Comic Book Day!

So, I got home to a lovely dcbservice.com box on my doorstep. My comics came in for the last month and I realized that I forgot to order Wolverine and The X-Men #3. Turds. This would normally be the time that I list off all the comics that I got and rate them on my anticipation. However, I am leaving for Hawaii tomorrow at noon, and I don't have time to read my comics, let alone list them. I wouldn't dare bring them to the beach, either. I guess that's one point for digital comics.

See ya suckers!

First round of DC cuts - Mine are safe

Of the New 52 DC titles released last September, I am currently reading six. DC has announced that six titles will be cut after an evaluation of sales. I wasn't particularly worried about five of the titles I read, but Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. may not be for everyone, so I was a little worried. While titles that were met with poor criticism will stay based solely on name alone(Green Arrow, Detective Comics, Teen Titans, etc),  some of the cuts still confuse me. I'm not surprised that Blackhawks and Mister Terrific are being cut. I didn't read them, and I heard they were terrible. I'm not sure what to think about Men at War being cut. It seemed like most people I heard from were generally positive and it was one of the only war books DC launched. Static Shock surprises me slightly, because I know there are diehard fans out there, just maybe not enough to hold sales at a decent amount.

What surprised me the most is the cancellation of O.M.A.C. and Hawk and Dove. Now, I am no huge fan of Rob Leifeld, but he has a pretty strong following from what I see on the interwebs. There are people on message boards that will defend his silly artwork to the teeth. Everyone that I've heard talk about O.M.A.C. has said that it's a super-fun book. I really did not expect to see it on the chopping block first. Maybe this is Dan Didio's way of telling his staff that nobody is safe if they don't pull the numbers that are expected and as an act of good faith, he let his own book be chopped.

These cancellations are not simply disappearing into the ether to leave teh New 52 as the New 46. Oh no, sir. We are getting a new round of books. Among others, DC is launching yet another Batman Book. I'm not sure why this one was held for the second round, because I hear that Batman Inc. is a high seller. We will also be getting Earth 2, World's Finest, The Ravagers, G.I. Combat, and the only one that looks mildly interesting to me, Dial H.

I feel like the only cancellation that really bothers me is DC's logo cancellation.
This is the current logo:

 

And this is the prospective logo:

 

To put it lightly, I think the new logo sucks. The old one is less than a decade old and it was strong. Personally, I liked the one from the 80's and 90's:

Too often or not enough - Episode 2 - Renumbered!

So I received my Wolverine #300 in the mail yesterday. Which is funny, because I received my Wolverine #20 about a month ago. I'm going to have to call Marvel again and tell them that they failed to ship me over two decade's worth of comics. Those silly bastards. Why is this necessary? Is it because you prematurely renumbered and renamed the Wolverine series several times for no particular reason? This is a conversation I imagined they had at Marvel between an intern that has too much time on his hands and someone in management:

Intern:  "Hey, if you never renumbered Wolverine, we'd be on issue 300."

Management:  "Actually, this IS issue #300, you just don't know it yet."

Intern:  "Why are we doing that?"

Management:   "Because we will get to stick a $4.99 cover price on it and sell a shit ton of them to retailers who will over-order them because of speculation, and only sell a third of them."

Intern:  "So will this still be volume 3?"

Management:  "No, no. This is volume 1."

Intern:  "That makes no sense."

Management:  "YOU MAKE NO CENTS! YOU'RE FUCKING FIRED!"

Intern:  "But I'm not even on the payroll. That pun carries no weight."

Management:  "SNIKT!"

I predict similar conversations from the Uncanny X-men department around about Issue #56 when they reach the point in which they can call it Uncanny X-Men #600 NOW ONLY $9.99! It doesn't make any sense because nothing has changed really. Wolverine #300 starts where Wolverine #20 left off. Jason Aaron is still writing for it. This renumbering is completely unnecessary. 

Next thing you know, we will be celebrating every change in creative team with a new #1. Better yet, why don't we just start every story arc at #1. That will make these comics much easier to archive!. I get the reason why we have different volumes of the same comic, just fucking stick to it when you make a change and don't fuck up my longbox with this renumbering garbage. You want to see a screwed up chronology? Look at volume one of Journey Into Mystery. It just skips about 120 issues randomly, and then it does it again!

Wolverine will never have an issue #299. Uncanny X-Men will never have an issue #545. X-Factor will never have an issue #151-199. Am I the only obsessive compulsive lunatic that is infuriated by this impulsive numbering system that Marvel has? I would rather read 52 #1 issues in one month than read one more issue that is a multiple of 100. Stop it or I will hit you with a rolled up Fantastic Four #600.

Avengers vs X-Men - Let's make an event!

In case you were wondering, it's coming. I'll get you a towel.

This wonderfully original promo for Marvel's mega-event of 2012 uses an uninspired catchphrase that is giving me a weird feeling of deja vu. I believe that I read this same phrase last year in X-Men: Prelude to Schism #1, right before I vomited. Are we going to be treated to five Prelude to Avengers Vs X-Men books in which both teams will be standing around lamenting over an imminent threat? Will there be intriguing and cryptic dialogue such as "It's coming", and "There's nothing we can do to stop it", and "It's already here" only to never actually figure out what "IT" is? That would be spiffy.

Also, the premise of this event is so unexpected! Good guys fighting...other good guys? Why is this happening? Is this some kind of misunderstanding? What a curious turn of events that we've never seen a thousand times. I wonder if this is some nefarious plot that some super-villains from both sides of the rogue's gallery cooked up in order to distract our heroes from another evil plot. I wonder if the villains will secretly try to double-cross each other while the heroes ultimately come together and prevail. That would be so cool and unexpected.

What's more sloppy about this is that the X-Men roster has spilled over onto the Avenger's so much, that I can't tell who is on what team anymore. Ok, so Wolverine is an Avenger, but also has his own X-men. Will we see Wolverine and the X-men fight Avengers? Also, there's Beast who has both team affiliations, and Storm just joined the Avengers, but she is still one of the key members of Cyclops' X-Men. So what? Is she going to quit right after joining. And T'Challa is on the Avengers, but he is married to Storm, so what the hell is that all about? This is all supposed to create intrigue, but it only creates diarrhea. Expensive, drawn-out, unsatisfying diarrhea, that leaves you feeling used and violated. At least after buying these comics I'll have something to wipe with.

But you know what really pisses me off? The promos.
I was just looking through a couple, and now I have to post all of them.

Spider-Woman VS Gambit
So, here we see our Rajun Cajun squaring off against Spider-Woman. Ok, I guess you gotta fight somebody. Now, I'm one of the few and proud Gambit fans (hence Lebeau2501), but what's he going to do? Spill gumbo in her hair and hit her with his roux paddle (bo staff skills) while she searches Manhatten for a Paul Mitchell boutique? Seriously, and I'm going to use the word seriously in every critique of every one of these promos, what were they thinking? This also tells us that Wolverine's X-men will be involved as well as Cyclops', which makes no sense in this post-Schism universe. I give this pair-up two pink aces down, and one Humberto Ramos up.

Thing Vs Colossus, A.K.A. The New Juggernaut
So, Thing would not have been my first choice to square against a newly Cyttorak-empowered Colossonaut. Being as Piotre is the X-side's heaviest muscle, I would have paired him with Red Hulk. What happens when an unstoppable force meets a giant red beefcake? Wanton destruction and melee fun, that's what. What happens when that force meets a giant orange rock man? Pebbles. Seriously. So who, pray tell, do we see the Hulk representative take on? Oh, only the most OBVIOUS choice.

(Green?) Hulk VS The White Queen
Of course! The White Queen! Because why not? Also, shouldn't this Hulk be red? Where is T-Bolt Ross? I thought Green Hulk was off playing with moloids and fighting his psychotic alter-ego. This makes no sense and I see mind-control happening. I seriously think they pulled these pair-ups out of a hat.

Spider-Man VS Iceman
This makes sense. The wise-cracking teen hero versus the wise-cracking teen hero. Plus Spidey takes on various elementals all the time in his normal gig. Why don't we get Hydro-Man and Sandman to join the fray so we can have a seriously chilly beach party. On a side note, why is Spider-Man's name hyphenated, and Sandman's isn't? Never could figure that one out.

Luke Cage VS Beast
Aside from both of these guys both having Avengers affiliation, this also kind of makes sense from a powers standpoint. Both are super-strong, and assuming Henry's agility will balance out with Luke's superior invulnerability, this should make for a pretty good match. I could see this turning into a status thing, though. Luke Cage will say something "street" and Hank will quote Shakespeare. Then education and demographics will be brought up and this will end up being a sad demonstration of racial misunderstanding. I seriously have nothing else to say about this.

Ms Marvel VS Rogue
I see where this is going. I see what you did there. What could be more interesting than Rogue battling her old nemesis Carol Danvers? The same story as we saw in the 80's, only with more of Ms Marvel's ass cheeks. We seriously need Scott Campbell to draw this.

Iron Man VS Magneto
Seriously? Really? How is this even valid? Magneto, the master of magnetism versus Iron Man, the powerless man encased in metal. This is going to get messy. Magneto wins. Fatality.

Black Widow VS Psylocke
This is seriously the only match-up that makes any sense. Scott Campbell needs to draw this one, too. I'll settle for Leinil Yu.

Cap VS Wolverine
So I guess all X-men who have Avengers status will be suspended for this event. It seriously makes sense considering that both of these men are products of the Weapon Plus program, but in the grand scheme of this event, all is silly.

Daredevil VS Angel...er Archangel?
This seriously pisses me off. Not just because I hate that Daredevil is on a team now and it's going to spill over onto an otherwise amazing solo book, but this also gives away that Angel will once again be Archangel. So, not only does it remind me about Mark Waid's amazing portrayal of Daredevil being in jeopardy, it also throws the last 19 amazing issues of X-Force that Rick Remender painstakingly set up in the shitter. This bothers me on a very deep level. Only slightly more than this next one.

Thor VS Storm
Hey, guess what everyone! Thor's alive and well! Spoiled! I guess I can just throw the next few issues of The Mighty Thor in the garbage when they arrive. There are few things that annoy me more than character deaths being treated so absent-mindedly. We know Thor is coming back, and that his fifth or how ever many deaths he's had means nothing to you people, but don't rub our noses in it and ask us to inhale this shit. This event is on my shit list. You're off the hook, Fear Itself.

Dardevil #7 - Blind leading the blind

Mark Waid is writing his heart out with Daredevil. I'm guessing that the layouts are mostly under his direction, because both Marcos Martin and Paulo Rivera seem to be very consistent with their visual storytelling. Not to discredit them both. They are an integral part of why this book is so enjoyable.

So, Matt is riding on a bus to a retreat with eight blind children. In the mountains. In a blizzard. Well, the driver is nervous (we know, because Matt senses his heart rate), and they end up crashing horribly. The driver, who is the only one who could, is dead, and Matt and his eight blind mice have to navigate on foot.

Throughout the issue, we are treated to the usual brilliant use of tiny panels placed here and there to demonstrate the sounds that are being heard by our hero. That alone makes these books a step above, but Waid takes it further. We watch Matt (in DD garb, because the children can't see him) lead these kids through the wilderness and try to keep them calm by asking them what they want Santa to bring them and making small talk. In the past two+ decades, you never would have guessed Matt Murdock to be the guy that's good with kids. He keeps up the banter, even though the inner monologue becomes more and more bleak as he desperately soldiers on with the children.

There are a few times when I get choked up. First, Matt realizes that he is down one child. He starts to lose it and yell for him, frightening the other children. Then he stops yelling for a second and we see a tiny word balloon in the far corner "the lord is with thee" He finds Javi in the snow praying and they share a brief moment.

Another moment that touched me was when Matt finally hears the sound of a snow plow and discerns that they are about to leave. He tells the kids to yell, and when the guy getting into his truck doesn't hear them, he tells them to run, not realizing that the kids don't know why and that he just scared the hell out of them. They scatter and he panics and falls on the leg that he injured in the crash. He's laying there in the snow thinking that he has failed the kids and they are lost, when they all return with branches to make a sled for him in which the proceed to drag him to the house that the owner of the snow plow lives in. It's just a very touching scene in which he realizes that he hadn't given those children enough credit.

If you haven't been reading Daredevil, just pick up any of the seven issues that have already come out. You will love them. I've never read DD comics, and had no investment in the character of Matt Murdock, but I am hooked on this title and continually find myself in awe of the beautiful way in which this writer and these two artists weave their craft. Flawless.

Thank you Mark, Marcos, and Paulo.

Prizes in the mail!

 Big thanks to the guys over at Fight For Comics for the trivia prize they sent me! Now, I thought they were sending me the trade of World War Hulk signed by Greg Pak and a copy of the Hulk of Arabia ashcan, but I was wrong. They sent me the ashcan and all five issues of World War Hulk, each signed by Greg Pak. That's an awesome prize and Sean, Sean, Jonas, and Bryton are awesome podcasters.

PHAT LEWTZ!

Comics that I am reading - Looking back at 2011

Since everyone who blogs or has a podcast has already gotten together their year-in-reviews for 2011, I decided to look at my current comic-reading habits and compare it to the same time last year. Since my blog is just over a year young, it should be pretty illuminating.
Here's a cross-section of my currently continuing comic conundrum:

Reading monthly:
DC
-Batwoman
-Animal Man
-Swamp Thing
-The Flash
-Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.

Marvel
-Daredevil
-Uncanny X-Force
-X-Factor
-Invincible Iron Man
-The Mighty Thor
-Venom
-The Defenders
-Wolverine and The X-Men

Other Publishers
-Chew (Image)
-Sweet Tooth (Vertigo)
-The Unwritten (Vertigo)
-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (IDW)

Considering reading in trade:
-Batman
-American Vampire
-Irredeemable
-Incorruptible
-The Boys
-Fables
-Amazing Spider-Man

On the chopping block:
-Uncanny X-Men
-Journey Into Mystery
-X-Men Legacy
-Wolverine
-Avengers
-Justice League Dark

 Flashback to a year ago. I was on the verge of completing my complete run of X-Men Vol 2 (Legacy) and now I'm about to drop the title unless something grand happens. I had recently subscribed to several Marvel comics, all of which are about to expire. I did not read any DC comics, and never thought that I would, but now I read several.. I pretty much exclusively read X-Men related books. I was ruthlessly opposed to digital comics and now I am starting to understand a place for them. I preferred to collect single back-issues as opposed to trades, and now I love buying trades. I blogged at least every other day, and now I save it for books that I really want to talk about.

I've read many comics this year, and I'd like to list a few things that made 2011 memorable for comics.

Writers of the Year:
Jeff Lemire - Sweet Tooth, Animal Man, Frankenstein
Matt Fraction - The Mighty Thor, Invincible Iron Man, Defenders, Fear Itself
Mike Carey - The Unwritten, X-Men Legacy
Rick Remender - Venom, X-Force (I know, I need to read Fear Agent)
Mark Waid - Daredevil (Haven't read Irredeemable/Incorruptible)
Jason Aaron - Wolverine, Wolverine and The X-Men (Haven't read Inc. Hulk)
Keiron Gillen - Journey Into Mystery, Generation Hope, Uncanny X-Men
Dan Slott: Amazing Spider-Man (I've missed the last 6 months)
Peter David - X-Factor

Winner: Gotta go with Rick Remender. His run on Uncanny X-Force has been unbelievable. The few Venom books I picked up were just as good. Gotta read Fear Agent, but I have a feeling that he(like Mike Carey) puts more into his creator-owned material than his Big Two work.

Artists of the Year:
Stuart Immonen - Fear Itself
Olivier Coipel - The Mighty Thor
Chris Bachalo - Wolverine and The X-Men
Jerome Opena/Esad Ribic - Uncanny X-Force
Daniel Acuna - Avengers, Wolverine

Marcos Martin - Daredevil
Stefano Caselli - Amazing Spider-Man, Venom
Humberto Ramos - Amazing Spider-Man
Francis Manapul - The Flash
Travel Foreman - Animal Man
J.H.Williams - Batwoman
Sal Larocca - Invincible Iron Man

Winner: A tough one. So many good artists, so many different styles. I'd say Jim Williams on Batwoman for realism and sense of compositional balance,  Trav Foreman Ramos for the abstract and gestural qualities of his work, and Marcos Martin and Francis Manapul are tied for incredible ingenuity and storytelling skill.

Best Series That I Started Reading This Year:
-Animal Man - Jeff Lemire and Travel Foreman
-Swamp Thing - Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette
-The Mighty Thor - Matt Fraction and Olivier Coipel
-Wolverine and The X-Men - Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo
-The Flash - Brian Buccalleto and Francis Manapul
-Daredevil - Mark Waid and Marcos Martin
-The Unwritten - Mike Carey and Peter Gross
-Uncanny X-Force - Rick Remender, Jerome Opena, Esad Ribic
-Invincible Iron Man - Matt Fraction and Sal Larocca
-Sweet Tooth - Jeff Lemire and Jeff Lemire
-Journey Into Mystery - Keiron Gillen and various artists

Winner: Another tough one. I'd say the series that surprised me the most was Animal Man. The series that I knew I'd have some vested interest in, but was completely blown away by was X-Force.

Worst Comics I Read This Year:
-Teen Titans #1 - Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth
-The Dark Knight #1 - Paul Jenkins, David Finch
-Uncanny X-Men #1 and #2 - Keiron Gillen and some generic asshole
-Prelude to Schism #1 - Paul Jenkins and Roberto De La Torre
-Wolverine #1-#13 and 15 - Jason Aaron and Renato Guedes
-Age of X Universe #1-#2 - Simon Spurrier and Khoi Pham
-Avengers #16-17 - Brian Bendis and John Romita Jr

Winner: I think all of these are equal losers. Teen Titans #1 was like reading a used piece of toilet paper. The Dark Knight #1 was  like reading an Image comic from 1994, or a used piece of toilet paper. Uncanny X-Men Reloaded is verily disappointing, even though Keiron Gillen, who I respect as a good writer, is in charge of this title. Prelude to Schism was entirely pointless and I don't know why it happened or what came of it. The first 13 issues of Wolverine were bad only because they were so melodramatic and it took way too long to redeem itself on issue 14 only to let me down again with that 'We love you Wolverine' story in #15. After that, the series started getting awesome. Also, the ones in which Nightcrawler was in were good, too, mostly because of Daniel Acuna. Age of X Universe was a bad 2-shot for an almost as bad crossover. Avengers #16 and 17 were too Brian Bendis-y with the 'interview style' of talking head storytelling. It's got its place, but I feel that Bendis is known for this and overuses it.

Best Trade I Read This Year:
-Vol 1-4 of the Unwritten
-Vol 1 of Fables
-Vol 1 of Chew
-Vol 2 of Runaways
-Batwoman Elegy
-Astonishing X-Men Vol 1-4

All of these were good, and I am continuing with every series.

That's the big stuff for my 2011. Hit me up with some of your favorites!

Uncanny X-Force #19

Uncanny X-Force is awesome. Rick Remender is amazing. This title has been jettisoned from my normal 'have to buy to keep up on the story' pile to my most anticipated comic that I read from Marvel. This comic is making the other X-Books look embarrassing, with the exception of X-Factor. I will say this, though. This whole run could have been written by Jeff Loeb and penciled by Greg Land and this page would have still been classic. Layer, fold, and hold. Thanks to the guys at ifanboy.com for the scan.

Power Horse Preview!

Here's where you can view a black and white preview of Power Horse: The Horse With Horse Power!

It's been awhile since we had a PHtHwHP update, but I hope this gets all of you excited!