Here's what is coming this week -- and note, I WAS WRONG two weeks ago... comics ARE on WEDNESDAY this week...

Of SUPER-SPECIAL note is CTHULHU TALES #10, featuring the scripting debut of the sensational comics find of 2009: Mister JEFF LESTER. Buy a copy, and let Boom! know that they (and every other publisher!) should hire him immediately!! If your local store doesn't HAVE a copy in stock, tell them to order one using OCT083937.

2000 AD #1615
2000 AD #1616
A G SUPER EROTIC ANTHOLOGY #96 (A)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #582
ANNA MERCURY #5 (OF 5) PAINTED CVR
AUTHORITY #6
BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #167
BLACK LIGHTNING YEAR ONE #1 (OF 6)
BLUE MONDAY THIEVES LIKE US #1 (OF 5)
BOMB QUEEN V #5 (OF 6)
BOYS #26
BROKEN TRINITY ANGELUS (ONE SHOT) STELFREEZE CVR A
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #21 CHEN CVR
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #21 JEANTY CVR
CABLE #10
CRIMSON GASH MEETS SATAN #1 (A)
CTHULHU TALES #10 CVR A
DEAD OF NIGHT FEATURING WEREWOLF BY NIGHT #1 (OF 4)
DETECTIVE COMICS #852 (FOE)
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #11
EL DIABLO #5 (OF 6)
ETERNALS #7
FACES OF EVIL GRUNDY #1 (FOE)
FULL CIRKLE II #2 (OF 3) (RES)
GRAVEL #7
HAUNTED TANK #2 (OF 5)
HELLBOY WILD HUNT #2 (OF 8)
HEXED #1 (OF 4) CVR A
HOUSE OF MYSTERY #9
HSU AND CHAN #8
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #9 DKR
JONAH HEX #39
KULL #3 (OF 6)
LAST REIGN KINGS OF WAR #2 (OF 5) CVR A
LOONEY TUNES #170
MARVEL SPOTLIGHT DARK REIGN DKR
MARVEL SUPER HERO SQUAD HERO UP
MARVEL ZOMBIES 3 #4 (OF 4)
MERCY SPARX #2 (OF 3) MERHOFF CVR A
NO HERO #3 (OF 7)
NYX NO WAY HOME #5 (OF 6)
OFFICIAL INDEX TO MARVEL UNIVERSE #1
PUNISHER #1 DKR
SANDMAN DREAM HUNTERS #3 (OF 4)
SECRET INVASION WAR OF KINGS ONE SHOT
SECRET SIX #5 (FOE)
SGT ROCK THE LOST BATTALION #3 (OF 6)
SHRAPNEL #1 (OF 5) A CVR LANGLEY
SPIDER-MAN FEAR ITSELF #1
SUB-MARINER DEPTHS #4 (OF 5)
SUPERGIRL COSMIC ADVENTURES IN THE 8TH GRADE #2
SUPERMAN SUPERGIRL MAELSTROM #5 (OF 5)
SWORD #14
TERROR TITANS #4 (OF 6)
TERRY MOORES ECHO #8
TRINITY #32
VERONICA #192
VIXEN RETURN OF THE LION #4 (OF 5)
WALKING DEAD #57 (RES)
WOLVERINE POWER PACK #3 (OF 4)
WOLVERINE SWITCHBACK
X-MEN MANIFEST DESTINY #5 (OF 5)
X-MEN NOIR #2 (OF 4)

Books / Mags / Stuff
AGENTS OF ATLAS TP
AMERICAN SPLENDOR ANOTHER DOLLAR TP
BIRDS OF PREY KIDS CLUB TP
CLASSIC GI JOE TP VOL 01
CLASSIC MARVEL FIGURINE COLL MAG #79 WONDER MAN
CLASSIC MARVEL FIGURINE COLL MAG #82 MOON KNIGHT
CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED DELUXE SC VOL 03 FRANKENSTEIN
COMPLETE LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE HC VOL 02
DAREDEVIL BY FRANK MILLER TP VOL 03
DC UNIVERSE ILLUSTRATED BY NEAL ADAMS HC VOL 01
DR JEKYLL & MR HYDE GN
DR SLUMP TP VOL 17
FANTASTIC FOUR WORLDS GREATEST PREM HC
GREEN LANTERN WANTED HAL JORDAN TP
GROO HELL ON EARTH TP
HI FRUCTOSE MAGAZINE QUARTERLY #10
HIM & HERS SMUGGLING VACATION GN
HUSTLERS TABOO ILLUSTRATED #8 (A)
INFINITY CRUSADE TP VOL 02
JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #279
JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA SER 3 BALANCED INNER CS (NET)
JUSTICE TP VOL 03
KISS COMIX #186 (A)
KISS COMIX #187 (A)
KUROSAGI CORPSE DELIVERY SERVICE TP VOL 08
LUCKY LUKE TP VOL 14 DASHING WHITE COWBOY
MANGA SUTRA FUTARI H GN VOL 04 (OF 5) (A)
MARVEL ZOMBIES TP DEAD DAYS
NEW AVENGERS HC VOL 09 SECRET INVASION
RASL TP VOL 01 DRIFT
SECRET INVASION TP
SHOWCASE PRESENTS STRANGE ADVENTURES TP VOL 01
SPIDER-MAN PREM HC BLUE
TALES OF THE BATMAN TIM SALE TP
ULTIMATE ORIGINS PREM HC
ULTIMATE ORIGINS PREM HC DM ED
UNIVERSAL WAR ONE PREM HC VOL 01
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 03 SAFETY BEHIND BARS (New Printing)
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 09 HERE WE REMAIN
WORMDYE GN


What looks good to YOU?

-B

Labels: Brian, Shipping Lists

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Final Crisis: Secret Files:



Ha ha, well, turns out the real secret here has been 'what the hell is in this thing?' And anyone trusting in DC's original solicitation for "Art by Frank Quitely and various" are gonna be pretty steamed when they notice it's all various, no Quitely on the inside. Nor is alleged co-writer Peter Tomasi anywhere to be found, although there is some interior content by Greg Rucka & Steve Lieber, who are not credited on the cover. The best I can say is that it all somehow seems too bona fide haphazard to qualify as a bait 'n switch - I really do wonder what the original idea for this thing was.

Anyhow, the vast majority of what your $3.99 will get you is a 24-page Origin of Libra comic, in which character co-creator Len Wein effectively remakes his original 1974 Justice League of America Libra story -- which I do believe was just reprinted this past July in DC Universe Special - Justice League of America #1 -- with artist Tony Shasteen in place of the late Dick Dillin. There's also some added background details, and a crossover-appropriate through line to bring us right up to the present, which sort of suggests that the character's mysterious nature won't be playing much of a role in Final Crisis proper at all.

That's a shame, although it doesn't reflect too much on Wein's script, which I thought was actually charming at times in its old-fashioned 'supervillain has a story for YOU' style; I liked Darkseid's grandiloquence ("Or are you so foolish as to tell me that, for even an instant, you would dare to forget DARKSEID!") and I loved that last page. Shasteen's visuals do a decent enough job of squaring away the '70s origins of the stuff with the glossy realist Final Crisis style set down by J.G. Jones. But the irony of this expanded Libra's motivation -- a man seeking the power of the cosmos to escape his ugly family situation, only to fall happily into the thrall of the ultimate Anti-Dad -- don't have much of the resonance of conclusion, since this is a crossover tie-in and we can't really end the arc here. I do understand now what Grant Morrison saw in the character, though, even while I suspect I might have gotten the same effect from reading that reprint half a year ago.

The rest of the comic is filler of various types: Morrison himself presents a one-page mini-essay on the Anti-Life Equation that falls somewhere in between a recap of past storylines and an answer he might have been saving for an interview at some point in the future; Rucka & Liber have an excerpt from the Words of Lilith, which I presume ties in with Final Crisis: Revelations, and is otherwise too oblique to have much value; and then, since there's four pages left, we get stuff that was apparently left out of the Final Crisis Sketchbook, in much the same captioned designs format (this is the basis of J.G. Jones' cover credit, by the way), honing in on the Final Crisis: Superman Beyond supporting cast, various Anti-Life figures, and, er... Aquaman. Because... he's there?

Hmmm, maybe that says something about the comic as a whole. Deep, deep EH, although your feelings will probably be lower if you're already up on Libra.

Punisher: War Zone #4 (of 6):



Now here's some happier dissonance: a movie tie-in that has absolutely nothing to do with the movie it's tying in with, save for the presence of the title character. And I'm pretty fine with that! More than anything, this weekly series has behaved as an amusingly early opportunity for writer Garth Ennis to return to his signature corporate-owned comics character and show 'em all how a toss-off storyline gets goddamned done, even though I secretly know that Santa isn't real and the script has been sitting around completed for over three years, by Ennis' own admission (as to the script, not Santa).

It's been a good time, but what's striking is how much Ennis' pacing is aided by the miniseries' weekly schedule; what occasionally seemed a little too deliberate in monthly form (I can't be the only one who stockpiled issues of the MAX series before reading them) comes off as nicely needling when you know it's only a few days until the next part. Granted, that's all academic if you're just planning on reading this in trade form -- which is probably what Ennis is really pacing for, and arguably what more people will opt to buy since these weekly suckers are $3.99 a pop -- but it's nice to have a smoother experience for those who can't wait or like pamphlets and/or hate money or something.

And what's even more nice is that Ennis is skilled enough a writer to maintain a high level of accessibility for a plot that's essentially a chain of callbacks to the writer's 2000-04 Marvel Knights version of the character, in particular the character-reviving Welcome Back Frank storyline; frequent cohort Steve Dillon again provides the art. This particular issue sees Frank and witless mob underling Schitti (yep) still on the tail of the alive and seemingly omnipresent family boss Ma Gnucci, despite having already killed her multiple times this miniseries alone; little does Our Man know that a deeply odd supervillain team-up is happening behind the scenes!

Now, admittedly that's nothing you didn't know last issue - the plot is in 'inching forward' mode right now, and while Ennis has drawn the best comedy of the series out of steely police lieutenant Molly Von Richtofen and her increasingly horrible obsession with her roommate/lover, the level of zany antics in this particular issue (including a two-page fantasy sequence!) smacks a bit of padding. But few can bide time quite like Ennis, and Dillon always seems to tease out something a little better onto the page. OKAY as an issue, but you can bank on the whole being better.

Incognito #1 (of 5):



I don't know if Criminal has set my expectations too high by this point or if there's just so damn many superhero comics around that it's harder to be striking, but I wasn't very piqued by this new Ed Brubaker/Sean Phillips creation from Icon, despite my bottomless love for the term 'science-villain' and a general fondness for rough, pulp magazine-informed costumed adventure folk. This is a sort of supervillain noir piece set in a dim urban setting, with one-half of the infamous Overkill Brothers, our narrator, planted uneasily into witness protection.

But on a more immediate (if superficial) level, it's remarkably similar to Mark Millar's & J.G. Jones' Wanted, featuring an angry man with awesomely violent potential skulking around a boring work life, filled with loathing for everyone who pisses him off and half the people who don't, suddenly gaining the means to taste the power and freedom of amorality. There's a dead super-relative in his past, a mad science mentor and a shady organization that's wormed its way behind the operations of society, keeping the human sheep in the dark.

It's close enough that I wonder if this introduction isn't intended as a deliberate takeoff; certainly Brubaker is less fussy about the concept than Millar, letting us and his narrating character in on his wicked past right at the top. The dead relative is a twin brother and the mentor is also the 'father,' carrying through Brubaker's usual theme of family. Heaven knows Phillips and colorist Val Staples are far away from the slick glamor of Jones and Paul Mounts. And interestingly, the shady controller types are the heroes -- Jess Nevins presents a short backmatter essay on The Shadow, who wasn't exactly a paragon of active democracy -- while Brubaker cleverly has his villain blow off his newly re-powered steam by becoming a superhero, in the classic leaping down and socking muggers manner.

The thing is, all I'm seeing right now is potential, coursing through some fairly bland sequences of misanthropy and worldbuilding. Brubaker tends to a character-focused writer anyway, so maybe he just needs to get some added science-people into the picture to get the thing crackling, but for now it's mostly Phillips & Staples heating up the violence (outer and inner) with color and grit to keep attention. And even then, they're working in tight panels that mainly serve to muffle the science-action impact and draw attention to the former Overkill's psychological strife, which just isn't terribly interesting in its longing for freedom of the fists and skies.

OKAY in terms of possibility and technical chops, but it hasn't gotten me itching for the next issue like the better of this team's work.

Labels: Jog

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Here is the same exercise, but this time with periodical comics. It, too, is under the cut.



Comics were slightly over 41% of my gross sales.

This is a list of SALES, not of orders -- though there are a few places where those numbers were exactly the same (there's one little really obvious clump of that in the 50s)

In reality, my #1 best selling "comic" was "Quarter Book - 10 for a buck", while #2 was "dollar book", and #3 was "Quarter book - single". That looked really weird and awful on the resulting chart, however.

You can see that, especially in the first half of the chart the watchwords are "Whedon, Morrison, Bendis"



1 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #13
2 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #11
3 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #12
4 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #14
5 DC UNIVERSE ZERO
6 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #16
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #15
8 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #10
9 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #17
10 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #18
11 SECRET INVASION #1
12 FINAL CRISIS #1
13 GIANT SIZE ASTONISHING X-MEN #1
14 SECRET INVASION #2
ALL STAR SUPERMAN #10
16 SERENITY BETTER DAYS #1
17 ALL STAR SUPERMAN #11
18 ASTONISHING X-MEN #25
19 ASTONISHING X-MEN #24
20 ALL STAR SUPERMAN #12
21 FINAL CRISIS #2
22 FINAL CRISIS #3 (OF 7)
23 SERENITY BETTER DAYS #2
24 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #19
25 ASTONISHING X-MEN #26
26 SECRET INVASION #4 SI
27 SECRET INVASION #7 (OF 8)
28 SECRET INVASION #3
SERENITY BETTER DAYS #3
30 SECRET INVASION #6 (OF 8)
SECRET INVASION #5 (OF 8)
32 UNCANNY X-MEN #500
33 ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #7
34 DARK TOWER LONG ROAD HOME #1
35 FINAL CRISIS #4 (OF 7)
36 ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #3
37 ASTONISHING X-MEN #27
BATMAN #677
39 SECRET INVASION #8 (OF 8)
BATMAN #679
41 BATMAN #676
42 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #20 CHEN CVR
HELLBOY THE CROOKED MAN #1 (OF 3)
ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #5
45 FANTASTIC FOUR #554
46 ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #6
47 FINAL CRISIS #5 (OF 7)
NEW AVENGERS #38
49 HELLBOY THE CROOKED MAN #2 (OF 3)
NEW AVENGERS #43 SI
ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #10
52 NEW AVENGERS #44
FINAL CRISIS LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #1 (OF 5)
NEW AVENGERS #42
NEW AVENGERS #41
NEW AVENGERS #40
NEW AVENGERS #39
FANTASTIC FOUR #555
JUSTICE LEAGUE THE NEW FRONTIER SPECIAL
ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #4
ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #9
62 ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #8
BATMAN #678
64 ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #9
65 JSA KINGDOM COME SPECIAL SUPERMAN #1
FINAL CRISIS LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #2 (OF 5)
WOLVERINE #68
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #17
69 SANDMAN DREAM HUNTERS #1 (OF 4) (MR)
ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #10
ULTIMATES 3 #2
72 UNCANNY X-MEN #501
KICK ASS #4
MIGHTY AVENGERS #14
THOR #7
NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL #2
77 UNCANNY X-MEN #504
UNCANNY X-MEN #503
ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #11
WOLVERINE #67
81 HELLBOY IN THE CHAPEL OF MOLOCH ONE SHOT
NEW AVENGERS #45
BATMAN #680 RIP
FINAL CRISIS SUPERMAN BEYOND #1 (OF 2)
TRINITY #1
86 NEW AVENGERS #46
HELLBOY THE CROOKED MAN #3 (OF 3)
RASL #1
89 WOLVERINE #66
UNCANNY X-MEN #499
DARK TOWER LONG ROAD HOME #2
UNCANNY X-MEN #494
FELL #9
94 BATMAN #682
BATMAN #681 RIP (NOTE PRICE)
UNCANNY X-MEN #502
MIGHTY AVENGERS #16
MIGHTY AVENGERS #13
CAPTAIN AMERICA #36
100 FINAL CRISIS RAGE OF THE RED LANTERNS #1
MIGHTY AVENGERS #17
MIGHTY AVENGERS #15
AVENGERS INVADERS #1
UNCANNY X-MEN #495
CAPTAIN AMERICA #35
CAPTAIN AMERICA #34
THOR #66

-B

Labels: Brian, Sales Charts

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I still need to get a little more caught up with End of Year stuff before I start writing reviews again (it's really insane how Thanksgiving to Christmas kills me to do anything else whatsoever), but here's some data stuff to look at, if you're interested. You'll find it after the jump!



We ended the year up by 6% compared to 2007. That's pretty damn good for a nineteen year old business in a down economy, I think!

Here is a list of the Top 100 best selling "Book" items for 2008. "Book" is sometimes oddly categorized, but this is how Diamond uses the term -- which is why, say, NEW LOVE & ROCKETS #1 is on this list, and not on the "comics" side.

"Books" were just over 51.5% of my gross sales

Item #1 is more than 300% of item #2.

Item #2 is more than 200% of item #25. Item #25 is just under 200% of item #100.

A list that was JUST "released for the first time in 2008" would look VERY different than this one, of course -- this shows you the power of backlist!

There are also more than a few books on this list which could have risen dramatically if only there was ANY source for them (DM or Bookstore market) for all 12 months of 2008.


1 WATCHMEN TP
2 Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 10 WHYS AND WHEREFORES
3 Y THE LAST MAN VOL 1 UNMANNED TP
4 Y THE LAST MAN VOL 2 CYCLES TP
5 WALKING DEAD TP VOL 08 MADE TO SUFFER
6 BUFFY SEASON 8 TP VOL 02 NO FUTURE FOR YOU
7 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER LONG WAY HOME TP
8 FABLES TP VOL 10 THE GOOD PRINCE
9 THE FART PARTY TP
10 Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 03 ONE SMALL STEP
11 LOVE & ROCKETS NEW STORIES #1
Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 05 RING OF TRUTH
Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 09 MOTHERLAND
14 BOYS TP VOL 02 GET SOME
Y THE LAST MAN VOL 4 SAFEWORD TP
16 FABLES TP VOL 11 WAR AND PIECES (MR)
LOEG VOL ONE TP
18 BATMAN THE KILLING JOKE SPECIAL ED HC
19 JUDENHASS GN
Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 07 PAPER DOLLS
21 DMZ TP VOL 04 FRIENDLY FIRE
Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 06 GIRL ON GIRL
Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 08 KIMONO DRAGONS
24 BATMAN DARK KNIGHT RETURNS TP
BLACK HOLE COLLECTED SC
COMPLETE PERSEPOLIS TP
DMZ TP VOL 05 THE HIDDEN WAR
WARREN ELLIS AETHERIC MECHANICS GN (MR)
29 UMBRELLA ACADEMY APOCALYPSE SUITE TP
30 HELLBOY TP VOL 08 DARKNESS CALLS
HELLBOY VOL 01 SEED OF DESTRUCTION TP
POWERS VOL 11 SECRET IDENTITY TP
SAM & MAX SURFIN HIGHWAY TP
SANDMAN TP VOL 01 PRELUDES & NOCTURNES
35 ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY VOL 18 HC
ASTONISHING X-MEN TP VOL 4 UNSTOPPABLE
CRIMINAL TP VOL 03 DEAD AND DYING (MR)
EX MACHINA TP VOL 07 EX CATHEDRA (MR)
FABLES TP VOL 01 LEGENDS IN EXILE
LOEG VOL TWO TP
V FOR VENDETTA TP
42 ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY HC #19 (MR)
BOYS TP VOL 01
CRIMINAL TP VOL 02 LAWLESS
EX MACHINA VOL 6 POWER DOWN TP
SHORTCOMINGS HC
WALKING DEAD VOL 1 DAYS GONE BYE TP
48 SANDMAN TP VOL 02 THE DOLLS HOUSE
49 100 BULLETS TP VOL 12 DIRTY (MR)
LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN THE BLACK DOSSIER HC
SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN TP VOL 02
52 BATMAN YEAR ONE DELUXE SC
BOYS TP VOL 03 GOOD FOR THE SOUL
DC UNIVERSE THE STORIES OF ALAN MOORE
DMZ TP VOL 03 PUBLIC WORKS
PREACHER TP VOL 01 GONE TO TEXAS NEW EDITION
57 ALL STAR SUPERMAN TP VOL 01
BUFFY SEASON 8 TP VOL 03 WOLVES AT THE GATE
FABLES TP VOL 02 ANIMAL FARM
HELLBOY VOL 07 THE TROLL WITCH & OTHERS TP
LAST MUSKETEER SC
PREACHER TP VOL 02 UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD NEW EDITION
WANTED GN (NEW PTG)
WE 3 TP
65 ARKHAM ASYLUM ANNIVERSARY ED SC
CASANOVA TP VOL 01 LUXURIA
EX MACHINA TP VOL 01 THE FIRST HUNDRED DAYS
EX MACHINA TP VOL 02 TAG
FABLES 1001 NIGHTS OF SNOWFALL SC
FILTH TP
PREACHER TP VOL 04 ANCIENT HISTORY NEW EDITION
SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN VOL 1 TP
SCOTT PILGRIM VOL 04 SCOTT PILGRIM GETS IT TOGETHER GN
TOP 10 BOOK ONE TP 01
ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE TP
76 ALL STAR SUPERMAN HC VOL 01
CRIMINAL VOL 1 COWARD TP
EX MACHINA TP VOL 03 FACT V FICTION
FABLES VOL 9 SONS OF EMPIRE TP
INVISIBLES TP #1 SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION VOL 01 (OF 7)
PREACHER TP VOL 03 PROUD AMERICANS NEW EDITION
82 BATMAN AND SON TP
BATMAN GRENDEL NEW PTG TP
BERLIN TP BOOK 02 CITY OF SMOKE (MR)
BPRD TP VOL 08 KILLING GROUND
BPRD VOL 07 GARDEN OF SOULS TP
FREAKANGELS TP VOL 01 (MR)
HELLBOY VOL 02 WAKE THE DEVIL TP
JOSS WHEDONS FRAY FUTURE SLAYER TP
LOBSTER JOHNSON TP VOL 01 IRON PROMETHEUS
NEW YORK FOUR
PROMETHEA BOOK ONE TP VOL 01
WORLD WAR Z ORAL HISTORY OF ZOMBIE WAR SC
94 DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER BORN PREM HC
DMZ TP VOL 02 BODY OF A JOURNALIST
EX MACHINA TP VOL 04 MARCH TO WAR
FABLES TP VOL 04 MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS
HELLBOY VOL 04 RIGHT HAND OF DOOM TP
JACK OF FABLES TP VOL 03 THE BAD PRINCE
JEFFREY BROWN LITTLE THINGS SC MEMOIR IN SLICES
PREACHER TP VOL 05 DIXIE FRIED NEW EDITION
PRIDE OF BAGHDAD SC
THE ARRIVAL GN
WALKING DEAD VOL 07 THE CALM BEFORE TP

-----------------------------------------------------

Now, here's the same calculation sorted by dollars, instead, which changes some of the complexion of the list in fairly substantial ways. Suddenly you can see why $50+ HCs are being published!

1 WATCHMEN TP
2 Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 10 WHYS AND WHEREFORES
3 ABSOLUTE SANDMAN HC VOL 03
4 ABSOLUTE SANDMAN HC VOL 01
5 Y THE LAST MAN VOL 1 UNMANNED TP
6 FABLES TP VOL 10 THE GOOD PRINCE
7 COMPLETE PERSEPOLIS TP
8 BUFFY SEASON 8 TP VOL 02 NO FUTURE FOR YOU
9 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER LONG WAY HOME TP
10 BOYS TP VOL 02 GET SOME
11 WALKING DEAD TP VOL 08 MADE TO SUFFER
12 LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN THE BLACK DOSSIER HC
13 Y THE LAST MAN VOL 2 CYCLES TP
14 FABLES TP VOL 11 WAR AND PIECES (MR)
15 BATMAN THE KILLING JOKE SPECIAL ED HC
16 JACK KIRBYS FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS HC VOL 04
17 ABSOLUTE SANDMAN HC VOL 04 (MR)
18 THE FART PARTY TP
19 LOVE & ROCKETS NEW STORIES #1
Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 05 RING OF TRUTH
Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 09 MOTHERLAND
22 SAM & MAX SURFIN HIGHWAY TP
SANDMAN TP VOL 01 PRELUDES & NOCTURNES
24 HELLBOY TP VOL 08 DARKNESS CALLS
POWERS VOL 11 SECRET IDENTITY TP
26 BLACK HOLE COLLECTED SC
27 ASTONISHING X-MEN TP VOL 4 UNSTOPPABLE
V FOR VENDETTA TP
29 LOEG VOL ONE TP
30 UMBRELLA ACADEMY APOCALYPSE SUITE TP
31 Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 03 ONE SMALL STEP
32 SHORTCOMINGS HC
33 HELLBOY VOL 01 SEED OF DESTRUCTION TP
34 ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY VOL 18 HC
35 Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 07 PAPER DOLLS
36 ABSOLUTE DARK KNIGHT HC
37 STARMAN OMNIBUS HC VOL 01
38 SANDMAN TP VOL 02 THE DOLLS HOUSE
39 ABSOLUTE LOEG THE BLACK DOSSIER HC
ABSOLUTE SANDMAN HC VOL 02 (JUN070259) (MR)
41 Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 08 KIMONO DRAGONS
42 Y THE LAST MAN VOL 4 SAFEWORD TP
43 BATMAN DARK KNIGHT RETURNS TP
44 BOYS TP VOL 03 GOOD FOR THE SOUL
DC UNIVERSE THE STORIES OF ALAN MOORE
46 SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN TP VOL 02
47 BOYS TP VOL 01
48 WANTED GN (NEW PTG)
49 DMZ TP VOL 04 FRIENDLY FIRE
Y THE LAST MAN TP VOL 06 GIRL ON GIRL
51 ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY HC #19 (MR)
52 COMIC BOOK TATTOO SC (C: 0-1-2)
53 LOEG VOL TWO TP
54 DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER BORN PREM HC
55 DMZ TP VOL 05 THE HIDDEN WAR
56 FILTH TP
57 ACME NOVELTY DATEBOOK VOL 2 HC
58 CRIMINAL TP VOL 02 LAWLESS
59 HELLBOY VOL 07 THE TROLL WITCH & OTHERS TP
60 LOST GIRLS DLX SLIPCASED ED CURR PTG
WATCHMEN THE ABSOLUTE EDITION HC
62 HOWARD THE DUCK OMNIBUS
63 OMEGA THE UNKNOWN PREM HC
64 ALL STAR SUPERMAN HC VOL 01
INVISIBLES TP #1 SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION VOL 01 (OF 7)
66 GRENDEL GOD & THE DEVIL TP
67 ARKHAM ASYLUM ANNIVERSARY ED SC
TOP 10 BOOK ONE TP 01
69 SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN VOL 1 TP
70 EX MACHINA TP VOL 07 EX CATHEDRA (MR)
71 KIRBY KING OF THE COMICS HC
72 FREAKANGELS TP VOL 01 (MR)
73 BONE ONE VOL ED SC
74 BATMAN GRENDEL NEW PTG TP
BERLIN TP BOOK 02 CITY OF SMOKE (MR)
JOSS WHEDONS FRAY FUTURE SLAYER TP
77 ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER HC VOL 01
CIVIL WAR TP
79 EX MACHINA VOL 6 POWER DOWN TP
80 BUFFY SEASON 8 TP VOL 03 WOLVES AT THE GATE
81 FABLES VOL 9 SONS OF EMPIRE TP
82 BATMAN YEAR ONE DELUXE SC
PREACHER TP VOL 01 GONE TO TEXAS NEW EDITION
84 POWERS VOL 1 WHO KILLED RETRO GIRL TP (NEW PTG)
85 CRIMINAL TP VOL 03 DEAD AND DYING (MR)
86 THE ARRIVAL GN
87 PREACHER TP VOL 02 UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD NEW EDITION
88 MAKING COMICS STORYTELLING SECRETS OF COMICS MANGA & GN SC
89 BPRD TP VOL 08 KILLING GROUND
BPRD VOL 07 GARDEN OF SOULS TP
HELLBOY VOL 02 WAKE THE DEVIL TP
LOBSTER JOHNSON TP VOL 01 IRON PROMETHEUS
93 BLACK SUMMER TP (MR)
ANGEL AFTER THE FALL HC
95 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER OMNIBUS TP VOL 01
96 100 BULLETS TP VOL 12 DIRTY (MR)
97 JOKER HC
98 FABLES 1001 NIGHTS OF SNOWFALL SC
PREACHER TP VOL 04 ANCIENT HISTORY NEW EDITION
100 BLANKETS GN (NEW PTG)

------------------------------------------------------

Always willing to listen, if you have any thoughts on any of this!

-B

Labels: Brian, Sales Charts

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Tom Spurgeon interviews Abhay as part of his ridiculously good Holiday Interview series.

Go read it here.

-B

Labels: Abhay, Brian

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Yeah, so we're having problems publishing, hmmm?



Lemme check.

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Your first shipment of 2009... and it, mm, isn't very large at all. Let's hope this isn't setting the tone of the year...

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT NEW COMICS ARE ON FRIDAY THIS WEEK -- if you go into your LCS on Wednesday, they're going to sadly shake their head at you, and no one wants THAT.

Have a great New Year, everyone, and be safe out there!


30 DAYS OF NIGHT 30 DAYS TIL DEATH #2
A G SUPER EROTIC ANTHOLOGY #95 (A)
AVENGERS INITIATIVE #20 DKR
AVENGERS INVADERS #7 (OF 12)
BACK TO BROOKLYN #3 (OF 5)
BATMAN #684
BATMAN CACOPHONY #2 (OF 3)
BLUE BEETLE #34
CAPTAIN AMERICA #45
CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY #52
CYBLADE #2
DOCTOR WHO FORGOTTEN #5
FANTASTIC FOUR #562
FANTASTIC FOUR COSMIC SPECIAL
FINAL CRISIS SECRET FILES #1
GALAXY QUEST GLOBAL WARNING #5
GOON #31
GREEN LANTERN #36 (RES)
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #8
INCOGNITO #1
INCREDIBLE HERCULES #124
JACK OF FABLES #29
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #28
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #22
KICK ASS #5
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #49
MADAME XANADU #7
MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR #43
MARVELS EYE OF CAMERA #2 (OF 6)
NEW EXILES ANNUAL #1
NORTHLANDERS #13
PHANTOM #26
PROOF #15
PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #26
PUNISHER WAR ZONE #4 (OF 6)
SCALPED #24
SIR APROPOS OF NOTHING #3 (OF 5)
STAND CAPTAIN TRIPS #4 (OF 5)
STAR WARS LEGACY #31 VECTOR PART 12 OF 12
SUPERMAN #683 NEW KRYPTON
SUPERMAN BATMAN VS VAMPIRES WEREWOLVES #6 (OF 6)
TEEN TITANS #66
TRINITY #31
ULTIMATE HULK ANNUAL #1
ULTIMATE X-MEN #99
VENOM DARK ORIGIN #5 (OF 5)
WAR MACHINE #1 DKR
WAR THAT TIME FORGOT #8 (OF 12)
WHAT IF SECRET WARS
WINTERMEN WINTER SPECIAL #1
WOLVERINE #70
WOLVERINE MANIFEST DESTINY #3 (OF 4) MD
WORLD OF WARCRAFT #14
WORLD OF WARCRAFT ASHBRINGER #3 (OF 4)
X-FORCE #10
X-MEN MAGNETO TESTAMENT #4 (OF 5)
X-MEN WORLDS APART #3 (OF 4)
YOUNG X-MEN #9 MD
ZOMBIE TALES #9 CVR A

Books / Mags / Stuff
CABLE TP VOL 01 MESSIAH WAR
COMICS JOURNAL #295
DEVILS PANTIES HC VOL 02
ESSENTIAL PUNISHER TP VOL 03
GIANT ROBOT #57
HULK GIANT-SIZE HC DM ED
JUXTAPOZ VOL 16 #1 JAN 2009
LOOKING FOR GROUP TP VOL 01
RUNAWAYS TP DEAD END KIDS
SCHOOLGIRL MANIA TP (A)
SEXUAL SERENADE TP (A)
STAR WARS CLONE WARS TP VOL 02 CRASH COURSE
SUPER TEEN TOPIA INVISIBLE TOUCH TP
SUPERMARKET TP (NEW PTG)
THOR VISIONARIES WALT SIMONSON TP VOL 01 NEW PTG
VIDEO WATCHDOG #146
VINYL UNDERGROUND TP VOL 02 PRETTY DEAD THINGS
WHY I KILLED PETER GN
WIZARD MAGAZINE #208 WOLVERINE MOVIE CVR
YOULL ALL BE SORRY MMPB


What looks good to YOU?

-B

Labels: Brian, Shipping Lists

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I can't quite figure out if something is broken with our blog, or what, but Douglas has had a post pending for 3 days that JUST WON'T PUBLISH, so I thought I'd post a little test thing here to see if it is his message, or if it is the blog

Just to keep things vaguely on subject, I was complaining in Tilting last week that December was horrible. And it mostly has been. However, this last week has been really terrific, and Christmas Eve was the best Christmas Eve we've had in terms of sales in nineteen of them... it doesn't look like the last minute surge will be good enough to send the month positive, but I think we'll be in the single digit loss, rather than the doubles so color THIS retailer happy-pappy. And, who knows, we still have five days left...

-B

Labels: Brian

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THOR GOD-SIZE SPECIAL #1 is a very pretty-looking comic, and I don't mind paying the $4 Marvel toll, even for a series I don't normally read, to get a 38-page Matt Fraction story plus a Walt Simonson reprint. (A 22-page story, on the other hand... well, I suspect I won't be buying certain titles much longer.) It's a Fraction riff on a particularly charged scene from 1985's THOR #362, which is the backup reprint, and it's got fancy high-gloss artwork from Dan Brereton, Doug Braithwaite and the previously-unknown-to-me Miguelángel Sepulveda, as well as Mike and Laura Allred doing their Allred thing. But only the Allreds' section looks anywhere near as interesting as the splintery power and scenery-chewing grandeur of the 23-year-old Simonson artwork; the other three artists are pretty much channeling a "painterly" look that I associate with the sub-Frazetta cover artwork of third-rate fantasy paperbacks from the '70s. And after I re-read the Simonson story, it started to bug me even more that Fraction's story was getting basically all its juice from nostalgia for a sequence that Simonson did perfectly well in six pages. EH, overall.

MIGHTY AVENGERS #20: Bendis's one-incident-per-issue schema for the Avengers tie-ins to Secret Invasion had its moments, but it ended up leaving a lot to be desired. This issue could have fleshed out the ending of SI, or set up something with Nick Fury's team of larvae that didn't end up doing much in SI proper, or given some kind of dramatic closure to the "government-affiliated Avengers team" concept that this series barely even touched under Bendis despite that being its ostensible premise, or clarified the multiple-stranded flashback structure of Bendis's SI material (within the story, rather than in Tom Brevoort's blog), or... anything. Instead, what happens? Hank berates Tony at Janet's funeral. That's it--and the five straight pages of clip-reel "remember our last few Big Event Comics?" in the middle are particularly maddening. AWFUL.

THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #8: This, on the other hand is GOOD Fraction and a good setup for Dark Reign, even though my suspension cable snapped instantly at Dark Reign's premise. The obligatory action scene isn't much to speak of (Tony lifts a heavy thing! It doesn't go well!), but Fraction packs a lot of other lively stuff in there--a nice character sketch of Maria Hill, a heavily freighted moment between Tony and Pepper, Tony and Maria snark-flirting, Tony and Norman Osborn playing Number Six and New Number Two, and the setup of a credible conflict to drive the new storyline, accompanied by the eating of Chinese takeout. It snaps right along. I'm still not totally sold on Salvador Larroca's artwork--a little photo-ref, a little CGI-type near-reality, a little more photo-ref--but I'm getting used to it as the look of this series.

Labels: Douglas

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Here's your last shipment of 2008...!

New Comics Day is Christmas Eve, Wednesday, just like normal. Next week AND the week after, it moves to Friday.

Do your local comics store a favor and go and clear out your holds box before the end of the year. They'll thank you, as will their accountants!

If you're in San Francisco, and have nothing much better to do, we'll be having our annual Christmas party at CE, starting at 5 PM on Christmas Eve. Stop by for libations, and good people!

I'll try to squeeze out a few reviews tomorrow, but I've got to print ONOMATOPOEIA, so maybe not...

Happy Holidays to one and all...!


1001 ARABIAN NIGHTS ADVENTURES OF SINBAD #6
ANGEL SMILE TIME #1
ARCHIE #592
ARCHIE DIGEST #250
ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #11 (RES)
ATOMIC ROBO DOGS OF WAR #5 (OF 5)
BART SIMPSON COMICS #45
BATMAN #683
BATMAN GOTHAM AFTER MIDNIGHT #8 (OF 12)
BEYOND WONDERLAND #4 (OF 6) CVR A STEIGMAN
BILLY BATSON AND THE MAGIC OF SHAZAM #3
BRAVE AND THE BOLD #20
CAPTAIN AMERICA THEATER OF WAR AMERICA FIRST
CITY OF DUST #3 A CVR LANGLEY
DAREDEVIL #114
DARK TOWER TREACHERY #4 (OF 6)
DARKNESS #73 LUCAS CVR A
FALL OF CTHULHU APOCALYPSE #1 (OF 4) CVR A
FARSCAPE #1
FERRYMAN #4 (OF 5)
FLASH #247
FREEDOM FORMULA #4 A CVR REILLY
GALVESTON #2 CVR A
GEARS OF WAR #3
GHOST RIDER DANNY KETCH #3 (OF 5)
GIGANTIC #2 (OF 5)
GREATEST HITS #4 (OF 6)
GRIMM FAIRY TALES #33
GRIMM FAIRY TALES ANNUAL 2008
GUERILLAS #3 (OF 9)
HULK #9
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #21
INDIANA JONES & TOMB OF THE GODS #3 (OF 4)
INVINCIBLE #57 (RES)
KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #146
LORDS OF AVALON KNIGHTS OF DARKNESS #2 (OF 6)
MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES #6
MILK PRESENTS XXX MAS #1 (A)
MISTER X CONDEMNED #1 (OF 4)
MS MARVEL #34 DKR
NECRONOMICON #4 (OF 4)
NEW AVENGERS #48 DKR
NEW WARRIORS #19
NO ENEMY BUT PEACE ONE SHOT
NOVA #20
PATSY WALKER HELLCAT #4 (OF 5)
PUNISHER WAR ZONE #3 (OF 6)
RANN THANAGAR HOLY WAR #8 (OF 8)
RED SONJA #40
REIGN IN HELL #6 (OF 8)
REMNANT #1 (OF 4) CVR A
RUNAWAYS 3 #5
SAVAGE #3 (OF 4)
SAVAGE DRAGON #143
SCOOBY DOO #139
SECRET INVASION REQUIEM #1 DKR
SHE-HULK 2 #36
SKAAR SON OF HULK #6
SONIC X #40
SPAWN #187
SPIDER-MAN BRAND NEW DAY YEARBOOK
STAR WARS KNIGHTS OF OLD REPUBLIC #36 PROPHET MOTIVE PART 1
SUPERMAN SUPERGIRL MAELSTROM #4 (OF 5)
THOR #12
TOP 10 SEASON TWO #3 (OF 4)
TRINITY #30
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #129
ULTIMATUM #2 (OF 5)
UMBRELLA ACADEMY DALLAS #2
UNKNOWN SOLDIER #3
USAGI YOJIMBO #116
VIGILANTE #1
WHAT IF SPIDER-MAN BACK IN BLACK
WILDCATS #6
WOLVERINE FIRST CLASS #10
WOLVERINE ORIGINS #31
WONDER WOMAN #27

Books / Mags / Stuff
AMERICAN FLAGG DEFINITIVE COLL TP VOL 01
BEASTS BOOK 01 GN
DEATH I BLK HOODIE
HEDGE KNIGHT II TP SWORN SWORD
HOT BREATH OF WAR GN
HP LOVECRAFTS NYARLATHOTEP HC
LILLIAN THE LEGEND GN
LONE RANGER TP VOL 02 LINES NOT CROSSED
MAGENTA POWER OF PINK GN (A)
MAKA MAKA GN VOL 02 (A)
MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 11 DIGEST
MIDNIGHTER TP VOL 03 ASSASSIN8
NARUTO TP VOL 33
NICE WORK VOL 01 (OF 2)
PREVIEWS #244 JANUARY 2009 (Net)
SALEM TP VOL 01
SIZZLE #40 (A)
SPAWN BOOK OF THE DEAD HC (RES)
STAR TREK MAGAZINE #15 NEWSSTAND ED
STAR WARS OMNIBUS RISE OF THE SITH
STATION TP
SWEET WISHES
TOMARTS ACTION FIGURE DIGEST #173
ULTIMATES 3 PREM HC WHO KILLED SCARLET WITCH
WHAT IF CLASSIC TP VOL 05
X-MEN COMPLETE ONSLAUGHT EPIC TP BOOK 04
YOUNG LIARS TP VOL 01 DAYDREAM BELIEVER


What looks good to YOU?

-B

Labels: Brian, Shipping Lists

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You can find it over on Comic Book Resources!

As noted in the article, you can also pre-order Tilting at Windmills v2 TP, with the end of my tenure at Comics & Games Retailer, as well as my entire run at Newsarama, from any store with a Diamond account by using the order code of DEC084122, thanks to the loverly folks over at IDW, hooray!

Go ahead and preorder that copy and put some pennies into my pocket!

Feel free to drop any comments here, as well...

-B

Labels: Brian, Tilting

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Hellblazer #250


(art and color by Rafael Grampá & Marcus Penna; there's also captions in the actual comic)

John Constantine, how long has it been? Just over 20 years since this thing started up? Almost 25 since The Saga of the Swamp Thing? That's a lot of Silk Cuts, a lot of magic. A lot of politics - there was once a whole goddamned issue (#3) on the Conservative election victory of 1987. But there's some enduring character to this Alan Moore, Stephen R. Bissette & John Totleben creation too; I often wind up thinking of Eddie Campbell's parody version in Bacchus, who had the poor barmaid climb all the way to the top shelf, only to make her climb back down bottom to fetch the same label. "It's 'cos I'm a vicious bastard, ennit." Soon thereafter he burned his own head off lighting a smoke, fortuitously before his lawyer could arrive.

Campbell wrote a handful of proper Hellblazer comics too (#85-88), and he's now returned for this 48-page, $3.99 anniversary special. So has the artist from his run, Sean Phillips (now of Criminal and others). So has the fellow who wrote the 1987 election episode, Jamie Delano. It's not often you see an old-and-new-faces 'landmark' issue for a series like this; it's really a superhero thing. Often a tedious, self-congratulatory superhero thing at that. But just as Hellblazer started out as something among the superheroes, yet different, its #250 uses its commemorative status as a means of exploring different aspects of John Constantine, whose many adventures have indeed seen various sides of him emphasized.

The results aren't all good, but it makes for a decently-paced package. I'd have liked to see a far stronger opening story, though; aside from writer Dave Gibbons' amusing decision to cast the piece as a sequel to his last Constantine tale, an illustrated prose story from nine years ago (in Vertigo: Winter's Edge #3), there's almost nothing that seems particularly attuned to the strength of Hellblazer. It's just John Constantine chasing after a bad guy who's stolen a magical sharp thing to slaughter a baby and become immortal.

And sure, Constantine interrupts some rich people having a party, and he saves the day by kicking someone in the balls and a pretty girl shows up and a cork pops off a champagne bottle in a suggestive manner in the final panel, but that's all fairly generic low-down supernatural action hero stuff; it does work for Hellblazer -- it's not inappropriate -- but it doesn't offer anything striking for the curious reader, save for the visuals of the aforementioned Sean Phillips (with frequent colorist Val Staples). Those are as crisply-laid and glowingly dingy as ever, although I wonder that large, distracting white space on his first page was supposed to hold the credits at some point.

A better two-fisted Constantine story is later in the issue, from veteran writer Brian Azzarello and Rafael Grampá (he of Mesmo Delivery), one of the better two-fisted action artists to get attention lately. That's one of Grampá's panels up top (printed noticeably darker on the page, mind you), and I think it nicely summarizes his utterly gleeful approach to the project, loading his pages with nimbly caricatured faces and funny details, even as handles the moment-by-moment of Azzarello's barfight-with-a-demon scenario with fine precision. Even the coloring (from Mesmo cohort Marcus Penna) comes off as a very broad take on the stereotypical Vertigo palette, all rusty and muddy browns and blood soaking into white and grey.

It mixes nicely with Azzarello's script, actually a poem presented via captions, chronicling Constantine's trip to Chicago to lift the Curse of the Billy Goat from the Cubs. Of course, Our Man can easily summon a demon, but it's up to the people to eventually take responsibility for their own shortcomings, so "our battered dreams and hope" might bloom better in the spring. Feel free to look for metaphors where applicable!


(art & color by David Lloyd)

Other stories are quieter. Jamie Delano & David Lloyd (of The Horrorist) offer Constantine the Observer, divining the sad histories of combatants in a holiday poker match. An element of human exploitation is present, as it often is with Delano, but he remains as sure in the compassion of regret as Lloyd is with his effortlessly lovely art, the present lit as if from a maze of roaring, off-panel fireplaces, and the sad past getting more icy and blue as things slide closer to hell.

Meanwhile, debuting series writer Peter Milligan has Constantine encounter ghosts and politics in a low-key investigation that ties a personal haunting to Our Man's own troubled past, if not in a melodramatic way or anything. It seems abrupt at only six pages, wherein the stewing emotions of the piece's focus don't have a lot of time to cook. Campbell provides the visuals here, and while he draws a wonderfully aged and worn and tired Constantine, his work doesn't gel much with Dominic Regan's shiny digital colors, which add a distracting sort of body to Campbell's characters, trampling whole sequences with gloss. Oddly, two of Campbell's panels are presented beneath the book's table of contents in a black, white and blue style, which I thought was more effective.

But then, Jamie Grant (of All Star Superman) is also a very shiny colorist, and his work mixes better with Giuseppe Camuncoli (breakdowns) & Stefano Landini (finishes) in the book's fifth and final story, maybe because the duo have a rounder, sleek style going - their Constantine carries a whiff of manga along with the tobacco. Prose novelist China Miéville seemed like a good fit to write the material when announced, and he proves to be as adept as expected with a vivid, funny social justice adventure, playing up the series' tendency to mix social ills with droll supernatural society. Hell, he even pulls out the demonic yuppie, hell-as-corporation idea born in the '87 election issue - this really is a journey through the years!

It's the last thing in the book, and probably the most broadly entertaining. A company spits poison dust into the streets, where children play. Their work is literally evil -- as in, they're trying to manufacture it -- and Constantine is retained by demons pissed that perdition's exclusivity is in danger. Phantoms rise and angels act in less than beatific ways. John Constantine, ahead of them all, urges tomorrow's adults to wage supernatural war on the sins of salt mines and cocaine plants. Not a bad way to leave him after a GOOD enough party; he might be making crazy wishes, but reaching issue #250 seems a little crazy on its own, yet here we are.

Labels: Jog

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Some good stuff shipping this week!

I've got to go write a TILTING though...

2000 AD #1613
2000 AD #1614
AGE OF SENTRY #4 (OF 6)
AIR #5
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #581
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #3
ANGEL AFTER THE FALL #15
AVENGERS INITIATIVE #19 SI
BATGIRL #6 (OF 6)
BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #14
BEANWORLD HOLIDAY SPECIAL ONE SHOT
BETTY & VERONICA #239
BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #190
BIRDS OF PREY #125
BLACK TERROR #2
BRIT #11 (RES)
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #20 CHEN CVR
C E MURPHYS TAKE A CHANCE #1
CONAN THE CIMMERIAN #6
CTHULHU TALES #9 CVR A
DARK REIGN NEW NATION
DCU HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2008
DEAD OF NIGHT DEVIL SLAYER #4 (OF 4)
DEADPOOL #5
DOG EATERS #2
DOKTOR SLEEPLESS #10
EX MACHINA #40
FABLES #79
FALLEN ANGEL IDW #32
FEAR AGENT #25 1 AGAINST 1 (PT 4 OF 6)
GHOST RIDER #30
GHOSTBUSTERS THE OTHER SIDE #3
GREATEST AMERICAN HERO #1 (OF 3)
HELLBLAZER #250 (NOTE PRICE)
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #8 DKR
JIM BUTCHERS DRESDEN FILES STORM FRONT #2 (OF 4)
JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #146
MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #12
MANHUNTER #37
MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #31
MIGHTY AVENGERS #20 DKR
MOON KNIGHT #25
NEW EXILES #16
PUNISHER MAX #65
PUNISHER WAR ZONE #2 (OF 6)
REX MUNDI DH ED #15
ROBIN #181
SAMURAI LEGEND #4 (OF 4)
SIMPSONS COMICS #149
SPIDER-MAN NOIR #1 (OF 4)
SPIRIT #24
SQUADRON SUPREME 2 #6
STAR TREK LAST GENERATION #2
STORMWATCH PHD #17
SUPER FRIENDS #10
SUPERGIRL #36 NEW KRYPTON
TANGENT SUPERMANS REIGN #10 (OF 12)
TERMINATOR REVOLUTION #1
TERRA #4 (OF 4)
THOR GOD SIZED #1
THUNDERBOLTS #127
TINY TITANS #11
TRINITY #29
ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #59
UNCANNY X-MEN #505 MD
VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS #4
WALKING DEAD #56 (RES)
WHAT IF NEWER FANTASTIC FOUR
WORMWOOD GENTLEMAN CORPSE DOWN PUB (ONE SHOT)
X-FACTOR #38
X-FILES #2 (OF 6)
X-MEN KINGBREAKER #1 (OF 4)
X-MEN LEGACY #219
ZOMBIE TALES #8 CVR A
ZORRO #9

Books / Mags / Stuff
ALDEBARAN TP VOL 02 GROUP
ANITA BLAKE VH GUILTY PLEASURES TP VOL 02
BATMAN PRIVATE CASEBOOK HC
BEASTS B0OK 02 HC
BIGGLES GN VOL 01 SPITFIRE PARADE
BOYS DEFINITIVE ED
CAVALCADE OF BOYS TP VOL 04
CINEFEX #116 JAN 2009
COMICS BUYERS GUIDE #1650 FEB 2009
COMPLEAT NEXT MEN TP VOL 02
DARKNESS COMPENDIUM LTD ED HC VOL 01
END LEAGUE TP VOL 01 BALLAD OF BIG NOTHING
GEEK MONTHLY JAN 2009
GETTYSBURG GN
KRAMERS ERGOT HC VOL 07
LADY S GN VOL 01 HERES TO SUZY
LEES TOY REVIEW #194 DEC 2008
MIGHTY AVENGERS PREM HC VOL 03 SECRET INVASION BOOK 01
MOME GN VOL 13
NAOKI URASAWAS MONSTER TP VOL 18
PROGRAMME TP VOL 02
QUEST FOR MISSING GIRL
SCREAM TP
SECRET WARS OMNIBUS HC DM ED
SHOWCASE PRESENTS BRAVE & BOLD BATMAN TEAMUPS VOL 03
SILVERFISH TP
SPAGHETTI BROS HC VOL 02
STAR WARS LEGACY TP VOL 04 ALLIANCE
SUPERMAN PAST AND FUTURE TP
SWALLOW BOOK 05
WARHAMMER 40K EXTERMINATUS TP VOL 01
WITCHBLADE COMPENDIUM VOL 01 LTD ED HC
WOLVERINE ORIGINS TP VOL 05 DEADPOOL
X-FACTOR TP VOL 05 ONLY GAME IN TOWN


What looks good to YOU?

-B

Labels: Brian, Shipping Lists

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