Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
All sorts of goodness in today's AICN Comics column by Andrew from Gray Haven Magazine.com, and rather than give it all away in the preface, I'm going to shut up and hand things over straightaway. Andrew?
6 Comics: 19 Cents
by Andrew Goletz
In a time when the average comic is about $2.50, nine and ten cent comic books seem to be nothing more than a myth perpetuated by our parents when they talk about the good old days. No longer.
Two big budget friendly comic events today: Batman: The 10 Cent Adventure hit shops and Joe Quesada and Bill Jemas confirmed what people didn't seem to believe a couple weeks back (when they first announced it): Fantastic Four #60 (hitting stores the first week of September) will be only 9 cents.
I expect the message boards to be full of negative comments about this. Why? It's a way of life in this faceless cyber world, where people throw their criticisms around while hiding behind screen names like Spazzhead1 and the like. No one is content to just appreciate the fact that great comics are being made available easily and dirt cheap to fans. No, they'll find something to complain about. Just watch. It's sort of entertaining to see how far some will reach to make their criticism, but there are certain individuals out there who've made this into an art form. So after you're done slamming DC because TTCA leads into a bigger storyline, or Marvel for just copying DC, or one of the other publishers about their free comic day selection, take a moment. Just take a moment and think about what's going on here. It's damn exciting.
To bring you up to speed:
Batman: The 10 Cent Adventure is written by crime novelist (Critical Space, Finder, Keeper) and comic writer (Detective Comics, Queen and Country), Greg Rucka and illustrated by Rick Burchett and Klaus Janson. It works on its own as a great self contained story, but also functions as the lead in to the big DC Batman event this year: Bruce Wayne: Murderer and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive. It is, as you may have guessed, ten cents. Published by DC Comics
Fantastic Four #60 is written by Mark Waid (returning to Marvel after a great run on JLA and the book I can't praise enough, Ruse) and illustrated by Mike Wieringo (Tellos, Adventures of Superman). It's the first issue under the new creative team and it's a self-contained story. The issue is set to come out in early September. It's cost to you? Nine cents. Published by Marvel Comics.
Free Comic Day is an industry wide effort meant to bring in new customers. It's set for May 4th, the day after the Spider-Man film premieres, and four of the biggest Comic Book publishers have already announced which issues they will be giving away. Dark Horse is offering a 16 page, Star Wars: Episode II story. DC is reprinting the first issue of Justice League Adventures, the comic based on their hit animated series. Image is reprinting a Tomb Raider story (either her origin or team up with Witchblade). Marvel is reprinting the first issue of Ultimate Spider-Man #1. Cost to you? Nothing.
That's an opportunity for you or your friend or neighbor or co-worker to get a hold of 6 comic books for less than a quarter. This isn't even including Marvel's plans to possibly give away as many as 5 million Spider-Man comics to theater goes in conjunction with the film. Or other publishers who may participate in Free Comic Day. Or other titles that may get thrown into the 'dime and under' rage.
The industry enjoyed growth for the first time in nearly a decade last year. Comic geeks have their dream come true with the JLA/Avengers Mini-Series and Neil Gaiman working on a Marvel Mini-Series in 2002. The quality of books from the big two rose tremendously and indy publishers like Fantagraphics and Oni Press keep steamrolling along without offering a bad book in the bunch.
Mainstream audiences are more aware than ever about comic book characters. You have hit television shows like Smallville and the Justice League Adventures with comic book tie ins. Witchblade continues to do well in the ratings. Blade 2 hits screens this Spring, along with a new Blade ongoing series from Marvel's MAX Comics. And in the Summer…the 2 biggest films of the year: Star Wars: Episode II and Spider-Man, with comic book tie-ins galore.
And that brings us back to the point of this article. I'm tempted, really tempted to get cheesy and say, 'ask not what the comics industry can do for you, but ask what you can do for the comics industry', but I won't do that. You know what you have to do. Without fail, there are always a few people asking what the Comic Industry is doing to bring in new readers. Well here it is, and that's only the tip of the iceberg. But now it's up to you to share the information.
Each week we bring you Comic News, Interviews with Creators and Reviews of what we think are the best comics of the week. We're going to continue to do that and try to open your eyes to books you never thought you'd enjoy or maybe books you've never even heard of. People ask what the comic industry is doing to help. Today, Batman: The 10 Cent Adventure came out. In the summer, it's Free Comic Day. In the fall, it's the 9-cent Fantastic Four book. These are all wonderful opportunities to get books into the hands of new readers, cheaply.
If you're a comic book fan, go to your store, buy 10 bucks worth of the Batman books and give them out to neighbors, or schools or your local library. I left a stack of them by my apartment today with the comic locator number, and they were gone within hours. I'm going to do the same again tomorrow. And again in May and September.
If you're not a fan, find a comic book shop, go in and take a look around. Use our reviews as a guide. If you don't like me, go to The Fourth Rail or Newsarama or Wizard or Comic Book Resources or Pop Image or Comic Book Galaxy or Silver Bullet Comics or the new and (shameless plug) improved GrayHaven Magazine for advice.
Better yet, go straight to the source and check out the homepages of the publishers:
The important thing is to be open-minded. Forget about what you think you know or what you hear second hand from others. Go check things out for yourself and see what's available. You're going to be surprised at the amazing quality and diversity of titles on the shelves.
2002 is going to be a great year for comic fans.
Don't ask me to explain: I can't. But the other AICN Column posted today, the review round-up, wouldn't let me post part of the story, no matter what. It just... wouldn't. So here's the reviews that got cut from that column. Sorry, Andrew, for screwing up the format. I don't get it.
Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #11
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Chynna Clugston-Major
Published by Marvel Comics
Reviewed by Cormorant
He's the best there is at what he does, and what he does is write about characters yammering at each other for twenty-two pages. That's Brian Bendis for ya, and if you like his chatty style, you'll probably enjoy the latest Ultimate Marvel Team-Up just as much as I did. If not.well, 99% of the other superhero books have predictable slug-fests going on in 'em, so you can probably find what you're looking for there.
Bendis' latest gab-fest, amusingly titled "Peter Parker's Day Off", has ol' Petey reluctantly ditching class on Senior Skip Day to hang out with some of his classmates - Mary Jane, Liz Allen, Gwen Stacy, and the series' increasingly popular loudmouth, Kong. Where to go? Times Square? The Metropolitan? The Baxter Building? All possibilities, but in the end, like dumb kids everywhere.they hit the mall.
"We suck," notes Mary Jane.
Bendis could probably have fun with the mall hook alone - and he does for a few pages - but the story really gets going when the X-Men hit the mall, dressed casual and just enjoying a day off. Peter recognizes Wolverine from the group, having met him in the first issue of Ultimate Team-Up, and Wolverine, though he never saw Spider-Man unmasked, knows Peter by his scent. Peter tries to duck away the instant he spots the X-Men, but Wolverine decides to mess with his head a little and introduces himself as Peter's cousin. Need I say that comedy ensues? Kong's hilarious attempt to buddy up to Wolverine is worth the price of admission alone.
It's not all wackiness, though. The X-Men may be dressed like normal teenagers, but Cyclops is still wearing his visor, and the conversation takes a turn for the serious when Liz Allen asks, out of the blue, "Are you guys mutants?". There's a beat where everyone freezes up, and I must admit, even I was surprised when Cyclops calmly tells her, "Yes." It's a shocker, but the moment feels surprisingly honest. These kids can protect their secret from Sentinels, evil mutants, and the world at large, but there's something about being with other teens that just causes them to open up. That's some sharp writing. What follows may not be the deepest of conversations, but it's an astute mixture of humor and seriousness that sounds damn close to how real kids talk. Bendis knows how to play to his strengths.
The artist of the issue is Chynna Clugston-Major, and she continues a new Marvel tradition that I am absolutely loving - the hiring of talented indy creators who break away from the conventions of the superhero genre and simultaneously spice it up. Clugston-Major writes and draws the witty teen humor comic, Blue Monday, for Oni Press, and so she's an inspired choice for the all-teen issue of Ultimate Team-Up. Her semi-manga style sports appealing character designs, lots of visual humor, and a good bit of subtlety among the facial expressions. Her cover for the issue, featuring Jean Grey leaning on a t-shirted, blue-jean-wearing Spider-Man, is definitely among my favorite covers of the year. It's stark, it's eye-catching, and it's fun. She also remembers to make Cyclops skinny, something that most artists forget in favor of the generic superhero build. Bonus points.
If I have one complaint about the issue, it's that in the end, it does feel rather lightweight. Sure, having Peter Parker learn the secret identities of the X-Men is actually a pretty big revelation, but there's almost no depth to the issue at all. Hmm, and yet it was still probably my favorite read of the week. Go figure. And go buy the issue while you're at it.
Overall: 8 out of 10
Overall: 10 out of 10
Ultimate X-Men #13 Written by Chuck Austen and illustrated by Essad Rabic Published by Marvel Comics Reviewed by Cormorant
I try to make it a policy to avoid all X-titles dealing with the character Gambit. Maybe it's the cheesy Cajun accent that Chris Claremont cursed him with, maybe it's the fact that his on-again-off-again relationship with Rogue seemed to drag on forever, or maybe it has something to do with him being such an obvious bid to create a roguish "bad boy" type for the team. I don't even really consider him to be a member of the X-Men. Like Cable, Bishop, Jubilee, and just about any late-80's or 90's addition to the team, he's a character I mentally excise from the X-Men's history.
So what I wanna know is, what kind of backwoods bayou voodoo is going on that actually led me to enjoy Ultimate X-Men #13, which focuses *exclusively* on this mutant reject? Credit must go to writer Chuck Austen, who's filling in for Mark Millar for two issues as he and the regular cast of the series take a break. Austen's not a creator I typically expect much from. His computer generated art on U.S. War Machine and Elektra really fell flat for me, and I wasn't impressed with his writing on U.S. War Machine either. Based on his work here, though, maybe the guy deserves a second chance.
The premise of the issue is fairly straightforward, and has absolutely zero to do with anything that's occurred in Ultimate X-Men thus far: a young girl witnesses her mother's death at the hands of a super-powered mobster (the old Spider-Man villain Hammerhead, though he's never named), and upon fleeing the scene she bumps into Gambit on the streets of New York. I don't know much about the mainstream incarnation of Gambit, but in the Ultimate universe, he's a street hustler, earning money with sleight-of-hand card tricks and doing his best to charm women into taking him home for the evening. Sounds kinda sleazy, but in fact, Austen casts Gambit as a roguish white knight in the tradition of Han Solo or Madmartigan from Willow - the classic self-centered exterior with the noble heart beating underneath. One could criticize Austen for breaking the established, often morally ambiguous tone of the book, but I have to admit I found it refreshing to see a "nice guy" hero. Millar has a tendency to alienate me with some of the grit and nastiness he's infused the series with, and in light of that, the paternalistic instinct that leads Gambit to help the girl struck me as endearingly "old school."
How's the Cajun's accent, you ask? Pretty good to my untrained ear. It sounds more authentic than Claremont's catch-phrase-laden dialects ever have, and Austen manages the neat trick of making Gambit's patter fairly engaging. That's important, because the issue is more character-driven than plot-driven, in the tradition of Brian Bendis or Kevin Smith. Occasionally the dialogue does veer toward the melodramatic, but more often than not, I was enjoying it.
The art, by Essad Ribic, deserves special mention. Ribic's a new talent to me, but his work here reminds me more than a little of Alan Davis for its fluidity and attention to detail on characters. He's got Gambit wearing casual street clothes rather than the flashy costume and trench coat look of his mainstream incarnation, but the down-to-earth look seems to work. Gambit's still got the signature black eyes with red pupils, and unless I miss my guess, female readers will still find him to be. . .er. . .hunky.
I'd wager that regular fans of Ultimate X-Men won't care much for this lightweight break from the title's heavy-hitting action, but the story deserves a chance. It's a little too slight for me to recommend it enthusiastically, but it does come recommended.
Overall: 7 out of 10
Young Justice #41
Written by Peter David and illustrated by Todd Nauck and Lary Stucker
Published by DC Comics
Reviewed by Aaron "Vroom Socko" Button
Young Justice is one of my guilty pleasures. The book is one big wedge of cheese, but I can't help but enjoy it. This issue starts out with a repossessed car. No, it has nothing to do with either Emilio Estevez or Harry Dean Stanton, but rather a car that has now twice been possessed by a ghost. Silly, ain't it? And yet, I can't help but dig it.
Yes, Slo-Bo is stupid. A young, scrawny version of Lobo? Okaaaayyy. However, the other two characters that originated in this title, Empress and Secret, are personal favorites of mine. Especially Secret. Her interaction this issue with new addition Snapper Carr is exactly what I read this book for.
Peter David is just having fun with this book. It isn't meant to be anything but silly fun, and it doesn't try to be anything else. In most comics, approaching a potential new teammate takes up an entire issue. Here, it takes two panels; Superboy: Want to join YJ? The Ray: Uh.. Okay.
The AmeriManga style art of Nauck and Stucker isn't the sort of thing that'd work on any title, but it works here. These guys know not to take themselves seriously. I probably wouldn't want to see them on a Batbook, but they fit here.
There are times that this book does get TOO silly. The appearance of something calling itself Kragorr of the Igneous People was rather stupid. I mean really stupid. But that's only one page. This is a lightweight book, but it knows it. It doesn't try to be anything but a lightweight book, and it's a fun lightweight read.
Overall: 8.5/10
Can't find a comic store in your area?
Call the Comic Shop Locator Service: 888-266-4226
