Ripken, Jr., Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez and "Super Sluggers" with Ken Griffey, Jr., Barry Bonds and Mike Piazza. "The Professional athletes already have name and face recognition, so now we are taking them from Heroes to Superheroes," said Rick Licht, President of Ultimate Sports. "The kids and the fans love it...and so do the players, in fact, the athletes are so excited to be immortalized in this manner that they demand `When my character goes on TV, I want do my own voice!'" Ultimate Sports Inc. is currently negotiating to acquire the rights to the NFL Football Players, NHL Hockey Players and WNBA Women's Basketball Players. The company is in the process of developing ancillary marketing opportunities based on the comic book properties including the merchandising of action figures, video games, Internet ventures as well as film and television projects. Ultimate Sports, Inc. is located at 5410 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 611, Los Angeles, CA 90036. CONTACT: Noble House of Boston, Inc., Casselberry, Fla. Public Relations Firm Rob Karbowsky 888-217-2553 +++++ From the SPLASH page at www.comicon.con NEW DIAMOND CONTROVERSY! DIAMOND SUDDENLY A BIG PLAYER IN TOYS! Lost amid all the hubbub in the comics industry over Diamond Comic Distributors' recent moves into internet retailing, was an announcement of possibly greater significance regarding Diamond's move into toy manufacturing. On March 12, Diamond announced it had formed a new company, DIAMOND SELECT TOYS AND COLLECTIBLES, whose goal, it said in a press release, is to "promote comics through mass market toys". Diamond says it will work with "various established toy companies" such as Hasbro, McFarlane Toys, Resaurus,Moore Action Collectibles, Toy Biz, Warner Bros Toys to "develop, manufacture, and market toy products related to comic books and associated pop culture media." In addition, Diamond said it would also "develop its own line of toys from scratch, truly aimed at the collectors' market." The company said it planned to "sell toys to the comic book specialty market as well as to selected mass market outlets." Diamond Select intends to offer between 3 and 5 products a month. The move is significant, because by forming a toy manufacturing arm, Diamond puts itself in direct competition with its existing suppliers of toy products for licenses, retail space, and a very finite amount of retail and consumer dollars. In addition, by offering these products outside the Direct Sales Market, Diamond enters into direct competition with its own retail outlets. It is an open secret in the industry that Diamond has long operated as a hidden hand in toy manufacturing, providing manufacturing capital, shipping perks and special catalog placement to toy companies. How these dealings will be affected by Diamond taking a more proactive role is anyone's guess, but it would appear that Diamond would enjoy a competitive advantage in the acquisition of licensed properties and in the promotion and marketing of their products. With control of its competitors' discounts and visibility in the PREVIEWS catalog, along with the ability to market aggressively and with smaller risk, the well-financed Diamond Select instantly assumes the role of dominant player in the specialty market for toys. And if the past is any indication, the future does not bode well for companies trying to compete while dependent on Diamond for distribution into the market. Similarly, retailers will be confronted with comics related toys, once exclusive to the Direct Sales Market, appearing in mass market outlets, possibly at discount prices. With the decline in comic sales (down another 9% last year) and the phenomenal growth in the toy market (up a whopping 74% last year!), it's easy to see what is luring Diamond down a path to direct competition with its captive suppliers and retailers. Still, the move is sure to create controversy and possibly even more anti-trust problems for a company which already has a virtual hammerlock on all comics sold in specialty shops and who's recent moves into internet retailing of comics have some people accusing it of unfair competition. On top of that, the spectre of glut, which has always followed behind explosive growth in the collectible market, haunts all the players. No retailer wants to get stuck with a store full of expensive and unsalable action figures in the same way they did with comics during the Black and White glut of the 80's or the Color glut of the 90's. +++++ COMICS 2 FILM at Website: http://www.comics2film.com Ain't it Cool News claims that Batman Beyond may get the feature film treatment. According a recent article, Paul Dini will writing writing a Batman Beyond feature that he and Bruce Timm will produce. The movie will be targeted for a direct-to-video release in late 2000. http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/ FROM CINESCAPE: Although the recent Marvel/Sony settlement has paved the way for a big-budget Spider-Man movie, there's still one loose end dangling. Viacom's claims to the television distribution rights were the only legal loose-end not taken care of by the settlement. Cinescape reminds us that the trial to resolve that issue starts today, April 6th, in Los Angeles Superior Court. http://www.cinescape.com Spider-Man Unlimited -------------------- FROM DETROIT NEWS COMIC BOOK CONTINUUM: The Detroit News Comic Book Continuum recently reported on the progress of the upcoming animated series, Spider-Man Unlimited. In addition to Carnage and Venom, the show will feature other slightly altered Marvel characters according to producer Will Meugniot. "Some of the other Marvel characters appearing in the series will be Machine Man, the High Evolutionary, the Green Goblin, the Vulture and everybody's favorite assassinating cyborg, Deathlok," Meugniot told the Continuum. "Just bear in mind that Spidey is on a new world and everyone might be a tad different." The show will be tied to the previous Spider-Man animated program, but to what extent hasn't been decided yet. "We're still sorting out how much of the old series' continuity is canon," Meugniot told the Continuum. "On one hand, we'd all like this series to be a distinct entity, but on the other, the old series is still airing and we don't want to cause its viewers any distress." The producer also commented on the similarity between the new costume design, and the one that appeared in the Spider-Man 2099 comics. "When the decision was made that Spider-Man Unlimited would be a radical departure from the previous series, there was some discussion of using the Spider-Man 2099 series as the stepping-off point. As Unlimited's development went on, all us of realized that we wanted to do a show that centered around Peter Parker, so the 2099 storyline was abandoned. However, the costume design, which is based on the 2099 styling, stayed with the production." +++++ From the Comics Continuum of the Detroit News at http://www.detnews.com/metro/hobbies/comix/ Mr. Majestic, the new DC Comics/WildStorm Production series starring the character from WildC.A.T.s, is being targeted for a July launch. The series will be written by Joe Casey and Brian Holguin, with art for the first six issues by future Superman artist Ed McGuinness and Jason Martin. MARVEL'S PRANK Marvel Comics announced on Friday that it will not publish a Spider-Man/X-Men mini-series, and its press release on Thursday was "an April Fool's prank" perpetrated by Marvel's interactive department. The Continuum was one of several websites to use the press release. A Continuum reporter, trying to confirm the press release on Thursday through Marvel's public relations department, was put through to John Cerilli in the Marvel interactive department. A request to use artwork that Marvel had on the "project" was acknowledged by Cerilli, and The Continuum used the item in its Friday report. Once made aware of the prank, The Continuum immediately removed the story. Cerilli said Friday that he thought The Continuum understood the joke and there was a miscommunication. "I apologize to you and to your readers," Cerilli said on Friday. "It was a prank, an April Fool's joke. Again, I can't apologize enough." Scott Lobdell takes over as writer and Ed Benes as penciller of Gen13 with #45. Plans involve Grunge being transformed into a giant ape and a new group of super-foes. The double-sized Gen13 #50 will reveal a traitor to the team. +++++ From the ComicWire Mike Deodato has a new series coming in August from Image. JADE WARRIORS is his own creation. "I developed it with David Campiti, who in turn worked on it with Mike Buckley," Deodato told 4 Color Review (http://4colorreview.simplenet.com/) last week. "Essentially I said, 'Everything that the fans wanted to see in 'Elektra' from me and didn't get to see, let's put it in 'Jade Warriors.' So that's what we did. A gorgeous gal cursed with a terrible power is part of an all-female Yakuza-controlled assassination cult in Japan. She splits, and the punishment for leaving is death, so her former compatriots are out to slice and dice. That's just the tip of the iceberg. It's beautiful to look at - I'm spending a LOT of time on it - it's got fabulous babes, great action set pieces, exotic locations, some really far-reaching, mythic lore. A guy named Troy Nunis offered suggestions for some of the mythic stuff. I even get to draw dragons! Yeah, I think the fans will like this a lot." The outgoing LEGION of SUPER HEROES teams plan to wrap up at least two plots before moving on; the identities of Invisible Kid's friend and correspondent "C" and the identity of the gay Legionnaire. +++++ From The Daily Buzz at http://www.mania.com/newsarama/index.html Witchblade, the TV series, has been put on hold by TNT until next year. Reportedly, the network "wants to make sure that the series is ready to go" citing 2000 as a good year to introduce it. This June DC's Vertigo imprint will bring the world Happydale, described by writer Andrew Dabb as "Twin Peaks meets the Andy Griffith Show with a dash of Tarantino. Happydale will be released as a two-issue prestige format mini-series with letters by Bob Lappan and colors by Laura Allred. Responding to posted reports, Preacher editor Axel Alanzo confirmed that the acclaimed series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon will soon be facing its final days. While Alanzo says that naming the specific final issue of the series is premature at this point, following this week's Preacher #50, Ennis will endeavor to ties up the series' loose ends, including reuniting Jesse with Tulip, the revelation of Cassidy's true history and identity as well as the final internal power struggle of the Grail organization. Alanzo also said that while it looks like the series may end in the mid to late #60s, it may run a couple of issues more or less, depending on how the final arc plays out. Additionally, Alanzo said that Ennis is working on a Tulip one shot special, which will most likely be his final Preacher special. A Sex Detectives special was at one time in the works, however, it was axed due to its edginess. The Man Without Fear will face a new foe-The Cutter-in a new Marvel novel entitled The Cutting Edge, coming next month, Marvel Novel Editor Keith DeCandido said in a Usenet post. Daredevil takes on the Cutter while Matt Murdock deals with a corporate threat to Hell's Kitchen. The book will feature illustrations by Max Douglas (X-Men: Law Of The Jungle). Also coming: * Spider-Man: Goblin Moon by Kurt Busiek and Nathan Archer; * A trilogy, X-Men & The Avengers: Gamma Quest from Greg Cox, author of the "Q Continuum" trilogy, which has the two teams and the incredible Hulk going up against the global threat of the Leader. Illustrations are by Avengers artist George Perez; * A paperback reprint of last year's X-Men: Codename Wolverine by Christopher Golden (author of the X-Men: Mutant Empire trilogy), as a mission from Wolverine's past comes back to haunt him in the present. Also featuring Sabretooth, Mystique, the Black Widow, Banshee, and Maverick. Illustrations are by Transmetropolitan's Darick Robertson, with a cover by Luis Royo. * Spider-Man: Emerald Mystery, a kind-of Raymond-Chandler-meets-Stan-Lee story in which Spidey teams up with a private detective to stop a very strange murderer. There's more information at DeCandido's Web site, http://www.sff.net/people/FrantsDeCandido/marvel.htm. +++++ From Newsarama; http://www.AnotherUniverse.com/newsarama WINNER OF THE 1997 & 1998 INTERNET "SQUIDDY" FOR BEST WEB SITE According to posts on DC Comic online message boards (www.dccomics.com), at the recent Comics 99 United Kingdom convention, DC Group Editor Dan Raspler was attributed to naming Dan Jurgens as Aquaman's post-Erik Larsen writer for at least six issues. While we haven't confirmed the actual source of that info Jurgens confirmed the actual rumor for us Thursday afternoon and added, "It may go beyond six issues if we all agree on the direction of the book. I think all parties see it as permanent." Jurgens believes his run will begin with issue #63 (Nov.) immediately following Larsen's exit with #62. Marvel editor Ralph Macchio confirmed this week that he is developing a new Blade ongoing series scheduled to debut on September 9th of this year. The series will be Marvel's 2nd attempt at an ongoing Blade series in a year, as in 1998 a project by writer Don McGregor and penciler Brian Hagan originally intended as an ongoing series was cut down to a 6-issue mini-series and then finally published as a 3-issue mini. - Just a few days after Awesome Comics' Rob Liefeld announced that the publisher would immediately discontinue its recently instituted "guaranteed shipping" policy (as some of the first projects covered under the guarantee, Alan Moore's Awesome Universe Handbook and The Fighting American, have been delayed due to various reasons), another publisher with a spotty on-time track record announced that it will soon begin offering retailers the on-time guarantee. Top Cow's Dave Wohl tell us that they will begin to institute the policy over the next few months, "after we show the retailers and fans that we are already definitely committed to getting our books out on-time again!" As Wohl explained, The Darkness and Ascension will both ship every 3 weeks for a few upcoming issues to get each title back on schedule. "We've been working on catching up for a while now, so the quality will NOT diminish," promised Wohl. "We know nobody wants to see rushed out issues with sub-par art." No word on how or if this policy will affect Michael Turner's creator-owned Fathom. +++++ From Zentertainment; HTTP://WWW.ZENTERTAINMENT.COM To sign a friend up or begin receiving ZEN yourself, e-mail SeanJordan@aol.com and say SUBSCRIBE. Sources tell ZEN that production has halted on a CATWOMAN animated direct-to-video movie so that the entire animated BATMAN team can concentrate on a direct-to-video BATMAN BEYOND movie. HBO will air the six episodes from the first season of Todd McFarlane's animated SPAWN series on Friday, May 21st, at midnight, followed by the six season two episodes on May 22nd. A new, third season then premieres on Sunday the 23rd at midnight, and new episodes will continue to air every night at midnight through the following Friday, May 28th. +++++ From the DCOnline newsletter; http://www.dccomics.com/newsletter.html To subscribe, or for questions or comments about the DC newsletter, please email DCWebSite@aol.com. ONLINE THIS WEEK Vertigo fans! We've added three new previews to the B&W Advances area at dccomics.com. Sample choice pages from THE DREAMING #39, HAPPY DALE: DEVILS IN THE DESERT, and THE SANDMAN PRESENTS: LOVE STREET #1, with more to come next week. Coloring fans! Don't forget to check out the downloadable April coloring pages at dckids.com, featuring Batman Beyond! NEWS BYTES DC SCORES AT 1998 UK NATIONAL COMICS AWARDS The 3rd annual UK National Comics Awards were given out this past weekend at the Swallow Royal Hotel in Bristol, England, and DC projects and talent walked away with six awards. Honored were SUPERMAN FOR ALL SEASONS for Best Individual Story/Graphic Novel, Batman in a tie with Judge Dredd for Best Character, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN for Best New Comic (International), PREACHER for Best Comic (International), Bob Kane for Roll of Honour, and Alex Ross for Best Artist. ANIMATION EPISODE SCHEDULE THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN ADVENTURES airs weekdays and Saturdays on the WB Network, and BATMAN BEYOND airs Saturdays. Times given are Eastern and Pacific. This schedule is subject to change. 4/12/99 (4:00 pm) -- "Almost Got 'Im!" (Batman) 4/12/99 (4:30 pm) -- "On Leather Wings" (Batman) 4/13/98 (4:00 pm) -- "Catwalk" (Batman) 4/13/99 (4:30 pm) -- "The Prometheon" (Superman) 4/14/99 (4:00 pm) -- "The Main Man -- Part I" (Superman) 4/14/99 (4:30 pm) -- "The Main Man -- Part II" (Superman) 4/15/99 (4:00 pm) -- "Sins of the Father" (Batman) 4/15/99 (4:30 pm) -- "Fun and Games" (Superman) 4/16/99 (4:00 pm) -- "Identity Crisis" (Superman) 4/16/99 (4:30 pm) -- "You Scratch My Back" (Batman) 4/17/99 (8:00 am) -- "Torch Song" (Batman) 4/17/99 (8:30 am) -- "Knight Time" (Superman) 4/17/99 (9:30 am) -- "Meltdown" (Batman Beyond) ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [5] Ramblings 99 Rich Johnston twisting@hotmail.com [Renamed for the new year, Ramblings 99 continues to spread confirmed and unconfirmed news and rumours. It welcomes comment, especially comment that clarifies, refutes and corrects information already disseminated. Rich Johnston is an advertising copywriter, co-self publisher of Twist And Shout Comics, BBC comedy writer and comics columnist. He currently lives in South London, England. His column can be found online at: http://www.twistandshoutcomics.com All Ramblings e-mail received will be considered public domain and may be quoted.] This column is RUMOUR. Do not take anything here seriously. These RUMOURS are presented here as GOSSIP for their ENTERTAINMENT value. Dateline: 07 April 1999 What happened at Comics 99? Lots, from a number of canal falls, Kev Sutherland's impersonations of Alan Partridge, Dez Skinn's destructive award collection, the Class Of '79 organised vote wiping the boards, Scott Dunbier's greasy hand, the panel with more people in the audience that on stage, Dave Stone not getting burnt by anyone and Grant Morrison's exhibit of his martial fighting skills. Before The Watershed Firstly I managed to sit in the retailer's Diamond Conference part of Comics 99 without being a retailer. So did Phil Winslade, we chatted, swapped notes and talked about the possibility of doing a project together. I must admit, I'd love him to draw Dirtbag or The Piper in a style closer to Goddess. Okay, so what's happening in the industry? Well, the UK scene seems to be surviving better than the US but not too much. Important figures include: Total US Sales 1998 down 3% on 1997. Total UK Sales 1998 down 1.4% on 1997. So we're contracting at half the rate of the US. Mind you, we've got much less to contract. Now, as to comics: Comics US Sales 1998 down 9% on 1997. Comics UK Sales 1998 down 3.5% on 1997. Ouch. Well, again, the UK is doing better than the US percentage wise. Remember, this is all from Diamond's figures, which probably include Capital if they were still around. Distributors such as Cold Cut, FM and Red Route are picking up a lot of reorder business that Diamond seems unwilling to address. Now, amongst the stats were some significant shifts. Toys US Sales 1998 up 74% on 1997. Impressive huh? You'd think... Toys UK Sales 1998 up 800% on 1997. Now, Diamond are budgeting a 3% fall in business in 1999... however, the first three weeks of 1998 have brought figures 3% higher than expected. Could the industry be about the buck the expectations? Here's hoping. Okay, you've had your stats, let's look at the news. Akirakakaka.... Looks like Hamlin might be following up its previous Akira black and white phonebook series. The Best Laid Plans... Strangely, Titan will be issuing the Star Wars Graphic Novel alongside Dark Horse on May 19th... especially since we get the film on July 16th. Hmmm.... Maverick Makeup Maverick... okay Ramblings broke this story originally (thanks for the mention, Mike) but who is actually making up the line? It currently stands as Frank Miller's Sin City, Jason Pearson's Body Bags, Sergio Aragones' Groo, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo, Christain Gassett's The Red Star, Harvey Pekar's American Splendour, Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey, Mike Mignola's Hellboy, Gary Gianni's Monstermen, Rich Tomnaso's The Honor of Collier County, whatever Mike Allred is up to and probably more that I forgot. But will the name survive? Apparently Warner Brothers have reminded Dark Horse that they own the name to the film... Never mind, I'm sure the logos will still be around, each artist reinterpreting the Dark Horse logo in their own style. Sin City: Hell And Back will have at least 9 issues. But may have more. And we can look forward to Lobster Johnson drawn by Matt Smith in Hellboy. Good to see Mike and Matt have made up. Ryan Benjamin Joins Ghost Oh, and Ryan Benjamin is joining Ghost. Danger Grilled Bob Wayne takes the stand and we get some news on Cliffhanger... expect Battlechasers 6 at the end of April, the next Crimson in 6 weeks and Danger Girl... well, the toys will be nice won't they? Storm Trek Wildstorm are doing Star Trek books, as a series of mini-series and one-offs. But will they be available in the UK market... looks like the grey market with a little help from Red Route should get involved. Pugh More Look forward to Superman vs Predator by Alan Grant and Steve Pugh. Pugh is also working on a New Gods story with Jamie Delano... and it's one without boom tubes. Expect a much more depressing version with this one. JLHey! The Grant Morrison/Frank Quitely JLA graphic novel story that we broke months ago? It involves Earth 2, and is basically Grant doing his favourite Silver Age story, with the Crime Syndicate looming large. End Of The World Vertigo V2K, DC's end of 1999 fifth week event will include pre-millennial mian by Howard Chaykin, William Messner Loebs, Kyle Baker Tom Peyer and more. Baker's I Die At Midnight tells the story about a guy who takes enough pills to kill himself just before his lost girlfriend comes back to him. Batman Beyond On British Telly Britain gets Batman Beyond on the television in August/September time. Davis Of Future Past During the Marvel/Alan Davis (he was the only Marvel employee who turned up) panel that I was on, Davis confirmed a few things. Firstly the Magneto-Genosha story was nothing to do with Alan and he requested the Magneto Rex book so that he wouldn't have to do it. Earlier in the day, I'd heard that Scott Dunbier wanted Davis to do Wildstorm work, I asked about the possibility. Davis stated that he had bad feelings about Wildstorm as there was a WildCATS: Year One project by Davis and Robinson sitting in a Wildstorm drawer for over four years. In a later Wildstorm panel, Scott confirmed this project existed prior to his arrival at Wildstorm and that its publication delay was due to continuity problems. He hoped to clear the air with Davis during the con. He also mentioned that Davis almost did another book for Wildstorm when the X-Men deal was getting "choppy". Scott Stops The Rot Dunbier also entertained the crowd with an account of his day "9.30 wake up calls to Jeff Cambell and Joe Madueria", and wouldn't confirm the Bachalo Cliffhanger book title(or even confirm the Joe Kelly as writer rumour). But we are getting a Stormwatch TPB. Wild Stories Wildstorm will be doing Speed Racer comics, Adam Warren is writing two issues on Gen 13 (33 and 34) as well as working for an 80 page eclectic anthology from Wildstorm. DV8 is cancelled from issue 32 As for the Star Trek books, Dunbier was tight lipped, other than to say that anyone who usually works on Star Trek won't get a look in. So no Peter David then... Edge Of The Ledge Official Vertigo stuff wasn't hard to come by. Preacher ends at issue 66 but we have a Preacher Special after that involving French people eating horses. Shelly was very excited about Veils coming out in December, a 96 page photo/computer enhanced/painted book as well as the new Swamp Thing book with a teenage Tefe for December/January. We'll also be getting another Lucifer mini-series. Steve Dillon was very excited by the Preacher toys, especially the glowing-eyed, removable-eye patched Jesse Custer as well as the new series of Preacher PVC figures. No Invisibles figures... sigh. Jamie Delano's working on the afore-mentioned New Gods book, as well as a future John Constantine story set in 2020, probably with Chris Weston, called either The Bastard (Delano's preferred choice) or The Last Royal (Vertigo's preferred choice). He's also working on The Great Satan, a monthly book that shows immortal American archetypal heroes (but not super ones). Joy! And there is a motivation, if not yet, to bring back the letters pages. The BBC Invisibles isn't happening.. apparently the BBC believe that people can't understand what telepathy is. Thankfully Channel 4 don't feel that way... Beneath The Surface. Now for some rumours and speculation based on recent e-mails and half heard mutterings in bars. Scott Dunbier is rounding up a whole host of established talent to work on America's Best Comics, from Glenn Fabry on a cowboy book, Gary Frank on Tom Strong, possibly Dave Gibbons, possibly Dave Lloyd.... look for almost everyone who has worked with Moore returning... could this be what Scott Dunbier wanted Davis for? Also look for Alan Moore's Deathblow book with Jim Baikie to come out in August. I hear Scott will be visiting Alan later this week, so look forward to more news after these two minds meet. Away from all the different DC B+W previews, I managed to get a glimpse of a colour mockup of League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. And it keeps it up as the guys go to Chinatown. And the greasepaint covered Invisible Man is really horrible. I was also told that the Sergeant Rock book by Ennis was cancelled as Ennis had to give it up, citing that he couldn't write other people's characters these days... although one mischievous insider speculated that this was just an opportunity to delay the project until Carlos Esquerra could come on board. Innocent Bystander is merging with another, yet unnamed self published title in an attempt to reach new sales heights. So why is Aria so late? Some observers might speculate that it is Jay Alcedo (real name Efran) that's holding the book back. However, we hear that he told Portacio and Holguin that he couldn't do a monthly book and might manage a bi-monthly to start with. And he hasn't been getting script as fast as he'd like either. Honey Trap And now, my favourite tidbit. The Hive. That's four books, 38 pages each in prestige format filled with short strips, articles, bits and bobs, created by The Hive or Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Tom Peyer and Mark Waid to you and me, or the guys who I reported were up for taking over the Superman books last year. It's from Vertigo, sometime soonish. Okay, that's it for me. I fly out on Wednesday evening for South Africa to get married on Saturday. I may try to do an update from a cybercafe while I'm there but it's unlikely. ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [6] Interview by Paul Dale Roberts Silhouet9@aol.com Interview with William Christensen Editor in Chief of Avatar Press Inc. Comics Question: Before we conduct this interview, please tell us something personal about yourself. Maybe about where you were born and raised, schools attended, family life, etc. WM - I was raised right here in Champaign/Urbana IL, the land of cows and corn. I went to school here and I attended the University of Illinois, also in town. My personal life? Avatar consumes pretty much ALL of my time! However, I am an avid movie fan, and I also have three giant dogs, an Akita, a German Shepard, and a Neopolitan Mastiff. Question: What was the first comic book you ever read? WM - Tough one. I have read a lot of comics and had read virtually every Marvel book published since Fantastic Four #1 by the time I was 16 or 17. I think my first book was an issue of the FF, very early 200's. Question: How did you get into the comic book industry? WM - It started as a fun job after school in a local comic shop that went totally out of control! That led to starting my own shop, which led to writing for the old Overstreet monthly price update, which led to writing for Wizard (which I did monthly for over five years). At that point I had sort of developed a high enough profile in the industry that people paid attention when I pitched ideas and what have you. I had small but significant editorial gigs at Chaos! and London Night Studios before starting Avatar. Question: For readers not familiar with Avatar Press, can you briefly tell us something about the comic books you publish? WM - Avatar offers one of the largest ranges of high-quality independent comics on the market today. We are best known for publishing Tim Vigil and David Quinn's new projects (Faust/777: The Wrath) and our flagship character Pandora, but we also publish Creed and the smash humor sensation The Goon. So from humor and all ages, to adult product, we have all the publishing bases covered! Question: To get more information about Avatar Press, do you have a snail mail address, email address or heck, even a website? If you do have a website, what is the URL address? WM - Our kick-ass website is at www.avatarpress.com. Fans can register there for our monthly Avatar E-Zine, which is sent out free and has cool information on our titles as well as editorials by our top creators. We can always be reached by snail mail at Avatar Press, 9 Triumph Dr, Urbana, IL 61802. Question: Tell us something about the creators artists of Avatar Press? WM - Well, they are an incredibly wide range of talent. The common trait is they are all the best in their fields. Trevlin Utz's (Donna Mia) greyscale pencil work continues to garner acclaim from fans and professionals alike. Jacen Burrows (Quantum Mechanics) is new to Avatar but jaws drop every time we show off his pencils. Eric Powell's Goon is as funny as anything else published today. Sean Shaw (Nature Girl in Raw Media) used to work for Wildstorm and DC, but came to Avatar with his amazing pencil and inks due to the creative freedom we gave him. He is our Milo Manara. Of course, we can't forget Tim Vigil, arguably the most influential artist working in independents today. Simply a living legend. With over forty freelancers all working here at Avatar Press, I am sure we have assembled one of the finest team of artists published today, by any company! Question: Will there be any intercompany crossovers with established Avatar Press characters? WM - Yes, but you know how this goes, I can't spill the beans too early in the game. I can tell you that the long-awaited Pandora/Razor crossover comes out in July. It features the stunning pencils of Rick Lyon and will certainly have fans screaming for more by the end (and yes, there will be more). We did the Pandora/Shotgun Mary book last year, and that was well received. We are talking to two different publishers about crossovers at this time, but I would really like to hear some input from the fans. Who else should we crossover with? Please e-mail me at avatar@net66.com. Question: What movies, tv shows, cartoons do you like? WM - Well, I am a huge movie watcher, so I see a very wide range of material. My favorites are always huge budget special effect films, just 'cause I love the spectacle of it all. Starship Troopers is about as good as it gets in my book. Question: What do you think of the comic industry (pro and con)? WM - I love comics. If you are on the business end these days for any other reason, you are a fool. But I have an amazing amount of faith in the medium, I think that comics can bring lots to the party that no other artform can. I am a firm believer that we need to offer a wide range of genres to consumers so that they have other things to choose from besides super-heroes. The industry needs help, but it is very tough to determine the best way to fix things. I love the fact that DC and Marvel are pushing hard for new kids. They are obviously important, but very expensive to reach. That is a rich-man's game right now, and I wish them the best of luck. Avatar is appealing to older readers who are looking for something different than what they have seen so far. Perhaps they used to be comic collectors, but gave up because they didn't find material that appealed to them anymore, of perhaps they are Generation Y who wants a product that has a hard edge, not a silly safe-dangerous title. Like young adults who started out on Image books and are looking to graduate to something else. Question: What books do you read? WM - I love Garth Ennis and Warren Ellis. Anything they do gets a read from me. I will be sure to check out any art from Milo Manara, Glen Fabry, David Finch and J.Scott Campbell. And obviously I am quite fond of the creators working for me. I try to stay current on titles from almost every publisher. Question: If you were stranded on an island what 3 items would you bring with you and why? WM - Satellite phone (call for help from anywhere in the world), GPS tracking device (tell them exactly where I am), Katie Holmes (ummm...entertainment, this is imaginary right?) Oh yeah, can I get some beer as well? Question: Where is Avatar Press headed and why? WM - To the top of the world! Why? Because we are not hindered by needless staff, small thinkers, or close-minded conservatives. Our talent is second to none, and our ambition is simply unmatched. Question: Well, this winds up the interview, is there anything you would like to comment on? WM - Not that comes to mind, thanks for your time Paul! ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [7] HAD YOUR PHIL? PHIL WHITE ogre4@earthlink.net [Phil White has contributed articles and cartoons to Comic Buyer's Guide, Wizard and Cinefantastique. He has written comic books for Americomics (AC) and Mattel Toy Company and has self-published comic books featuring his own characters, including Ogre, Felony, and the acclaimed "I Hunt." He supports his comic book hobby, and his family, as director of marketing and sales with a medium sized software and remote data-entry company in Southern California.] The end is near! Be warned, children of comics, that a Wednesday approaches when you will not be able to buy any new comics... not from your neighborhood retailer, your subscription service, your mail order catalog or from anyone who's name ends in .com! The year 2000 (Y2K) computer bug challenge may be portrayed in comic book stories, and elsewhere, as leading to a total breakdown of civilization and a dystopian future like that depicted in Mad Max, The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome. But, the truth is even more frightening. You see, software programs with that fixed date of 1900+ run the German and Japanese built four-color presses used to print comics for American publishers. Software with the same dating limitation runs the IBM mainframes and PC network systems used by publishers and, more importantly, the distributor(s) who order, track, rout, ship and bill comic books. UPS and the Post Office are no different, making delivery of new and back stock from warehouses impossible. Even comic shop owners with computerized cash registers will be unable to ring up sales when these dates send computer systems crashing worldwide. It gets even worse, as demonstrated in this AP (Absolutely Phony) story. Washington, DC -- The Clincher White House issued a statement today saying that, while there is no reason for comic book buyers to panic, there is a slight possibility that a temporary state of chaos may grip the entire comics industry as a result of the Y2K problem. Unnamed sources inside the President's staff have suggested that beneath this public rhetoric of false bravado is growing concern that several weeks without any new comics on the stands may lead to the mass suicide by fan boys everywhere. "Without this fan boy customer base," said one official, "we could very well witness a domino effect starting with the displacement of retailers, then distributors, then publishers with their writers, artists, editors and production staffs, then printers and advertisers. It just might lead to the total collapse of an industry that relies on comic books with their lucrative licensing deals." At the very least, there is legitimate concern that computer problems might result in the absence of comics for up to two months. In a press conference, White House Spokesman, Randy Burger, said, "There is really no reason for alarm, just yet. However, the President has always maintained that true comic book collectors should stock at least two months worth of new, unread comics for just such situations. So, we are recommending readers purchase a couple hundred new comics prior to New Year's Eve 1999. That way they'll have something new to read if, and I emphasize the word 'if,' there are any delays in publishing caused the Y2K." When asked by the press how comic book enthusiasts could amass that many unread comics, Burger beamed with obvious pleasure at the question. "The President has been promoting the notion that readers invest in minority, independent and self-published comics for many years now. These are readily available due to fairly low demand. Today would seem to be the perfect time for readers to start purchasing these intellectually superior, if artistically challenged, efforts." Majority leader from the Republican run Senate, Flint Rock, accused the White House of using the public's fear of the Y2K challenge to influence comic buyers into supporting the independent press. "I've been suspicious ever since he sponsored that series of Town Hall meetings on self-published comics in his first term," said Senator Rock. "These minority publishers were strong supporters of Clincher during his re-election campaign and this is obviously some kind of payback!" Last year, Rock was instrumental in defeating the Clincher backed bill that would have provided government subsidies for independent comics creators. "Just because some guy thinks he can write or draw a comic book," adds Rock, "does not mean he is entitled to an entitlement to do so." Rock would neither confirm nor deny that he is considering requesting the Attorney General appoint an Independent Counsel to investigate Clincher's association with the Independent Press. Asked how a possible Y2K industry wide shutdown of two or more months might impact his business, an anonymous production manager with Wildstorm Studios gave the following response. "Our leading creators, those responsible for such comic book hits as ASTRO CITY, BATTLE CHASERS, DANGER GIRL and LEAVE IT TO CHANCE, are professionals. They will rigorously stick to their established production history, no matter what. Their fans will notice absolutely no difference in release dates of these and other titles." Within hours of the White House announcement, lines began forming at comic book retail stores across the nation. Retailers were quick to provide assistance to their customers, helping to locate genuinely new comics and helping to differentiate between those with all new material and those with identical materials hidden under alternate covers. A few incidents of doubling and tripling of cover prices by the usual suspects have also been reported. PW ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [8] And let me tell you why .... David Coulter DneColt@aol.com [David - who declared himself "America's Weirdly Cool Columnist" in a misguided tribute to The Firesign Theatre -- lives with his family in Kansas City and pays the bills as Marketing Director for a computer consulting group. He's heard the old saying that the best comics ever published were the ones that came out when you were ten ... and he's not buying it. He knows there are good comics out there, he can hear them breathing.] First off, if I gave out a Dummy of The Week Award (which I probably ought to), this week it would go to Erik Larsen. Did anyone else notice that, on the very same week that the wedding of Larsen's The Savage Dragon was featured on the cover of Previews, that the Savage Dragon strip in Comic Shop News had the Dragon referring to his murdered wife? Either Larsen thinks his fans are too stupid to put 2 and 2 together, or it never occurred to him that he was blowing the ending to his own story. Whatever the reason, it was a colossally stupid oversight .... boner move, man. (Although, I suppose Larsen that if reveals that the Dragon in the CSN strip is really the Earth-2 Dragon .... naaah). Anyway..... I was talking to a couple of friends last week, and we were bemoaning the sorry state of comic shops here in the greater Kansas City area. Actually, using the phrase "sorry state" isn't entirely accurate -- they just flat-out suck. Now, sure, part of it isn't entirely there fault -- times are tough, we all recognize that. But what boggled our minds was the fact that regular customers, who bought anywhere from $25 to $50 worth of comics a week, were treated no better than some jerk who just walked in off the street. What sparked the whole conversation was my recent switch in shops. See, I just quit a comic shop that was convenient to my workplace, because another one that was considerably out of my way offered me 20% off if I joined their subscription service. And since I already have to order all my damn books out of Previews every month, this isn't a big hassle for me. When the guy at my old store asked me where I'd been when I stopped in last week, and I told him why I left, he just shrugged. He freaking shrugged! In the two months I shopped there, I spent almost $400! Over the course of 1999, he just lost about $2500 worth of business! And I'm sorry, but judging from the general condition of his shop, this guy doesn't look like someone who can just shrug off $2500 worth of guaranteed income. As sorry as the shops here are, at least I have a choice -- even if it is a few minutes out of my way. When I lived in Wisconsin, my town only had one shop -- which was fortunately a really, really fine one (shameless plug -- Powerhouse Comics, Appleton, Wisconsin finest!!!) A lot of people aren't that lucky, and don't have a choice. And so -- for these poor souls -- we created "The Comic Buyers Bill Of Rights." Certainly not as momentous as "The Creators Bill Of Right," but a useful document nonetheless! I'm interested in getting input on this both from fellow fans as well as retailers. Here we go: 1. Offer discounts to regular customers. I'm sure this will be the most controversial item, so I'm getting it out of the way now. I think -- in order to show a modicum of consideration to the regular customer -- shops should offer some sort of discount. Doesn't have to be much, whatever you can afford. But we know that you guys don't pay cover, and when we come in week in and week out, dropping upwards of $200 month, paying cover price like all the other plotzers gets galling. Come on man! We're you're damn bread and butter! 2. Either give regular customer Previews for free, or enable them to order from Previews with having to buy the damn book. How stupid is this? We have to pay the comic shop for the privilege of making the comic shop's life easier? Don't do me any favors, guys. I mean, good grief, if I'm committing to a subscription service, seems the least you could do is throw in a copy of Previews every month. 3. If I take the trouble to actual buy Previews, fill out my order, and give it back by the appointed date, at least have the common decency to actually fill my damn order! I mean, how many times has this happened? I order an admittedly obscure book like Knewts of the Round Table or the wonderful Bastard Tales, and yet -- somehow -- it doesn't wind up in my box on the week it ships. Once, I might be able to write off as an oversight, maybe even twice, but much past that and you're just being a jerk. 4. And if you absolutely can't bring yourself to fill my order, don't lie to me about it. Have the common decency to say "No, I didn't order your copy of Astounding Space Thrills because I think it sucks." I've had guys look me in the eye and tell me "oh no, Castle Waiting didn't ship this week," only to find it sitting on the shelf at another store. A little basic customer service tip here, guys: If you don't know, don't lie. It just makes you look like a jerk. I mean, how likely is it that -- given the choice -- I'm going to shop at a store where the owner not only blew off my order, but lied to me about it? Not very, 5. Don't smoke in the store. Another controversial one, I know. I know it's your right to kill yourself with cigarettes, and I know it's your damn store and you can do what you please. But come on, it's bad enough that I have to wade through your haze every Wednesday and walk out smelling like I just went barhopping, but do I really have to spend my $30 on a pile of books that reeks like smoke? It's not like I can give them a shower. Sure, some of your customers smoke, and they don't care -- but a lot of us don't. Let the smokers takes their books home and stink them up on their own -- and let the rest of us have comics that at least smell like comics. I think that's enough to start with. Comments? Criticisms? Flames? E-mail them to DneColt@aol.com. Let's get this show on the road. ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [9] VENTING MY SPLEEN David Groenewegen david.groenewegen@lib.monash.edu.au [David Groenewegen is 30, a librarian and sadly addicted to comics. He has been reading them since before he could read, and plans to keep on doing so. His first trip out of the house with his infant son was to a comic shop. Can't start 'em too young. ] Ten reasons why CEREBUS should be in The Comics Journal Top 100. 1. It's the best drawn comic on the market. Month in, month out, Dave Sim and the oft forgotten Gerhard turn in fantastically detailed art, all using a total knowledge of pacing, form, human figures, caricature ,and the potential of black and white. 2. It's the best lettered comic on the market. This is in many eyes a purely technical, craft driven claim. But in Dave Sim's hands, lettering is a real part of the comics experience. It draws you into the book, makes the dialogue far more real and believable. Who can forget the magnificent first appearance of Mrs. Thatcher, whose word balloon was precisely drawn and lettered to perfectly capture her mode of speech. 3. It's a good monthly read that works even better as collected novels. I look forward to CEREBUS every month, but I know that the individual issues will be a bit of a disappointment. They're my fix, my way of making it to the next collected edition. Nevertheless, every single issue seems to end, if not on a cliffhanger, at least at a point that makes you think, "Damn, I wish I had that next issue right now". 4. It is the most structurally ambitious comic every undertaken in the English language. And by that I don't mean that it's long (we know that), but Dave has been carefully working and restating themes for years. He has carefully put up mirrors and interspersed foreshadowing of events that will occur far, far later. And he's been doing it for a long, long time. Think of it this way - Neil Gaiman's been off SANDMAN for a couple of years now. He did 75 issues. When he started, Dave Sim was already well past issue 100, and he's still going. 5. It's funny. To be fair, its not as funny as it used to be, but then neither is PEANUTS, and that was #2 on TCJ's list. "High Society" the second novel, is hilarious, laugh out loud funny. And there are still many wry, gentler laughs to be had. And of course, there is Lord Julius. For any Marx Brothers fan, he is nirvana. 6. It's sad. "Jaka's Story" is heartbreaking at various points. The scene where Rick finds out about... I can't say, in case you haven't read it. But it still sends chills up my spine. And poor old Pud Withers. The epitome of the sad fanboy, yet not ridiculed in any way, I suspect he was too much for many sad fanboys and they dumped the title. 7. Don't let the aardvark put you off - it's very real. I have identified with several of the characters in this book, have seen myself in their actions and words. To be quite honest, it hasn't always been pretty doing this, but that's supposed to be what art is about, isn't it? Let's just say that I've had more moments of genuine insight out of CEREBUS than I've ever gotten out of TCJ's #1 choice KRAZY KAT. 8. It makes you think. Look, you may have heard about some of Dave Sim's more extreme views. Personally I don't agree with a lot of them, but the fact remains that Dave challenges you to come up with valid reason as to why you disagree with them. Its too easy these days to find "art" that just reinforces your own prejudices by holding the same viewpoint as you. You might still have the same prejudices at the end of reading CEREBUS, but, if you are honest with yourself, you will have thought about why. 9. The adventuresome innovations. Dave has tried everything - books with no words, books made up mostly of words, but with few pictures, pages on the horizontal, pages on an angle, scrolling titles, issues that occur only through speech balloons and a drunken haze, a page in which Cerebus does nothing but urinate, use of loads of white space, use of loads of black. And those are just the things that come quickly to mind. But within that he has always kept sight of the need to tell the story, to keep things moving and comprehensible. He doesn't pander to his audience, but he doesn't think he's better than them either. 10. Last, but not least, he is the most individual of all American comics creators. He seems to obey no rules but his own, is beholden to no one but himself, and he uses that freedom to do exactly what he wants with his book. For all the clamour over self publishing in recent years, Dave seems to me to be the one creator who is only interested in it purely so that he can publish the comic he wants to do. He wants no movie deals, no merchandising, no big company of his own. He doesn't want to be a manager or an editor. He wants to make comics HIS WAY, and every single month, without fail, he does. And they continue to be, after twenty years, amongst the best comics there are. Both now and over that twenty year period. And that's why CEREBUS should have been in The Comics Journal's Top 100 comics. David Groenewegen davidhar@lib.monash.edu.au ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [10] You Be The Judge Of That Jason J. Larsen larsenja@pilot.msu.edu [Jason is a 23-year-old MSU alumni with a BA in Marketing. He lives in the Lansing area and plans on staying there this time. He has a job as a Customer Service Rep in Okemos. He has been reading comics since he was 5 years old and hopes by writing these columns that he is contributing back to the medium he loves.] Hello everyone. I know I promised another column by the end of February but I have been extremely busy. I got a job in my field finally. I also moved back to the Lansing area. The commotion alone could have driven me insane, so I think that I can be forgiven for my lapse don't you : ) Let see what has been going on with me otherwise than that_ well I am having a comic faith crisis. I will expand on that more later. I finally caught up on all my reading from the last three and a half months. The Kingdom sucked eggs while Hitman has been a gem through it all. I have even ventured out a little and bought the issues of Pokemon that are out there. I really liked those too. Viz had a winner on its hand for sure. Now that you all have been given the status quo for me lets get the ball rolling. The Amazing Gen-X Wonder: Once again the boy blunder of comics is at it again. We know him as Rob Liefeld. He now promises guaranteed shipping dates for all of his books. Does anyone care if he follows up on this? I think after all the other broken promises that he has offered that no one should believe this one either. The only material he has left at this point is probably old Alan Moore material and T&A art left from Maximum Press. The only things that keep me even following him are the following two items. First thing is I am curious about is the Hyperworks part of the label. I admit ignorance to the product that Hyperworks used to put out but I thought Deity was their only book, if not then it was the most recognizable one. Now Deity has left for Image and what is the deal with that? The second item of curiosity is Kaboom. Jeff Matsuda I thought owned Kaboom? Why would he let Awesome publish it if he can take it to any publisher in the game? I bet that Kaboom would fit great into the Cliffhanger line of books. Did Matsuda loose control of his property to Rob somehow? I read somewhere that Rob is honoring the commitment to publish Kaboom that he and Jeff had. Even if that were true why would Matsuda take a financial loss on his own property? Maybe he is just being a really nice guy and Rob and him are buds. In that case great, the industry needs more things like that. Matsuda just needs to be careful Rob also had a friend named Valentino and looked what happened to them. Moments of Comic Faith and Devotion: I have recently, and am still, having a personal crisis of faith. I don't mean the God kind; I mean the comic kind. The whole mess started when I went to the mall. I went into the local bookstore there and renewed my club membership and bought the latest Dilbert and Garfield compilations. I went home and read them along with a dwindling stack of back comics. After I had finished I had a horrifying conclusion smacking me in the face, I liked the compilations better!! The first thing I thought was that maybe I had a stack of bum books. I knew I was going to buy the new Daria book next week so decided to make an experiment out of it. Unfortunately the results were the same, the Daria book was better. I started to evolve the theory over the last week. I liked spending my money, close to the same amount mind you, more on the books than the comics. I now had a problem that I couldn't easily solve. I make x dollars and need to spend y of it on car payment, rent etc. The z amount that I have left over is needed for entertainment, savings and other personal uses. Now out of that z amount I have to decide how much to dedicate just to one hobby, comics. I have decided the only way to filter out the comic crap from the gems is to separate and categorize what I buy. This should help me break away the ones I buy as habit over those I do for fun. The three categories are Keep at the Cost of Death, Rethink but Hold and Drop Like a Toxic Waste Barrel. I have not had time yet to implement this grading system and the standard but hope to so soon. So in a nutshell you have my problem, get way more selective about the comics I buy or drop them all so I can start using the z resource on other things I like better. I don't know the outcome of this struggle but you all will be the first to know. I can tell you I won't quit reading comics altogether but I can't tell you how diminished the capacity of what I read will be. Vext the Vexted Hero: Damn I just read that Vext will be cancelled with issue #6. I knew my cursed luck would cause another casualty in my reading arsenal. Now I have to mourn the loss of a book that was extremely funny and witty. The whole thing that yanks my monkey out of whack is that DC didn't even try to make an effort to keep the book noticed once it was on the shelf. Wow Zauriel and Superman in the first issue with a 2-page cameo that must have took energy. I gambled that Vext's cutting edge humor and satire would find the intelligent comic buying market. I lost. I feel sad for the market. You lost a real piece of work and most of you don't even know it. I know that there are intelligent readers out there but I also know that there are other intelligent books out there that also draw them in. I hope to find one that lasts for more than a year. Maybe I'll buy Box Office Poison from Antarctic or Strangers in Paradise from Abstract. Hmmm_ I wonder if my killing streak holds does that mean Martian Manhunter is next on the chop block? No I'm Not Related to Erik Larsen: Please someone make the bad man stop! Erik Larsen recently announced he is leaving Aquaman with #62. No comment it would be too mean. I feel since I have never read Aquaman under either writer's tenure that I can be impartial. The only Aquaman I like is the Morrison version of him. David did get rid of the hokey version of Aquaman and gave him a cool origin and superhero status. Larsen did some great cosmetic changes by getting rid of the shag look, funky costume and the harpoon hand. Yet neither wrote a character I could dig. David had Aqua being just plain mean and anti-social while Erik tried to turn him into wonder cheese, or the Savage Dragon. The sad thing is that probably because of this Aquaman is toast by #75. The reason I'm now officially declaring open season on Erik is his Nova series. I will admit before the evil begins that I like some of the Savage Dragon issues but not all, and the book isn't for everyone. Since this isn't about the Dragon though gloves are off on the rest of the section. Nova #1 was a piece of crap! The art was so-so but the plot was about the grade of toilet paper. Larsen not only sets the character developmentally back past its existence he pushes the whole remaining NW cast down with him. First the whole plot of Nova killing or maiming an ordinary guy was already done in the NW. I believe Fabian wrote a story called "The Trial of Marvelboy". In it Marvelboy, now known as Justice, accidentally kills his abusive father by pulping him with his power and is sent to the Vault. Reusing such a major plot thread of an old series in one related to it is a no no. The other gripe is destroying the rest of the New Warriors. Night Thrasher would never give such a lame Spiderman power and responsibility speech. Ick bad bad bad. Next bad play was to mutate blue skinned Nita back to pink skinned Nita. I would like to see the old Nita too but not is such a dumb way. Her dialogue was corny and Rich would never turn away in disgust. The two have gone through so much for each other story wise they are like the Ross and Rachael of the MU. Erik only has Rage, Speedball and Power Pax left to dink with. I am not against Erik Larsen the creator. I am against Erik Larsen the writer who ignores established character histories that he writes about. I think that maybe Erik has been working on the SD for so long that he has forgotten how to function in a universe ruled by boundaries and parameters. If he would just work with the history instead of around or over it his work would I bet be really good. I know Erik has the potential to be a really good writer for Marvel. And I believe that so much I am willing to put my comic cash where my mouth is. I challenge Erik Larsen to improve his writing by using established history and character profiles in Nova. I in exchange will buy every issue he writes in hopes of the sign of improvement. If any reader can pass Erik Larsen's e-mail address along to me I will send this to him. I mean it. I will even go and buy Nova #1 on Friday this week. I will let you all know on the status of this bet if it goes forward or not. Hey it could happen you never know how people are. Review|X-Men Liberators: Man when I started this column I was hoping for something positive to put in it. I have one section left after this so maybe there is hope yet. I am going to start by laying out the creative teams for all 4 issues. #1: writer: Joe Harris pencils: Phil Jimenez and Keith Aiken colorist: Shannon Blanchard letter: Comicraft editor: Frank Pittarese EIC: Bob Harris #2: finishes: Aiken, Leigh and Pepoy #3: inkers: Aiken and John Stokes #4: inker: Stokes The story was supposed to be about Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler. The three are supposed to be on a male bonding trip to Russia. Colossus wants to bury his ghosts about his parents death with the help of his friends. Of course the "evil" government gets involved and a dangerous mutant escapes from a detainment center before they arrive. Folks the series stank like last weeks-unwashed dishes. I bought the first issue and then got the other three and hadn't had time to read them all until now. The only thing liberated was my 2.99 per issue. The series should have been called Wolverine: To Russia with Claws. The mutant turns out to be some child mush monster with a death touch. His mother of course in the end kills her son because she "loves him" so much. And of course when in Russia expect Omega Red to do some styling for you. The plot around the mutant training center was weak. The Russians simply close it down at the end of the series. Nightcrawler just teleports in and out of shadows the whole 4 issues, Colossus wonders around the countryside trying to rationalize his life and Wolverine fights everyone. The art was inconsistent for two issues and the colors were in a state of flux thanks to the rotating teams. I recommend any self respecting comic reader stay away from this series in the back issue bin or the trade paperback edition when it come out, unless you would like your money liberated from you too. Time Pool Visions: (The time pool is a TM of DC Comics) will return next column Shameless Plug: Next column Well it is late and I have to work early tomorrow so I will wrap this one up. I hope to get a more positive column next time and my ambition will be to try to make it all one. Before I go let me share with you a section I am going to alter a little from the Daily Show. Your Comic Book Moment of Zen: Hitman #37 W: Ennis P: McCrea Inks: McCrea and Leach Letterer: Prentice Colorist: Feeny Seps: Heroic Age Editor: Tomasi Pages: 16-18 Hitman kills an undead Vampire by blowing all four appendages off and leaving the torso and head out in the sunrise. You just have to read it to believe it folks. Look out Buffy there is a new slayer and he is all about sex, beer and guns. Well see you all I hope in two weeks. Loved it? Hated it? Just want to share? Send any and all comments to: larsenja@pilot.msu.edu *Remember any and all comments can and may be used in future columns. * ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [11] Multiverse Observer and Explorer Reviews Paul Dale Roberts silhouet9@aol.com [Paul promotes amateur and professional comic book artwork, scripts, storylines, and unpublished comic books with a newsletter called the Peoples' Comic Book Newsletter. Its website is at Jazma Comic Book Newsletter Productions at http://www.twmgrafix.com/jazma He is also a prominent letter hack, as anyone who reads comic letter pages would know. He is in production of his own self-published comic book called The Legendary Dark Silhouette and has copyrighted over 600 characters for his Jazma Universe.] Name: Templar #1 Publisher: Checker Comics Written by: Mark Thompson Drawn by: Jamie Hurtt/pencils John Lowe/inks Price: $2.95 Comments: Great research is done to give you a brief summary on who the Knights Templar are. Historic accounts are given, including that they were founded right after the First Crusade. There is a new beginning for the Knights Templar and a holy war being fought in Kansas. You will learn how this one town is run by the secret society known as the Knights Templar, where judges, elected officials and police are all secret members. The Templars are numbered as Templar 1, Templar 2, etc. Templars are powerful warriors, dedicated soldiers and have a frightening robotic 'Transformer' type of appearance. Plenty of hard edged, hang-onto-your-seat action! A female visionary shows the death of the Templars to Templar #7. When Templar #7 shows the other Templars, they consider this as blasphemy and seek out to destroy Templar #7. Small group of the Zions battle the Templars over holy scrolls. The Zion believe that the scrolls are for all to view and Templars believe that only the highest noble order should be able to view them. Powerful, heavy hitting story that packs a punch!! Highly recommended. Check out their website at: http://www.checkercomics.com Email them at: info@checkercomics.com or shoot them out a letter at: Checker Comics, Inc., 257 Wayne Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45402 Name: Mutator #3 Publisher: Checker Comics Written by: Mark Thompson Drawn by: Dave Berkebile/pencils & inks Price: $1.95 Comments: Things start happening at Lincoln Park (between Chicago and Lake Michigan). A little girl named Daphne sees a monster in the woods. What she sees is part of the Mutator project. The ruthless Dr. Von Braun is doing matrix experiments, genetic engineering at the Von Braun Ranch. One of his subjects Larry Lieber was part of the Mutator project and is able to transform into this strange looking creature and is able to transform back to human form. Larry has escaped and Dr. Von Braun is in desperation in trying to get Larry back, even if he has to torture his employees to get the needed information he needs. Dr. Von Braun has a shark tank with a very hungry shark inside! Yep, Braun has a way of getting people to talk! Braun sends out his elite guards to capture Larry. Larry has been genetically engineered to be lethal and violent and makes short order of the guards who came to capture him. You will discover other secrets at the ranch and see bizarre creatures from experiments that have gone awry. Creations of the Matrix experiment will have you shivering in your boots! Wait until you meet 'Chuck'....speaking about the STRANGE! Move over Dr. Moreau, Dr. Von Braun has you beat! Check out their website at: http://www.checkercomics.com Email them at: info@checkercomics.com or shoot them out a letter at: Checker Comics, Inc., 257 Wayne Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45402 Name: A.S.H. / Legendary Dark Silhouette 1 of 2 Publisher: Marky Comics / Jazma Comics Price: $1.25 Written and Drawn by: Mark Cardosa Overviewed by: Paul Dale Roberts, MOE w/Maddog Cleveland Brown Comments: I have to watch myself here and be impartial, fair, just and non-bias, since I have a stake in this comic book. So let me hit the streets and find someone unfamiliar with this comic book and see if they will do an overview of it. Paul: "Excuse me sir...how would you like to overview a comic book for me?" Stranger: "Sure, if you...hic..buy me a bottle of Thunderbird or MD 20/20." Paul: "Ahh...sure...what's your name?" Stranger: They call me Maddog Cleveland Brown...ahh..used to open a can of whoop @#$ on anyone....." Paul: "Ok, Maddog, you can't use that language, how about the overview". Maddog: "Ok. From what I see in this comic book, it's black and white artwork, done in a nice style. We got this group called A.S.H. who are a mutant hero group destined for peace and life saving, there part of the Marky Comics Universe. Then we have the Legendary Dark Silhouette (LDS) who has gained unusual powers after falling into a mysterious sand circle into another dimension. He learns he is destined for legendary adventures and great heroism. He wears a very dark costume and blends into the shadows perfectly. Then there is Jet-X and Lilau who make a cameo in the beginning of the comic book. LDS, Jet-X and Lilau are all part of the Jazma Universe. The main villain is Evilily created by Richard Vasseur and she will change the lifes of A.S.H., L.D.S. and anyone else that she crosses paths with. Evilily aka Fernando Narcisco was born and raised in Portugal. There she committed her first act of evil by murdering her sister-in-law. Legend has it, that when Lucifer originally fell from grace, some of his blood was spilled and was found by an ancestor of Evilily. Now to the story. In the beginning Jet-X and Lilau are on the path of Evilily and Evilily catches Jet-X and Lilau unawares. LDS makes a grand entrance and power blasts Evilily. LDS sends Jet-X and Lilau back to Jazma Headquarters and goes after Evilily himself. Evilily disappears into the night and finds herself in a bar and meets Heatwave (part of A.S.H.). Heatwave and Evilily hit it off and leave. LDS arrives and confronts two other members of A.S.H. (Sunshine and Jagger) and tries to explain the dangerous motives of Evilily. Sunshine and Jagger tell LDS that this is something that the police should handle and a big argument ensues. The story continues and the reader is left wondering, what will happen to Heatwave? Evilily is a psychotic killer who has the powers of darkness. Will A.S.H. be safe? Is Heatwave taking Evilily to A.S.H. Headquarters? *Hic* " Paul: "Wow! That was a good overview Maddog! Out of a possible 10, what would you give this comic book, if you were actually reviewing it?" Maddog: "Easy, I would give it a solid 10 over the ropes! Now where is my Thunderbird?" Paul: "Well, folks, you heard it from Maddog, this comic book is sizzling hot! For more information you can email Mark at: MarkyComics@juno.com or check out his website at: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Lofts/2991/index.html .....well, Maddog, c'mon, I know a liquor store down the street....." Sincerely yours, Name: Buffy the Vampire Slayer #7 Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $2.95 Written by: Andi Watson & Dan Brereton Drawn by: Hector Gomez/pencils Sandu Florea/inks Comments: This issue was adrenaline charged, all the action I wanted and more! Xander gets in the way of things and interrupts Buffy's battle with a horde of vampires. Willow is surprised to see him around Buffy and a jealous streak sets in. What do you have, when you have a cluster of vampires in one area? Answer: Vamp Infestation. I like these new phrases that come to focus in the story. One of the characters of the story named Cynthia was planning to set up an extravagant slumber party for vampires to feast. Fortunately, this plan never gets off the ground, thanks to Buffy. Cynthia turns out to be a demon and Buffy has her hands full with Cynthia. Great climatic end and Cynthia is gone for now. Crisp artwork graces this comic book. Sensational photograph cover of Buffy. All in all, Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic book is a winner! Name: Stray Bullets #17 Publisher: El Capitan Books Written and Drawn by: David Lapham Price: $2.95 Comments: The story of Ricky Fish and Kathy. Ricky comes home during late hours and disturbs the sleep of his wife Kathy. Besides the late hours, he's drunk. He passes out and the door knocks. New found friends from a local pub named Averys appear at the door. Meet Lola, Puncher and Roger. Roger is a drunk cop with his pal Puncher. Puncher just met Lola and tries subducing Lola in front of Kathy. Why are they there? Because Ricky is drunk out of his mind, buys drinks for everyone in the house and runs a $350.00 tab and leaves Roger paying the bill. Roger wants his money back. While Roger is in the house, he hits up on Kathy and throws cheap lines at her. The 3 finally leave Kathy and Ricky and Roger forgets about the money that Ricky owes him. On another night Ricky hits Averys and runs up against Roger again. Roger makes it clear that he likes Kathy and an argument ensues and the fight begins. Roger winds up shooting up the bar and Ricky is running out for his life. Roger starts courting Kathy. Kathy drops a loser like Ricky to gain another loser like Roger. With Stray Bullets you find true to life stories. Stories that you don't mind observing, with no desire to participate. ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [12] My View David LeBlanc ComicBkNet@aol.com [David LeBlanc is the Editor of the Comic Book Net Electronic Magazine. He is a long time fan of comics and the electronic media - having been the moderator of the comics forums on WME, FIDONET and the Comic Book Network. He and his wife are attempting to raise two teenage sons in a suburb of Worcester, Massachusetts. David supports his comic book habit by working as the Manager of Marketing and Sales for a privately owned manufacturer of electro-mechanical components.] COMIC BOOK DREAMS 161 pages, full color, Adobe Acrobat PDF (computer file) format Volume 1 - $5 postage paid DUCK SOUP PRODUCTIONS RR1 BOX 1990 ALBION, ME 04910 COMIC BOOK DREAMS requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free program available for all operating systems. If you don't already have it, Acrobat Reader is a free download available at: http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html * A *free* DEMO version of COMIC BOOK DREAMS featuring three sample chapters and ordering info can be downloaded right now at the Duck Soup Productions website: http://www.ctel.net/~thornsjo/ email: thornsjo@uninets.net or, order by snail mail at address above. Created by: Bruce Canwell Tom Field Doug Thornsjo The future of publishing is electronic - how often have you heard words similar to those? In fact, just the fact that that over 2000 people read this CBEM every week (a very modest readership compared to many out there) attests to the fact that people have a hunger for knowledge about subjects the enjoy and will seek that information in all its forms - particularly those that are easy to access. We are just on the edge of comics making a wider presence on the internet and COMIC BOOK DREAMS is attempting to bring a professional style magazine of interviews and criticism of the comic book industry to the electronic media in the form of a downloadable file that can be read or printed out from any computer platform. A small thing about Adobe PDF files - they are only as good as the person who creates them. The format is fine and the reader has all the features you could want including zooming, bookmarking, scrolling by page, continuous, side by side and other features. Sometimes, however the author will jump around in the style of the pages so that one article may take up just the middle of the page with wide margins and later on may use wider or taller page fill. If you set the magnification for the former you end up re-setting again as the size changes. I had a slight problem with finding the ideal magnification to read by - which is more of a function of my fading eyesight than a fault in the format. Anyway, these three fellows have put together a tremendous amount of insight into the history of modern comics from the beginning of the direct market to the present. For those of us who have lived through it, it is not only a walk down memory lane but new insight in some previously unpublished interviews. Indeed I found the interviews the most interest aspect of a huge volume. They include talks with Stan Lee, Gary Groth, Dave Gibbons, Steve Bissette, Alan Moore, Scott McCloud, Mike Allred, and Boris Vallejo. There is a visit with Jim Shooter in his Broadway days that will sound familiar to those who have kept up with Jim's fate over the years and the controversy surrounding him. There are Six installments of Bruce Canwell's "The State of The Industry," examining Creator's Rights, The Changing Marketplace, Marketplace Manipulation and Merchandising, and so on. This too is fascinating reading complete with illustrations and quotes from various industry figures that often are prophetic and often are less than impressive based on looking back later. All of it is mighty well thought out. Finally there are reviews, and more reviews, and even more reviews. They begin with Tom Field blasting John Byrne with both barrels and never letting up. I have seen many express these views before on Byrne but this one is unrelenting and frankly I found it over the top by the end. I got the point after a few paragraphs - it seems there is something personal going on here - just a perception. Later we see opinions on a wide range of products from Scott McCloud's UNDERSTANDING COMICS (as well as an interview about it and his other work) to MAUS II to THE WORLD OF CHARLES ADDAMS to THE COLLECTED WORKS OF E.C. SEGAR POPEYE Vol. II. Many mainstream comics from the years are also looked at like CAPTAIN AMERICA, Malibu's FERRET, John Byrne's NEXT MEN, BORDER WORLDS, HARD BOILED, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, DOC SAVAGE, MADMAN, HEPCATS and may more. This is not a "slick", image (no pun intended) over substance production but a hard hitting publication. It is a strong effort to appeal to the hard core fan who wants as much input as he can get about every aspect of the modern comic industry. There is something for everyone without the advertising in a print magazine. And you can print it out and take it with you or, if you prefer, just fire up ol' sparky and browse at your leisure. Go to the web page and check out the free sample and see if this is something worth five bucks! ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [13] 3rd Annual National Comics Awards Rich Johnston twisting@hotmail.com [The NCA results were announced at the UK's Comics `99 convention] Best comics based film + TV: Blade Best collected series or graphic novel: Superman For All Seasons Best newspaper strip: Calvin And Hobbes Most missed character, strip or comic: Johnny Alpha (Strontium Dog) Best supporting character: Judge Galen Best comic strip character: Batman and Judge Dredd Best comics magazine: Comics International Best new comic (international): League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen Best new comic (British): Warhammer Best self published + independent comic: Class Of '79 Best comic (international): Preacher Best comic (British): 2000AD Roll Of Honour: Bob Kane Best Artist: Alex Ross Best writer: John Wagner Best Comic Of The 20th Century: The Eagle Rich Johnston twisting@hotmail.com http://www.twistandshoutcomics.com Ramblings '99: The oldest internet comics news/rumour column. ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [14] New Comic Book Releases List [NCRL] by Charles LePage ncrl@mediaone.net +++WINNER OF THE 1996 REC.ARTS.COMICS.* "SQUIDDY" FOR BEST WEB SITE+++ http://www.jacksonville.net/~ncrl New Comic Book Releases List for Wednesday, 4/14/1999, compiled by Charles LePage with information from Suncoast Comics. This is the *preliminary* list and is not complete. The completed list is posted weekly, usually Monday evening, at rec.arts.comics.info, http://www.jacksonville.net/~ncrl, and Compuserve's Comics Publishers Forum. "TPB" = "trade paperback". "GN" = "graphic novel". "AA" = "available again". "SC" = "softcover". "HC" = "hardcover". "S/N" = "signed/numbered". "AR" = "ask retailer about price". PUBLISHER TITLE, ISSUE NUMBER, PRICE IN U.S. DOLLARS AMAZE INK (SLAVE LABOR GRAPHICS) Sugar Buzz #5, 2.95 ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS Archie Double Digest #108, 2.99 Betty #74, 1.79 Jughead With Archie Digest #149, 1.99 AWESOME/HYPERWERKS Deity II Catseye #3, 2.95 CHAOS! COMICS Cremator Hells Guardian #5 (Of 5), 2.95 DARK HORSE COMICS Buffy The Vampire Slayer Spike & Dru, 2.95 Masakazu Katsuras Shadow Lady I Dangerous Love #7 (Of 7), 2.50 Sergio Aragones Groo & Rufferto #4 (Of 4), 2.95 DC COMICS Animaniacs Featuring Pinky And The Brain #49, 1.99 Authority #2, 2.50 Azrael Agent Of The Bat #53, 2.25 Batman Book Of The Dead #1 (Of 2), 4.95 Batman Shadow Of The Bat #86, 1.99 Books Of Magic #61, 2.50 Doctor Midnite #3 (Of 3), 5.95 Golden Age Green Lantern Archives Vol 1 HC, 49.95 Green Lantern #113, 1.99 Hourman #3, 2.50 Impulse #49, 2.25 League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen Collected Edition, 5.95 Legends Of The DC Universe #17, 1.99 Legionnaires #72, 2.50 Nightwing #32, 1.99 Transmetropolitan #22, 2.50 EL CAPITAN BOOKS Stray Bullets #18, 2.95 GUN DOG COMICS Astronauts In Trouble Live From The Moon #2 (Of 5), 2.95 IMAGE COMICS Adventures Of Barry Ween Boy Genius #2 (Of 3), 2.95 Crow #3, 2.50 Solar Lord #1, 2.50 Spawn The Dark Ages #2, 2.50 Stone #4, 2.50 IRONCAT Futabakun Change Vol 1 GN, 15.95 magazines Comic Shop News #617, AR MARVEL COMICS Amazing Spider-Man #6, 1.99 Generation X #52, 1.99 Inhumans #7 (Of 12), 2.99 Iron Man #17, 1.99 Magneto Rex #2 (Of 3), 2.50 Mutant X #9, 1.99 Spider-Girl #9, 1.99 SIX HANDED PRESS Faans #2, 2.95 VIZ COMMUNICATIONS Animerica Volume 7 #4, 4.95 Dragonball Z Part Two #5 (Of 14), 2.95 Maison Ikkoku Part 9 #1 (Of 10), 3.25 Silent Mobius Vol 2 TPB, 16.95 NCRL for the foreseeable future... TITLE OLD RELEASE DATE NEW DATE DC COMICS Battle Chasers #6 02/10 04/28 Battle Chasers T-Shirt LG 03/03 TBA Battle Chasers T-Shirt XL 03/03 TBA Crimson #10 03/10 04/28 Danger Girl Door Poster 03/10 TBA Divine Right #10 04/28 TBA Divine Right #9 01/27 TBA Doctor Mid-Nite #3 03/31 04/14 Gen13 #40 04/21 05/05 Gen13 #41 05/19 06/2 Justice Society Of America Poster 04/07 04/28 Kurt Busiek'S Astro City Vol. 2 #17 03/31 5/12 League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen #3 03/24 05/12 Veils HC 03/31 04/21 MARVEL Spider-Man Manga #30 2/10 TBA Spider-Man Manga #31 02/24 TBA X-Men Manga #25 02/03 TBA X-Men Manga #26 02/17 TBA X-Men Manga #27 03/03 TBA *Please Note: These dates are tentative. ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [A] E-Mag Info: Submissions, Subscriptions, Back Issues, Copyrights and the Comic Book Network BBS system. 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On our web page, you can find the latest issue of our E-Mag, as well as all back issues and an annotated index. You'll also find important information on how to join the conversation in the Comic Book Network, and other neat features like links to the HTML version of the current issue of this magazine at DIGITAL WEBBING, [http://www.digitalwebbing.com/cbem], details of upcoming conventions around the country, some of the comic companies and creators' web pages and many other Comic Book related links! You can also find some back issues at America Online, by going to Keyword: COMICS, then choose the menu item _Comic Book Forum_ and then going to the _Comics Library_ from there. These are non-zipped text files. COPYRIGHTS ---------- The Comic Book Net E-Mag is published by The ComicBook Network. This is a compilation of articles and columns which were originally posted in other forums or web pages or written specifically for this electronic magazine. 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Information about the Comic Book Network of computer bulletin board systems and how to join can be found on our internet homepage at: http://members.aol.com/ComicBkNet ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - End of another Issue .. GIVE A KID A COMICC TODAY! Why do people who know the least know it the loudest?