---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed Dukeshire and Mike Imboden Present: THE COMIC BOOK NET ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE ISSUE NUMBER 226 8/13/99 Edited by: David LeBlanc - ComicBkNet@aol.com FREE VIA EMAIL SINCE FEBRUARY 1995 ______________________________________________________________________ T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] On the Net ............................ David LeBlanc [2] Letters to the Editor ................. Your Page! [3] TRIVIA CONTEST ........................ Win *real* prizes! [4] Network Buzz .......................... News, gossip & rumors [5] Ramblings `99 ......................... Rich Johnston [6] Had Your Phil? ........................ Phil White [7] Stranger In A Strange Land ............ Jennifer M. Contino [8] And let me tell you why ............... David Coulter [9] Some Pages, A Cover, and A Few Staples. Marlan Harris [10] Venting My Spleen ..................... David Groenewegen [11] M.O.E. Reviews ........................ Paul Dale Roberts [12] New Comic Book Releases List .......... Charles LePage [13] 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 Web page of the week: http://microscopy.fsu.edu/creatures/ Let me say this is a fascinating trip into the mind of those zany guys who design silicon chips. If you think "Easter Eggs" in software programs are way cool, check out the microscopic droppings in the hardware we all use. Here is the blurb from the web page: "Ever wonder what's lurking within the dark corners, nooks and crannies of your computer? Is some gremlin responsible for all those crashes---you know, the ones that happen when you are trying to save that critical document you've been working on so diligently for the past three hours? We wondered too, so we took a look to see what we could find. And guess what? When we put the computer chips under the microscope we found some very interesting creatures hiding there. "Our search has led to a new collection of photomicrographs (photographs taken through a microscope) featuring many of the interesting silicon creatures and other doodling scribbled onto integrated circuits by engineers when they were designing computer chip masks. The tiny creatures are far too small to be seen with the naked eye, so we have provided high-magnification photomicrographs to share these mysterious wonders with our visitors. Engineers designing modern computer chips have a very rich sense of humor as you will discover when you visit our Silicon Creatures Gallery that we keep corralled in the Silicon Zoo. We hope you enjoy your adventure!" Among the things artistically rendered in these photomicrographs are cartoon characters, star ships, animals, airplanes, and even celebrities like Dilbert and Waldo. I urge you to check out this fun web site from Michael W. Davidson and The Florida State University. Then check out the pictures on these comics at your local store: AWESOME ENTERTAINMENT Alan Moores Awesome Advs #1, 2.50 DARK HORSE COMICS Dark Horse Presents Annual 1999 Dhp Jr, 4.95 Sin City Hell & Back #2 (Of 9), 2.95 DC COMICS A Bizarro #4, 2.50 Batman Harley Quinn, 5.95 Congo Bill #1, 2.95 Flinch #4, 2.50 Hourman #7, 2.50 JLA Foreign Bodies, 5.95 Legionnaires #76, 2.50 Top Ten #2, 2.95 IMAGE COMICS Mage Hero Discovered Coll Bk 7, 6.95 Tooth And Claw #1, 2.95 INSIGHT STUDIOS GROUP Liberty Meadows #2, 2.95 <--Pick of the Week! MARVEL COMICS Captain America 1999, 3.50 Iron Man #21, 1.99 SHARKBAIT PRESS Pete The Pod Postal Worker #10, 2.95 THREE FINGER PUBLICATIONS Three Geeks Vol 2 TPB (Pu #384), 10.95 They're doing it again. All week I have been noticing the radio guys, local and national news and weather people and anyone else that can get an audience proclaiming the recent solar eclipse as the "last solar eclipse of the millennium (or century)". Now, as avid students of science, as most comic book fans are, we all know that the century, hence the millennium, does not end until December 31, 2000 at midnight. Furthermore, there will be a solar eclipse next December. I know this is a losing battle - these fools with media power prefer to take the easy road rather than educate the public. Just think though, what great rates we can get for the REAL millennium parties! Happy FRIDAY the 13th! 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. +++++ This week I received a letter on this subject: Subj: Re: Letter in CBEM 225 from "anonymous" which read in part: "A letter that's anonymous destroys much of its own credibility in my eyes no matter what subject it's on - I simply think, if the writer couldn't stand up for his own opinion, then how much could it be worth?" It went into a bit more detail, sometimes agreeing with the "anonymous" letter writer from last issue but the gist was basically an "anonymous" opinion is worthless. The author of this response later decided to withdraw his letter, and a follow up, when I advised him that I would directly address his argument, and why - but that I would not allow the subject to become a debate in the letter column. I also take this opportunity to make it clear to everyone that since anonymous letters (not columns) are allowed here, you had just better get used to it. And here is why: [Yours is a point of view that comes from not understanding the disclaimer at the top of EVERY letter page in the Emag - I withhold names and addresses, without asking why, upon request. There are MANY valid reasons for doing so and to criticize a point of view on any subject just because the opinionee choose to remain anonymous when that choice has been offered them, is not a criticism at all and amounts to a cheap shot.] [There are not many who exercise this right I offer, but almost every time someone does, someone challenges there ability to be honest or valid in their argument. It matters not what anyone chooses to call themselves, and the same argument could be levied at anyone who does not also include a REAL name along with an Email handle, but what they have to say. Given the fact that anyone else can give a fake name or Email address anyway, invoking the right to anonymity is not really necessary - except for honest people who trust me to stand up for them. And that is the purpose of my reply to you. This subject is not up to debate among the readers so don't expect a back and forth commentary. It is the policy of this magazine, it will continue to be, and those who cannot argue about the substance of an anonymous contribution should not waste their time writing in to bash MY policy. - D.L.] +++++ Subj: Re: YEA To The JSA ! From: Jencomx3@aol.com I'm sad that the sandman passed away because there was NO PURPOSE TO IT! HIM being the sacrificial lamb was UNFOUNDED and UNNECESSARY! HE didn't need to die. heh Just my opinion! but I am liking the new series so far :D Jen ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [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 back story for Doomsday, the creature that killed Superman, that was abandoned at the last minute before his first appearance? No, he was not a leftover parting shot from a previous villain. Steve Chung won the race for knowing that originally Doomsday was escaped from an insane asylum. That raised the ire of some advocacy groups so DC quickly dropped that pre-publication promotion. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION: What month and year saw the first two Marvel crossovers? Bonus prize if you can name them both! 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 Our congratulations to old friend, and one-time contributor to CBEM, Mike Doran as well as to Matt Brady for their recently announced promotions to Contributing Editors of AnotherUniverse.com's MANIA Magazine +++++ Marvel Enterprises, Inc. Announces Second Quarter Results NEW YORK, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: MVL) today reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 1999. MARVEL ENTERPRISES, INC. Summary Consolidated Statements of Operations (Dollars in millions, except per share data) Six Months Ended Three Months Ended Ended June 30, Ended June 30, 1999 1998 1999 1998 Net sales $136,768 $91,316 $61,510 $48,675 Cost of sales 63,481 49,013 30,831 25,780 Selling, general and administrative expenses 48,323 28,691 24,521 14,469 Depreciation and amortization 7,166 7,750 3,720 4,612 Amortization of goodwill and other intangibles 12,774 373 6,482 207 Operating (loss) income 5,024 5,489 (4,044) 3,607 Interest expense, net 14,420 123 7,070 56 (Loss) income before income taxes (9,396) 5,366 (11,114) 3,551 Income tax (benefit) provision 1,070 2,184 (2,044) 1,445 (Loss) income before extraordinary expense (10,466) 3,182 (9,070) 2,106 Extraordinary expense, net of tax 1,531 -- -- -- Net (loss) income (11,997) 3,182 (9,070) 2,106 Less: preferred dividend requirement 6,968 -- 3,525 -- Net (loss) income attributable to common stock (18,965) 3,182 (12,595) 2,106 Basic and diluted (loss) income per share from continuing operations (0.52) 0.11 (0.38) 0.08 Basic and diluted (loss) income per share after extraordinary expense (0.57) 0.11 (0.38) 0.08 The Company's net sales in the second quarter increased to $61.5 million, compared to $48.7 million a year ago. This increase was largely attributable to the inclusion of approximately $7.1 million in sales from the Licensing division and approximately $10.8 million in sales from the Publishing division, which were acquired as part of the Company's acquisition of Marvel Entertainment Group in October, 1998. Sales by the Company's Toy Biz division decreased by approximately $5.1 million from 1998 to 1999, primarily due to 1998 sales related to the Godzilla feature film and a decline of Marvel related product, offset in part by sales of World Championship Wrestling ("WCW") action figures, a product line introduced in 1999. Gross profit increased to $30.7 million from the second quarter of 1998 to the second quarter of 1999, primarily as a result of the inclusion of the Licensing and Publishing divisions offset by a decrease of $4.1 million in gross profit from the Toy Biz division. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased in the 1999 quarter to $24.5 million from $14.5 million in the prior period primarily as a result of the addition of the Licensing and Publishing divisions and a one time charge of $2.6 million made in connection with the separation of Company's previous Chief Executive Officer. The Company's net sales for the six month period increased to $136.8 million, compared to $91.3 million a year ago. This increase was largely attributable to the inclusion of approximately $22.4 million in sales from the Licensing division and approximately $21.2 million in sales from the Publishing division. Sales by the Company's Toy Biz division increased by approximately $1.9 million from 1998 to 1999, primarily due to sales of WCW action figures. Gross profit increased to $73.3 million between the 1998 and 1999 periods, primarily as a result of the inclusion of the Licensing and Publishing divisions minimally offset by a decrease of $0.6 million in gross profit from the Toy Biz division. Selling, general and administrative expenses increased in the 1999 six month period to $48.3 million from $28.7 million in the prior period primarily as a result of the addition of the Licensing and Publishing divisions, the one time charge made in connection with the separation of Company's previous Chief Executive Officer, and increased royalties for the WCW line at the Toy Biz division. Additionally, The Company's balance sheet remains strong with approximately $100 million in cash as of June 30. "With $24.9 million in EBITDA, despite the one-time charges, we are pleased with our strong performance for the first half of the year," commented Peter Cuneo, Marvel's new President and CEO. "Our Licensing and Publishing divisions continue to make strong contributions to our overall profitability and our Toy Biz division has a strong lineup of products led by our girls lines and the WCW items. We remain singularly focused on value growth through the marketing of our characters. We are also placing additional emphasis on the use of the Internet space. In addition, we are encouraged by the five live-action films and two television series in varied stages of development at major studios," Cuneo concluded. Marvel Enterprises, Inc. is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies with operations in the licensing, comic book publishing and toy businesses. Through its ownership of over 3,500 proprietary characters, the Company has published comic books for over 60 years in the United States and numerous foreign countries. The Company licenses the right to use its characters in a wide range of products such as apparel, snack foods, video games and collectibles, as well as for television series and feature films. For additional company information visit the Company's corporate website at http://www.marvel.com. Except for historical information contained herein, the statements in this news release regarding the Company's plans are forward-looking statements that are dependent upon certain risks and uncertainties, including the Company's potential need for additional financing, the Company's potential inability to integrate Toy Biz's operations with those of Marvel Entertainment Group, the Company's potential inability to successfully implement its business strategy, a decrease in the level of media exposure or popularity of the Company's characters resulting in declining revenues from products based on those characters, the lack of commercial success of properties owned by major entertainment companies that have granted the Company toy licenses, the lack of consumer acceptance of new product introductions, the imposition of quotas or tariffs on toys manufactured in China as a result of a deterioration in trade relations between the U.S. and China, changing consumer preferences, production delays or shortfalls, continued pressure by certain of the Company's major retail customers to significantly reduce their toy inventory levels, the impact of competition and changes to the competitive environment on the Company's products and services, changes in technology (including uncertainties associated with Year 2000 compliance), and changes in governmental regulation. Those and other risks and uncertainties are described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. SOURCE Marvel Enterprises, Inc. +++++ CBLDF AT COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL Take one part gorgeous weather, one part ocean view, mix in a liberal helping of the most talented creators in comics -- shake well -- and you've got Comic-Con International, the nation's premiere celebration of comics and pop culture. It's the culmination of the comics calendar, a must-see event for everyone who cares about comics. "For the CBLDF," said executive director Chris Oarr, "and for just about everyone else in comics, Comic-Con is like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter all poured into one week. We're born, we gets lots of cool stuff, we eat and drink too much, and then we just about die. But it's all over on Sunday. This is all about comics, and the community that we all share. And based on what we have planned, I honestly believe this will be our best show ever." San Diego is traditionally the CBLDF's biggest single fund-raising event, and last year we set a new record by raising more than $18,000 for the fight against censorship. This year, the Fund is proud to continue its partnership with Comic-Con International, a fellow non-profit organization dedicated to the vitality of the comics medium. We've arranged an onslaught of cool events and creator appearances guaranteed to wow even the most experienced conventioneer. Check out the full listing at our website, www.cbldf.org. Here's a brief run-down of some of the events: THE EXPO & PRO-CON Comic-Con gets rolling with two events for comics industry professionals. The Expo offers a chance for publishers and distributors to meet with retailers and discuss upcoming projects and strategies for the coming year. Pro-Con presents a marketplace of ideas from comics creators and editors. All during both events, the Fund will be offering all premiums at 50% for comics retailers, with free shipping. Attending professionals will also receive a free copy of "Gods & Tulips," Neil Gaiman's new book about the comics industry. On Tuesday, August 10, CBLDF executive director Chris Oarr will participate in panel on Nonprofit Organizations and Comics. He'll be joined by Rochon Perry from Friends of Lulu and David Glanzer from Comic-Con International. THURSDAY, AUGUST 12: NOON: FRANK MILLER DARK HORSE Q & A, Room 6 D-E Frank Miller answers questions and discusses his career in comics, his current series Sin City: Hell and Back, upcoming projects from Dark Horse Comics (link), as well as his on-going commitment to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Miller will be introduced by our very own executive director, Chris Oarr. Be sure to catch this panel for your chance to attend our exclusive Frank Miller Signing Party Thursday afternoon! 2:00 PM WILL EISNER, Signing at CBLDF Booth (#701) The CBLDF is proud to open its week of signings with comics legend and national treasure, Will Eisner. He'll be debuting the new and expanded edition of "Comics and Sequential Art." This classic text has been updated to include new chapters on printing and computers. Guess it just goes to show that Eisner is continuing to hone his craft and that everyone can learn something from this modern master. 3:00 PM NEIL GAIMAN, Signing at NextPlanetOver.com (Booth #829) Neil Gaiman, the acclaimed creator of Sandman and a special guest of Comic-Con International, will be signing at NextPlanetOver.com in a special benefit for the CBLDF. 5:00 PM FRANK MILLER SIGNING PARTY, By Invitation Only! It's your chance to meet Frank Miller in a casual, relaxed environment. He'll be signing stuff, and there's no waiting in line! 100 lucky bastards will get the chance to attend. Be sure to catch Frank's Dark Horse panel to find how you can be a part of this exclusive signing event! FRIDAY, AUGUST 13 11:OO AM DO COMICS STILL NEED A DEFENSE FUND?, Room 6 D-E A provocative panel on the state of comics and censorship, bringing together Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, and Denis Kitchen. Chris Oarr moderates this discussion among three of comics' most outspoken activists. Be sure to catch this panel for your chance to attend our exclusive Neil Gaiman Signing Party Friday afternoon! 1:00 PM PETER BAGGE, Signing at the CBLDF Booth (#701) Peter Bagge is the award-winning creator of "Hate." His comics eviscerate pop culture in a uniquely funny way -- so try "Hate," you'll love it! 2:30 PM TIM SALE & DIANA SCHUTZ, Signing at the CBLDF Booth (#701) Tim Sale made fandom sit up and take note with his evocative artwork in Batman: The Long Halloween and Superman for All Seasons. Dark Horse editor Diana Schutz has had her finger on the pulse of comics' cutting edge for years. They recently collaborated on "Grendel: Devil's Child," which can only be described as harrowing glimpse into the dark corners of a child's mind. 3:30 PM art spiegelman, Signing at the CBLDF Booth (#701) art spiegelman is one of modern comics' greatest ambassadors, both in his own Pulitzer Prize-winning work (Maus), and in bringing new talent like Charles Burns, Kas, Mark Newgarden, and others to the public eye as editor of RAW and contributing editor to several national magazines (Details, The New Yorker, etc.). spiegelman has consistently raised the bar of excellence in comics. His current work includes an opera about the comics censorship scare of the 1950s. This is a rare convention appearance for spiegelman, and the CBLDF is honored to have at our booth. 5:00 PM NEIL GAIMAN SIGNING PARTY, By Invitation Only! Neil is doing one signing a day over the four days of Comic-Con, and this is the most exclusive of them all. No, you don't have to pay. You don't even have to wait in line. All you have to do is come to our morning panel - "Do Comics Still Need a Defense Fund?" for your chance to attend this special signing event. SATURDAY, AUGUST 14 NOON BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH, Signing at the CBLDF Booth (#701) Barry Windsor-Smith first rose to prominence for his ground-breaking work on Marvel's "Conan the Barbarian," more than 25 years ago. He continues to blaze new trails with his creator-owned work, including "Adastra in Africa" from Fantagraphics. The CBLDF is proud to present a signing with one of the crown princes of comics. 1:00 PM WILL EISNER, Signing at the CBLDF Booth (#701) Will Eisner is one of the living legends of comics. His comics studio launched the careers of Bob Kane, Jack Kirby, Jules Pfeiffer, Wally Wood, and many more. Eisner is the creator of The Spirit, and universally recognized as the father of the modern graphic novel. 2:00 PM CHARLES BURNS, Signing at the CBLDF Booth (#701) This "Big Baby" delights and horrifies with chiaroscuro classics like "Defective Detective," "Curse of the Molemen," and his current on-going series "Black Hole." His work can also be seen gracing the covers of national magazines like The New Yorker. Burns is well acquainted with the classic horror comics which triggered the censorship wave of the 1950s, and we're pleased to have him at our booth. 3:00 PM FRANK MILLER, Signing at Dark Horse (booth #1029) Dark Horse Comics not only publishes great comics, but they've shown a unique dedication to supporting the CBLDF. They've invited us to participate in this special one-hour signing with comics maverick Frank Miller. Dark Horse is running this one, so you know what that means: shwag, Shwag, SHWAG. 5:00 PM KURT BUSIEK & BRENT ANDERSON, Signing at the CBLDF Booth (#701) The team-up you've been waiting for! It's the award-winning creative team from Astro City, hands-down one of the best superhero books of the 90s. Both Busiek and Anderson go above and beyond the call of duty to raise awareness and funds for the CBLDF on their own, and this team signing should be an event to remember. 7:30 PM CBLDF MEMBERS' RECEPTION, Gaslamp Room of the Clarion Hotel Hosted by Frank Miller Our first Members' Reception at Wizard World was a great success, and we're doing it again at Comic-Con. Frank Miller will host this casual gathering of CBLDF Members, complete with cocktails, snacks, and hip banter. Frank will be joined by Neil Gaiman, Brian Pulido, Denis Kitchen, and many more of the Fund's strongest supporters. This event is CBLDF Members Only, so be sure to stop by our booth during the day and sign up. We hope we'll see you there! 10:00 PM CBLDF BOOZATHON/FUNDRAISER/SCHMOOZEFEST, Around the corner from the Clarion It's the biggest bash of the con! Organized by Rex Edhlund of Kulture Deluxe and D-Town Magazine, this swinging soiree features live entertainment and full bar -- for just 5 bucks! You get all the fun, and the Fund gets all the money. Sponsored by Fantagraphics, Last Gasp, and NBM, this is one party that's qualified to satisfy! SUNDAY NOON DENIS KITCHEN, Signing at the CBLDF Booth (#701) Denis Kitchen has done it all: underground cartoonist, self-publisher, editor, distributor, and publisher of Kitchen Sink Press. Along the way, he also founded the CBLDF and serves as our President. Get reacquainted with his uniquely skewed art in this rare signing appearance. 1:30 PM GREG RUCKA & STEVE LIEBER, Signing at the CBLDF Booth (#701) Rucka and Lieber's "Whiteout" took the comics community by storm -- snow storm, that is! The sequel to their unique Antarctic murder mystery is in the works, but we've got them signing and sketching for the Fund on Sunday. Be sure to bring your parka! For a complete schedule of convention events featuring Will Eisner, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, art spiegelman, and many others of the Fund's strongest supporters, be sure to visit www.cbldf.org. +++++ Lady Death Lives! HOUSTON, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Uniting for the first time to produce a film of supernatural proportions, comic powerhouse Chaos! Comics and world- renowned Japanese animation distributor A.D. Vision, Inc.'s film label "ADV Films", are pleased to present an animated production by Phoenix Entertainment, Lady Death. Already a cult icon among the comics crowd, Lady Death is the tragic figure of Armageddon incarnate. Phoenix Entertainment, one of Japan's premiere animation houses, will bring the "spectral queen of the damned" to life in a movie sure to drive her rabid fans into a macabre frenzy! Lady Death first appeared in 1991 with Chaos! character Evil Ernie in a series called Youth Gone Wild. She was so popular that her own spin off series climbed to the top of the charts, launching the bad girl phenomenon in comic books. "The timing couldn't be better", said Chaos! publisher and president Brian Pulido. "As the next millennium looms closer, a Lady Death animation is the next logical step and ADV and Phoenix are the perfect partners for this project." With production to begin early next year and release tentatively scheduled for Halloween 2001, the animated Lady Death marks yet another milestone for the franchise. Nominated by Diamond Comic Distribution as New Publisher of the Year in 1994, Chaos! was Wizard Magazine's publisher of the year in 1996 and the winner of two Comic Buyer's Guide Awards in 1997 and 1998. Today, Chaos! Comics is known to be "Where Darkness Dwells" with titles such as Lady Death, Evil Ernie, Purgatori, Chastity and The Chosen leading the way. Chaos! Comics is the number one publisher of "supernatural" comics, appealing to a range of readers who like their comic fiction with teeth. Founded in 1992, entertainment trailblazer ADV Films has rocketed to the position of market leader in the production and world-wide distribution of Japanese animation and live action films, including the best selling Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tekken: The Motion Picture, Battle Angel and Ninja Resurrection. ADV's upcoming blockbusters include Bubblegum Crisis-Tokyo 2040 and SIN: THE MOVIE (based upon the game by Ritual Entertainment). Worldwide licensing for all rights to the animation Lady Death are held by ADV. Please direct inquiries to Sharon Papa at 713-977-9181 ext. 101 or email papa@advfilms.com. +++++ From the NEWSWIRE at www.comicresources.com Thursday, August 12th, 1999 EISNER: COMICS 'ALIVE AND WELL' DC TO ARCHIVE 'SPIRIT' The "Spirit" creator and a legendary graphic innovator announced this week that DC Comics will be picking up where the now-defunct Kitchen Sink left off, and will be keeping the 12 volume Will Eisner library in print, along with reprinting classic "The Spirit" comics in their popular hardcover Archive editions. "They provide me with the best hope to get into the mainstream," he said Wednesday, in the closing comments for Pro/Con, the professional convention that immediately precedes Comic Con International, which begins today. Eisner is also finishing up his newest work, the 64 page "The Last Day in Vietnam," which he says will likely be included as part of the new DC publishing deal. MAGIC JOHNSON TO PRODUCE KIDS' COMICS He was a cornerstone of the championship Los Angeles Lakers basketball dynasty in the 1980s. He's a spokesman for HIV-awareness. He's even hosted his own late night talk show. Now Earvin "Magic" Johnson is going to bring comics back to the kids. Johnson announced his plans at Pro/Con in San Diego earlier this week, telling assembled industry professionals that he will be producing non-violent "adventure" comics for elementary school-aged age children later this year. And while industry pundits have bemoaned the dearth of kid-friendly books for years, Johnson's also tackling another of their complaints: Instead of simply relying on the direct market distribution systems, Johnson has reportedly worked out deals to distribute the comics directly to schools. DARK HORSE'S 'YELLOW SUBMARINE' RUNS AGROUND "Roswell, Little Green Man" creator Bill Morrison was more than halfway through an eye-popping 48 page comic adaptation for Dark Horse Comics when the company was told that approval for the licensed project had been pulled, Morrison told the Comic Wire on Wednesday. Morrison had produced 25 pages that mixed conventional comics narrative with frame- and convention-busting innovations, from Blue Meanies ripping through pages to Beatles turning the pages on their own. But the license holders hold the right of refusal to any "Yellow Submarine" tie-in and exercised their rights in July. The comic was to have shipped this fall, in October or November. 'STARS AND S.T.R.I.P.E,' 'HOURMAN' ALIVE AND WELL, CREATORS SAY Usual suspect Ramblings '99 (http://www.twistandshoutcomics.com/) posted the rumors this weekend that DC's "Impulse," "Hourman" and "Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E." have all been served their pink slips. Not so, say the creators. "Well, seeing as that I'm getting the pencils in for #10 I'm happy to say that's incorrect. VERY incorrect," Geoff Johns, writer of "Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E." told the Comic Wire on Monday. "As far as I'm aware, 'Hourman' and 'Impulse' are safe, too. "We wish the series was selling better, like everyone else wishes theirs was." Johns is taking over the writing chores of the new "JSA" series, which also features the star of "Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.," the Star Spangled Kid. "I don't know how much 'bleed-over' we're getting from 'JSA' but I hope once they see my work on 'JSA' they'll check out Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E." "Hourman" writer Tom Peyer is equally sanguine about the health of his series. "A trip to the dccomics.com message boards will reveal clues to the existence of a happy Hourman readership," Peyer told the Comic Wire on Monday. "Like The Mad Yak, Hourman's coffeehouse hangout, we welcome one and all. No official word from DC Comics was available at press time, presumably due to last-minute preparations for Comic Con International in San Diego this weekend. ORDWAY SMASH PUNY HULK! Reports out of San Diego, during the Pro/Con lead-in before the open-to-the-public Comic Con International say that Marvel Comics has chosen a new writer to replace fired "Hulk" writer John Byrne. It's not yet known whether Jerry Ordway, who's filling in, will be the one so named, but he just wants everyone to know he's having fun in the meantime. +++++ From Comics2Film at http://www.comics2film.com Trencher -------- Comics 2 Film spoke to comic writer and artist Keith Giffen about the prospect of bringing his Trencher concept to the movies. "Trencher is a guy who repossess wrongly reincarnated people," Giffen told us. "It's an idea that's never been done. It's the one time in my life I can honestly say I was kissed by God. I've looked into this. Wrongly reincarnated people has never been done in film or literature or myth. That might be a little bit of what's getting [film makers] a little weird because they can't go back and say 'Oh it's like Die Hard in a toilet.'" In spite of being difficult to pigeon-hole, Giffen's Trencher screenplay is making the rounds. The movie has two Hollywood types promoting it. One is producer Robert Schaffel (Diggstown, Jackknife) and the other is special effects and makeup guru Stan Winston. "He and Schaffel are sort of tag-teaming." Giffen, who busies himself these days doing storyboards for animated shows like Batman Beyond and Spider-Man Unlimited, created the character in the early 90's. Trencher enjoyed a short run at Image before moving to the ill-fated small publisher Blackball Comics. Giffen told us that the prospect of the Trencher movie getting made looks very good. However, he also warns, "It could look bad tomorrow. You know, dealing with these people is like riding an oscillating scope in a hospital." Giffen talked to us about the differences between the long form of comic book story telling and the more concise movie story structure. "Working on the Trencher screenplay, I found out how I had to do a 180 from the way I was doing the comic book," Giffen said, "There were things I had to take a good, hard look at and say, 'No. That's not going to work in film.' It's a different medium. Comics are episodic. I can drag things out. I can lay out an explanation over long periods of time. I can get away with a gag like never showing Phoebe. In film I can't I've got to show Phoebe." At this point the screenplay has been greeted with a mostly enthusiastic response. "Nobody has really actively disliked it, you know, 'We love it. We love it. We love it,' but, let me put it this way: I love that new Volkswagen Beetle, but I'm driving a Dodge," Giffen told us, "You have to keep a realistic attitude." The writer also in sympathetic to the cautious tendencies of the movie studios, "I try to keep in mind, when dealing with these people, that when they say 'Yes' to something, an obscene amount of money starts moving. I can see where your a little nervous about that. Millions of dollars starts floating past, that can be a little nerve-wracking." Keith Giffen is also the creator of Lobo, a character whose name has been mentioned on this website frequently in the recent past. Also being a netizen, the recent internet stories about actor Andrew Bryniarski's desire to play the main man caught Giffen's attention. Giffen commented, "If he read the Lobo screenplay it would be like 'Run! Run for your life! Don't go near it!'" When asked what he didn't like about the Lobo scripts he'd seen Giffen told us, "[The producers] missed the boat. They're trying to turn Lobo into the hero of the piece...I kept trying to tell them, 'This is a franchise like Freddy Krueger. This is the boogeyman come from outer space.'" Although the success of failure of a Lobo movie would have little effect on him personally, Giffen did say, "I'm just hoping it never gets made. I just don't need another bad movie to stumble into without knowing it." Power & Glory ------------- Comics 2 Film got an update on the movie version Howard Chaykin's Power & Glory this week. We spoke to Jim Wedaa, Executive V.P. at The Jacobson Company, about the film, which was optioned for development last year. Wedaa told us that script work is underway, "We just got a new draft in from Ebbe Roe Smith, which is actually the first draft, and the studio is very enthusiastic." Smith, who also wrote Falling Down, will soon begin work on a second draft. Although Chaykin is not directly involved with the production he is in regular communication with the producer. "I love Howard. I talk to Howard once a week," Wedaa said. "We're being pretty true to the comic book." In addition to Wedaa, Tom Jacobson (Mighty Joe Young) and Rich Alexander are producers on the movie with David Tischman co-producing. Although there's great interest at the studio and plans are to proceed forward aggressively on the picture, Wedaa's current priority is the filming of Brian DePalma's Mission To Mars. "When your shooting a movie your going, 'Everything else is really just development, isn't it?'" Plans are also underway for a Mission to Mars comic book. Hopefully, once that movie is complete work on Power & Glory can move forward at a more rapid pace. Men In Black 2 -------------- FROM THE NEW YORK POST A recent article in the New York Post speculates that actress Linda Fiorentino may be in a lucrative position if production heats up on a Men In Black sequel. Word has been that Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are reluctant to do another turn on what looked like a promising franchise. This would leave Fiorentino as the sole returning player in the sequel. The article speculates that Chris O'Donnell (Batman and Robin) may co-star. O'Donnell was reportedly supposed to appear in the original until Steven Spielberg insisted on Smith. Matt Damon is also mentioned as a possibility for the next chapter. http://www.nypost.com/080899/gossip/travis.htm +++++ From The Daily Buzz at http://www.mania.com/newsarama/index.html Marvel Comics will be re-releasing several issues of the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man in their new Marvel Selects series. Each will be a twelve issue limited series reprinting key issues in the lives of the heroes. New covers will be featured for both series. The Fantastic Four covers will be done by Alan Davis, while Spider-Man will be done by Mike Wieringo. These new Marvel Selects issues will be available in November. Warner Bros. Adds Official Fan Sites DC Comics' parent company, Warner Brothers, now offers licensed sections of Acme City (www.acmecity.com) that include neighborhoods for Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The role of Jean Grey of the X-Men, has reportedly been cast. The psychically gifted super hero will be played by Famke Janssen. This selection has been confirmed by both Variety and Cinescape online. San Diego --Captain Marvel will be an ongoing comic sseries breaking off from the Avengers Forever mini series starting in November Chris Cross will draw the series which Peter David will write, said Marvel exec. Bill Roseman at the ComicCon International Convention. --Captain America #25 marks Dan Jurgens' sttint as writer and features the return of the Falcon and Nick Fury, Announced Bill Roseman at ComicCon. --DC Comics told retailers gathered at the ComicCon here it has a variety of high-profile projects in mind for November and December, including: * The child of Tempest and Dolphin debuts in Aquaman this November with Dan Jurgens handling the writing chores and covers by Mike Kaluta. The storyline will pit Aquaman against the JLA. * JLA Earth II, featuring the return of the Crime Syndicate, will see some some JLA members die before writer Grant Morrison hands over writing chores for the book. * There might be a wedding the future for Green Lantern Kyle Rayner even as the new Spectre series debuts. As for rumors that Hal Jordan will be the new Spectre, DC exec Bob Wayne said for retailers not to believe it until it appears in the comic. * The new New Gods series from Walt Simonson will be called simply Orion not Jack Kirby's Orion of the New Gods. * A new Golden Age archive edition will feature Ted Knight, the original Starman. * A new Legend of the Hawkman mini-series will explore the relationship of Katar Hol to the new Hawkgirl of JSA. Meanwhile a Hawkman archive will collect the Joe Kubert classic tales. * A new 80-Page Giant will feature Sgt. Rock's Prize Battle Tales. * Reprints of classic DC comics such as Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76, Whiz Comics #2 and Mad #1 will start appearing in December on a weekly basis and will run through 2000 * Changeling rejoins the Titans will issue #12. * Power Puffs will appear as on ongoing series next year. * Gen 13 #50 will be double-sized and will reveal a traitor among them. * Ball and Chain will be a new relationship-based superhero book from Homage. * New Vertigo books include The Witching Hour, Deadenders, Heavy Liquid, The House on the Borderland, a Sleepy Hollow adaptation by Kelley Jones and Strange Adventures. Plus, Transmetropolitan sunglasses, T-shirts and watches will soon be available. Boneville Goes Online Cartoon Books announced plans to unveil a new Web site at the San Diego Comic-Con International. The new Boneville site is an e-village featuring landmarks like a library, an arcade, a general store, a town hall, a post office, a barber shop, a trading post and a train station. Visitors can stop by the Boneville Town Hall for information about the village or choose to drop by Cartoon Books' studio for BONE news and info. To catch up on the latest industry news, they can hang out with Floyd Bone and the gang at the Boneville Barber Shop or drop in on the Boneville Message Board to start or join discussions on the latest rumors or hot topics. At the Boneville General Store, visitors can find the latest BONE books and merchandise from Cartoon Books as well as shop from "Jeff's Picks," where Jeff Smith's favorite graphic novels by other cartoonists are for sale. They can also read excerpts from all the books for free at the Boneville Library. At the Boneville Arcade, players can try their luck at some fun games and enter contests and drawings for monthly prizes. Visitors can also stop by the Boneville Post Office to send a free e-Postcard. The new boneville.com will operate in conjunction with World Famous Comics' outstanding original content, features, and news center. --Marvel's trailers for the Spider-Man Unliimited TV series coming this fall from Fox Kids show Spider-Man with a cape of webs, turning invisible and sporting a costume similar to Spider-Man 2099. Character art shows characters including Shayne Yamada Jones, Naoko Yamada Jones, Karen O'Malley, a high-tech Green Goblin, a Machine Man X-51 and a staff-wielding High Evolutionary. The storyline takes place on an alternate Counter Earth. --Plans for a Silver Age DC heroes' series from Hasbro includes a 9-inch Batman with removable cowl, a 5-inch Azrael as Batman from Batman #500, and a Blue Superman/Red Superman 2-figure pack. Also, a Supergirl statue designed by Gary Frank, a Darkseid statue and a Manhunter statue are in the works. A Wonder Woman statue following Brian Bolland's take on the Amazon Princess is in the works. --The Authority will face a race of aliens claiming to be the true owners of the Earth, in a plot line slated for after Warren Ellis, Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary leave the book after issue #12, DC said at the ComicCon convention. --Dead Enders will be a new ongoing series from Vertigo described as Blade Runner meets Quadrophenia with a Love And Rockets feel, DC told the ComicCon here. The series will be written by Warren Pleece. --DC Comics will turn to fans to decide whiich Silver Age comics to reprint next year as part of its weekly reprint program. As reported earlier in AnotherUniverse.com's Daily Buzz, DC will begin once per week reprints beginning Dec. 10 with 80-Page Giant Sgt. Rock. Fans will be able to cast their vote on-line on DC's Web Site,said DC. --Wolverine will face off against his old ffoe Sabertooth in a 10-page back story to X-Men Unlimited #25, illustrated by Mark Texeira. Plus, the riddle of "Who Are the Twelve?" will be answered in X-Men #376, according to Marvel Comics. +++++ From Newsarama; http://www.AnotherUniverse.com/newsarama WINNER OF THE 1997 & 1998 INTERNET "SQUIDDY" FOR BEST WEB SITE Published by DHC, Green Lantern/Aliens will be a 4-issue mini-series written by Green Lantern's Ron Marz and illustrated by Rick Leonardi and an inker to be named later. According to Marz, the way the project is shaping up, issue #1 will take place in the past, and feature Hal Jordan and members of the GL Corps facing an alien infestation. The remaining 3 issues will then be set in current continuity, and feature Kyle Rayner and a handful of the few former still living - but of course now powerless - GL Corps members. The two stories are linked naturally, with the events of the past paving the way for the conflict in the present. Vertigo will offer the 3rd installment of their now annual Winter's Edge holiday anthology this November...this year featuring a sampler of current and upcoming projects from the mature-readers line. The Wildstorm family of imprints - Wildstorm proper, Cliffhanger, Homage and ABC - are working on a series of "80-Page Giant"-like projects for release next summer. Each imprint will have their own special with stories focusing on all of their major properties (for instance Homage might feature Kurt Busiek's Astro City, Leave It to Chance, Desperado, The Mechanic and maybe even a Wizard's Tale story), as well as various features. ABC's Giant-like special would feature tales written by Moore but illustrated by guest artists other than the regular title's art teams, and Cliffhanger's is tentatively scheduled to ship between the regularly formatted hiatus of Joe Kelly's and Chris Bachalo's Steampunk ongoing series of mini-series/story arcs. Batgirl, a new character that has proved instantly popular with readers, gets her own ongoing monthly series beginning next year, co-written by former Batman group editor Scott Peterson and Kelly (Batman Adventures)Puckett, and illustrated by Damian Scott and John Floyd. - Readers looking forward to the Mark Waid//Bryan Hitch/Paul Neary era of DC's JLA may not have to wait as long as first expected...sort of. Waid along with editor Dan Raspler announced that he and Hitch/Neary's first JLA collaboration before the ongoing series will be JLA: Heaven's Ladder, a 64-page ("64 pages with an asterisk," cryptically according to Waid) Treasury-Sized one-shot due early next year. Artist Eric Canete takes over pencilling MR. MAJESTIC with issue #7. - Anyone that's wondering what ever happeneed to the rest of Guy Davis' The Marquis, Oni Press will have your answer beginning later this year. Also from Oni Press in your future: a Bartelby and Loki "extra special for the end of the century" one-shot written by Kevin Smith and painted by Scott Morse; and Breakfast After Noon, a 6-issue story of love and work by Andi Watson. And its a good bet we'll be seeing more "Blair Witch" projects from Oni pretty soon. - Look for Changeling to finally officiallyy join his mates in Devin Grayson and Mark Buckingham's Titans following the conclusion of the 4-issue Beast Boy mini-series that begins in November. In January Detective Comics, written by Greg Rucka with art by Shawn Martinbrough, increases to 40 pages for longer, more complex crime stories; and Batman: Gotham Knights, written by Devin Grayson, with art by Dale Eaglesham and John Floyd, will be backed-up each month with special Batman: Black & White features from various, high- profile creators. Jim Steranko has come to San Diego as a guest of Dark Horse Comics, whose Maverick imprint will be offering a remastered version of the writer/artist's 1976 "visual novel", Red Tide. Not an illustrated novel or novel-length comic book, Red Tide fuses "interdependent graphic and prose narratives, forming a powerful and original new method of telling stories", according to DHC. A dark, noir-ish, crime fiction thriller in the spirit of The Maltese Falcon and Chinatown, Steranko's visual novel stars hard-boiled detective Chandler, as he's drawn into a dark and deadly underworld, where a brutal hitman is methodically offing the terrified witnesses of a gangland killing. +++++ SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 11, 1999--Through satellite photos and powerful telescopes, scientists in Southern California have identified legions of comic book enthusiasts and cyber-culture devotees that have rapidly assembled thriving colonies on NextPlanetOver.com (http://www.nextplanetover.com), the ultimate Internet destination for the entertainment hobbyist. The site, which officially launches today at the annual Comicon show in San Diego, features a powerful online storefront offering thousands of items ranging from the most popular mainstream and independently published comic books to role playing games, videos, action figures and apparel. In addition, NextPlanetOver.com cultivates an interactive community consisting of discussion boards monitored by industry celebrities, product reviews and a weekly e-zine. NextPlanetOver.com is backed by CMGI @Ventures (NASDAQ: CMGI) and IDG Ventures, and has signed partnership agreements with several key players in the entertainment hobbyist field. The company will act as the exclusive comic book retailer for Stan Lee Media (www.stanlee.net). Stan Lee Media will provide comic book and Super Hero fans around the world with new interactive content by pop culture icon Stan Lee. In March, NextPlanetOver.com announced an exclusive contract with Diamond Comic Distributors to secure direct access to the world's largest inventory of in-print comic books, including titles published by DC, Dark Horse and Marvel, and to fulfill customer orders directly from Diamond's extensive warehouse. The company has also signed an auction agreement with eBay (www.ebay.com). "This is truly the beginning of a new era for entertainment hobbyists," said NextPlanetOver.com CEO and Co-Founder Dave Scott. "For years, people have had to travel miles to meet other like-minded people and revel in the passion and energy that exists in comic book shops, specialty retail stores, studio stores, and at conventions. At NextPlanetOver.com, that excitement is now a single click away." About NextPlanetOver.com NextPlanetOver.com is building the ultimate online destination for the entertainment hobbyist. This vibrant community will not only offer original articles and online forums, but will also sell a wide range of comic books, games, action figures and other popular entertainment products. In addition, NextPlanetOver.com has partnered with Stan Lee Media to operate the official online comic books and trade paperback storefront at StanLee.net. The company is backed by CMGI @Ventures (NASDAQ: CMGI) and IDG Ventures. +++++ 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. DC LAUNCHES LAND MINE AWARENESS COMIC FOR KOSOVO A new Superman comic book was launched on August 2 at the White House by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and representatives of the US Department of Defense, DC Comics and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The comic was created explicitly for Kosovo and is aimed at teaching children about the dangers of land mines. "It is essential that children in and returning to Kosovo know that the country is littered with dangerous military devices that kill and maim," said Tehnaz Dastoor, UNICEF land mine expert, who attended the White House event. "We need direct and understandable ways to alert children to the dangers around them." Ms. Dastoor said the comic, titled "Deadly Legacy," would support UNICEF's child protection goals in Kosovo, including overall awareness of the land mine situation there, showing specific types of booby-traps children need to identify and avoid and teaching children how to report dangerous situations. UNICEF has carried out extensive land mine awareness work in Kosovo centering on distribution of awareness materials and educating teachers and community workers on the dangers under foot. About 150 people have already been injured or killed by land mines in Kosovo following the recent conflict there. Children and young adults account for 71 percent of these injuries. Children suffer greater damage from land mine blasts and are more likely to be killed by a land mine than adults. Land mines can cost as little as $3 to manufacture and are effective for as long as 50 years. Mine removal is vastly more expensive than manufacturing and laying mines. In the new comic, Superman saves two Kosovo children from an anti- personnel land mine, telling them to keep an eye out for rocket- propelled grenades and other military debris. Superman's message is: "You should be able to play wherever you want, but right now, you need to stay where it's officially safe." The comic book will be distributed by UNICEF and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). For further information about UNICEF programs, call 1-800-FOR- KIDS, or write to the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, 333 East 38 Street, New York, NY 10016, or access the U.S. Committee for UNICEF's Web site at http://www.unicefusa.org. 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. 8/16/99 (4:00 pm) -- "Blasts from the Past Part I" (Superman) 8/16/99 (4:30 pm) -- "Blasts from the Past Part II" (Superman) 8/17/98 (4:00 pm) -- "Cold Comfort" (Batman) 8/17/99 (4:30 pm) -- "Bizarro's World" (Superman) 8/18/99 (4:00 pm) -- "Never Fear" (Batman) 8/18/99 (4:30 pm) -- "Identity Crisis" (Superman) 8/19/99 (4:00 pm) -- "Livewire" (Superman) 8/19/99 (4:30 pm) -- "Sins of the Father" (Batman) 8/20/99 (4:00 pm) -- "Where There's Smoke" (Superman) 8/20/99 (4:30 pm) -- "Critters" (Batman) 8/21/99 (8:00 am) -- "The Demon Within" (Batman) 8/21/99 (8:30 am) -- "Fish Story" (Superman) 8/21/99 (9:30 am) -- "A Touch of Curare" (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: 6 August 1999 Ramblings Challenge: It's San Diego Comic Con time again... I'll be in England, planning on going next year. Shame they decided to theme it with the internet this time round... instead of waiting for me! So since I can't go, here's a challenge. I want you all to theme SDCC with a Ramblings tint. How, you ask? Well, my dear, sweet readers.... In panels: How many questions can you ask that involve Ramblings '99? How many questions can you ask with "I read on Ramblings '99 that.....xyz, is it true?". Maybe you could just slip Ramblings into a question like "That sounds like the kind of thing I'll read in Ramblings '99". And the old favourite "Do any of the panel read Ramblings '99 on the internet and what do they think of it?" There's one panel packed with people like Mike Doran, Beau Yarborough, Maggie Thompson... prime to be targeted... and everyone involved will have read this message you're reading now! Let's get some vindictive debate going here on whether or not Rich Johnston has the right to call himself a journalist when he doesn't take responsibility for the truth of his rumours. Always a good one to get Mike Doran going! See if we can get to a situation where someone says "I think we've heard enough about Ramblings for now"... and then still make points and ask questions about Ramblings! Ha ha! Talking to companies: Same as panels, mostly, but try a one-to-one conversation. Let's see what they really think... PR people, creators etc. Maybe ask "what would you do if you found someone from your company passing confidential solicitation material to Ramblings '99" for example. Talking to professionals: Get a drink down them and start down the "Do you read Ramblings '99? Did you read what they said about you? Have you ever passed on secrets to Rich Johnston? Have you ever threatened him with violence? Would you?" Good people to get... interesting responses from might include Bob Wayne, Kevin Smith, Joe Quesada, Grant Morrison, Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid (especially if you're dressed as a gorilla for the last two), Todd McFarlane, Fabian Nicieza, Pat O'Neill, Robin Riggs... or basically anyone you can get your hands on. Talking to fellow fans: How many people can you start a conversation with, using the words "Do you read Ramblings '99 then?" Anyone who uses it successfully as a chat up line gets extra points! Any and all reports received about blatant Ramblings promotion... remember all publicity is good publicity, even if someone takes the opportunity to slag us off... will be rewarded with a place in the new Ramblings Hall Of Fame! Anyone who gets Ramblings mentioned in the Eisners or in any major speech gets extra! We'll be there in SDCC 2000. So, all my little John The Baptists, prepare the way! Oh and remember to quote the web address if you can? Lovely-jubbly! Why Did Rob Liefeld Leave Image II Well that article brought quite a response (check the July archive)... notable for two specific replies, one from an 'informed source who has asked to remain anonymous... and Rob Liefeld himself. And they seem to agree about a couple of things too, just about. 'Informed source' first. Now remember, some of this gets personal. We are not saying that any of the following is true. Personally, I trust this guy and if you knew who he was, you would too. Remember, this is a rumour column! Regarding the piece that said artists were free to go with Wildstorm or Top Cow when the Homage studio split, our source says "Billy Tan was originally hired by Top Cow. He never did Wildstorm work other than a few cards or such. Also, it wasn't a situation where artists had choices as to which company they'd work for. At the old Homage, it was like two companies working in the same space, which is why Silvestri left with his group to LA. He felt that he'd gotten a big enough crew together to finally get out of Jim's shadow at Homage. All the Top Cow guys went to LA, and all the Wildstorm guys stayed in San Diego. At that time, the "no hiring from the other studios" rule was in effect full swing." As to Jim Lee not being bothered about Maximum, our source says "I don't know about Jim Lee being OK with it." We're also told that Top Cow did less of the luring than we reported. "Anthony Winn quit Rob and pursued Top Cow on his own as he was a Marc Silvestri artistic clone, and desperately wanted to work with his idol at Top Cow". Again, "Nocon and Fraga were hired well after Rob was kicked out of Image, so Top Cow did honour that part of the agreement between Image studios." As to Randy Queen (do you know how that name sounds to us Brits?) taking Darkchylde to Liefeld, "The Randy Queen thing is a little garbled. Randy didn't have any support at Top Cow, and Top Cow administration felt he was going nowhere and treated him like he was going nowhere. Randy was very frustrated, as he was given no major assignments. He took matters into his own hands, and created and proposed DarkChylde for publishing at Top Cow. Marc refused to publish it because of its similarities to Witchblade and the just being developed Darkness. He felt Randy was ripping him off. Randy left Top Cow after this rejection, and got picked up by Rob. Marc really became furious as here was Rob publishing what he felt was an outright theft of Witchblade and the soon to be released Darkness, with an ex-Top Cow artist. I think the fact it was a huge success was also a slap in the face to Marc. When Rob went after D-Tron and Mike (he succeeded in getting D-Tron for a while), Marc decided to leave soon after as a form of protest and self-protection, but also because he saw how well Rob was doing outside Image with Maximum Press and he wanted to give that a shot as well." As to complaints from Image members as to how Liefeld was acting "They also complained Rob was using Image to give heat to Maximum Press, and as it was his own company, he didn't have to pay the Image fees associated with every title Image produces (a few thousand dollars) and he was outside of Image partner control. Basically, he was reaping the benefits of an Image title without having to follow the laws of Image at the time." Another separate source writes to say "There was a problem with Rob not paying the printer's bill on time. The printer was a relative of Todd McFarlane's, possibly an uncle, IIRC. So it seems to me a confluence of factors that led to his ouster. Talent-swapping, printer-paying and giving Image a bad name. But that's what happens when you try to build studios instead of doing your own damned book." British pop culture demands that I now raise a handbag to my chest with both hands and go "Ooooooooo" in rising and falling pitches. It worked out fine for Jim Lee... And now to our main response, Rob Liefeld's reaction to the original article. "For the most part, you are right on in your recounting of events that led to my leaving Image. There are however, numerous mistakes and speculation regarding many of the details surrounding the event." "In regards to the agreement about not raiding each others talent, that was never the case. It was spoken about often, but never strictly adhered to. For instance, Todd would speak against that practice and then go down the hall and offer work to several of the inkers who had exclusive agreements with my studio. Talent would play each studio off of each other in search of the best deal, and we were all willing to play along, always to the benefit of the talent involved. Marc preached loyalty above all, while I encouraged talent to be loyal to themselves and find the best deal. Sometimes that would work against us, but often it was not an issue. Pay people well and they won't look elsewhere." "Maximum Press was formed as an outlet for non-super hero projects and to serve as a refuge away from the craziness at Image. You are correct in your assessment that Jim didn't mind because he was also forming a similar imprint, but it was a thorn in Todd's side. Anthony Wynn was never lured away by Top Cow, he was fired right before Christmas 94' for various reasons that are unimportant. The Cow soon let him go as well after a brief stint with him." "Your story about contacting J. Scott Campbell is a total fantasy, as he and I have spoken a total of 3 times in eight years. Campbell was riding high at Wildstorm and there were never any overtures made towards him to work for any of my imprints.Pat Lee and Cedric Nocon were let go as we began scaling back our titles in order to change the focus of the company and prepare for the launch of Awesome. Both are very talented gentleman who have done work for Awesome." "Randy Queen came to Maximum because Top Cow passed on Darkchylde, which we were more than happy to take a chance on. It too was a casualty of changing the focus to Awesome." "I did indeed pursue Mike Turner to pencil an Avengelyne mini-series, which set off the exit of Top Cow from Image. I offered Mike a better deal than he was getting back in 96 from the Cow but it was always with the understanding that he would do the mini and return to the Cow. Marc stepped in and killed the deal and took his label with him. In the weeks that followed, tensions arose over Heroes Reborn, which was a major problem with Todd. The project was receiving a lot of attention and giving both Extreme and Wildstorm an extra kick and Todd was very angry that we devoted so much attention to an endeavour with Marvel, his arch-nemesis. Marc had formally resigned from Image, they took him back in order to strengthen the label following my departure. At an Image meeting, Todd ordered me to combine Maximum Press with Image and I refused, this set off a chain of events that resulted in my resignation from Image." "Erik Larsen will proudly tell you, as he did me, that it was his idea to ask me to leave and he absolutely voted along with the others to remove me from Image four days after I had resigned, a fact that has always amused me to no end. Erik and I remain the most friendly of the old group, but we do not speak often. Image was far too political for me and I had confidence that I could succeed on my own and I have never looked back or thought twice about my decision to keep Maximum separate and to resist the commands of my partners." "The Extreme rumours of non-payment have no factual basis, and the few claims that were made were defeated in a court of law." "You're kidding yourself if you don't think that the tensions were running high during the Cliffhanger situation. Awesome was an active participant in attempting to lure Turner at the time and Mike did indeed enjoy the benefits from once again being pursued by multiple labels." "That's all for now." Thanks Rob... and now that we've established a dialogue, who hope to hear more from probably the most influential comics creator of the nineties. Just so long as people know... I'm not the biggest fan of Rob's work. I find his writing simplistic, his artwork annoying and moreover consider the initial output of Image, which he set up, as responsible for much of the ghettoisation of comics. I wish that Rob had published his book "Rob" then, instead of "Youngblood". I wish Valentino had published "A Touch Of Silver" then, etc, etc... They'd have all still sold the same amounts and it could have led to a mindshift in comic readers away from just action-adventure stuff. Image had the chance, not only to move away from company control, but also to do work from the heart... innovate rather than imitate. And they didn't take it. For that I'll always look at them with some disdain. Much of Image now is fantastic, but if they could have been now what they were then, maybe the industry would be in better shape. It certainly couldn't be in a worse one. A familiar comics name then wrote to comment on our original article, "Cedric Nocon is and has been a good friend of mine for many years. He left Extreme for Wildstorm after he was replaced on Supreme with no explanation, after several times turning issues around in less than two weeks. His short stay at Wildstorm had more to do with his reluctance to move to San Diego than anything else. Since then he's done a few Top Cow books, but mostly does advertising work." As to the rumours of Liefeld and Image's difference over money, he reports "It helped that his sister was the Image accountant. He also had used Image money and resources to set up Maximum. Total bill: about $1,000,000 or so, which Jim Lee covered, and told Rob that was his buyout." As we reported, we're sure Rob would... um... challenge this, but again it's good to get these rumours out into the open to be challenged! Keeping Up With The Joneses. We've heard that the heavy weekly schedule of Days Of Judgment is causing such pressure on Matt Smith that Dan Raspler has hired penciller Chris Jones to lay out the entire miniseries... but why haven't they mentioned it yet? Surely they don't expect everyone to believe the work is all Matt's own? Maybe it's not true... which is always likely with this kind of thing. Confirmation, anyone? Cattle Rustling. As to the Who-Owns-Top Cow story, you may remember that we reported a rumour ages back that Eidos was buying bits of Top Cow. After weeks of to-ing and fro-ing on the phones, we discovered it was true - Eidos had bought 10%. Heavy stuff, and a predecessor to the Wildstorm buyout by DC, but Top Cow then reversed its silence on the story and said that it was old news. Funny, no one had actually reported it before... And here's why. Remember, this is all rumour... good thing too, as it gets personal. If anyone wants to confirm or deny, please do. Now then. An inside source confirms that "administration kept the sale secret even from most people working there. I heard the percentage of ownership has increased since the original purchase, and is higher than 10% now. I've heard figures from 25-33% from people working there. The reason for the radical discrepancy in numbers is that it is a huge secret within the company for some reason. Several artists and employees aren't even aware that Top Cow is owned in part by somebody besides Marc (Silvestri), even when there was a secret part-owner before Eidos. I think there may be confusion between that previous percentage of ownership and the new percentage of ownership." Well, this is news... so who did own bits of Top Cow before Eidos? "The previous part owner was Cynthia Sullivan, Marc's longtime fiancée before Top Cow even formed. As I understand it, Marc had been remiss with his finances while at working at Marvel, and done a lot of damage to himself financially in terms of credit and available finances. To be part of Image, he needed Cynthia to be a partner in Top Cow as her good records helped offset Marc's poor records, so monies could be secured and lines of credit brought into play for publishing. She was a silent 50% owner until Marc bought her out, in part with money from Eidos and in part with a stipend paid over time. They did end up breaking up as a couple about this time." First time I've heard that... but it does make some kind of sense and also clears up how the rumour that Eidos had bought 50% of Top Cow was started. Evacuation Warning. I'm off on honeymoon for two weeks on Monday 23rd. Off to Scandinavia, and I doubt I'll be on the net at all for that time. So remember to e-mail Mike Meyer at twist@netgate.net with your juicy titbits then. And I'll be back to kick off September! Dateline: 8 August 1999 Dismember November What's DC got in the November sack? We'll be taking it apart shortly. Gen On Jenkins. Before that, we've been told that Paul Jenkins will be writing Hulk as of issue 12. And The Beyonders, as previously mentioned in this column, will appear in a Spawn mag first, just like Kiss. Which means it won't be creator owned. That's what we've been told... any more on this? Loebsamoney! Like Grant Morrison, James Robinson and Geoff Johns before him, November's 'favourite with his bank manager is Jeph Loeb!' All his Awesome work aside, this month he's writing Witching Hour, Winter's Edge III, Batman: Dark Victory and Superman 152... all without a skip week like the previous writers needed to push their title count up! And save Winters Edge, these are all ongoing titles! A salute to the man! Hours Away. So just in time to miss Halloween... Witching Hour is scheduled for November, with Loeb, Bachalo and Art Thibert on inks. "The setting is Manhattan, where the mysterious Amanda Collins moves through the troubled lives of ordinary people armed with little more than a blank white business card and a strange, supernatural presence. She's giving them the chance to change their lives; but the choice they make will depend entirely on the forces that already exist in their hearts. Amanda herself is a mesmerising presence and, as she works modern magic with the help of a colourful if not entirely loyal coterie of followers, another side of her begins to emerge: one that is troubled, powerful and possibly centuries old. At the crossroads of the supernatural and the very real, THE WITCHING HOUR spins bold, provocative tales of sin, magic and redemption." Well, sounds like pretentious nonsense, but then so did Sandman. Hmmm. Anyway it's got Bachalo art. Three issues, prestige format, you know the score. Punk Muse. Bachalo's also busy as November also sees the scheduling of Steampunk's preview issue, by Kelly and Bachalo. Witching Hour teammate Art Thibert inks. Steampunk: Catechism is 18 pages long and costs $2.50. Let's hear DC's scoop for this one: "Meet Cole Blaquesmith, a man out of time. Revived from a century-long sleep, he finds himself in a world he never made, with a body rebuilt for an improbable future -- with a pneumatic arm and a coal-powered heart. Cole knows that the steam-driven, bizarrely high-tech world in which he now lives is not how the future's supposed to be. But can he restore the natural order against the will of the fearsome Dr. Mortimer Absinthe, dark architect of this cold world? Running from the Dog Soldiers, Batcat, and other wretched offspring of this world gone wrong, CATECHISM immerses the reader in a surreal steambath of ideas and images fashioned from the wickedest work Joe Kelly and Chris Bachalo have ever envisioned. In STEAMPUNK, the only boundaries are those of Bachalo's and Kelly's shared vision. So there are no boundaries at all." Obviously, steampunk's the place to be these days, what with Heart Of Empire, League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Tom Strong stomping about the place. Shame they couldn't have had a more original name really... Chopping Block We've been told that Stars And STRIPE is up for it at issue 6 strange, because the solicitation doesn't say that for November and it's part 1 of a 2 part story? The same source indicates Hourman for cancellation at 12 and Impulse some time. Well one wrong so far it seems, hope that's a good sign for the others. Boldly Glow. The first Wildstorm Star Trek book is up for grabs in November, Voyager ­ False Colours - comment on Wildstorm's oft-over the top colouring department? Or maybe it's a typo for False Covers, since Jim Lee's doing one. Hope no one buys it thinking he's on the interiors... that would be like buying WildCATS with a Charest cover and thinking he's done all the insides too. If Lee puts you off, there's some sexy photo cover of that Borg bint for you to lust over. Future Wildstorm Star Trek books include ST:TNG ­ The Killing Shadows, ST - Civil War, ST:TNG ­ Embrace The Wolf, ST: All Of Me... basically loads of the stuff. Hopefully it'll sell better than the last few attempts... By Jingo. The Patriots is a new ongoing series by Wildstorm scribe Brandon Choi and Jonathan Peterson, with Michael Ryan and Randy Elliot on art. Mediocre bunch really. Shame. It's all related to this I.O. thing that Wildstorm has had going since day one, which is pretty poor all in all. But the premise is interesting... I.O., this big covert nasty lot of baddies is in tatters and two agents are employed to clear up the mess. Now this could be fantastic, something akin to what Planetary is doing, examining the history of such an organization, over say 1000 years into the past... satirical, sharp, exploratory and avoiding stupid fist and gun fights. Use it as a way to explore the concept of the conspiracy and cover up. Anyone put bets on what will actually happen? I hope to be pleasantly surprised. Out Of Danger. Trouble getting Danger Girl out? Don't worry to get the creators to draw another one, let them spend more time writing two short stories for other people to draw! Joe Chiodo and Art Adams for example. Still stuck for space? Fill it up with pinups. And there you go. And the regular artists can get back to their Dreamcast. Fans still not satisfied? Chuck 'em a TPB.. well one of those two-issue jobbies that piss everyone off. Baitman. Batman: War On Crime is Dini and Ross's follow up to Superman: Peace On Earth. Now, considering the original's trite and stereotypical observations on famine, summed up as "give a man a fish..." when, with Superman's ability "give a man an entire fish farm..." would have been more appropriate. Now I haven't read the upcoming Batbook, but here's a thought. Could it have anything to do with the social impact on crime? That there's a story behind every criminal? That you should instead be tough on the causes of crime? The solicitation copy says "The war on crime is a bitter struggle, claiming many innocents. For any one man to end crime is a near-impossible task. For Batman, it is his life's work... an all-consuming obsession. When the Dark Knight encounters a young boy whose parents have been murdered (echoing the tragedy that created Batman himself), it raises fundamental questions about his own life." And then "finds the Dark Knight questioning the true nature of the evil he has dedicated himself to eradicating -- crime itself -- taking him from Gotham City's grimmest alleys to its shining corporate towers." Again, I hope to be pleasantly surprised. Alan Grant does up Batman/Daredevil a treat though, Eduardo Barreto on art. Batman and Daredevil team up with Kingpin to do in Scarecrow. Sorted Alan. Do this justice. Lovely. Imaginary Friend. The Sandman Companion is a hardback book by Hy Bender giving interviews to the people behind this quite remarkable book, which means mostly Neil, bits from the artist and an examination of the series, bit by bit. Arty bits by Jill Thompson, Michael Zulli, P. Craig Russell, Charles Vess, Kent Williams, Kyle Baker, Teddy Kristiansen, Jon J Muth, Mike Dringenberg and Dave McKean and comments from Alan Moore, Harlan Ellison, Peter Straub, and Samuel R. Delany. If you like Sandman, this is essential. By why in hardback? Let's wait till the $20 price drops, hm? $uperman! Now this is more like it, Superman, Inc. Finally an elseworlds book that takes on the Superman-Is-An-American to its fullest as he becomes an athlete and a celebrity in the bargain. Steve Vance and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (a very impressive team) take this character as he wins the Olympics, the Super Bowl, NBA, etc. We haven't had this since... well, Kickers, Inc. Ooh, similar title. Well, there was always Toad of X-Men wasn't there? Expect lots of 'show me the money', super style. Could be a lot of fun. That Time Of Year Again. Winter's Edge III. This time it's bringing it's dad. Well, Neil Gaiman again, with Zulli doing a Desire tale. Whatever happened to that Jill Thompson Desire mini we were promised so long ago. Anyway there's good meat in here, Dave Gibbons writing and drawing a Constantine story, and a Transmet story again, with Spider at Christmas. Joy. Previews of Swamp Thing, Deadenders and The Great Satan also await. Hollow Victory. Steve Seagle, Kelly Jones and Jason Moore are doing the adaption of Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow... you know, this isn't the first Burton/Vertigo project... didn't they do some sponsored screenings of Nightmare Before Christmas? Hope the adaptations up to Burton's visual mastery... do we remember the adaptation of Batman and Batman Returns? Feel the shudder... Toy Story. Hal Jordan returns! As a doll... yes, joining Dinah Lance and Oliver Quinn in a new set of dolls, sorry, action-figures. Hmm. But you'll have to wait till the end of February. General Mish Mash. Okay, time for some more featured books, Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer write Superman Adventures couldn't they be persuaded to draw it too? Dinosaurs come to Gotham in Hitman, Grant Morrison's still ploughing through the last JLA... we hear more trouble at DC as Grant is still insisting he's going to do something nasty to Oracle and the Bat guys aren't happy... anyway, enough of the rumours, in November Promethea terrorizes Oracle! Let's see what happens eh? Jamie Delano and Steve Pugh put in what is reported as an unmissable book, Legends Of the DC Universe. Seriously, if you usually buy it or, like me, steer clear of it, order this issue! It's New Gods stuff from two masters of the comic form. Authority starts Warren's last arc, as the owners of Earth come back for their real estate. It's basically Authority versus God. Fantastic Four 50's all over again? Planetary tells the story about the sole survivor of a 50's covert project to fight against communism. Features Solicitations. Top Ten 5 what's it all about, DC? "Under the streets of Neopolis, there's a manhunt going on, except that the quarry isn't anything close to a man. The trail of the Libra killer grows warmer as Sergeant Kemlo Caesar finds himself responsible for the safety of a potential victim and starts to wish for the dull routine and security of his desk job back at the station. Cyber-Cowboy Duane "The Dust Devil" Bodine and his spark-spitting partner Shock Head Peter try to adjust to an unlikely alliance with North Hockney mega-madam Large Marge, and there's clearly something bothering Jeff Smax. Join the men, women, dogs and mutants of Neopolis' Finest as things take a decided turn for the dark and creepy around Precinct Ten." It's not all light in another favourite supertown, as Astro City 20 says that "All secrets are revealed as the Steeljack Saga concludes! Can Steeljack save his fellow super-villains from the machinations of the Conquistador -- or is he doomed to be the same kind of failure he's been all his life? Plus: the identity of the Black Mask Killer, Astro City in flames, and more. Hellsapoppin'. Here's a goody. Top writer extraordinaire has been drafted to write a couple of issues of Hellblazer before the new team come on... it's Twist And Shout favourite, Darko Macan! Top fella... and here's even better news, he's accompanied on art by Gary Erskine, my favourite Scot artist (and that includes Vincent!) and Andy Lanning... who used to do Sleaze Brothers! It's issue 144, it's obviously filler, yes we'd have preferred to have Shoot!, but hey this isn't a bad way to win me over. More Mish Mash. Over at Preacher 57, Jesse meets Cassidy, in Transmet, I have no idea what's happening but if you've a spare fifty dollars you can buy Spider's glasses! Order now and in March you'll get Dreaming PVC characters. That's Daniel, Eve, Lucien, Merv, Nuala, Cain, and Abel, with Goldie perched on Abel's shoulder. More even-more-advance stuff, Harley Quinn Medium is for February, Plastic Man Watch for January, Sandman Dream Hunters Print Set for December, the aforementioned Spider glasses are for April and Supergirl statue for April too. And that, my friends, is your lot. I'm off to bed. Dateline: 12 August 1999 DC's Elseworlds Eighty Page Giant: the last copies? Well, I haven't seen any others around the place of late: Ebay's really dried up. Copies have sold from about $200 to $300. I've acquired a few more and definitely the last bunch I'll be getting. So if you really want a copy put would prefer not to go quite as high as above, mosey on to http://www.geocities.com/soho/lofts/6412/page.html and see the ten copy Dutch Auction. All ten copies will be sold for the 10th lowest maximum bid, currently $55. I'll be ending this at the weekend, so you want to bid, bid now! It's probably the cheapest place anywhere. By Jenkins. Paul Jenkins, on his AOL board in response to the question " I just read over at Ramblings '99 that you're to be the new HULK writer as of issue 12 - is that true?" replies "That would be the same twat who told everyone I was a touring golf professional, right?" That's me, Paul! Although I don't remember saying 'touring' and it was just a rumour from the Marvel Knights offices, of course. Return our e-mails someday, why don't you? Meanwhile Bob Gough at Mania reveals that, yes, there will be a new Hulk writer for issue 12. No names though. ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [6] HAD YOUR PHIL? PHIL WHITE ogre4@earthlink.net [Phil has written and edited numerous comics for AC, including MS. VICTORY and BOLT. He self-published the four part OGRE limited series and has been a contributor to CBG and CBEM. After many years as a Marketing and Advertising manager in Southern California, he recently moved to Northern Nevada where he works as a sales representative for a specialty software firm.] Welcome to Nevada My new hometown of Carson City has one comic shop. Squeezed into its display area, of less than 10 square feet, are models, toys, trading cards, a hodgepodge of childhood memorabilia and three comic racks. The selection is limited to just the top selling titles with heavy leanings toward Image and Chaos comics. (I've seen wider selections from table-top dealers at the Frank and Sons weekly trading card and toy fair in Walnut, California.) Comics on the "New Comics" rack are two weeks old. I asked the teenage sales clerk why this was. He shrugged his shoulders, gestured at the owner and said flatly, "Ask him!" Folks aren't long on words here in the Silver State. I waited patiently for the owner to finish an intense phone conversation about Pokeman toys and WWF action figures. Looking irritated, he finally rang off. I introduce myself and asked about the week's new releases. Without bothering to stand he explained that he had to pull orders for his "pull customers" which was very time consuming. All new comics are stacked up behind the counter, he explained, and this way his "regulars" can ask for titles they are interested in before casual shoppers grab them up. "Why," he asked, "were you looking for something in particular?" I explained that I like to browse through the new releases and sample a few new titles every week. "Well, if you're looking for something in particular I'll go through the stacks back here," he offered, "otherwise, come back next week to see what came out last week!" Guess I'll be using mail order exclusively from now on. Creators Advice Section - "How to only produce six issues in eighteen months." When you solicit issue #1 be sure to promise timely delivery of your new monthly title. When you can't deliver issue #2 on schedule, buy yourself an extra production month by soliciting the first issue over again, this time in black and white, and advertise it as "high art." When you can't deliver issue #3 on schedule, revise your publishing schedule to bi-monthly... and never announce in the solicitation that only the cover and a few interior pages of that issue will be drawn by the original artist. Be prepared to add the words, "Cover from a previous issue." to all your catalog solicitations from this point on. When you can't deliver issue #4 on the revised, bi-monthly schedule, solicit a special poster of the characters by the original artist. When you can't deliver the much delayed issue #5, solicit a special, metallic foil, fan appreciation edition of issue #1. When issue #5 continues to fall further and further behind schedule, it's time to solicit the TPB edition of the "sold out" issues #1 and #2. (So what if these are just two issues out of a six issue story arc!) Be sure to throw in some character sketches the artist was unable to sell at conventions in order to flesh out the page count of the trade paperback. When you still can't get the fill-in artists to complete issue #5, it's time to announce the newly revised, quarterly production schedule that will get you "back on track" and once again guarantee on time delivery from this point on. Be sure to cite the hectic timetable demanded by the Hollywood moguls, toy manufacturers and electronic gamers who have licensed your characters for getting you off track. (But remember, these deals are validation of your true creative and artistic genius.) This is a good time to solicit the "sold out" issues #3 and #4 TPB, which reprints the vital middle of the story arc. When re-soliciting issue #6 it is considered to be in poor taste to advertise the TPB of the "sold out" issues #5 and #6 in the same catalog, since issue #6 hasn't even shipped yet. It is, of course, perfectly appropriate to solicit both the TPB of issues #5 and #6 the following month, along with a listing for the TPB of the entire six issue story. Remember, by publishing the same comic in different formats, you get different profit centers to help support you during those dry months. With proper planning, you'll only have to produce about one panel per day! PW ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [7] Stranger In A Strange Land Jennifer M. Contino Jencomx3 [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!] "Stranger in a Strange Land" I love comic books...and to me COMIC BOOK pro's are what MOVIE STARS are to the rest of the world. Sure, I might think Tom Cruise is HOT, but I think I'd be more excited if I had the chance to talk to Chris Claremont or Marv Wolfman in person than old Tom. AND I get just as tongue tied talking to the pro's as I would talking to a famous singer or actor. BUT the real world just cannot understand this. "YOU LIKE comics? YOU are HOW OLD?" That always amuses me. I grin and smile and say something like, "How long have you been watching you favorite soap opera," then I get an answer in a number of years and I explain that the COMIC BOOKS are one continuous soap opera--Heck on most of the Soap Opera's now the pure sci-fi elements are straight out of a comic book or old forties movie. I try to use the soap opera relation when I am taking about comic books to someone who has never read comics or who has these stereotypes of what comics should be. For three of my friends who had never read comics I lent them these books: STRANGERS IN PARADISE, WITCHBLADE, and THE GOLDEN AGE. (Cause those are three of my favorites and I wanted to illustrate that 'funny books' are not just all fun and games!) ALL three friends came away from the experience a little enlightened and one of them started reading comic books on a regular basis. (And WITCHBLADE and SIP are two of her regular titles! ) The GOLDEN AGE Is one of my favorite mini series of all time. IT was so well done and it just made me waiting-on baited breath ( heh what the heck does that expression mean anyways?) for the next issue! First I love the Golden age characters and the ALL STAR SQUADRON, so when I heard about this series using so many of my favorites--Liberty Belle, Dan the DynaMite, Huntress, Miss America, Robotman, and Johnny Thunder, just to name a few--I couldn't wait to read the story! AND I wasn't disappointed! The current Starman and Hourman series were influenced by this story and A LOT of the stuff that has been touched upon in recent years is a direct result of events in this mini series * THAT IS all I am going to say on the matter of this story! I RECOMMEND IT as highly as I have ever recommended anything and I MUST say that ANY fan of the Golden Age characters will not be disappointed!* The Golden Age...I think that is still my favorite era of comics--NOW IF ONLY I Had the money to purchase all of those great comics instead of just looking at reprints and such. The Silver age was a fun time too...with all the sci fi exploration--but let's face it..*heh* did we really need to see Batman conquer space? IT was cute fun time though. The 50's Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman stories are some of my favorites of all time! But still the Golden Age where it all began has got to be the best! There is a lot of talk lately about the comics of the new millennium and I try not to listen when people say that comics are going to become obsolete. I was talking to Murphy Anderson a few years ago and I asked him when he was first doing comics if people thought the medium would last as long as it did...he told me that people said "Super hero comics will never last..." And that was over 50 years ago. SO I think that we will still have comics around for a long time to come! And the GOLDEN age might still be the best ever..but the next wave: RISING STARS, TITANS, KABUKI, STRANGERS IN PARADISE, and ASTRO CITY are definitely going to be well remembered and lead the way for the NEW AGE! ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [8] And let me tell you why .... David Coulter DneColt@aol.com [David - who declared himself "America's Weirdly Cool Columnist" in a misguided tribute to The Firesign Theatre -- lives with his family in Kansas City and pays the bills as Marketing Director for a computer consulting group. He's heard the old saying that the best comics ever published were the ones that came out when you were ten ... and he's not buying it. He knows there are good comics out there, he can hear them breathing.] [Special thanks right off the bat to "Bastard Tales" creator Richard Marcej, with whom I had an email exchange that wound up becoming a big chunk of this week's column. If you haven't bought the first two issues of the evilly hilarious "Bastard Tales," then your life is just a sad mockery of what it could be. If you want to enlighten yourself, send me an email and I'll put you in touch with Rich] Okay, first off -- it's correction and clarification time. Several readers took me to task for last week's column. The biggest complaint was my "unwarranted trashing of Chris Claremont." I'll get to that one in a minute. The second biggest complaint was the senseless errors I made: like referring to Barry Windsor-Smith's run on "Mutant X." I, of course, MEANT the "Weapon X" series that ran in Marvel Comics Presents, not the recent Howard Mackie/Tom Raney/Cary Nord series. Then there was the stupid mistake -- which I've made twice -- of saying the series has sucked since issue #250. It has in fact sucked, hard, since issue #150. I have made this statement twice, and both times I've written #250. I have no idea why. Maybe because the last few issues of the book I actually read SEEMED like 100 issues. And then there was the incoherent reference to the character "Marrow" being stupid, which one sharp-eyed reader pointed out was stupid, since I'd said in the prior paragraph that the character of Marrow was one who actually had a slight amount of potential. Mea Culpa, I meant to write that "Maggot" was stupid, not "Marrow." Anyway, now that we've got THAT cleared up .... Most readers who wrote in wanted to know "what my problem was" with Chris Claremont. I thought I'd made that clear, but I guess not. Chris Claremont is the single worst thing to happen to the field of comic book writing, ever. His one skill -- his mutant ability -- if you will, seems to be that he can cram more words into a single panel than Stan Lee, who was notorious for his verbosity. The single most common argument I got from Claremont's defenders was, basically, "his work is popular and that speaks for itself." My response to that is: Rob Liefeld's work was popular, but he still sucked. Popularity is no standard for talent. Leaving his work aside for a moment, the thing I find most irritating about Claremont is that he gets a great deal of credit for basically being in the right place at the right time. He didn't create the "all-new, all-different" X-Men as most people think. In fact, I think it was Len Wein who wrote their first appearance in Giant Size X-Men #1 (Wein, incidentally, didn't have much to do with the creation of the group himself. An article in the second or third issue of Comic Book Artist makes it sound like it was a committee decision based on the desire to add more international heroes to the Marvel roster). And it's not even like you can convincingly argue that he "made the franchise what it was today," as one reader claimed. Do you honestly think -- even for one minute -- that if Dave Cockrum and John Byrne & Terry Austin HADN'T been the artists on that book at that crucial early stage that it would have survived? I don't. They were the only reason I bought the book, and the only reason everyone I knew bought the book. No one I knew of said, "hey, did you see that new book that Chris Claremont is writing?" No, they were all saying, "Wow, did you see that new book Byrne is working on?" And even then, there were very few of those. John Byrne wasn't really a big star until about the time he left the book to do the FF. I guarantee if Don Heck or Herb Trimpe had been doing the artwork, the "All-New, All-Different" X-Men wouldn't have made it past #110. Anther thing that irks me about Claremont is that he basically taught an entire generation of writers how NOT to write comics. I had a writing teacher who once told me "learn the rules, and then violate them to great effect." Claremont knew the rules of writing comics -- his run with John Byrne on Marvel Team-up is a text book example of how to write a solid comic book story -- so you can't say he didn't know what he was doing. Now, admittedly, during his run on the X-Men Claremont violated the rules of comic book writing to great effect: He rarely brought stories to a conclusion, rather he kept several threads going at once and jumped between them. He didn't spend a lot of time fleshing out characters, preferring to let their personalities reveal themselves over time. And he let the dialogue carry the story, rather than the visual action -- a downright oddity in a visual medium. And -- for a while -- 15, maybe 20 issues -- his violation of these conventions worked, and worked well. Not only did the X-Men have the unique visual talents of the above-mentioned Cockrum, Byrne & Austin, it had a decidedly odd sense of storytelling and pacing that was dramatically unlike anything else on the stands. But AFTER those 20 issues, it got real old, real fast. After 20 issues, those 3 or 4 story threads he had going had become 12 or 14 story threads, and as hard as it was for the reader to keep track of all the threads, you began to get the sense that even Claremont himself couldn't keep track of the threads. Eventually, the book became impenetrable. After 20 issues, the characters had grown irritating because, had he continued to follow the natural arc he'd established in the early issues, the characters would have been pretty much fleshed out. But in order to keep them "mysterious" he was having to actively work hard to keep their backgrounds murky by throwing in misinformation and "everything-you-know-about-X-is-wrong!" stories. Characters were routinely stripped of their powers and put through the wringer for no reason other than it kept the characters "fresh," which is stupid. After 20 issues, the lack of visual storytelling also got old. For a while, it's okay to carry a story on dialogue, but this is a visual medium and issues after issue of talking heads gets old. I'm not talking about having endless fight scenes, I'm talking about visual storytelling. If you have two characters in a room talking about how much they love each other (which happens constantly in X-Men), the reader is going to get a much stronger sense of that affect if that conversation takes place while the characters are embracing. If those characters are just sitting in chairs on opposite sides of the room talking about how much they love each other, it loses some of it's impact. As I said, once in a while, doing a scene like that where the characters sit in chairs is unusual and interesting -- but after 20 issues it ceases to be interesting and becomes merely annoying. The real tragedy is that a lot of writers today look at Claremont's success and think, "hey, it worked for him." Look at almost every book ever produced by Image, for example. Using this reasoning is like saying "Hey, all Jackson Pollack did was throw paint at a canvas, and he's famous! I can do that do, so I should be famous." Sad to say, it doesn't work that way. The key difference is -- whether or not you think what Pollack did was art -- it was different and unusual and broke all the rules and, most importantly, he thought of it first. Anyone else who tried it just looks like a dummy. So now, because of Chris Claremont, we have a bunch of writers running around saying, "hey I don't need a plot -- or even a point -- to this story. And this character doesn't actually need to have character, he has a big gun and that's enough." All I have to say is, thank god for Alan Moore and Kurt Busiek -- writers who really know how to write. There may yet be hope for the future. (And just as an aside to anyone who's still here and who thinks I'm trashing Claremont out of "jealousy," trust me, I'm not. I just think he's bad at what he does and I'm continually baffled as to how he's become so popular. I am, however, jealous of Alan Moore and Kurt Busiek. I would give my right arm to be able to write half as well as those two). Comments? Criticisms? Flames? E-mail them to DneColt@aol.com ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [9] SOME PAGES, A COVER, AND A FEW STAPLES Marlan Harris mar93@aol.com [Marlan Harris lives and works in Burbank, CA.] TELLOS (Image), BATTLE-CHASERS (DC/Wildstorm/Cliffhanger) TELLOS is a better comic than you might think. Not great, but good. Wieringo's art seems more comfortable in this fantasy setting and every bit as dynamic as his super-hero work. Even Todd DeZago turns in a serviceable story. A much, much better effort in a fantasy setting than BATTLE-CHASERS, which can't pick a genre to stick to so it rapes as many as it can. #6 of that series is ridiculously bad (only #6? Didn't #1 come out 2 years ago?) The main story is as crappy as it usually is – all 12 pages of it. You can take the shortened story two ways – one, you're cheated, especially if you're buying the comic for Joe Madiuera's work (though I can't imagine why you would), or on the other hand you only have to suffer through 12 pages. Though credit Madiuera for getting Adam Warren, a real talent, to do the back-up story – even if Warren's name was left off the cover. Warren's story is only 11 pages but it's the best – by far – storytelling that BATTLE CHASERS has ever seen and I will guess will ever see (unless, of course, Warren comes back to do more stories). Warren's work is worth looking at even when it's hack work. To sum up, is BATTLE CHASERS worth paying money for? Not by a long shot. Makes you wonder why DC, known for their artistic integrity, would want to buy Wildstorm in the first place. Oh, wait – Wildstorm has Alan Moore, don't they? BATMAN & SUPERMAN: WORLD'S FINEST (DC) Karl Kesel is a good writer and Dave Taylor is a good artist but they just can't make this series ignite. Superman and Batman meet once a year, beginning with their first meeting (though I don't know where that leaves MAN OF STEEL #3) to mark the anniversary of a man who died during their first meeting because they couldn't work with each other. It's a premise too flimsy to support the strength of the begrudging working relationship and mutual respect, if not friendship, which has been such a cornerstone with these two characters, especially recently with both characters in JLA and KINGDOM COME, though both of those series had writers that could utilize the dynamic between the personalities of these two characters. Karl Kesel just doesn't know the two characters, Batman especially, well enough to bring out the tension between the two. They meet year after year though both characters don't change enough to signify the passing of time. Karl Kesel just can't write biting dialogue like Waid and Morrison (respective writers of the series listed above) and Dave Taylor is simply a much better Batman artist than he is a Superman artist, doubly a shame since Kesel's slants the story in Superman's favor. In all, it's a fairly good super-hero story, even better since each issue can mostly be read on its own, but as a Batman and Superman story, it's just flat. FANBOY (DC) Remember when comics were fun? Yeah, so do I, but it's rare that a comics series comes along that's fun, and funny, and not in spite of itself. The marketing hook for FANBOY is that every issue is pencilled not only by Sergio Aragones, one of the most talented and reliable cartoonists in comics and comic strips, but also by a half dozen artists whose work you don't see as often as you would like, for whatever reason. The 6 issues include work by Gil Kane, Dick Sprang, Mike Grell, Steve Rude, Russ Heath, Dave Gibbons, even Neal Adams and Frank Miller doing a few pages of Batman (in #5, the best issue of the bunch). Of course, you've read PREVIEWS, you already know this. But the artists' work isn't just a ploy, it serves the story as well. The story is a trip inside the mind of, well, a fanboy comic collector, and if you can't relate to the story, you probably got into comics too late in your life. No, the series isn't earth-shattering and WIZARD isn't gonna give it any coverage, but it's a damn solid, really good book. Mark Evanier and Aragones are quietly probably the best artist/writer team in comics today. Anything they produce is worth looking at, and FANBOY is no exception. mar93@aol.com Http://members.aol.com/mar93/BoneMachine.html ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [10] 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. ] The last of Alan Moore's ABC comics hit the stands last week. TOMORROW COMICS is that rarest of birds, the anthology comic. In fact, its something even rarer than that, a good anthology comic. The first issue of TOMORROW COMICS was actually good. Of all the ABC line this was actually the one I had the lowest expectations for, but it's second only to TOM STRONG in my mind. Of the four stories I think I enjoyed "Jack B. Quick" the most. It was so much fun! Wonderful but preposterous Silver Age science. An amusing matter-of-fact attitude by all the characters as Jack unleashes a miniature universe in a small town. Witty dialogue. Lovely art by Kevin Nowlan. And a pleasantly silly end. What more can you ask of an eight pager? Killer line: "Jonathon Beauregarde Quick! You better not be usurping the Almighty's divine option again!" "Greyshirt" was the best "Spirit" story I've read in years. It had all those nice Spirit details: the typeface lettering, the name in the water, the twist ending, the almost total absence of the title character. And Rick Veitch does some great work on the art here. It has an almost viscous, three dimensional quality. Still very Veitch, with the love of gore, but somehow different. I've gotten into Veitch's artwork more and more in recent years, and this story makes me want to hunt it all down. Killer line: "You see? Brutalized and rejected by normal society! I'm a classic disturbed loner!" I wasn't quite so impressed by "First American" though. It had its moments, but if I never see another Jerry Springer parody (or Jerry Springer for that matter) again, it'll be too soon. And while Jim Baikie tried to capture the anarchic art of EC-era MAD, he didn't quite make it (although I liked the bit where U.S. Angel loses a couple of teeth). It just wasn't wacky and madcap enough for me. Close but no cigar there. Killer line: "They're erupting like popcorn, but without the dress sense or intellectual prowess". And what can I say about "The Cobweb"? This one didn't do much for me. The "Doll-o-Vision" pages were almost unreadable, and the story seemed very thin. It just didn't seem to go anywhere. It was as if the art was supposed to carry the story, but it just wasn't interesting enough to do it. Killer line: "There, how do you like the old injury to the eye motif?" All in all a pretty good read. I remember in the late eighties wishing that Alan Moore would write more fun stuff, like he used to do at 2000AD. I still have fond memories of his magnificent DR & QUINCH stories, done with the great Alan Davis. My only complaint with the ABC line is that it seems to already be chronically behind schedule. I don't think any of the books have managed to ship a second issue on time, let alone a third (shouldn't LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMAN be finished by now?). This could well be the Wildstorm sickness taking over, or it could be that Moore has over reached himself by writing so many books, but in either case its not terribly impressive. Still, as long as we don't start hitting Martin Wagner levels of lateness, it'll be OK. David Groenewegen davidhar@lib.monash.edu.au ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [11] Multiverse Observer and Explorer Reviews Paul Dale Roberts silhouet9@aol.com [Paul promotes amateur and professional comic book artwork, scripts, storylines, and unpublished comic books with a newsletter called the Peoples' Comic Book Newsletter. Its website is at Jazma Comic Book Newsletter Productions at http://www.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.] Name: Matt Wagner's Grendel: Devil Child Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Written by: Diana Schutz Drawn by: Tim Sale Price: $2.95 Comments: After reading Matt Wagner's Grendel: Devil Child, I was quite numb from the shock. After witnessing the graphic scene of Stacy Palumbo delivering a baby, her nightmarish delusions, the rape that she endured, I was left gasping with horror. Stacy had a horrible life and the best thing for her was to depart this Earth. In Stacy's mind, was the thought on how she abandoned her baby after child birth. Then the way she role-played, in how it would be like to meet her grown daughter in real life. In one scenario she plays out, the meeting is negative. The second scenario is positive. Both scenarios did not play out, in the way she envisioned them. The real meeting was tragic, to say the least. Stacy's loneliness and her past sexual abuse have destroyed her life. Grendel's daughter: May she rest in peace. Powerful drama that hit a chord! Mayhem, rape, murder, all the things that we read about in our local newspapers. Everything that Stacy is a part of. Tim Sale's dark and moody artwork went well with this story. I must admit, I couldn't put this comic book down, I felt like a voyeur in Stacy Palumbo's life. I tried to pry myself from looking, but found myself observing this story as it played out, with maddening curiosity. Now, I need to switch gears and watch a movie that won't shock my system. Hmmm...now where did I put that Walt Disney Winnie the Pooh video? Name: Birds of Prey #10 Publisher: DC Comics Written by: Chuck Dixon Drawn by: Greg Land/pencils Drew Geraci/inks Price: $1.99 Comments: Guy Gardner breaks out from his confinement...well, it's not really Guy Gardner, but a clone of Guy Gardner. A clone named Joe. Joe tells his tale to Canary, about being auctioned off by the Quorum and being confined in a glass tubing all this time. Plenty of action in this story and you will find fighter planes over Koroscovan air space, the Iron Brigade making like GI Joe. Comical scene transpires as the Koroscovan ambassador tells the President of the United States about the situation and when the President can't find an answer, he contacts Hillary. Oracle is the harbinger of bad news as she reports to Canary that they have been snookered and now they have a world class mad scientist on their hands and a WAR has been started! Joe smacks a lip lock on Canary before taking on some MIGs in the air and Canary complains to Oracle that she has been kissed by a clone. More to come as Birds of Prey gets heavy into the mix, as this series continues! M.O.E. Sidenote: New at A1 Comics are the following comic books: Kia Asamiya's Steam Detectives, Congo Bill by Vertigo, Sam & Twitch by Image, Dark Shrine #1 Antarctic Press, Dork Tower #5 by Corsair Publishing, Astro Thrill by Cheeky Press, The Blair Witch Project by Oni Press, Don McGregor's Detectives, Inc., Evil Eye #4 by Fantagraphics, Forty Winks, I Feel Sick by Slave Labor Graphics, Frank Cho's Liberty Meadows, Measles, Steve Ditko's 80 Page Package, Yeah #1 by DC Comics, Bathroom Girls #1, Tales from the Edge, Combat Metal Haemosu and a whole lot more! For more information about any of these comic books, please email Brian Peets, owner of A1 Comics at: A1Comics@quiknet.com Multiverse Observer and Explorer closing out until next time.... September 1, 1999, I will be moving to the new location, shown below: Paul Dale Roberts 5606 Moonlight Way Elk Grove, CA 95758 If anyone is mailing me any comic books for overviews, please send them to my new address after September 1st. I'm not sure when I will be shutting down my computer and getting it restarted at the new place. For awhile, I think things will be somewhat chaotic. But, be on the alert that sometime before Sept. 1 and after Sept. 1, I may be off-line, in case someone is trying to reach me, or just wondering where my overviews are. The good news is that I heard that Peter Parker has a summer home in the Elk Grove area where I'm moving, so maybe I'll bump into Peter in some grocery store line or something. Best, Paul Dale Roberts, Publisher Jazma Universe Online! http://www.jazmaonline.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [12] New Comic Book Releases List [NCRL] by Charles LePage ncrl@mediaone.net +++WINNER OF THE 1996 REC.ARTS.COMICS.* "SQUIDDY" FOR BEST WEB SITE+++ http://www.jacksonville.net/~ncrl New Comic Book Releases List for Wednesday, 8/18/1999, compiled by Charles LePage with information from Suncoast Comics. This is the *preliminary* list and is not complete. The completed list is posted weekly, usually Monday evening, at rec.arts.comics.info, http://www.jacksonville.net/~ncrl, and Compuserve's Comics Publishers Forum. "TPB" = "trade paperback". "GN" = "graphic novel". "AA" = "available again". "SC" = "softcover". "HC" = "hardcover". "S/N" = "signed/numbered". "AR" = "ask retailer about price". PUBLISHER TITLE, ISSUE NUMBER, PRICE IN U.S. DOLLARS AMAZE INK (SLAVE LABOR GRAPHICS) Action Girl Comics #18, 2.95 Dork #7, 2.95 ARCANE COMICS Prophecy Of The Soul Sorcerer #3 (Of 4), 2.95 ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS Archie Double Digest #111, 2.99 Betty & Veronica #141, 1.79 Jughead With Archie Digest #152, 1.99 Sonic The Hedgehog #76, 1.79 BLACK BEAR PRESS Toon Magazine #19, 5.95 BONGO COMICS Simpsons Comics #44, 2.50 CHAOS! COMICS Purgatori Goddess Rising #3 (Of 4), 2.95 Undertaker #6 Reg Ed, 2.95 Undertaker #6 Photo Cvr Ed, 2.95 Undertaker Prophecy Of Dead TPB, 12.95 CLAYPOOL COMICS Elvira #76, 2.50 Soulsearchers #37, 2.50 CPM MANGA Dark Angel #3, 2.95 Geobreeders #6, 2.95 Lodoss War Lady Of Pharis #5, 2.95 Martian Successor Nadesico #1, 2.95 CRUCIAL COMICS Rat Bastard #6 (resolicited), 1.95 DARK HORSE COMICS Bob Burdens Original Mysterymen #2, 2.95 Buffy The Vampire Slayer #12, 2.95 Buffy The Vampire Slayer Newsstand Photo Ed #12, 2.95 Gunsmith Cats Bean Bandit #8 (Of 9), 2.95 DC COMICS Animaniacs Featuring Pinky And The Brain #53, 1.99 Aquaman #60, 1.99 Batman #570, 1.99 Batman 80 Page Giant #2, 4.95 Batman Fortunate Son HC, 24.95 Books Of Faerie Mollys Story #2 (Of 4), 2.50 Cartoon Network Starring #2, 1.99 Dreaming #41, 2.50 Flash & Green Lantern The Brave & The Bold #1 (Of 6), 2.50 Gen 13 #44, 2.50 Giantkiller #3 (Of 6), 2.50 JSA #3, 2.50 LAW (Living Assault Weapons) #2 (Of 6), 2.50 Legion Of Super Heroes The Beginning Of Tomorrow TPB, 17.95 Promethea #3, 2.95 Sci Tech #2 (Of 4), 2.50 Speed Racer #1 (Of 3), 2.50 Superboy #67, 1.99 Superman The Man Of Steel #93, 1.99 Titans #8, 2.50 Wildcats Trilogy Collection, 7.95 DRAWN & QUARTERLY Berlin #6, 2.95 FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS Acme Novelty Library #13, 10.95 Nimrod #3, 2.95 Weasel #1, 4.95 Zero Zero #26, 4.95 FIREMAN PRESS Gear TPB, 14.95 IMAGE COMICS Adrenalynn #1, 2.50 Age Of Heroes Special #2, 6.95 Cosmic Ray #2, 2.95 Crow #7, 2.50 Darkness #25, 3.99 Derring Risk #1, 2.50 Intrigue #1, 2.50 Jade Warriors #1, 2.50 Journeyman #1, 2.95 Kabuki Agents Scarab #1, 2.95 Kosmic Kat Activity Book, 2.95 Lady Pendragon Dragon Blade #4, 2.50 Little Red Hot Foolish Collection TPB, 12.95 Mage The Hero Defined #14, 2.50 More Than Mortal Otherworlds #2, 2.95 Neon Cyber #2, 2.50 Savage Dragon #65, 2.50 Savage Dragon Revenge TPB, 13.95 Spawn Annual Poster, 5.95 Spawn The Dark Ages #6, 2.50 Tooth And Claw #1, 2.95 INSIGHT STUDIOS GROUP Liberty Meadows #1, 2.95 MARVEL COMICS Black Panther #10, 2.50 Captain America #22, 1.99 Deathlok Cover A #2, 1.99 Deathlok Cover B #2, 1.99 Fantastic Five #1, 1.99 Galactus The Devourer #2 (Of 6), 2.50 Hulk #7, 1.99 Hulk 1999, 3.50 Peter Parker Spider-Man #10, 1.99 Thunderbolts #31, 1.99 X-Man #56, 1.99 X-Men #93, 1.99 Q COMICS INC Varick Chronicles Of The Dark Prince #2, 1.95 VIZ COMMUNICATIONS Animerica Extra Vol 2 #9, 4.95 Black & White #1 (Of 5), 3.25 Dragonball Z Part 2 #9 (Of 14), 2.95 Fushigi Yugi Vol 1 Priestess GN, 15.95 Maison Ikkoku Part 9 #5 (Of 10), 3.25 magazines Comic Shop News #635, AR NCRL for the foreseeable future... TITLE OLD RELEASE DATE NEW DATE DC COMICS Battle Chasers T-Shirt LG 03/03 TBA Battle Chasers T-Shirt XL 03/03 TBA Danger Girl Door Poster 03/10 TBA Darkchylde: The Legacy #4 08/04 TBA Divine Intervention: Gen13 08/25 09/29 Divine Intervention: Wildcats 08/04 09/15 Divine Right #11 07/14 09/01 Dreams Of The Darkchylde #0 06/16 TBA Elseworlds 80-Page Giant #1 06/30 TBA Golden Age Flash Archives Vol. 1 08/25 09/8 Hellblazer #141 07/21 08/25 Planetary #5 06/23 07/28 Planetary #6 07/28 09/22 Preacher: Salvation TPB 08/18 08/25 Pulp Fiction Library: Myst. In Space TPB 08/04 08/25 Sandman: Brief Lives HC New Ptg 07/07 07/21 Speed Racer #2 09/08 09/22 Superman: Whatever Happened To... New Ptg 07/07 07/21 The League Of Ext. Gentlemen #4 07/28 09/01 Tom Strong #4 07/21 08/25 Tom Strong #5 08/25 09/22 *Please Note: These dates are tentative. ______________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [13] HYPE! Section Various Win an Original Todd McFarlane Artwork Piece, Plus See the Latest movie Maniacs, Ozzy, Danger Girl, Yellow Submarine Collectible Figures from Todd McFarlane Productions on Display at Comicon International,August 12-15 TEMPE, Ariz., Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- A must-see for all fans of Spawn, KISS Psycho Circus and the rest of the latest comic books and action figures from Todd McFarlane Productions, it's the TMP Booth at San Diego's Comicon International, August 12-15 at San Diego Convention Center, booth 743. Fans will get a rare look at "two-up" sculptures, which are twice the size as final production, and prototypes of all recently released and upcoming action figures: Dawn, Ozzy, Daniel Llanso of Curse of the Spawn II, Series 14 - The Dark Ages, Series 15 - Techno Spawn, Danger Girl, Movie Maniacs II, Beatles Yellow Submarine, and Sleepy Hollow. Plus, one lucky fan could win an original piece of Todd's artwork in a raffle on Saturday afternoon. On Friday, August 13, 1:30 - 3 p.m., meet McFarlane Design's own Steve Hamady. He will provide an unprecedented inside look at sculpting, molding and the design process for the award-winning, industry-leading McFarlane Toys. On Saturday, August 14 at 12:30 - 2 p.m., meet senior McFarlane staff -- Beau Smith from TMP, Steve Hamady from MMcFarlane Design, and Chet Jacques from McFarlane Toy's Collectors Club, discussing the companies' directions and goals. Also, many talented McFarlane artists will be available for discussion and autographs, including Ashley Wood -- artist and cover artist for Spawn: Blood and Shadows, and cover artist for several TMP publications; Angel Medina -- Sam & Twitch and KISS Psycho Circus penciler; Brian Holguin -- Kiss Psycho Circus, Spawn, and Spawn The Dark Ages writer; Brian Bendis -- Sam & Twitch writer; Danny Miki -- Spawn inker; and Dwayne Turner -- Spawn the Undead penciler. Immediately following each of these panel discussions, TMP will hold a raffle for autographed McFarlane items and McFarlane Toys Collector's Club items. Items include Todd The Artists figures, lifetime Gold memberships to the Collector's Club, hockey jerseys, and more. Additionally, McFarlane fans can purchase a new TMP collectible -- a special edition, numbered laminated cards, similar to a concert backstage pass at the event. The Collector's Club will be selling Count Cogliostro collectible figures and the new plexi-glass display cases. For more information about the event