^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^Ed Dukeshire and Mike Imboden Present: ^ ^ ^ ^ THE COMIC BOOK NET ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE ISSUE NUMBER 225^ ^ 8/06/99 ^ ^ Edited by: David LeBlanc - ComicBkNet@aol.com ^ ^ ^ ^ FREE VIA EMAIL SINCE FEBRUARY 1995 ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ SNIKT! !!!SPECIAL, ADAMANTIUM CLAWED, DIVISIBLE BY 25, ANNIVERSARY EDITION!!! 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] Tony Isabella's Journal ............... Tony Isabella [7] Interview:Mark S. Pacella ............. Paul Dale Roberts [8] Venting My Spleen ..................... David Groenewegen [9] Sound and Fury ........................ Craig Lemon [10] And Let Me Tell You Why ............... David Coulter [11] Stranger In a Strange Land ............ Jennifer M. Contino [12] Some Pages, A Cover, and A Few Staples. Marlan Harris [13] M.O.E. Reviews ........................ Paul Dale Roberts [14] My View: DREAMWALKER:SUMMER RAIN ...... David LeBlanc [15] New Comic Book Releases List .......... Charles LePage [16] HYPE! Section ......................... Various [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 a week's worth of the online strip: Steve Conley's ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Well, another half year goes by and we put out another 25 issues and so reach that mystical magical numbering sacred in comic fandom - an issue with a number divisible by 25! No one is sure how the power of the 25 began but there is no doubt about the grip it holds on the comic world. Why it goes beyond the titles that you would expect major celebrations about - your long running titles, which due to renumbering have become fewer and fewer. Marvel has all but conceeded catching up to DC on any title for longevity, at least in its numbering. But I digress . . . The glory days of divisible by 25 may be on the wane. Remember the good old days when each and every DBTF title had an enhanced cover and a few more pages at double the price? Why did people fall for such blatent price gouging? And once the ball got rolling there was no stopping it! I don't mind paying extra for an issue in a regular series if I get value for the dollar - that is more pages commensurate with the increase in price. I don't think hitting a particular number in the series need necessarily be cause for big hooplah - except for MAJOR landmarks - like 600 issues, or 50 years of publication. I would just as soon get my money's worth. That is why we here at CBEM vow to never charge extra for our "enhanced cover" versions, no matter what the anniversary. Now check these out at the stores this week and buy them for what is inside, not the number on the cover: CORSAIR PUBLISHING Dork Tower #5, 2.95 DC COMICS Authority #5, 2.50 Heavy Liquid #1 (Of 5), 5.95 Invisibles Volume 3 #7 (Of 12), 2.95 Preacher #54, 2.50 Tomorrow Stories #1, 3.50 IMAGE COMICS Age Of Bronze Special #1, 2.95 LONE STAR PRESS Pantheon Ancient History #1, 3.95 MARVEL COMICS Avengers Forever #9 (Of 12), 2.99 Black Panther #9, 2.50 New Warriors #1, 2.99 SMALL PRESS EXPO Spx 99 Comic, 5.00 <--------------Pick of the Week! Not much else to say for now - except this request on behalf of many in various parts of the US; Pray for rain. 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: JLeon2001@aol.com Subject: Re: CBEM 224.1 Paul Dale Roberts asked last ish: >>Will Chaos! Comics continue with the Insane Clown Posse, now that they went over to WCW?<< You bet! The Clownz and I are currently working on ish #4. Ish #2 is due out in August. I just saw the art yesterday, and it is GROOVY! Jesse Leon McCann, Los Angeles +++++ From: Anonymous [name withheld by request] Subject: The slamming of creators & Prophecy of the Soulsorcerer Dear David, I am writing this letter to you, in response to your article/intro to this week's CBEM. I felt it was a very well written, well thought out piece regarding what's going on in the columns within the CBEM. What provoked me to step forward with the following, was not just your article, but a combination of things with the comicon.com board, as well as something I heard on the Howard Stern show the other day. I frequent the comicon.com board a bit, to see what's going on, and read the various postings on line from other creators and fans. Recently though, the boards have become a variable of slamming other creators, fans, and their overall opinions within the field. The comicon.com boards have a thread for just that kind of reaction, THE GUTTERS. Over in the gutters, you can find a wide variety of assaults, ranging from person to person. A lot of those stem from a series of certain individuals, and attack certain other individuals. What you end up with is a lot of name calling, empty threats, and verbal attacks that serve no purpose but to hurt others. When these online cyber rats take it to threads other than the "The Gutters", you can see a lot of topics go off in such extreme directions, you have to stop and wonder why in the world these people would want to spend so much time being counter productive, bulling people, name calling, and the like. You can find various threads from a select count of 5 or 7 individuals, which seem to have absolutely nothing better than to name call. What surprises me the most, is one person is an editor of The Comic Journal, what some might consider a respectable industry mag. Within the community of small press folk, you'll find a lot of them refer to this individual as a pompous, arrogant little man, with a complex of belittling those around him. Looking at his threads, it shows. I am very surprised that this "editor" of TCJ would stoop so low as to constantly feel the need to point out the shortcomings of others. Then I read your article in the current CBEM, and it hit me. You are absolutely, 100% right on the money. JEALOUSY. I look at the articles that some of the other columnists write, where they not only can't find one single positive thing to say about the books they review, but then feel the need to slam that creator and their product into the ground...hard. Jealousy. Envy. When I read the letters that others send you, regarding their anger at other reviews, and the contempt they have about said reviews, it's just counterproductive. I can't seem to see the reason why people feel the need to hurt others, insult them, and just act like a bunch of children. But then you hit the nail on the head. And I agree with you 100%. The folks out there should take a crack at it, and show the world, just what a real "review" is like. I will admit, there are some articles that could use a little more fleshing out in the details within. It may be a tad embarrassing to do a review on a book when all your ducks are not in a row, but so what? Who are you really hurting? At the CBEM, there are slews of folks who take the time to write a concise, thought-provoking article on their outlook within the industry. Don't like...SKIP IT! Which brings me to my earlier comment about the Howard Stern radio show I heard the other day. Howard was going on about how Dr. Laura Slessinger, radio personality, had gone into a surf shop in California with her child, to buy some clothes. In the shop, she noticed a Surf magazine, and proceeded to hound the shop owner about "How could you DARE to have such pornography in this shop? In clear view of children?" To which the shop owner replied "What are you talking about? There is no porn in this magazine." Dr. Laura replies, "This magazine is published by Larry Flint! He publishes pornography! It's the same thing!" To skip to the chase, Dr. Laura then went on air, on her radio show, reaching millions, and publicly slammed this poor man's livelihood. She boycotted his store, and told all her listeners about the pornography that this man was displaying where small children could see it. Dr. Laura Slessinger, in all her wisdom, deemed that this man and his store should be taken out. She acted irresponsibly, unprofessionally, and like a third grade child. Anyone knows, a small business is extremely tough to maintain. It's a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and hard to uphold in today's market of big name industry. The same goes for small publishers. It's a small business, where the creator has labored for what my seem like his entire LIFE...to bring his dream to fruition. He spends THOUSANDS of dollars, to make that dream come true. It's quite an accomplishment, when one such individual makes that dream a physical reality, a book for others to read. He's putting his reputation on the line, each time he prints a comic book for the world to see. And let's not forget it's EQUALLY an accomplishment to even get picked up by Diamond Distribution, no small task in and of itself. So when I see people online at threads, belittling others; when I read reviews that serve no purpose but to humiliate and condemn the VERY hard work of artists and writers, it makes me sick. I sit back and wonder why in the hell would you even waste your time to spew that kind of nasty crap? And coming from an editor of TCJ? Are they REALLY so much better? Don't you CARE that your reputation is for shit and just getting worse? Then I read a review a few weeks back in the CBEM about PROPHECY OF THE SOUL SORCERER. The person who reviewed this comic went OUT OF HIS WAY to slam the book. To tell everyone (and I know CBEM reaches many, many people) not only to NOT buy this book, but to call it (and I quote) "A shit sandwich." I just got back from the website for this book, http://www.soulsorcerer.com and found not only an extremely well put together site, but a book that seemed to be something I would WANT to read! The art is very, very good...and while the story may not be the most original bit, it still looks like something I would buy if I saw it in the shop. So I have to wonder...why would the fellow who reviewed the book a couple weeks back in the CBEM feel the need to utterly try and DESTROY this fellow's livelihood? His hard work, his labor of love, his baby? JEALOUSY. David, you called it. The only other thing I could think of, is that the critic in question has a personal beef with the creators of PROPHECY OF THE SOUL SORCERER. Otherwise, why would he feel the need to be so hateful? If you can't think of something nice to say, don't say anything. Even when you do reviews, I notice that you try to find at least one thing positive to say, if the book in question isn't up to speed. You will try to be constructive, not mean. I applaud the efforts that you put into this production each and every week. It's not easy to do so, hold down a job and raise a family. Which is something else I think the folks (and critics) out there don't seem to get. Not only is the small press creator sweating over his book, making his dream a reality, but also he's more than likely got a day job and a family, that only allows so much time to devote to his book. In most cases, it's whatever he can squeeze out of the wee hours of the evening. I urge everyone out there to make it your MISSION to go find Prophecy of the Soul Sorcerer. Or at the least, check out their website and judge for yourself. It does not appear to be as horrible as one might have led you to believe. I also urge everyone out there to think twice before deliberately slamming someone else and their hard work. Think before you speak, and say something that will only succeed in making you look like an idiot hiding behind a keyboard, with no spine to speak of. Again, kudos to you and your fine magazine. +++++ Subj: YEA To The JSA ! From: lira@trinidad.net (lira) Dear Good People, People have always said that there is a generation gap that exists between the young and the old. It has been said that the old have forgotten what it means to be young and that the young do not respect their elders enough to realize that they can learn from their experiences that have come with the years. I have always appreciated the fact that the greatest heroes of the golden age worked with the rising stars within the Justice Society of America. More often than not, respect was shown for the ideas, opinions,talents and accomplishments that each member applied to the cause of Justice. Now there is a new JSA with mainly younger heroes. Here exists another golden opportunity in the modern age for rising stars to learn from their experienced elders......... and vice versa. After all, you never stop learning something new at any age. Thank you Julian I am sorry that the Sandman passed away. I am glad that Mister Terrific will return.Hmmm, I wonder if it would be the second Mr. Terrific from the 1970s? +++++ Subj: 'Nuff Said! radio show guest info & web site From: nuffsaid@escape.com (Nuff Said) 'Nuff Said!, the comic book interview/talk show, is on the air for a full hour every Tuesday at 10 PM on WBAI-FM, 99.5 in the New York City metropolitan area. We're also on the internet at www.wbaifree.org and www.2600.com as well. There's a link to each of those on our own web site: www.nuffsaid.net Tuesday, August 10, 1999 - Our pre-emption has been pre-empted because WBAI's mini fund drive has been postponed a week. Tuesday, August 17, 1999 - Leonard Starr, 1950s DC artist for non-hero books (Dr. 13, Big Town, Gangbusters, westerns) and artist/writer on "On Stage", "Winnie Winkle" and currently "Little Orphan Annie" for newspapers. Annie's 75th birthday is this month. He also wrote the excellent "Kelley Green" graphic novels for a European audience. Tuesday, August 23, 1999 - Probably a tape of a panel I conducted at the Big Apple Con. There is a bit of indecision due to the problems at Pacifica. See www.wbaifree,org for more information. I'll get back to live guests as soon as enough dust settles and I feel comfortable scheduling people. WBAI-FM, 99.5, is a 50,000 watt station broadcast from the Empire State Building. Our signal usually gets out to New Haven, CT; Westhampton, L.I.; the Poconos of Pennsylvania, Orange County, NY and Trenton & Princeton, NJ. But via the internet for an even greater distance, natch. The show covers the entire world of comics: golden age, silver age, contemporary, mainstream, independent, underground, foreign, strips and fandom. Hosted by Ken Gale (interviewer) and Ed Menje (Engineer). WBAI is a Pacifica Network station (if your local station carries any Pacifica programming (such as "Democracy Now" and Gary Null), they might be able to get 'Nuff Said! as well) although this might not be a good time to contact them about a WBAI show. WBAI-FM, 120 Wall St., 10th flr, New York, NY 10005. --Ken Gale, interviewer and co-host ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [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 first comic book material to stay on the New York Times' "Best Sellers" list for seven weeks? The movie adaptation, "Alien - The Illustrated Story" by Archie Goodwin & Walt Simonson was the first to do it, and Gary Peterson was the first to know the answer. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION: What was the back story for Doomsday, the creature that killed Superman, that was abandoned at the last minute before his first appearance? 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 Comic To Inform Kosovo Kids on Mines WASHINGTON (AP) - Superman is heading to the rescue in Kosovo. A comic book featuring the superhero will soon be distributed to about 500,000 children in and near the Yugoslav province to help teach them to avoid land mines, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday. ``Now he will be both a hero and a guide to the children of Kosovo,'' Mrs. Clinton said at a White House unveiling of the comic book, which aid groups will begin distributing within days. The comic book features Superman swooping from the sky to stop two boys from disturbing a mine, and offering lessons in spotting and avoiding the potentially deadly weapons. The book is aimed at ethnic Albanian refugees driven from their homes in Kosovo before and during the 78-day NATO air war, and the dialogue is in Albanian. More than 200 accidents involving mines and unexploded ordnance have occurred since the war ended six weeks ago. The United Nations estimates mines will continue to maim and kill in Kosovo for five years. A similar Superman comic was distributed in Bosnia after the war ended there in 1995, and another version has been used in Central America. The Superman comic is a collaboration of the Pentagon, UNICEF and DC Comics. +++++ ANGEL MEDINA, HUJA BROS. & CRUCIAL DONATE ART FOR CBLDF Edison, NJ 8/2/99: Crucial Comics has joined the growing list of contributors to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's online auction fund raiser to be conducted by NextPlanetOver.com and Ebay.com. "I originally promised Chris Oarr(CBLDF Executive Director) a "Rat Bastard" piece by The Huja Bros. last month," said Crucial Comics president Cliff Galbraith, "but then something extraordinary happened. I received an unexpected FedEx pack one day in July. It was a piece of art depicting Rosco, the Rat Bastard character and a letter from Angel Medina. He was giving us this intricate drawing because he wanted to show support for what we were doing. He told us we could '..use it for a pinup page, cover, posters, ...and you can keep the art, it's my gift to you.' I was really touched by his generosity. The illustration would be perfect for the cover of Rat Bastard #7. All we needed to do was ink it. When the piece was finished, it became obvious there was only one thing to do with this gift -- pass it on to help someone else. Who better than our friends at CBLDF?" The Medina/Huja Bros. cover art will be presented to CBLDF in San Diego at the International Comic Con on August 12th. Angel Medina is best known for his work on McFarlane Studios/Image Comic's "Kiss Psycho Circus" and the upcoming "Sam and Twitch." www.crucialcomics.com +++++ ZEN COMICS DEBUTS COLLECTIBLE POSTCARD SERIES AT SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON A few thousand lucky comics fans will be able to scoff up the first two Zen Collectible Postcards at the San Diego Comic-Con International. "The set will consist of a dozen deluxe, full-color postcards, to be issued one per month beginning in January, 2000," said Zen co-creator and publisher Steve Stern. The first in the series is "American Nightmare," featuring Bill Maus' cover art for the upcoming graphic novel of the same name that re-teams Zen with Entity Comix' CyberAngel, Nira X. The second in the collectible series is "Alien Hero," depicting the cover of the trade paperback collection of Zen novellas and short stories by Stern and his Zen co-creator, Dan Cote. "The cards will be distributed in any number of ways, to give collectors something to chase after," Cote said. "There will be limited quantities sent to randomly-selected comic shops, distribution at other cons throughout the year, offerings with the issue of certain books, including the new, fully-painted Zen comic from Chikara Comics, and so on." "Collectors will be able to track the availability of all the cards at our website, www.zenintergalacticninja.com," Stern added. "In the meantime, anyone attending the Comic-Con should be on the lookout for the first two cards." Contact Steve Stern at Zen Comics, (818) 508-8190 or sszen97@aol.com. +++++ Books of Lore Kicks Off Bi-monthly Publishing Schedule with Shape of Evil WASHINGTON, DC - Books of Lore, the popular fantasy comic from Peregrine Entertainment, will kick off a new bi-monthly publishing schedule in September with a two part story titled Shape of Evil. A three part story arc called Books of Lore: The Storyteller will follow, starting in January 2000. The new Books of Lore tales will continue to track the adventures of Gev, Gerrin, Dione, Slythe, Portifer, and other characters from Books of Lore: The Kaynin Gambit, which ran from November 1998 to May 1999. Shape of Evil will catch readers up with Gerrin, the troubled half-elf from The Kaynin Gambit #0, as he unravels a deadly mystery. The Storyteller will let readers eavesdrop on Portifer, lovable rogue and keeper of the Books of Lore, as he weaves tales of wonder for the citizens of Kaynin. Tucker and series creator David Napoliello will again work with artist Philip Xavier, who has signed on with Peregrine for another year, to produce the ongoing series. Joining the Books of Lore team are colorist Paul Mounts and Bongotone, who will be coloring Xavier's covers. "Philip's work ethic and dedication to this series has made it possible for us to get on a regular, bimonthly schedule," said Napoliello, who is also publisher for Peregrine Entertainment. Books of Lore is a bi-monthly black-and-white fantasy comic series. Each issue retails for $2.95 and is available through Diamond Comic Distributors, FM International, and Cold Cut Distribution. The first issue of Shape of Evil is listed in the July issue of Previews (item code JUL991575). Peregrine Entertainment was founded by David Napoliello in 1997 as a vehicle for publishing his sword-and-sorcery, fantasy-adventure comic book series, Books of Lore. Since then, the company has become home to a wide variety of high-quality creator-owned titles. Its expanding line of books now encompasses such diverse genres as science fiction (Digital Dragon), all-ages adventure (Forty Winks), superhero (Buzzboy), and gothic horror (Vladimira). For more information, please visit www.peregrine-entertain.com on the Web or call 703-627-7989. +++++ HP and Marvel Enterprises Expand Mighty Marvel Messenger Newsletter PALO ALTO, Calif., and NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 4, 1999-- Weekly Newsletter Adds Exclusive Feature Story, Activity and Fantastic Four Comic for Automatic Delivery Direct to Subscribers' Printers Hewlett-Packard Company and Marvel Enterprises, Inc. today announced the expansion of the Mighty Marvel Messenger, a free Web-based weekly newsletter that is automatically delivered to subscribers' printers. The newsletter now includes more exclusive Marvel news and information that is available only by using free HP Instant Delivery software. The new Mighty Marvel Messenger delivers up to five pages each week that include the following: -0- *T -- an exclusive, full-color, 13-week Fantasstic Four comic strip; -- a behind-the-scenes feature story; -- an educational activity page; -- teasers, news and updates for upcoming iissues; and -- selected full-color cover artwork previeews. *T -0- "The Mighty Marvel Messenger has provided a terrific update for comic fans since Oct. 1998, and the HP Instant Delivery team is thrilled to work with Marvel to expand this highly successful newsletter," said Antonio Perez, president and chief executive officer of HP's Inkjet Imaging Solutions. "The new Mighty Marvel Messenger showcases Marvel's dedication to providing fans with creative, unique content in new ways. At the same time, the newsletter highlights the benefits of HP Instant Delivery, which combines the power of the Internet with the convenience of paper to automatically deliver this information to subscribers' printers." "This year marks 60 years of superheroes for Marvel fans," said Peter Cuneo, president and chief executive officer of Marvel Enterprises, Inc. "Six decades have meant a lot of change in our industry, including the growing importance of the Internet in sharing information. Many Marvel fans using HP Instant Delivery are already on the inside track with the sneak peaks featured in the original Mighty Marvel Messenger. Now, Mighty Marvel Messenger and HP Instant Delivery offer dedicated Marvel fans activities and news, plus exclusives such as the Fantastic Four comic strip." A demo of Instant Delivery and the new Mighty Marvel Messenger will be one of many exciting highlights hosted in Marvel's booth at the 30th annual Comic-Con International. Attendees are invited to visit booth No. 615 in San Diego, Aug. 12 through 15. Free HP Instant Delivery software and a subscription to the new Mighty Marvel Messenger can be obtained at http://www.instant-delivery.com or http://www.marvel.com/messenger. About HP Instant Delivery HP Instant Delivery is free Internet printing software from HP -- the world's leading provider of digital-imaging technology and products, enabling home and office users to explore creative and practical new applications of digital imaging. The software lets subscribers schedule automatic, unattended printing of online news and information. It automatically retrieves subscriptions by logging onto the appropriate Web site and printing the publication -- without user intervention. Featured publishers such as Marvel offer a compact, designed-for-print format that's easy to carry, easy to share. CBS SportsLine, United Media, MSNBC.com, National Geographic Interactive, Afternoon Update from TIME.com, USA TODAY Update, GIST TV and Slate magazine are among HP Instant Delivery's featured publishers. +++++ From the Comics2Film at http://www.comics2film.com Big Guy (and Others) in San Diego --------------------------------- Fans attending this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego will be the first to view Fox Kids Network's highly anticipated new animated action adventure series Big Guy and Rusty The Boy Robot. This special premiere screening will take place Saturday, August 14, at 11:00 a.m. in room 6DE of the convention center. Frank Miller and Geof Darrow, creators of the comic that the animated show is based on, will also be on hand for a panel discussion. Fans attending the showing and the discussion will also have an opportunity to quiz Duane Capizzi, Supervising Producer of the series; Frank Squillace, Supervising Director of the series; Bob Higgins, Senior Vice President Creative Affairs for Sony Pictures Entertainment, Family Entertainment Group, producer of the series; David McDermott, Executive Director of Programming & Development, Fox Kids; and Roland Poindexter, Vice President, Head of Programming, Fox Kids. The series will make its proper broadcast premier on Fox Kids Saturday, September 18 (11:00 AM/ET). A recent press release from Fox Kids provide this description of the show, "Big Guy and Rusty The Boy Robot chronicles the continuing adventures of a mighty robotic duo as they protect the Earth from mutants, mad scientists, aliens, monsters. and evil robots. "Big Guy, a mechanical colossus designed by the military to defend the world against any assault, is reluctantly teamed with Rusty, the next step in robotic artificial intelligence: a boy robot with human emotions. Rusty idolizes Big Guy and eagerly tries to follow in his footsteps. But there's something Rusty doesn't know: Big Guy's not a robot at all, but a skilled human pilot, operating a highly sophisticated mechanical suit. Despite their differences, these high-tech heroes forge a solid friendship and work together like one well-oiled machine. "The new series' animation captures Darrow's award-winning style and penchant for detail with a retro-hip look that embodies the art deco look of the 1940s and WWII industrial design, in an urban setting characteristic of a New York City or Tokyo-like metropolis." Fans can point their web browsers to the official Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot website for more information. Attendees of the convention can also look for an update on Heavy Metal's F.A.K.K.2 animated feature. A full page ad recently found in the pages of Comics Buyer's Guide indicates the magazine will be in San Diego promoting the film. Star Julie Strain and producer/creator Kevin Eastman will be on hand Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. to answer questions and sign autographs. F.A.K.K.2 is loosely based on Eastman's Melting Pot comic. Finally, as we reported last week, the video adaptation of Big Bang Comics will also enjoy a preview at the convention. The 45 minute pilot video, called Knights of Justice, will air on Sunday, August 15 from 1:00-3:00 in room 7A of the convention center. http://www2.comic-con.org/comiccon/ http://www.bigguyandrusty.com http://www.comicsbuyersguide.com Astroboy -------- FROM AIN'T IT COOL NEWS: Producer Don Murphy reported in to Ain't it Cool News on the status of the Astroboy movie. Murphy described the concept for AICN, "In the near future the SON of a scientist who is the chairman of the Ministry of Science dies horribly in a car accident. The bereaved scientist utilizes all the resources he has in order to create a robot version of his son to replace him. For a while, this works. It is even more fun, since, in order to justify the creation of a realistic robot, he built in jets in his feet and super-strength. But after a while the scientist loses it, realizing that the robot is NOT his son. He banishes him, but poor little Astroboy just wants to be loved and has no idea why he has been cast out. From there, he meets all sorts of other robots and villains who are all out to exploit, control, or kill him." The concept had reportedly been tied up in litigation until 1997. Apparently the American distributors of the Astroboy TV show claimed ownership of Osamu Tezuka popular creation which made movement on the project difficult. With the legal issues resolved, Columbia Pictures is proceeding with the movie. Murphy reports that a writer is on board and a story line has been hashed out. The character will be rendered in CGI effects with other effects being handled by Henson. He also cautioned that "the character will not look EXACTLY like the cartoon," a comment met with much skepticism by fans. Murphy summed up his report by saying, "This should be a smart, cool franchise." http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/ Ninjak ------ FROM THE DETROIT NEWS COMIC BOOK CONTINUUM: Rob Allstetter of Detroit News Comic Book Continuum reports that a movie adaptation of the Acclaim Comics character Ninjak is in the works. The movie is being developed by Impact Pictures. According to the article, Paul Anderson is set to direct with Robin Shou (Mortal Kombat) attached to star. http://detnews.com/comicbooks/ +++++ From The Daily Buzz at http://www.mania.com/newsarama/index.html Avengers, Spider-Man Premiere Dates Fox Kids will premiere its new Avengers TV series Sept. 25 and its Spider-Man Unlimited series on Oct. 2. Barry Ween Comes To Oni Judd Winick's The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius will become an Oni Press series after all. After the publisher initially turned down the idea, it reversed course after it saw the comics printed by Image, said Oni Editor in Chief Jamie Rich. The series will start off with a trade paperback of the original Image comic series. +++++ From Newsarama; http://www.AnotherUniverse.com/newsarama WINNER OF THE 1997 & 1998 INTERNET "SQUIDDY" FOR BEST WEB SITE Awesome Entertainment has announced that it has signed Ian (Coven) Churchill and Keron (Kaboom) Grant to exclusive creator contracts extending their current commitments to the publisher through 2001. +++++ From Zentertainment; HTTP://WWW.ZENTERTAINMENT.COM To sign a friend up or begin receiving ZEN yourself, e-mail: subscribe@ZENtertainment.com DARK HORSE will publish a four-issue ATOMICS miniseries starring those mean beatniks from Mike Allred's MADMAN next May. http://www.dhorse.com +++++ 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. NEWS BYTES DC GEARS UP FOR COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL: SAN DIEGO '99 Comic-Con International: San Diego '99 kicks off in the San Diego Convention Center next week, and, as usual, DC Comics will be there in force to welcome fans and professionals alike to the largest comic book convention in America. As always, staffing the booth for both the Expo and the convention will be DC's crack Sales & Marketing teams, including Vice President -- Direct Sales Bob Wayne, Director -- Markketing Services Syndee Barwick, Manager -- Marketing Communications Patty Jeres, Manager -- Events & Retailer Services Ann Ivan, Publicity Manager Martha Thomases, Manager -- Direct Sales Vince Letterio, Assistant Manager -- Marketing Services Brenda Manzanedo, Representative -- Marketing Publications Ivan Cohen, and Representative -- Retail Sales Anthony Bozzi. And joining DC this year will be large contingent from the newest addition to the DC family, WildStorm Productions. Joining all of them at the booth will be a host of Editorial staffers from DC, VERTIGO, WildStorm, and MAD, including President & Editor- In-Chief Jenette Kahn, Executive Vice President & Publisher Paul Levitz, Vice President -- Managing Editor Terri Cunningham, Vice President -- Licensed Publishing & Associate Publisher -- MAD MAGAZINE Dorothy Crouch, Vice President -- Creative Director Richard Bruning, Executive Editor -- DC Universe Mike Carlin, Executive Editor - - VERTIGO Karen Berger, Design Director Georg Brewer, Group Editors Dennis O'Neil and Dan Raspler, Group Editor -- Art Director Mark Chiarello, WildStorm GGroup Editor Scott Dunbier, WildStorm Senior Editor Jeff Mariotte, Senior Editor Bob Schreck, and Editors Axel Alonso, Eddie Berganza, Joey Cavalieri, Heidi MacDonald, Shelly Roeberg, Rachelle Brissenden, John Layman, and Eric DeSantis. A huge crowd of freelancers will also be making appearances at the DC booth to greet fans and sign autographs, including Chris Bachalo, John Cassaday, Garth Ennis, Devin Grayson, Joe Kelly, Grant Morrison, Humberto Ramos, Darick Robertson, Chris Sprouse, and J.H. Williams. In addition, the creators of the upcoming hardcover THE SANDMAN: THE DREAM HUNTERS -- Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano -- will also be appearing to sign at the booth. Finally, in addition to the ongoing excitement at the its booth, DC will be sponsoring a series of panels throughout the weekend showcasing the latest developments in DC, VERTIGO, WILDSTORM, and PARADOX PRESS. The descriptions appear below; please check the Events Guide for the time and location of the panels. See you in San Diego! BATMAN AFTER "NO MAN'S LAND" As "No Man's Land" nears a close, new titles, new creative teams and a surprising future for Gotham City are just some of the shocks in store for readers who wonder how the Dark Knight will bring his city back from the brink. Joining Batman Group Editor Dennis O'Neil for the glimpse of the future are creators whose involvement with Batman will increase in the aftermath of "No Man's Land": writers Greg Rucka and Devin Grayson and artist Scott McDaniel (NIGHTWING). DC UNIVERSE SLIDE SHOW As the millennium approaches, big changes are coming for the most popular heroes in comics. Get an advance look at the projects everyone will be talking about in the coming months with DC Executive Editor Mike Carlin and writers Geoff Johns (STARS AND S.T.R.I.P.E., DAY OF JUDGMENT) and Devin Grayson (THE TITANS) and artist Scott McDaniel (NIGHTWING). Moderated by DC's Manager -- Marketing Communications Patricia Jeres. Given away at this panel: black-and-white advance copies of SUPERMAN #151. VERTIGO/PARADOX SLIDE SHOW DC Comics breaks new ground every day, thanks largely to the books produced by VERTIGO and PARADOX PRESS. VERTIGO Executive Editor Karen Berger and Editors Axel Alonso (PREACHER, 100 BULLETS) and Shelly Roeberg (THE DREAMING, HEAVY LIQUID) are joined by some of the line's finest writers and artists -- Garth Ennis (PREACHER), Grant Morrison (THE INVISIBLES), Chris Bachalo (THE WITCHING HOUR), Brian Azzarello (100 BULLETS), Paul Pope (HEAVY LIQUID), Jill Thompson (FINALS), Peter Gross (THE BOOKS OF MAGIC), and Darick Robertson (TRANSMETROPOLITAN) -- to preview the books and events that will push one of the most innovative lines in comics to intriguing new heights. Helping delve into the future of the industry is writer/artist Scott McCloud, who will discuss his long-awaited sequel to UNDERSTANDING COMICS, the upcoming REINVENTING COMICS for Paradox Press. Given away at this panel: black-and- white advance copies of PROPOSITION PLAYER #1. WILDSTORM SLIDE SHOW Since becoming part of DC Comics, WildStorm Productions -- including CLIFFHANGER, HOMAGE, and AMERICA'S BEST COMICS -- has experienced a burst of creative energy unparallelled in comics. With so many exciting projects, readers may think they've seen it all. Proving them wrong with a slideshow and panel discussion of upcoming projects are WILDSTORM Editorial Director Jim Lee, Group Editor Scott Dunbier, writer/artist J. Scott Campbell (DANGER GIRL), writer Scott Lobdell (WILDCATS, GEN13) and artists Chris Sprouse (TOM STRONG), John Cassaday (PLANETARY), J.H. Williams III (PROMETEHEA), and Brent Anderson (KURT BUSIEK'S ASTRO CITY). Moderated by DC's Manager -- Marketing Communications Patricia Jeres. Given away at this panel: black-and- white advance copies of BALL AND CHAIN #1. SUPERMAN IN ACTION How will the Original Super-Hero change to confront the challenges of the 21st century? Join Superman Editor Eddie Berganza and some of the creators of the ongoing Superman books -- writers Jeph Loeb (SUPERMAN), Joe Kelly (ACTION COMICS) and Stuart Immonen (ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN) as well as DC Group Editor Andrew Helfer (the upcoming Elseworlds projects and SUPERMAN, INC) and artist J.H. Williams III (SON OF SUPERMAN) for a discussion of the big changes in store for the Man of Steel, including shocking new villains and a new look for Metropolis. Given away at this panel: black-and-white advance copies of ACTION COMICS #760. THE SANDMAN: THE DREAM HUNTERS Three years after THE SANDMAN came to an end, writer Neil Gaiman returns to the character that redefined comic-book storytelling for the '90s in THE SANDMAN: THE DREAM HUNTERS. This original hardcover graphic novel pairs Gaiman's prose with the brilliantly stylized paintings of Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano (G- Force, Final Fantasy). Discussing this long-awaited project are Gaiman, Amano and VERTIGO Executive Editor Karen Berger. Given away at this panel: copies of a color preview of THE SANDMAN: THE DREAM HUNTERS. BATMAN: DARK VICTORY This October, the creative team behind the award-winning BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN return to that noirish world for BATMAN: DARK VICTORY: a 13-issue maxiseries that introduces new characters, new themes and new interpretations of familiar characters, including Robin. Previewing this much-anticipated project are writer Jeph Loeb, artist Tim Sale, colorist Gregory Wright, and Group Editor -- Art Director Mark Chiarello. Given away at this panel: copies of BATMAN: DARK VICTORY #0. STEAMPUNK Later this year, the CLIFFHANGER line -- home to such successes as CRIMSON, BATTLE CHASERS and DANGER GIRL -- adds its newest title: STEAMPUNK. Discussing this exciting new project are STEAMPUNK artist Chris Bachalo (DEATH: THE HIGH COST OF LIVING, the upcoming THE WITCHING HOUR), writer Joe Kelly and Group Editor Scott Dunbier. Given away at this panel: copies of a color preview of STEAMPUNK. HEROES VS. ANTI-HEROES: WHEN TITANS CLASH After years of grim and darkly violent characters dominating comics, a resurgence of more optimistic visions of heroism has made the racks more diverse than ever. But which kind of hero is better? Creative talents have their own preferences, and fighting it out on stage here are some of the best: DC Senior Editor Bob Schreck, WILDSTORM Senior Editor (and writer of DESPERADOES) Jeff Mariotte, writers Garth Ennis (HITMAN, PREACHER), Mark Waid (THE FLASH), Joe Casey (MR. MAJESTIC), Kurt Busiek (KURT BUSIEK'S ASTRO CITY), Brian Azzarello (100 BULLETS), Ford Lytle Gilmore (NIGHTFALL: THE BLACK CHRONICLES), and artist Darick Robertson (TRANSMETROPOLITAN). JLA/JSA PANEL This summer, the World's Greatest Super-Heroes are joined by a new team taking the name of one of DC's greatest legacies: the JSA. These two very different groups of heroes have big things in store for them in the coming months, as revealed in a discussion with Group Editor Dan Raspler (JLA) and writers Grant Morrison (JLA) and Geoff Johns (JSA), artist Stephen Sadowski (JSA) and DC know- it-all/future JLA writer Mark Waid (THE KINGDOM). Given away at this panel: black-and-white advance copies of EARTH II #1. COLD-CASTING CALL From Green Lantern to Spider Jerusalem to VOODOO, learn how the statues from the popular DC DIRECT line of retail products come into being with DC's Design Director Georg Brewer, sculptors William Paquet and Tim Bruckner, and Director - - Marketing Syndee Barwick. Given away at this panel: copies of a HARLEY QUINN MEDIUM STATUE POSTER. STAR TREK: WRITING COMICS ON THE FINAL FRONTIER The future of Starfleet has never been brighter as WildStorm Productions announces its plans for miniseries and specials set in the STAR TREK Universe. Join WILDSTORM Senior Editor Jeff Mariotte, DC's Bob Greenberger, Paramount's Paula Block, and some of the writers who will be taking comics where no one has gone before: Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski, Keith DeCandido, Ted Adams, and more -- as they announce exciting plans for some beloved characters. HEY, KIDS' COMICS! What comics are today's kids reading? Joining Editors Heidi McDonald (DEXTER'S LABORATORY, LOONEY TUNES, SCOOBY-DOO) and Shelly Roeberg (YEAH!) are writers and artists whose work brings new fans into a remarkable medium: writer Peter Bagge and artist Gilbert Hernandez (YEAH!), Genndy Tartakovsky (DEXTER'S LABORATORY), Craig McCracken (POWERPUFF GIRLS), and Jesse Leon McCann (ANIMANIACS FEATURING PINKY AND THE BRAIN). Given away at this panel: copies of one of the Cartoon Network comics. 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. 8/9/99 (4:00 pm) -- "Mean Seasons" (Batman) 8/9/99 (4:30 pm) -- "Warrior Queen" (Superman) 8/10/98 (4:00 pm) -- "Tools of the Trade" (Superman) 8/10/99 (4:30 pm) -- "Read My Lips" (Batman) 8/11/99 (4:00 pm) -- "Heart of Ice" (Batman) 8/11/99 (4:30 pm) -- "Stolen Memories" (Superman) 8/12/99 (4:00 pm) -- "A Little Piece of Home" (Superman) 8/12/99 (4:30 pm) -- "Sideshow" (Batman) 8/13/99 (4:00 pm) -- "Love is a Croc" (Batman) 8/13/99 (4:30 pm) -- "Father's Day" (Superman) 8/14/99 (8:00 am) -- "Little Big Head Man" (Superman) 8/14/99 (8:30 am) -- "Beware the Creeper" (Batman) 8/14/99 (9:30 am) -- "Ascension" (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: 31 July 1999 A few bits went astray this week... sorry for the delay, blame the internet, I do. Marvel's Submission Policy... Look In The Bins Marvel Boy is Grant Morrison's new Marvel Knights title. Except that we've been told it isn't that new and was written 4 or 5 years ago when Millar and Morrison were submitting loads to Marvel. We've been told Marvel rejected it then, but Event were glad to take it. Well if it's something Marvel rejected, it might actually be good then! And because he wrote it so long ago, there's no danger of any infringement of his DC exclusive contract. What's left of it... Morrison's relationship with DC has been the subject of much rumour recently. It looks unlikely he'll work for DC again soon. We're told he's hurt that DC haven't supported him on a number of projects and that work has been drying up. And isn't it great that Marvel could step in? Well, until Stuart Moore's multi-media comics company starts looking for talent, of course... Hulked Out Why didn't Erik Larsen get the Hulk writer contract, aside from one issue? A Marvel source puts it down to his going on the record about Nova's cancellation apparently. The Your Man column of the day was quite critical of Larsen and it seems this was very reflective of Bob Harras' views. So he ain't getting the book. But, in the true spirit of Erik Larsen's beliefs about artists being more important than writers, Ron Garney will be plotting Hulk! Threatened Species? Are Gorilla's days numbered? Negotiations with both Image and Wildstorm aren't holding ground, according to one inside source. Could Busiek find another deal with Homage, DC's Wildstorm's imprint that published Astro City? Smoke And Mirrors. Big rumour time. All rumour warnings go double for this one. Believe what you want, you're adults, we do not take any responsibility for any truth you may find. One of the more bizarre comic book events of the last few years was Rob Liefeld leaving Image, the company he founded after being booted out by the others. Bizarre, and up there with Saatchi & Saatchi doing similar. There have been a number of tales over the years about what actually happened, why it happened, and just what the hell was going on inside Image. Thanks to one individual in particular, we've got a pretty good summary of what might have happened. Any more info would be appreciated though. It all came down to the fact that the image studios had an agreement to not go after each others talent, as that would be bad for the Image partnership. When Silvestri left the Homage/Wildstorm studio, to set up Ballistic, now Top Cow, some of the artists from Homage were asked if they wanted to stay at Homage and work for WildStorm or go with Marc. Except for Billy Tan, all the artists hired by Jim Lee or Whilce Portacio stayed at WildStorm, and all the artists hired by Marc went to Top Cow. The friction later began when Rob formed Maximum Press, because now he had a publishing company apart and away from Image, on paper. From what I've heard this pissed off all the Image partners except for Jim Lee, who basically didn't care, and who was planning his own separate non-Image company. One of Rob's first moves with Maximum Press was to try and lure other artists to come work at his imprint. Art Adams did some work for Rob as well other guys who had yet to work with Rob/Extreme. Because Rob had heard that Jim and Marc had basically opened up the doors to each others studios for a short time, he thought or reasoned it would be okay to woo talent from the other Image studios. Or at least he used it as an excuse, sort of "well its not for my Image comics titles, and besides you guys did it." Top Cow had also previously lured away Anthony Winn from Extreme (Rob Liefeld's Image studio) before Rob ever made overtures to any Top Cow talent. Supposedly, Liefeld offered J. Scott Campbell a deal to move from Wildstorm, which was rejected by Campbell, but eventually Scott Clark left WildStorm and did work for Extreme. Pat Lee and Cedric Nocon left Extreme to work for WildStorm and later both Nocon and Dan Fraga would work for Top Cow as well. So a precedent for talent trading had been set. Like any competitor, Rob wanted to increase his studios talent. The major issue of contention revolves around Randy Queen who now makes the comic book DarkChylde. Randy was a Top Cow guy who was beginning to generate heat and Rob got a hold of him and offered him a better deal at Maximum Press. Randy bolted from Top Cow, much to Marc's annoyance. Then Rob made offers to Mike Turner. That was the last straw... Top Cow was relying on Turner for much... especially Witchblade. So Marc made the decision to jump ship, taking Top Cow away from Image. He didn't resign his seat on the board of directors or anything like that, so he still had a sixth controlling interest of Image. At the next formal board meeting, Marc made his case to everyone involved as to why he took the actions he did. Only Erik Larsen and Rob's attorney (voting for Rob) voted for Rob to stay at Image, with the other 4 guys voting to oust him. Since then, Larsen has spoken fondly of Rob and was the only one to actually address the absence of Rob's characters from the Image Universe, allowing his own characters like Superpatriot and Dragon to be used by Rob. A large reason why the other Image founders voted against Rob is because of the rampant allegations from Rob's former employees/studio mates at Extreme complaining that Rob hadn't paid them for work. This included Image founder/owner Jim Valentino, whom Rob was working on Avengers with. Maximum Press was publishing material completely in-line and competing with Image, including a former Image comic, "Black Flag," being a spearhead title of Maximum Press' line of books. Rob had previously said that Maximum Press wouldn't compete with Image. With Rob being ousted, Silvestri came back...however when Jim Lee/WildStorm tried to get Mike Turner for the Cliffhanger line, Marc made no visible motions about leaving Image. However, it did spur Top Cow to also offer Turner a shot at creator ownership with Fathom. Again, much of this is plain rumour. Some may be speculation on individuals' parts, some from embittered ex-employees with an axe to grind, the usual. If you have any clarification, confirmation or outright denial, twisting@hotmail.com is the place to send it. Wildstorm Studio History While we're in the mood... http://www.wildstorm.com/4/index2.html has a A Brief History of WildStorm Productions... let's have a peek. "About Image: Six of Marvel's most popular artists, Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Jim Valentino, Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld, and Marc Silvestri left the world's biggest, most profitable comic book company to strike out on their own, publishing their own "creator-owned" comic books." Where the hell is Whilce Portacio? It was reported later that Whilce stepped down after chronic non-production of work, and some have said that he was never financially in at Image. However, he was clearly one of the original seven, given equal prominence in all press releases and news stories. "Tired of the work-for-hire system under which Marvel worked, where an artist could create a character but have no control over the fate of that character, they decided to take the risk of creating all new characters and publishing their own books." We all know this one, but its interesting to see in print... how soon that vision died. "Image was also different from other companies in that each of the founding members created his own studio and produced his own comic books." The thing is... they didn't did they? Whilce, Jim and Marc were all together in the same studio to to start with... and if indeed Whilce started the studio with Scott Williams first... could this not have been mentioned in Wildstorm's 'official' history? And whatever happened to Zero Sum Productions? Who owns that one now? Kosovo Update Al Davison is the latest creator who has agreed to contribute a story to the Refugee Relief comic we've been plugging for a while. Star Wars stalwarts Kenny Baker and Dave Prowse will help promote the book too. Wizard's doing a nice publicity splash on them, as will the new Comics International. The book will launch at Galaxion 99, see www.galxion99.com for details. Talking Shop. Stories from around the industry. Remember to take what everyone says with as much salt as you deem necessary. Jeph Loeb's been throwing a wobbly. After some queries on newsgroups, noting the similarity between the Authority 4 cover and the Supreme 2 cover, it was quickly decided that the proximity of publication meant that any kind of swipe wasn't possible. Loeb however, found it necessary to go into publication detail to show how this couldn't happen, also consider whoever runs the Swipe Of The Week as someone he'd 'banish anyone into the phantom zone forever'. Considering the amount of dead-on swipes that page has identified from Rob and his ilk, it does seem a little rich... However, Loeb did seemingly go on the record over naming Matt Hawkins as the individual responsible for spreading the Khoo Fuk Long/Alex Ross swipe thing around. We didn't want to print this allegation until someone would went on the record and Matt Hawkins didn't respond to any of our e-mail enquiries. What seems to have occurred those many weeks ago at a certain comics convention is that the reprints of the Khoo Fuk Long work was accompanied by new work, which seems to have been swiped from Alex Ross. Because it was mostly a reprint, the copyright dates confused some. Matt Hawkins reportedly was the one who showed Mark Waid, among others, the pages and Waid brought the pages to yet more people's attention. Reports differ here... Waid has stated that DC asked him to show them the pages. Others report Waid was keen to show the work to others. Certainly it was Waid who, after investigating publication dates, openly declared that Long was the swiper, not Ross. We've had a report that Kurt Busiek has disavowed any knowledge of the Youngblood: Year One rumour. It's believed to have been restarted by Awesome, but reports say that Kurt never got very far with it all those years ago. It's also believed he didn't even have any script done. Warren Ellis writes to say "Incidentally, someone's bullshitting you; as of right now, FLINCH is making profit for DC, and looks like it'll be around a while." Now, we've never said that Flinch wasn't making a profit. However, we have had reports lacking in confidence in the book's continued success, all reportedly coming from editor, Axel Alonzo talking off the cuff to others in the comics field. It is possible that both these separate reports are bullshit, but one in particular I'm sure isn't lying about what he was told and the other has no reason to lie either that I know of. I've certainly no desire to see Flinch's demise, I enjoy the book and have it on my pull list. But I'm not in the mood to be spin doctored today. Ellis also announced on rec.arts.comics.misc "I've just been informed that the Marvel Books program has been frozen following some kind of difficulty between Marvel and Byron Preiss books. The odds seem fair to middling that the Daredevil novel won't actually happen at all...I'm waiting on further developments, but right now, it's down-tools..." Found Girls Steve Bissette's at it again, this time he's selling Lost Girls scripts. Sadly, the auction has ended with a very low price of $46... sorry we didn't get to it sooner. Check it out at http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=133405641 and read what he says. Or read it here... This is a set of Alan Moore's scripts for the first, sixth, seventh, and eighth chapters of the serialized erotic graphic novel Lost Girls. As co-creator/co-publisher and editor of the anthology series Taboo in which Lost Girls debuted and was initially serialized, I stored these scripts away a number of years ago (Note: With the seventh issue of Taboo, the title folded and Alan and artist/co-creator Melinda Gebbie contracted to complete Lost Girls with Tundra and Kitchen Sink, ending my involvement). Please note these are not unique manuscripts; they are computer printouts and photocopies. Please read this description carefully: Unlike Alan's scripts for, say, Swamp Thing, for which there were indeed typed originals with Alan's hand-written corrections and notations, these Lost Girls scripts are of negligible value as manuscripts. There are no hand-written annotations, sketches, or signatures anywhere on them. All were written by Alan on his word processor, and exist here as printouts and one photocopy. Thus, there were no "original manuscript" drafts of the Lost Girls scripts circulating between creative or editorial collaborators -- Alan would send the involved parties either print-outs from his printer, or photocopies. None are true originals, nor were there any "true" original manuscripts, arguably save those Melinda herself drew from. Furthermore, please note that only Chapter One and Chapter Eight are complete. Three of these scripts, (for Chapter One: The Mirror, Chapter Six: Queens Together, and Chapter Eight: "Come Away, Come Away!") are original printouts from Alan's printer, just as they were mailed to me by Alan Moore as work progressed on the series. Chapter Seven: The Twister is a photocopied document. Alan began using a word processor during work on From Hell, and these scripts reflect his relative inexperience or disregard for the niceties of printing documents. For example, the ribbon was nearly spent when he printed out Chapter One, though it is legible and he took the additional effort to separate the pages and staple them together. He would thereafter send them un-divided, folded as all computer paper was at that time. The pages for the Chapter Six and Chapter Eight scripts are undivided, as Alan originally mailed them. Furthermore, Alan miscaliberated the margins for printing Chapter Eight's script, so that pages scroll half-a-line to a line over the tear divisions between pages. Sadly, Alan used to inadvertently neglect to include the final page or two on the occasional script (!), requiring him to FAX the missing pages to me after I'd received the mailed scripts. Since Melinda had the full documents to draw from, I never used to fret over this much; most often, Alan would simply read the missing page or so over the phone to satisfy my curiosity. Thus, neither Chapter Six or Seven are complete, each lacking their concluding one or more pages of script. I have scoured my files for the concluding FAXed pages, but no luck; it's most likely they were simply read to me over the phone, and never mailed at all. All have been well cared for over the years, and remain in good condition. Chapter One was received with a crease across the first page, and shows some folding wear up by the staple in the top left-hand corner from being read. Chapters Six and Eight are physically in excellent condition. Chapter Seven is the photocopied document, from Alan's printouts, and remains sharp, clean, and very legible. Though I wish to stress again there are no "original" manuscripts per se, and two of these scripts lack their final page(s), this is a very unique item. These are among Alan's most lovingly-crafted scripts from this period in his career, reflecting the intimacy of both the content and the context, as well as his personal relationship with the artist. They are a wonderful read, and will be of interest to any and all fans of Alan Moore and scholars of the comics artform. ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [6] Tony's Isabella's Journal Tony Isabella tonyisa@ohio.net Tony Isabella is a featured weekly columnist in the nation's largest comic book collector's publication, Comics Buyer's Guide. His satiric "Tony's Tips!" is a favorite among fans and industry professionals alike. A life long comic book fan, Tony began his career in 1972 as a comics professional as assistant to Stan Lee! He has worked in nearly every aspect of the business, from retailing, to distribution to writing. Among his credits is the creation of DC's first black super-hero, Black Lightning. Tony's latest project, the daily "Tony's Isabella's Journal" made its debut in June of 1997 on the world wide web exclusively through World Famous Comics, at http://www.wfcomics.com/tony The following is one of those daily columns . . . Tony Isabella's Journal #755 The WORLD FAMOUS COMICS website has been growing by leaps and bounds lately, so let's take a moment just to welcome three of the new arrivals. First and foremost, Bob Ingersoll, one of my bestest friends and a frequent collaborator, is on board with his THE LAW IS A ASS website. Ingersoll has been taking a look at how the law is used (and misused) in comic books for many years in the pages of COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE. Every Tuesday, WFC will be presenting either a brand-new column by Ingersoll or a revised version of one of his previously-published columns. You can get to THE LAW IS AN ASS by clicking HERE. Every Thursday, WFC will be bringing you a new installment of Ethan Wenberg's GIBBERISH comic strip. I've enjoyed what I've seen of the strip so far and, guess what, you can check it out yourself by clicking HERE. And, every Friday, George Broderick will be bringing us a new installment of CHASE VILLENS, BOY HERO. Broderick is the creator of COURAGEOUS MAN, a spiffy homage/satire of the Silver Age Batman, and our boy Chase is every bit as wild and wacky. Just click HERE to get in on the fun. WFC Webmaster Justin and his crazed crew aren't through adding new features to this site. I'm not sure I can keep up with them, but I'll try to keep you informed of the new arrivals. ****** TONY'S MAILBOX I received a long letter from DONALD GILLIKIN on the subject of kids and comic books. I found his letter so interesting that I couldn't bear to edit it for length. So...he takes over the bulk of today's TOT. He writes: I am the parent of an eight-year-old gifted third grader and comics fan, so I follow with interest any discussion involving children and comics. Alistair has been reading comics for a little over a year, starting with AVENGERS (Volume 3) #3, then going back for issues #1 and 2 of that volume. (I've told this story a few times, so some of your readers will have heard all this before. For my part, I had gradually--for financial reasons--weaned myself off of comics during the early to mid-nineties so that by 1995, I was mostly out of comic collecting altogether. However, things started to change for me with HEROES RETURN and I found myself gradually getting back into comics.) For the next month, he reread those three issues daily in anticipation of #4. At that point, I figured that comics weren't a passing fad with him. So, I ventured into the deep, dark domain of the part of the house we call "The Box Room," which contains boxes of books, comics, old notebooks, etc., still largely unpacked from countless cross-country moves, and dragged out the Marvel and (non-Vertigo/non-Mature Titles) DC part of my collection, starting with volume 1 of AVENGERS and related books--Marvel Triple/Super Action reprints, West Coast Avengers, Fantastic Four, Champions, Defenders, X-Men, New Mutants, early X-Factor (until the point where I largely dropped the X-Titles in 1986) plus the Official Handbooks (original and deluxe volumes) and Marvel Saga--dating mostly from 1974 to 1991. (He says that although he likes DC of which he's read-- CRISIS, ZERO HOUR, JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA, ALL-STAR SQUADRON, SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, assorted JUSTICE LEAGUE, SUPERMAN, GREEN LANTERN, FLASH, etc., his preference is for Marvel Comics.) He spent the next two weeks systematically working his way through these boxes issue by issue, title by title. Now, my son generally does not like to talk; while he's two to three years in advance his peers academically, he is similarly behind his peers when it comes to social interaction, but he's gotten better at the "social thing" this past year. Getting him to voice his opinions about what he was reading was pretty much a non-starter, so I had to use more indirect methods like observation. I noticed that the old comics he returned to time again tended to be those issues published between 1977 and 1980. The current stuff that he seems to like is the work that, in my eyes, recaptures the flavor of that period in comics but gives it a contemporary spin. At Marvel, that pretty much means the Kurt Busiek titles. He also devours the ESSENTIAL reprint volumes as I bring them home. As an experiment, I gave him the first issues of SPIDER-MAN: CHAPTER ONE to read with no comment whatsoever as to my view of its quality. He hated them. Having read reprints of the originals, he felt Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's versions were better. He thought John Byrne's changes were "stupid" and "silly." I was floored. This eight-year-old child who has only been reading comics for a year sounded like a thirty-year-old who had been reading comics for 20-25 years. He is one of those new readers for whom the revamps and reboots and revitalization are meant to appeal to...and they don't. He'd rather have the original or a retelling that sticks very close to the original. Now I'll admit that making generalizations about comics from my son's preferences isn't scientifically valid. He's too small a sample and he's an "atypical" child. However, when I was growing up, atypical children were the ones who read comics the most, who seemed to get the greatest enjoyment out of comics. It's the current generation of atypical children (under ten) we need to work to get into comics if comics are to survive, not "tumescent adolescents who can do back flips on skateboards while playing a Gameboy and copping an ultra-cool in-your-face attitude." Which, I am aware is a horrendously exaggerated stereotype not reflective of the reality of many comics fans, adolescents, skateboarders, and video-game enthusiasts. Who controls the discretionary income of the "under tens?" Parents. How do we get parents to spend their money on comics for their kids? By appealing to parents as well as kids. Appealing to parents doesn't mean a return to a stodgy 1950's "Leave it to Beaver" morality that people like George Will, Bill Bennett, and the Vicious Coalition would like to inflict upon us. We're talking parents who were born around the time of the Summer of Love, who learned to read around the close of the Vietnam War, who were getting into comics as Nixon was resigning, who watched Saturday Night Live when it *was* funny and comic-book companies published good stuff by the likes of Steve Englehart, Steve Gerber, Tony Isabella, David Michelinie, Jim Starlin and other off-the-wall talents too numerous to list. Nostalgic political digression ahead: In many ways, I think we had more freedom to explore and could get away with more stuff than the kids of today *and* we didn't feel the need to get in anybody's face or kill anybody to do it. But, partly in reaction to the freedoms explored and pioneered by those just a few years older than myself, came the neo-conservative backlash and the rise of the accursed Ronald Reagan and Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and the back-to-basics movement and the tough-love movement an attempted return to a fascistic sense of discipline in the schools. It is my firm belief that the fear and hysteria we're seeing in the schools against those who are different and the tragic outbreaks of violence have been precipitated by social forces and attitudes that gained ascendency during the Reagan-Bush era. I also suspect that many of the current parents who were themselves children reading comic books in the mid to late seventies (pre-Reagan) were, despite their "goody two-shoes exteriors," secretly rebels at heart and, as parents, value their children questioning/subverting authority, as long as it isn't their own authority as parents that is being questioned/subverted.) Just because these comic-reading kids have grown up to take on adult responsibilities doesn't mean that they can't enjoy a good comic book, no matter who it comes from. What the comic industry needs to do is to find ways of bringing those now grown readers back into the fold, and to gain their children as readers as well. My suggestions for the Big Two mainstream comics companies: 1) An aggressive strategy of reprinting in trade paperback form of significant story arcs from the seventies, when newsstand distribution was often spotty and before the collectors market and direct market comic shop gained ascendency. 2) For Marvel: Continue getting away from the grim and gritty mind-set. Lighten up and continue making the titles fun to read again. Respect your history and the integrity of your stories: no more resurrections of 20+-year dead characters, no more radical revision of characters and their histories in an attempt to fix things which weren't wrong on the first place, and a moratorium on the use of X-event multi-title crossovers, alternate universes, dark futures and twisting the time lines. DC: Just lighten up. You've carried the mid-eighties "Comics aren't just for kids" campaign too far over the past fifteen years. It now looks like your comics aren't for kids at all, even those that are *supposed* to be for kids. And can we get away from the Frank Miller grim urban vigilante "Dark Knight" ambience for Batman and back to the Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams "Darknight Detective" on the main Bat books? Maybe sometime after the "No Man's Land" story arc? Not all inner cities are apocalyptic wastelands or Hell on Earth The fear of random inner-city violence as reflected and magnified in our pop-culture is a remnant of the over-privileged's fear of a predatory underclass run rampant. Let's leave "The Dark Knight Returns" on the shelf next to our videos of Escape from New York, Death Wish 3, and Class of 1984 and get on with life. There *is* a middle ground between camp and gritty that can still be gripping, moody and atmospheric. 3) Once mainstream comics have lightened up so older parents and grandparents don't need to be afraid of them anymore, the industry needs to find some way of getting the books widely distributed beyond comic specialty shops again. There are cities and towns in the US without a decent comic shop, especially since the comics boom went bust a few years back. Comic books need to get back to where the kids and the parents are if readership is to expand. So much for this edition of "If I Ruled the Comics Industry." Sorry to have rambled on like that, Tony, I just got on a roll. Thank you for bearing with me and I look forward to reading future columns. I have a feeling your fellow TOT readers may have responses to your letter, Donald, and I invite them to post them on the TONY'S ONLINE TIPS message board. For my part, I'll simply recommend Mark Crilley's AKIKO to you and your son. ****** MORE MAILBOX Speaking of which, here's a note from MARK CRILLEY: Thanks so much for devoted so much space in your column to AKIKO! It's a sadly common tale that AKIKO is hard to find, but hey, I was impressed to hear that Amazon.com had Volume One for sale. If you think your readers would like to know, almost all Akiko products are available by mail from a retailer called Cosmic Therapy, which is a kind of "sister-company" with Sirius. Would-be buyers can call (973) 328-6606 for AKIKO, SCARY GODMOTHER, or any other Sirius products. Thanks again Tony. See you in Chicago, maybe? I'll be back tomorrow with more stuff. Tony Isabella July 3, 1999 ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [7] Interview by Paul Dale Roberts Silhouet9@aol.com Interview with Mark S. Pacella, Creator of Tooth & Claw. Question: Mark, can you tell us something about yourself, before we move on with this interview? Heck, if you wish to elaborate a bit on your first girlfriend, please feel free to do so. Answer: I was born in Newark New Jersey a bit over thirty years ago. The youngest of three kids, I was always a bit of an introvert, more at ease by myself than in the company of crowds. I began drawing at about 2 years of age all over the kitchen table which tired my mother so much having to constantly wash it that she began putting paper under my pens. I always loved art, and she and my father (a truck driver and all around great guy) seeing this, tried their best to encourage and support me in it. Though fairly poor they always maden to museums for certain shows or exhibits that I expressed an interest in. When I finally graduated high school (nearly failing art)! I had to work and save to send myself to art schools.Unfortunately I would always run out of money before I could graduate and get a degree. Fortunately I really didn't ever want one, just to learn and study with good teachers seemed to be the only reason I went. To digress a bit back to high school and my first real girlfriend, She was a blonde bombshell. A face and body that usually caused me to smack people in the head for staring too much. I had first met her in my 2nd year and new then I had to have her. It took a few months of talking to her and me beating the snot out of her boyfriend who was a big jock, but I finally got her. We dated about a year or so and then like most stuff you think is permanent when your that young really wasn't. I think she married a doctor, no doubt due to my artistic nature and temperament. Schools I attended after high school: Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, the Art's Students League of New York, The Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons and the School of Visual Arts. Throw into that lots of life drawing workshops and about everyday of my life drawing something. Question: How about the first comic book you ever read? Answer: First comic read: Either Sgt.Fury and his Howling Commandoes or Hot Stuff, Its been over thirty years, at least those are the ones I remember. Question: How did you get involved with comic books? Answer: I just always read short stories, books and magazine articles. I loved to read and write at an early age, though never really doing home made comics I kept them separate for a long time. It wasn't until I was in my early twenties that I actually considered doing them. Question: How did Tooth and Claw come about? Answer: I had gotten tired of all the gear and guns that seem to make a hero cool. I thought it was time to stand up and say something different about what makes a cool comic character and story. I've been thinking about these characters for a while, pre-Marvel/X-Force days. I keep sketch books characters and story ideas and work stuff out over the years. It seemed like I had finally reached a point with these two (Tooth and Claw) that I needed to tell their story at last. Question: When will we see Tooth & Claw on the stands? Answer: Tooth and Claw will hit the stands August 11th (which incidentally I remember to be my first girlfriends birthday)! Question: Tell us something about these were creatures known as Tooth & Claw. There sort of like Cat People. Answer: Well they're not really 'Cat' people. They're actually more of a combination of different mammals. Everyone thinks that but actually its a bit more complex. Now about the story all I can say is be prepared to discover the origin of man in a very bad way! Question: Jake & Rachel seem to be the centralized characters, will they have a long life with Tooth & Claw? Answer: Actually,no. They will die. They're memories will live on and supply TOOTH and CLAW with the necessary information to live as them and eventually avenge them. Jake and Rachel's souls have gone to a place where TOOTH and Claws souls had been. A kind of stasis inside of the energy matrix that powers the wormhole. I have ideas to free them from it and bring them back but that's another story. Question: Future plans for Tooth & Claw? Answer: Right now I'm focused on it being a great comic. If I can just keep the sales strong enough I promise some really cool stories coming up. Question: What are your hobbies & recreational activities? Answer: Weight lifting,kayaking,tennis.I wish I could say I read as much when I was younger but after so many hours at the board and computer I just want to be a physical being! Question: How can someone get in touch with you? Answer: Just write me at : Tacmail123@aol.com and or go to my site at:www.toothandclaw.com Question: What comic books do you read now? Answer: Battlechasers,Daredevil ,The TENTH and TELLOS are among my favorites now. I often read whatever I can at the comic shop (Hey you kids this ain't no library!!) Question: What books are your favorites? Answer: I loved reading Edgar Rice Burroughs books,Tarzan,Carson of Venus etc. I also like the works of Michael Crichton, Andromeda strain,Jurrassic Park etc. But I wish I had more time to sit down and read some more, there's no exercise better for your brain. Question: What are your favorite cartoons, movies & tv shows? Answer: I love the Simpsons! South Parks not bad. X-files used to be fun.And for some reason I really like Bonanza. Movies: Blade,Dark City, The Matrix,Bladerunner,Austin Powers and anything with Will Smith. Question: What 3 things would you bring with you on a deserted island and why? Answer: Provided I already had running water and food on the island: My wife who's really my best friend, cause she's a lot of fun and likes to adventure around with me when we travel anyway. Lots of oil paints and canvasses so I could at last start painting again (I always wanted to be a painter) And a fairly large cache of weapons to keep people from landing on the island (who said I want to be rescued!?). Question: Your thoughts on the comic industry? Answer: Its like any business that has to make money, it can get ugly and tiresome. But unlike any other business it can also be tremendously rewarding and fun creating and reading other comics. I hope it always lasts in some way as I still think its a great way for young kids to learn to read and dream, two very important skills we need to keep from becoming a race of mindless viewers of screens and button pushers. Question: Where do you want to be in 5 years? 10 years? Answer: 5 years: here in my home still creating new story books. 10 years: ruler of the world. Somewhere in between directing a feature movie or two. Question: Mark, this concludes our interview, it has been a pleasure. Any other comments? Answer: Just give TOOTH AND CLAW a good chance and an open mind. I'm trying hard to put my work a bit outside what's popular now in style and content. Its something of a hybrid between a Vertigo book, and Image book and an old MARVEL comic book. It may be a bit too eclectic for most of the pack buyers, but I'm hoping it just might start to strike the right nerves given the chance. Please write with your comments as we'll be posting up the letters on the site and feel free to jump on the message board and rant (please keep the profanity down) I'll reply to everyone who wants me to, hey what else am I doing? Other then that enjoy your summer!!! Peace,Mark. ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [8] 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. ] Comic book fans get very funny about "authenticity" don't they? I've been thinking about that a fair bit lately because it keeps staring me in the face. A few examples: - at a comic shop recently I saw a copy of SANDMAN #8 up on the wall for $55 (Australian). Why? Apart from a few text pages you can get every page of that comic in the first SANDMAN trade PRELUDES & NOCTURNES. - on the comicon.com boards there's been a debate about whether buying comics from particular collections is worth the extra money they generally go for. Paying extra just because a particular person owned something? - a few weeks ago in this column I wrote abbout how nice it would be if Alan Moore wrote SUPERMAN every month. Andy Wolfe emailed me that he does, only it's called SUPREME. I told him I knew that, but somehow it just wasn't the same. So I'm not claiming to be immune from it. But why are we all so afflicted? What makes us want only first editions of comics, comics published by particular publishers, in certain formats? Why don't we get rid of books we already have once we buy the trade version (I've got every issue of CEREBUS I've ever bought, and all the phone books)? And I'm not even going to think about the whole "condition" thing. Personally I couldn't tell a VG from a NM if my life depended on it. I have no idea, to be quite honest. I'm sure that we'd all be just as insane if we were collecting matchboxes or coasters. But I wonder if matchbox collectors let their passions kill the hobby. Despite the speculator implosion of a few years ago, which has left us with a much weakened and diminished market, I still see some of the same stupid speculator tricks being passed off on fans. And I still see fans dumb enough to fall for them. A few pet hates: -Variant covers. The Dynamic Forces ones arre the worst, because they're actually more expensive than the normal ones. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who deliberately buys exactly the same comic twice, just to get a different picture on the front, is an idiot. I'm sorry if this offends you, but really - why not support a struggling indie guy by using that money to try something new? At least you'll have something else to read. -Black and White reprints six weeks after tthe colour version comes out, to cover up for the fact that the creators can't keep a schedule. A B&W reprint of something long out of print, or hard to get, OK. Schedule fillers are for fools. -All nude variants. Too sad for words. -The "buy four copies of essentially the saame comic to get a few different pages" trick. I can see why fans might have to buy everything in this case, but why encourage them? Last time it happened I notice the company (can't remember who it was) got so much bad press they changed their minds. Good. All these things are bad because they suck money out of the system instead of supporting new projects and creators. The buyer pool is shallow enough these days, without people wasting their dollars on rip-offs. You might as well get used to the fact that you will probably never get rich from your comics collection, unless you're prepared to speculate madly - buy what's hot then sell it almost immediately to some other sucker. Most comics actually become less valuable in real terms. Buy stuff you want to read, that's valuable to you - not stuff you think will be worth money to someone else. David Groenewegen davidhar@lib.monash.edu.au ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [9] Sound and Fury Craig Lemon craig.lemon@db.com It's been a while and I've missed you all, but lately I've been engrossed in "The Comic Book Heroes", a massive history of comics from the Silver Age to the present by Gerard Jones and Will Jacobs. Originally published in 1986, this second edition (from '97) adds over one hundred extra pages, updating the story for the intervening period. Generally an excellent read, albeit leaving an impression the authors favour DC over Marvel to a very large extent, this tome is thoroughly recommended. Published by Prima Publishing, ISBN 0-7615-03930-5, it'll set you back $20 or £14 (available from Waterstones in the UK if you can't find it elsewhere). Onto regular comics themselves, and I find myself in the unusual position of having more Marvel to look at than others. Oh, how can this be? Let's see. Thunderbolts 30 (Marvel $1.99: Busiek/Bagley/Havra) Well, the cover gives away the ending, so bang goes that surprise. Until that ending, you get half an issue of the team tidying up the recent Gravitron storyline (but he'll be back, don't any villains stay beaten?), and half an issue setting up the next mass battle that is bound to take place in 31 or 32. With all this rushing around from one scrap to the next, it seems the T-Bolts never get any time to themselves, maybe this will change soon? This issue isn't a jumping-on point by any means, but I'm only really buying it for Busiek and Hawkeye, who, let's face it, always gets the best lines and centre stage...and quite right too! Speaking of which... Contest of Champions TPB (Marvel $17.95) An expensive package with only 160 pages, collecting the three issue CoC miniseries from the early 80s, and the two-annual follow-up printed in West Coast Avengers Annual 2, and Avengers Annual 16, in 1987. The Grandmaster wants a contest with Death (to get his brother "The Collector" returned to life), and the two of them pit Earth's heroes against each other in various contests to see who wins. A huge plot problem closes the mini-series in extremely unsatisfying fashion (and it's acknowledged in the introduction too), and this isn't even touched upon in the two-part sequel. Basically the whole story is a lightweight read, full of heroes scrapping with each other, that gets rapidly tedious (until Hawkeye saves the day at the end). Once for completists only. Avengers 20 (Marvel $1.99: Busiek/Perez/Vey) I dropped this title about six months ago, with the totally crap Beast issue, but just had to pick up 19 and 20 for one reason - Ultron. Surely Busiek can make some magic here, despite the by-the-numbers personalities of the current Avengers roster? On this showing, who knows? Far too much padding ruins the issue (flashbacks to the Wasp's past, pages devoted to showing how BAD Ultron is - but we knew that from the last couple of pages of issue 19, why repeat?), and forces the climatic battle with half the Avengers and a whole host of Avengers down to a few pages at the back. Next issue promises far more, but this one was a disappointment. Doctor Strange: The Flight of Bones 1-4 (Marvel Knights $2.99: Dan Jolley/Tony Harris+Ray Snyder(1,2)/Paul Chadwick+Palmiotti(3,4)) This four part series passed me bye earlier this year, but seeing them all together recently, for a reasonable price, prompted the purchase. Basic story is the insidious spread of a magical cult in New York, coupled with a string of untraceable magic-related crimes, that Strange is powerless to investigate. Throw in his friend becoming possessed and trying to kill him, plus the (inevitable) return of a nasty foe, and Strange suffering some sort of hand disorder, giving him the shakes all the time, and you get a lot to be sorted out in the space of just four issues. Even so, none of it feels rushed, and there's a nice breakdown between action and chat. Thoroughly recommended, especially if you persuade your dealer to sell all four as a bargain package! World's Finest 6 of 10 (DC $1.99: Kesel/Doherty/Campanella) In their sixth annual meeting, Supes and Batman have Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite to contend with. An entertaining story, Lois gets to dress up (or should that be, dress down), although she does look a little fatter than you'd expect. A great pun on page 21 adds point, the obligatory moralising on page 22 takes them away again, and an awful cover pushes it down further. But, it's a fun, lightweight, decent read, and worth the cash. Starman 57 (DC $2.50: Goyer + Robinson/Snejberg/Champagne) Last time, Jack Knight's ship blew up, apparently killing him (yet again). However, saved by his Cosmic Rod, he is imprisoned by the same people who captured the previous Starman, Will Payton, and told they will be put to death. 18 pages later he is thrown into a gravity well to die. So what happens in the meantime? Well, their captors explain the plot for no good reason (other than the usual Hollywood one - is this Goyer's influence coming through?), and there's a fight with the other prisoners. So, Starman remains one of DC's most fallen titles, just marking time until we get back to Earth and the cataclysm destined to fall upon Opal City. A waste of time and money, come back in a couple of issues time. Bone 37 (Cartoon Books $2.95: Jeff Smith) This is it. The last issue of Book Six. The last issue of the second third of the Bone Saga. The last issue before going on hiatus for a year or so. The One Where Everything Is Revealed. What a letdown. It is revealed that the entire plot so far has been driven by ... an inflatable balloon. The first four books in this series were excellent - book five was the funny interlude (er, for funny, read dire), and book six was building nicely to a confrontation which had all the excitement of a damp squib. Very poor indeed, don't know if it is worth coming back after the hiatus. Heart of Empire 4 of 9 (Dark Horse $2.95: Bryan Talbot) Pages 100 to 127 of "The Legacy of Luther Arkwright", and Luther returns in a new guise - or does he? Sex, violence, this book is just missing the rock and roll. The cataclysm is drawing nearer, and signs are appearing that this Crisis will affect Multiple Earths (possibly even Infinite ones?). Look, just buy it. Supreme The Return 2 (Awesome $2.99: Alan Moore/Jim Starlin) Oh, what a terrible cover. Rob Liefeld at his worst, totally unrepresentative of the story inside, bad, bad, bad. But stick with it. The pace is slowed somewhat after the sudden wrap up in issue 1 of what seemed like dozens of plot threads, concentrating on Darius Dax and his return. What happens to the old versions of heroes and villains when they return after a number of years with a different costume, or in a different guise? When they're revised? Moore answered the question for Supreme in his first issue (41) of the original Supreme series, and applies the same logic to Darius Dax. It makes so much sense, so why has no-one done it before? However, as a stand alone issue there is not much to recommend it. Catch up on the collected editions first, or pick up the back issues from your local shop, then get yourself bang up to date and read this one. See you next time, comments or abuse to the usual address! ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [10] 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.] I've spent a lot more time with the X-Men over the last few months than I ever though possible -- and it's all Alan Davis's fault. Long time readers of this column may recall my oft-stated, deeply-held animosity towards the X-Men -- indeed towards the entire X-book/mutant franchise. For my new readers, I'll make a long story short. I haven't had any use for the X-Men since Uncanny #250. There have been a few exceptions over the years, but they had more to do with the creators involved (Barry Windsor-Smith's Lifedeath and Mutant X stories, for instance, or Jose Ladronn's run on Cable) than with the characters. One notable exception was Excalibur. I was of two minds about the book: On the one hand, I hated Chris Claremont ... still do, in fact. I think he's a ninny who hasn't had an original idea in his head since 1975 (I'm always amused when people lay the credit for the "all-new, all-different" X-Men at his feet since he had absolutely nothing to do with it). On the other hand, Excalibur had Alan Davis, whom I love -- so I knuckled under (and I'm glad I did, since Excalibur was really more of a Captain Britain book that happened to co-star a few mutants than a mutant book costarring Captain Britain). So when Davis took over "X-Men," I started buying it -- albeit with some trepidation. I wasn't let down. The "X-Men meet Galactus" storyline is one of the most original stories I think the X-Men franchise has probably seen in 18 years. I mean, it's not exactly a natural fit, but it really worked. And the Skrullworld subplot was a real treat, giving Alan a chance to draw not only classic, mid-70's costumes, but also guys like Thunderbird, Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock. And the whole time travel aspect of the story was handled brilliantly, too. It was the comic book equivalent of the scene in Austin Powers where Michael York says "My advice is to not think about it too hard and enjoy yourself -- and that goes for you folks as well!" All hoary comic book cliches should be pulled off so easily. Anyway, my little trip down X-Lane got me thinking. Every once in a while, I read a column here in CBEM about how Marvel could "fix" the X-Men. So I figure as a pretty dispassionate observer, I could offer a different perspective. First, there are just too many characters. The only way to write a manageable story is to leave half of them at home (as Davis did). This is a shame, because good characters like Hank McCoy are reduced to laming out of the action with stupid lines like "sorry, I can't come help you save the world, my work with the Legacy virus is at a crucial stage!") So I'd have a big-ass brawl and kill off something like two thirds of the characters. I mean really kill 'em, not just bump them into another universe a la "Mutant X." As for who I'd kill off, I'd start with every character introduced after about 1982. Not a single one of them is original, compelling, memorable in any way, or worth a tinker's damn (except maybe Marrow, I actually found her sort of interesting, and think she might have possibilities). I think this is plainly borne out in the fact that no matter how many "all-new" X-Men they foist on us, they still keep coming back to the same core bunch. Remember how it was a big deal when they brought Nightcrawler and Colossus back to the main team? People like them, they're neat. People don't like Marrow, he's stupid. Simple as that. Then, with the ranks of mutant characters considerably thinned, I'd cancel every book except Uncanny (and no, fanboy, I wouldn't start it over at #1). It's ridiculous how many stupid, useless mutant books are out there wasting rack space. I mean, for god's sake, do we need TWO books about the same character (X-Man and Cable) who isn't all that interesting to begin with? No, kill 'em all and cancel their books, that's what I say. Then I'd put things back. I mean, what the hell is this? Jean Grey is Phoenix again? What the hell is up with that? Didn't we establish that she'd never actually been Phoenix? Stupid, stupid rat creatures. For those who accuse me of being one of these "everything-was-better-back-in-the-day" whiners, let me point out that all the major changes of the last 20 years have all been pretty much undone. Angel, for example, has his original wings and costume back, the only indication of all his recent travails is that he's still blue. Give it up, turn him back, pretend all that crap never happened. Everyone knows Wolverine is eventually going to get his adamantium back, we all knew it from day one, so why drag this stupidity out any longer than you have to? Put it back, move on. So okay, that done, I'd set some tight guidelines on future stories. First, no characters with mysterious backgrounds. With Wolverine, it worked, but with every other character since then, it's just dumb. One character, Wolverine, will be allowed to keep his shadowy background, no one else. Second, no stupid dialect dialogue. We got a long just fine with the writers throwing an occasional "Vas!?" into Nightcrawler's dialogue to suggest he was German. So why is it that they feel compelled to write Gambit like a bad Amos and Andy sketch? ("Oh, chere, dis ol' cajun, he t'ink you mebbe don' let de bon temps roulez!") Of course, this point will be moot with Gambit, since he'll be dead, but it will hold fast for everyone one of the stupid Scottish bit players that Claremont stacked the book with (Moira McTaggert will be banned from saying "begorra" more than once per appearance). Third, roll back the whole "Mutant discrimination" thing a notch. After reading any single issue of any single X-Book, you feel like throwing up your hands and saying "Okay, we GET it, people hate mutants!" Enough already. The whole "Sworn to protect a world that hates them" thing is getting old. It's okay to trot it out once a year when you do a Sentinel story, but no more. Fourth, no more damn dystopian future stories! They. Have. Been. Done. To. DEATH. No more, cut it out! Fifth, don't let Chris Claremont within ten miles of the new book. Everything that's gone wrong with this book is his fault. How he ever got to be a fan favorite when plainly superior writers of his generation (guys like Bill Mantlo, for one) got virtually no notice is beyond me. It's like somehow people are mesmerized by the fact that he can cram more words into a panel than Stan Lee. He's the poster boy for the "more is not better" campaign. And Scott Lobdell was no better, he managed to take all the WORST aspects of the mess Claremont left behind and make it worse! No, I wouldn't let anyone who's ever worked on the book in the past work on it again. You want a book to have a new look and a new feel, get someone who's never worked on the characters before. That being said, I would let Warren Ellis handle the big massacre I have planned, simply because he would kill everyone in the most awful ways imaginable and, as an avowed X-Man hater, I would dig that (I've got this great mental picture of an editor who looks like J. Jonah Jameson, chomping on a cigar and barking at a room full of cowering superheroes "alright, ya big babies, either you shape up or I'm throwing you to ... Warren Ellis!' "Aaaa! No! Anything but that!"). Ahem, anyway. Finally I'd get rid of Rogue. I'm just so damn tired of her and her stupid southern accent and stupid "I-dare-not-touch-anyone" whining. It's boring, she's boring, and it's time for her to go. So there you go. My mutant massacre. Comments? Criticisms? Flames? E-mail them to DneColt@aol.com ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [11] Stranger In a Strange Land Jennifer M. Contino Jencomx3@aol.com [Jennifer M. Contino is 27 and a life-long lover of comics books and super heroes! While most girls were playing with Barbies and watching cute little shows, she was playing with Mego's and watching the Superfriends and any other super hero show she could find on the television! NOW almost 19 years later she owns over 26000 comics, has written some interviews for SEQUENTIAL TART--the online e-zine, is a frequently published letter of comment writer and is the official HOST of the DC COMICS chats on AOL! She is pursuing work in the comics field at DC and is trying to start her own independent comics company!] Runaway Bride Syndrome I just saw the new movie RUNAWAY BRIDE with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere After the movie I started to think about all the comic book brides there have been and the 'fate' that they met...or may yet meet! Now GRANTED I Don't know about a lot of the independent comics brides and grooms, but I do know about most of the Marvel and DC comics couples. Just sitting here right now I am thinking about all the 'grooms' who had nervous breakdowns or mental problems after wedded bliss---Hank Pym comes to mind, Ray Palmer (*after his divorce*) suffered a nervous breakdown, and Reed Richards * just to name a few* suffered from some kind of mental difficulties at one point in time. Now granted the strain of marriage might not be the only cause of the breakdowns, but it is a factor. I mean..let's just think about it..besides Ralph and Sue Digby..can you name a HAPPILY MARRIED COUPLE? AND if you can, quick think HOW long did it last? Heh remember the movie FIRST WIVES CLUB? Well, for the comic book verse it would be DEAD WIVES CLUB..and who could we add: Mockingbird, Catwoman (*Pre Crisis Earth 2*), Jocasta--just to name a few. AND for the DEAD HUSBANDS CLUB we could have the husbands of: Katanna, Black Widow (*Natch*), Donna Troy, and Starfire--just to name a few. THEN we could get into the engagement bracket: Tula, Dove II, Linda Parks, and Silver Scarab, immediately pop into my mind. The point is....we have some married characters but no WEDDED BLISS! Heh Kory and Dick barely even got to say "I DO" before the evil Raven appeared and killed the priest performing the ceremony! Talk about SHOTGUN weddings! Lois and Clark were married how long before DOOMSDAY killed SUPERMAN? Peter Parker and Mary Jane suffer one heart ache after another and NOW *shudder* who knows what the heck is going on in their lives! I was thinking of a happily married couple and the ONLY one who came to my mind was the PRE CRISIS Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl---but then in the post crisis world we find out that it is not Lightning lad at all but PROTY II disguised as Lightning Lad...can I get a *EWWWWW* from the collective group? AND The marriage of Projecta and Karate Kid was cool too...till he was killed....the LEGION relationships were some of the most memorable though! The marriage of Bouncing Boy and Duplicate Girl was one of the most genuine relationships ever depicted in comics! Heh..on the Marvel side I guess the Vision and Scarlet Witch were happy too...till their children turned out to be like 'ghosts' and Wanda realized that it was really Simon she was in love with..but other than that and their divorce *heh can androids get divorced?* I guess they were happy for a good long time! It's like..in terms of comic books..the writes feel we won't be satisfied if anyone is happy for any length of time. Give a character a lover...well you know that the lover is either going to 1. DIE, 2. Betray the hero, or 3. Leave and the hero is going to suffer a void! That's not real life! and YES I know these are comics not real life, but heck they are trying to imitate the darkness of real life in all other aspects, why not imitate some of the 'lighter' sides? I mean how long does "TILL DEATH DO US PART" last in comic book terms? Three issues? Six issues? A YEAR? I think that all comic book characters could learn from JULIA ROBERTS and should develop the RUNAWAY BRIDE SYNDROME! ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [12] SOME PAGES, A COVER, AND A FEW STAPLES Marlan Harris mar93@aol.com [Marlan Harris lives and works in Burbank, CA.] MARTIAN MANHUNTER (DC) This comic, a spin-off of the understandably popular JLA, has been getting bad reviews since its first issue came out (whether you count that first issue as #0 or #1 or #One Million or whatever). Many of the bad reviews are rightfully deserved, but not all. Itƒ?Ts not a bad comic for straight super-heroes but its creators should be doing better. John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake made their mark with THE SPECTRE, which was utterly fantastic for its entire run. That comic went from Hell to Heaven and back again, usually in the same issue, and was a great ride for as long as it lasted. The team left that series on a high point, their next collaboration destined to be the next step in a powerful creative evolution. But what we got instead is MARTIAN MANHUNTER. Ostrander can do straight superheroes, like SUICIDE SQUAD from years ago (one of this reviewerƒ?Ts absolute favorite comics series of all time) ƒ?" he even did X-Men stuff over at Marvel. The problem generally doesnƒ?Tt necessarily come from the stories themselves; Ostrander does the best with what he has (he always does). The problem comes first from the character, second from the artist. No matter what you say about the history of the Martian Manhunter, whether you debate that his first appearance sparked the Silver Age of comicdom, or whatever, you canƒ?Tt deny that the character isnƒ?Tt dead boring. Is the Manhunter ANYONEƒ?TS favorite character? We donƒ?Tt even know the full extent of his powers and what we can expect him to do. The Manhunter has survived so well over the years as a member of the JLA ƒ?" heƒ?Ts the perfect foil for some of the more flamboyant and obnoxious members that team has had. And he is still doing his part in todayƒ?Ts JLA. But giving the character his own series just because the rest of the core JLA have their own was ill-conceived. This isnƒ?Tt to say that the character canƒ?Tt hold his own solo story ƒ?" there were some good Manhunter stories in the JUSTICE LEAGUE QUARTERLY and J.M. Dematteis and Mark Badger did a good 4-issues with him in the late ƒ?~80ƒ?Ts. Tom Mandrake is also a problem. Heƒ?Ts a good artist ƒ?" even near-perfect for fare like THE SPECTRE, with abstract demons and angels and weird stuff straight from an imagination fit for the task. But he stumbles on straight superhero stuff ƒ?" his Green Lantern, in #One Million, is downright ghastly. And this new series will depend on guest appearances by the JLA, which will also probably benefit the story (Ostrander knows what side his bread is buttered on), but for now Mandrake is doing a worse job on them than the recent JLA fill-in artists (and that, indeed, is saying something). Though this isnƒ?Tt to say that an artist that can do straight superhero stuff by rote is needed: Jan Duursema, one of the most reliably dull comics artists around, did the fill-in for #5 and the comic looked like a spit- shined perfect issue of SHOWCASE (one of the ones featuring a boring story about a lame, obscure character that a DC editor wrote out of some twisted nostalgia). Mandrakeƒ?Ts art may not be suited for the series, and it may seem like heƒ?Ts drawing the wrong characters, but it is exciting to see his work. Even if he keeps ripping off Gene Colan. CONJURORS (DC) An Elseworlds tale featuring most of DCƒ?Ts magic-based/non- Vertigo characters, like the Phantom Stranger, Clarion the Witch-Boy, Madame Xanadu, and Felix Faust. No idea how this 3-issue series got published: Chuck Dixon is a good comics writer, but heƒ?Ts best known for his crime- fiction-edged superhero stories, such as with Batman and Green Arrow. Eduardo Barreto is an exceptional artist, one of the best storytellers around, but his art is just not flashy enough to make a huge splash, even when he does comics like ALIENS VS. PREDATOR. And the characters, even many of them all put together, wouldnƒ?Tt sell this series any better. The new Challengers of the Unknown, Deadman, and Blue Beetle (you really have to read it to understand), all featured prominently in this series, have had their own series, even recently, and failed to make go much of anywhere. So it amazes me that the creators were able to sell it to DC. And, predictably, it came so far under the radar that no one will even notice that it was published within the last year. But itƒ?Ts a pretty good series. SUBMEDIA (Woodhaus Studios), TALES FROM THE EDGE #15: SIENKIEWICZ SPECIAL (Vanguard Publications) Yeah, we need another magazine about comics. Though if they were all like SUBMEDIA, many of them might even be worth what we pay for them. You probably didnƒ?Tt notice SUBMEDIA #1 when it came out: itƒ?Ts got an original cover by Ashley Wood, very creepy, and it doesnƒ?Tt even look like a magazine about comics, except for the featured creators listed on the front. It doesnƒ?Tt even really read like itƒ?Ts about comics, with not one mention of the X-Men or Batman, and it generally doesnƒ?Tt even seem to appeal to the average, early 20ƒ?Ts comic geek (except for the articles about Star Wars, which are terribly out of place). And there are some columns, one by Paul Jenkins, which are amusing at best. But the real meat comes with the interviews: the features on Wood, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Bill Sienkiewicz go on for pages and pages ƒ?" very in-depth (one might even say TOO in-depth in the case of Windsor-Smith, though it does manage to say something interesting on the second to last page or so). The Grant Morrison interview is way too short, as we know heƒ?Ts got much more to say than just what was in this issue (though I donƒ?Tt blame the guy who conducted the interview for not being able to transcribe what Morrison is saying through that thick Scot-English that Morrison speaks). The magazine also features some new or rarely seen work by the above artists, all of it beautiful and half in color, half in black & white, including also some of the never-before- seen pages from Sienkiewicz and Alan Mooreƒ?Ts BIG NUMBERS #3. For $6? Sure, you put in some articles about people and comics I wanna read about and some nice, pretty pictures, and Iƒ?Tll pay your price. For a little bit less you can get TALES FROM THE EDGE #15, featuring Bill Sienkiewicz (well, okay, $.45 less). Lots more pretty pictures by Sienkiewicz, including a number from non-comics work. The interview doesnƒ?Tt hold up as well as the one from SUBMEDIA, with most of the first half about Sienkiewiczƒ?Ts politics, and the entire thing ends a little too abruptly, but itƒ?Ts a good review of the artistƒ?Ts work, at least in pictures. Mark your calendars ƒ?" Iƒ?Tll be appearing at the San Diego Comic Convention (yes, we old schoolers still get to call it that) and assorted nudie bars in the San Diego area next week, so drop me a line before Wednesday the 11th if youƒ?Td like to meet, exchange a few words, and finally be able to put a face to the words. You can buy me a beer, or punch me in the gut, whichever you think I deserve. If you canƒ?Tt contact me in time, maybe you can find me at the convention ƒ?" Iƒ?Tll either be starting trouble wherever Arcane Comics has their booth or Iƒ?Tll be pestering various DC editors. I hope to see a few of you there, especially if youƒ?Tre not planning on attacking me. mar93@aol.com Http://members.aol.com/mar93/BoneMachine.html ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [13] 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.jazmaonline.com/ 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.] MOE Sidenote: At Broadway Comics & Cards and A1 Comics you will find the following comic books on their racks: Forever Amber #1 by Image, Darkness Infinity #1 by Top Cow, Neon Cyber #1 by Image, Mr. Majestic #1 by Wildstorm, Comic Book Profile Magazine, Felix in B&W #7 by Felix Comics, The Land #1 by Caliber Fantasy, Rising Stars #1 by Top Cow, Skeleton Key #4, Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey by Dark Horse Maverick, Finals by Vertigo, Varlick - Chronicles of the Dark Prince by Q Comics, Top 10 #1 by America's Best Comics, Tekken2 #1 by Knightstone, Sparks - An Urban Fairytale, Johnny Comet by America's Comic Group, The L.A.W. (Living Assault Weapons) by DC Comics, MD #1 by EC Comics, Donna's Day, Skyward Shadow, High Stakes Adventure #1 by Antarctic Press, DHP - Burglar Girls by Dark Horse Comics, The Bradleys, Crime Wave #1 by Caliber, Wheedies #11 by EC Comics, Madman Comics #15 by Dark Horse Comics and more! For more information on any of these comic books you can contact either Wilson Lew, owner of Broadway Comics & Cards at: wilsonlew@sprintmail.com or Brian Peets, owner of A1 Comics at: A1Comics@quiknet.com Multiverse Observer and Explorer signing off until next time. Name: DV8 #30 Publisher: Wildstorm Written by Mike Heisler and Al Rio Drawn by: Al Rio/pencils Lucian Rizzo/inks Price: $2.50 Comments: I was completely transfixed as Steve Callahan talks of the Black Razor teams, Frank Colby's role during the time the lab boys did their study on his Gen 12 structure and everything that this is leading up to. This story is moving like a runaway locomotive and I'm having a hard time holding on. Frostbite confronts Hammond about his methods. The way he duped a double for Frostbite to take the fall, so Frostbite could appear to be dead. Hammond may be callous in his methods, but he knows what he is doing. The story is building to a climatic outcome and my heartbeat started racing as Sublime jumps on Route 66 to head for West Memphis before Ivana is the wiser. Sublime must know why Frostbite is missing, this is one lady that seeks the answers, no matter what! With the intensity of this story flow, it was nice to have a bit of comic relief as the State trooper takes the bribe from Sublime for speeding and stands there with the money in his hand, looking dumbfounded. Then 'bam' we get the scenery shift to Gem and Freestyle playing volleyball and something awry takes place and another scenery shift to where the reader finds out that Ben Santini is waiting for a meeting with Director Ivana Baiul. His mind is preoccupied with many thoughts and now Ivana talks of a security breach and a possible leak in I.O. As she goes from one person to another and having them say that they are not the traitor, why didn't she have a voice analysis lie detector machine hidden in the room, to determine who the culprit was? Ivana is on the edge and seems to be losing it. Evo and Nicole with everything that is going on, seem to have their intimate moment, but that will soon change probably by the next issue. This is part 1 of 3 and things are just started getting hot! Issue #32 the last issue....I don't believe it. Won't believe it!! Name: MD #1 Publisher: EC Comics Written and Drawn by numerous writers & artists Price: $2.50 Comments: I was quite pleased with MD #1 and all of the stories it contained. Let's talk about some of them. "The Fight for Life" was an eye opener as it is depicted that diseases have been around since the first signs of life. How horrifying to know that our ancestors suffered with extreme pain from various diseases that they would catch. The torture that they endured as witch doctors beat them practically to death, thinking that they are possessed with demons. The many strange concoctions to cure diseases. Can you imagine drinking a vile of crushed lizards, beetles, spiders and heaven knows what else? Yeech! The image that really stayed with me in this story, is knowing that people would get limbs amputated without any kind of anesthetic or pain killers. Mankind has truly endured a history of pain and torment, this story really said it all. It was quite interesting to see the practice of medicine and its humble beginnings. We can all be thankful that the study of medicine has advanced and much of our pain can now be relieved. I'm sure glad I didn't live back in the Neanderthal days! "Janie Some Day" was quite a sad story. It was great that Janie had a good doctor that was caring and compassionate. Janie's congenital osteomyelitis was getting way out of hand and the doctor knew he couldn't hold out much longer and amputation was needed. Miss Emory, also a caring person was concerned for little Janie and receives the dire news from the doctor. Yes, indeed this is a sad story, but a story that is quite realistic and could be happening right now, somewhere. I was right on the edge of my seat as the doctor says how the disease is rapidly moving up Janie's leg. Then my blood rose when seeing how the kids were teasing poor Janie. Kids could be very cruel and calling her the vicious name of Janie Someday! Just because Janie always says that 'someday' I will walk. Those kids need a good paddling! I think on how many people are in Janie's situation and have to face the fact that they may lose their limb. I was glad to see Janie accepting her prosthetic leg and the kids finally accepting her at that orphanage. Talk about having a tough life, Janie being so young went through so much. "To Fill the Bill" was an emotional story of a married couple who are fighting over finances and Jim (the husband) faces high stress as his boy has a pin caught in his throat. Enjoyed the great heroics of the doctor as he established the airway for the boy and dislodged the pin. "The Antidote" was another powerful drama as a father (Mr. Borden) is desperate for help for his son and what had seemed like an uncaring doctor was more concerned about his appointment. Acute Appendicitis is the culprit and intense surgery takes place for the boy. As the readers thought the doctor was uncaring, they learn later that his appointment was with his own doctor, a doctor that will save his wife's life. Incredibly fantastic stories that gives one hope and inspiration! Name: Deadbeats #36 Publisher: Claypool Comics Written by: Richard Howell Drawn by: Ricardo Villagran Price: $2.50 Comments: Tonight was a night of horrors as I started off my day with watching Jamie Lee Curtis in the movie video "Virus", then later going to the movies and seeing "The Haunting". When I got home, I grabbed my new Jack Russell Terrier puppy named Pika, got underneath the covers on the couch, turned on one lamp and read Deadbeats #36! Deadbeats is a good read, when everything is dark in the house, it can bring on the goosebumps! Things got interesting as the appearance of our two dazzling vamps Martine and Colleen were discussing how their two new recruits Caffrey and Nico don't have the spontaneous healing process working well with their vampiric metabolism. Before, I go on with the story, I would like to mention I highly enjoy the sly humor that is thrown into the story. Case example: a) the mentioning of Nico's beautiful wife. Uh.huh, right, with a double chin? b) when Colleen and Martine confront Dracula and Dracula mentions that he had found the ancient spell of Qa'Tiz on the Internet. A spell that can turn Caffrey and Nico into normal vampires. Dracula is online? That was hilarious, I can just imagine. Plenty of things were going on with this explosive story as Bryan and Nell hear something sinister in the woods and that being Hermano - The King of the Vampires! Then seeing Hermano's most trusted servant Mason Collier become illuminated by Hermano. Mason's metamorphosis was breath-taking as he becomes a more powerful vampire! As scene shifts came to play, I was wondering if Dr. Ralston will let her jealousy consume her, as she gathered that it was Hermano that appeared to Christine Robbins. Dr. Ralston is on third base as Christine seems to be coming in for a home run with Hermano and this does not sit well with Dr. Ralston. Southie and Brittany are enjoying their vampiric powers immensely as they soar into the night with their bat wings and later embrace each other with vampiric passion! Now I know what vampire romancing is all about! Not too shabby! On the political side, things are getting quite heated up with the mayor race in Mystic Grove (aka Fear City!). The populace majority vote will go to the candidate who convinces them, that they can make Mystic Grove into a Vampire/Demon Free Zone! That is a big bill to fill! It will be interesting to see the outcome of the election. If this wasn't enough, the turmoil sets in with Mason's family as they argue about the Dagger of Deliverance. Will the dagger cure Mason from his vampirism or will it kill him? What is going on with poor Ms. Southland? Will she die, before the election is finished? Again, another superb story with artwork to match! My hearty congratulations to Richard Howell, Ricardo Villagran and Kevin Cunningham for making this comic book shine! M.O.E. Sidenote: Hitting the racks at Broadway Comics & Cards are the following comics: Solarlord #5 by Image, Geobreeders #5 by CPM Manga, Tomorrow Stories #1 by America's Best Comics, Cy-Gor by Image, Heavy Liquid by Vertigo, 100 Bullets by Vertigo, Finals 2 of 4 by Vertigo, Heavy Metal Magazine, Spectrum Magazine #19 - featuring Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Babylon 5 Magazine #14, Forever Amber #1 by Image and a whole lot more! MOE Millennium Predictions: The Spiderman movie will be made and keep an eye out on King Abdullah bin al-Hussein II, could this be the guy Nostradamus was talking about? Multiverse Observer and Explorer signing off until next time..... ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [14] 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.] DREAMWALKER: SUMMER RAIN #1 32 pages, black & white, color cover, $3.00 Avatar Press http://www.avatarpress.com 9 Triumph Drive Urbana, IL 61802 Created by: Jenni Gregory JenGregory@aol.com http://members.aol.com/jengregory This issue take a sho