Fantasy Comics Draft

Fantasy Football? How about a Fantasy Comic Creators Draft?

With everyone at work talking about Fantasy Football, I can't help but feel a bit left out of

something festive. That's why I've decided to create my own Fantasy Draft, but my version is

for Marvel editorial.

Two rules:

1. A writer and penciler have to be chosen who aren't currently working on a title. I can use

creators that have worked on a title or character in the past.

2. The entire pantheon of creators is at my disposal. It doesn't matter if they work for Marvel

currently, or another company, or if they're free agents.. Anyone is fair game. They have to be

alive.

3. Obviously an artist can only pencil one book per month, but I want a writer's full talent, so let's limit ourselves to using writers only once, too. It will keep it interesting.

I get to play editorial god with this.

Amazing/Superior Spider-Man  -------  Francis Manapul/Brian Buccaletto

Punisher  --------------------  Ed Brubaker/Frank Quitely

Daredevil  -------------------- Mark Waid/Chris Samnee (Breaking my rules for this title only)

Incredible Hulk  ------------  Peter David/Sal Larocca

Captain America  ----------  Greg Rucka/Paolo Rivera

The Mighty Thor ---------- Greg Pak/Eric Larsen

Iron Man  -------------------- Brian Wood/Terry and Rachel Dodson

Avengers  -------------------  Kieron Gillen/Jamie McKelvie

 Ghost Rider/Darkhold-----  Scott Snyder/J.H.Williams III

Dr Strange -------------------  Alan Moore/Marcos Martin

Fantastic Four  --------------  Grant Morrison/Mike and Laura Allred

X-Men  -----------------------  Jason Aaron/Sara Pachelli

X-Force  ----------------------  Rick Remender/Phil Noto

Uncanny X-Men  ------------ Bryan K Vaughan/Stuart Immonen

Wolverine  -------------------- Jeff Lemire/Daniel Acuna

X-Factor  ----------------------  Brian Bendis/Gabriel Rodriguez

Guardians of the Galaxy----   Abnett and Lanning/Olivier Coipel

Goodbye Daredevil...

This is my letter to the 'Letters Without Fear" column of Daredevil:

Dearest DD Team,

What a bittersweet day it was when I read that this run of Daredevil will be coming to an end. It's one of those things that I knew was going to happen eventually, but chose to blissfully ignore. I remember when I glossed over the cover of issue #1 several times while looking over the racks at my local comic shop and dismissing it. Admittedly, I've never been a regular reader of Daredevil, and when took a closer look at this particular cover observed that Daredevil was covering his eyes with his club, and the background was entirely composed of sound effects, I knew that this was something special.

I bought that issue, and it started a journey into remembering why I love the comics medium. This book has been so inventive. So engaging. So spectacularly pure in it's approach to its visuals and character moments. It has changed the way I look at a panel. It is a masterpiece in every sense of the term and has been consistent for every single issue.

My wife and I have recently welcomed our first child into the world, and while it has been the most wonderful experience of our lives, as many parents know, it also is an expensive experience. I had to cut my comics budget quite a bit, and am down to only 3 books a month. If I could only afford one comic a month, Daredevil would have been the one.

I have been reading Marvel comics since I was 8 years old, about 23 years ago, and it is with a tearful eye, that I bid goodbye to the best batch of comics that I have ever read. I know that there's more people responsible than just the writer and the pencilers, but to Mark, Chris, Paolo, Marcos, Marco, Khoi, Mike, and Jock I want to thank you for your contributions to our love of comics. I adore you and you will be missed.

With Love,

Greg Deaner from Colorado

So we bid farewell to this fantastical adventure that we embarked on nearly three years ago. Good night sweet princes. May we always look back on this run with the enthusiasm that we first looked upon it with.

I'm Back!

Ladies and Gentlemen...

Sorry about that. Had to be done. So let's see what's been happening in the Negative Zone. I know! A numbered list in no particular order except chronologically.

1. Stopped blogging after The Amazing Spidey-Man 1 was released in theaters only to make a triumphant return many moons later.

2. Saw Iron Man 3. Wasn't as angry about the Mandarin as most people were. Disliked most of the rest of the movie, but enjoyed it slightly more than Iron Man 2.

3. Saw Dark Knight Rises. Hated it with a passion. Talked in 'Bane Voice' for weeks.

4. Got into a serious car accident n wife's car on a rainy morning on a rainy highway. Seriously totaled car. Seriously unscratched driver. Said some serious Our Fathers.

5. Celebrated invulnerability after car accident by having a mancation with best buddy and playing video games and poisoning liver. New nickname is The Juggernaut.

6. Stopped ordering comics from DCBS and started up a pull list at my LCS, because it felt right.

7. Knocked up wife. Checked off an item on 'things to do' list.

8. Started watching Doctor Who. Finished entirety of rebooted Doctor Who series on Netflix in about a month. Became a fan of Doctor Who.

9. Dramatically decreased pull list to save for college fund. Started reading only good comics despite the effect it would have on The Negative Zone.

10. Was asked to take on illustration duties for a children's book that my sister's mother-in-law...or my brother-in-law's mother...or my mother's son-in-law's mother...whatever is writing. Panicked. Then handled it.

11. Drew my ass off for the book while taking labor and delivery classes with wife. Discovered what a doula was, Hired a doula.

11.5. Saw Man of Steel. Was impressed by the visual effects, but bored by the movie itself. Nonetheless happy to see Supes on the big screen again.

12. On June 28th (our anniversary) my wife went into labor. On June 29th(baby's actual due date) at 12:25am our child, Eliana Claire, was born. Life forever altered in an indescribably sleep-deprived and amazing way.

13. Tried Bacon Maple Kettle chips.

14. Started writing for blog again.

So you see, it's been quite a several months to a year or more for me. Fourteen things happened! I guess the logical thing to do would be to update you on what comics I'm reading. Here's my pull list as of the last few months:

-Saga by Vaughan/Staples (Image)
-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Eastman/Waltz/Santolouco (IDW)
-X-Men by Wood and Coipel/Lopez (Vol 4((Marvel)) -about to drop
-Daredevil by Waid/Samnee(Marvel)
-Trillium by Jeff Lemire (Vertigo)

I'm considering dropping X-Men only because it's pretty irrelevant and, like most launch titles, started out with a great artist and tapered off to a lesser one. I am thinking that I will keep up with my X-Books in trade and only the ones that matter (relatively speaking) or of particular interest to me. I want to read Uncanny X-Force and X-men Legacy, but I have to read Wolverine and the X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, and All-New X-men just to get the overlapping stories. TPB it is, unless I can find a super good deal on eBay for back-isssues.

Movie and TV news:
I am watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and not enjoying it very much. I think it's boring and needs more comic superheroes/villains. I'm staying with it only because I have faith in Joss Whedon and expect a payoff. It was just green lit for a full 22 episode season, so there's that.
Movies that I'm looking forward to are Cap 2, Thor 2, and Guardians of the Galaxy. I'm tentative on X-Men: days of Future Past. I don't give a crap about Ant Man, The Wolverine or Superman/Batman. I'm reserving judgement on Age of Ultron because I'm worried about lightning not striking twice for Whedon. Hoping we see some announcements about Dr Strange, Ms Marvel, Heroes for Hire, Flash, and Wonder Woman. All in all, it's a pretty exciting time to be a fan of comic book movies.

That's the happenings as of the last year or so. It feels good to be writing again and hope to keep at it.

Wolverine and The X-Men #17 - Doop Translations

Luckily, my wife picked up the X-Statix Omnibus awhile back in which I read cover-to-cover. It was like Rosetta Stone for Doop speak. So here's your Wolverine y Los X-Manos #17 translations:

Cover

Doop:          "If you think this is ridiculous, wait'll you see what happens on the inside."

Wolverine:  "You said it, bub."

Page 5

Wolverine:   "What do you say, Doop? Are ypu ready top be and X-Man?"

Doop:           "I think I'm good right where I'm at. Too bad you didn't ask back when being an X-Man still meant something."

Wolverine:   "Very funny, but I'm not leaving until you say yes."

Doop:           "Quit yourself."

Page 7

Wolverine:    "I'll give you full medical and dental. You get to set your own hours. You'll answer only to me."

Doop:            "Hmm...I'm thinking about it."

Doop:            "We'll talk more after you're done."

Wolverine:    "Fine. But if you don't say yes after this, to hell with you."

Wolverine:     "My name is James, and this is my impression of Cyclops...with six-inch claws stabbed into his face."

Doop:             "Okay. You win. I'm yours."

Page 9

ALERT!

Doop:             "Wha..!?"

Page 10

Nazi Bowler:  "Splendid. Ready your balls fpr destruction, my brothers!"

Doop:             "You can say that again!"

Page 11

Nazi Bowler:  "You dare! You dare steal the ball of a fourth reich thursday night intramural league champion! return it at once, you green-skinned monstrosity!"

Doop:              "If you insist."

Page 15

Howard the Duck:  "We've been in some tough spots before, pal, but never anything like this. What do you think we oughtta do?"

Doop:              "Kill them all, or die trying."

Page 17

Sabretooth:    "Damn it, you green lump of snot. Are you even listening to me?!"

Doop:             " I am now."

Hope that helps! I loved this issue and hope we get to see more Wolverine and Doop adventures, but only penciled by Mike Allred. This has inspired me to create a Doop font set.

Underwater Welder - More reasons to love Jeff Lemire

I promised myself last night that I would go on to Comixology and purchase a digital copy of Underwater Welder once my paycheck cleared. Well, it did and I did. I sat down with my Kindle tonight after having dinner with some friends and started reading. I am a pretty slow reader and I tend to linger on artwork for awhile, especially when I'm reading Jeff Lemire, but I couldn't stop and I completed the entire book and it's past my bedtime and I don't care because I need to talk about this. Jeff Lemire is dangerously good at sequential storytelling. What I mean by that is that I feel as though every time I read a Lemire written and drawn presentation, I am worried that he is peaking. I'm worried that someday, he will have gotten so good at pulling all of the right heart strings, that he won't have anywhere to go but down. How can he continue to create such moving literature? When the day comes that I put down a Jeff Lemire book and say it wasn't his best, I will stop reading comics.

How do we find ourselves caring so deeply for these characters? How can he tell a bigger story with a few splashes of ink than most artists can tell with their greatest collection of works? If I knew how he did it, I still couldn't hope to actually do it so beautifully.

I really don't want to give any details to this book in review form. You just have to experience it for yourself. The man just weaves miracles. It reminds me of Amelia from the comic Chew. She is a journalist who has the ability to write about food with such passion and detail, that the reader can actually feel the sensation of eating the food she's describing. Jeff Lemire has the power to magically pull us into his story and turn on an empathy that we weren't aware we were capable of.

There are no superheroes or space creatures or cybernetic dinosaurs or death rays in his tales, only realistic people with realistic skeletons in their closets. In a way, we must bare the weight of their world. You owe it to yourself to read everything that Jeff Lemire writes and illustrates. Sure, Animal Man, Frankenstein, and Justice League Dark are good mainstream comics, but I don't feel as if he is given the freedom to really pour his soul into these books.

Check out Underwater Welder, and if you haven't already, read Essex County, Lost Dogs, and his ongoing title Sweet Tooth. It will make you appreciate sequential storytelling in a brand new way.