Comicbörse Stuttgart 2009

As you may have noticed, it has been a while since my last post. As usual, just when I had all my ducks in a row for the next posts my computer commited suicide and it seems that my only option now is to take the harddrive and get a new computer.


So that means that it may take a while till I continue with the DC solicitations - or any solicitations for thast matter. The good news is that I was planning to write about something else in my next post anyway. At the end of November the Comicbörse took once again place and as usual I wanted to do a post about the comics I got there. Initially I was there to deliver the latest HORST translation in person ( since I forgot to make backups of the HORST data I had to sent for them again so it will take a while till the next one is online ) but as always the Comicbörse in Stuttgart is one of the few places where you can get hardcovers or trades at a reasonable price. Otherwise german comics are just too expensive.

So here is the first part of the swag I got. I don´t know how far I will come so I will start with the franco belgican part. Normally I have my big picture archive to draw upon but this time I have to get everything directly from the internet. We´ll see how that goes.

ODI`S BLOG 1 + 2


Yes, this may surprise some people but I have been known to read the occassional bande dessinee from time to time. It´s true, because of my exposure to only the best comics the american market has to offer I´m a bit picky when it comes to buying BDs. But from time to time there is one that catches my interest. This time it´s ODI`S BLOG by Sergio Garcia and Lola Moral.

The comic is a bit difficult to describe which is always a good sign. The stories are - well, here it begins. You see, all the pages in the comic are without words. So I don´t know if stories is the right words. The comic is about two main characters : one female, who has this haircut that makes her look a bit like Mickey Mouse; and a male who looks suspiciously like Tintin.


The episodes take place somewhere between our real world and the dreamscape, that magical twilight dimension where everything is possible. Like the Windsor McKay strip LITTLE NEMO the main character in the strip - mostly the female - goes about his everyday life, suddenly enters this other dimension and finally makes it back to our world. Of course without text it´s never explained if there really was a translocation to another dimension or if it was all in that persons mind - like a visionquest. Here a mountain of unironed clothes becomes a raging sea, a lonely stretch of road becomes a rollercoaster ride and the city a battlezone.


In any case it´s a very funny comic that`s also poetic and let´s you take a different look of the ordinary things in life and discover the Don Quixote that lies in us all.

Since the comic is without words SALLECK PUBLICATIONS, who is the german publisher, didn´t have to translate it. So far there have been two volumes which I bought together with a signed print. Normally the days for signed stuff is way behind me - except when I get something signed at a convention - but in this case I made an exception.

The book is not available at amazon right now but you can get it at the SALLECK PUBLICATIONS homepage where you can get them for 11 EUROS

DEAN YEAGLE SKETCHBOOK


I also got the Dean Yeagle sketchbook at Salleck. There was a Crisse sketchbook but with four sketches on a 18 x 22 book they were just too small. The Dean Yeagle sketchbook on the other hand had much bigger pictures. With 15 EUROS it was more expensive but being a signed and numbered edition it was O.K. Especially with a little discount that you get at comic fairs. I don´t think you can get the 48 pages paperback at the Salleck homepage ( at least I couldn´t find it ) but for those who are unfamiliar with the name here´s the product info :

Dean Yeagle has spent most of his career in animation, working first for Zander's Animation Parlour in New York City and then with his own animation company, Caged Beagle Productions. In 2000, he began drawing cartoons for Playboy Magazine, and continues to do so on a regular basis. He publishes books featuring his character 'Mandy', and does design work and consulting for animation, corporate clients, comic books, children's books and advertising, and appears at comic conventions throughout the world. He has had a one-man show at Galerie Arludik in Paris (2008). He is married to Barbara, has a daughter Rebecca, son-in-law Nick, and granddaughter (and pure joy) Lily. They all live in Southern California.


Site Web: caged beagle

THE WIZARD OF OZ


This adaption of the classic children´s book of Franck Baum by David Chauvel and Enrique Fernandez originally appeared in three tomes that were collected into one volume by Ehapa. Of course we all know the story - or at least that part of it that was adapted for the Judy Garland musical - but the comic manages to capture the flair of it.


Sadly there are a few things that I have to comment. First of, the reduction in size - from magazine sized album format to US format book size - really doesn´t work so well. It may be that it helped with keeping the price down but on some pages you have a hard time figuring out what is happening. The artwork is just too detailed for the small format.


Another thing that - at least - I found annoying is the final cut. Either the three chapters of the book weren´t cut very good or there was some accident when they were glued together. In any case the pages are uneven, it took me out of the reading experience and it doesn´t look very nice on the bookshelf.


Apart from that it´s a great book with wonderful art that really brings this classic tale to life. I can only recommend it as a present for the upcoming Christmas holidays. Some pages are a bit grey and dull but that´s only at the beginning and serves to show the transition form Dorothy´s world in Kansas and the wonderful land of Oz.



A few more pages :





CANARI


Canari is written by Crisse and drawn by the late Carlos Meglia who died last August. When I first saw this in my local comicshop I was a bit reluctant to buy it because it was a BD and not inked. Usually I prefer inked comics over those overcolored comics where every panel looks like an anime cel.


But being that this is the last work by Carlos and it was offered at a bargain price. Carlos Meglia wasn´t very well known in America, in fact on the few occasions where he worked for american publishers like on IMAGE´s WILDCATS there were some readers who mistook him for a Humberto Ramos rip off. Which is kind of funny since Humberto Ramos was influenced by Carlos Meglia. Maybe one of these days I will get around to do a proper post about Carlos Meglia and his famous Cyber Six series.


And that´s all for the first part. Maybe next time we will get to the other comics I bought but I may have to wait till after christmas for that since a lot of the stuff is going to end up as presents.

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DC Solicitations - part 1

It´s been almost a month since my last post which is rather longer than the usual gaps between posts here. But now I´m back to let my fellow readers know I´m still around.


The reason why I didn´t post the last few weeks is that I wanted to concentrate on translating the HORST stories for the new blogs. Normally I can do one in about a week, meaning that the translation of four up to six pages to english and spanisch takes about six to eight days. But this time I first had a rather difficult one to translate ( you try to find the englisch or spanish translation for Klosteine ) followed by a very long one of ten pages where I needed one week for the english and spanish each.

Since I vowed not to post till I was at least finished with those stories three weeks had passed like nothing. I know I could be faster but for that I would need my own studio. As long as that isn´t the case I don´t know when or how long I can work every day. And I´m still having shoulder problems thanks to the health care system not paying for my physiotherapy sessions anymore.

Right now there are two stories left to translate : one that is eight pages long and one where somebody talks with an austrian accent. I´ve finished the english version of the first one and for the second one I´m undecided between a texan accent and trying to do a 70´s blacksplotation ghetto speak version. Something like DOLEMITE.

So since my mother returns from Spain today and it´s not likely that I can get any work done on the translations I wanted to use the opportunity to start another installment of the unqualified look at the newest solicitations. As usual I´ll start with the DC stuff and see how long we´ll go ( and how many parts it will take ).

ASTRO CITY - THE DARK AGE - BOOK FOUR


Do I really have to pimp ASTRO CITY at this stage ? Doesn´t everybody already read this ?

For those two of you who don´t read it : ASTRO CITY is one of the best and most unique superhero books out there. If you are tired of reading event after event after event or the constant crossovers and retcons here´s a superhero universe - or much rather a superhero town - that actually makes sense. Yes, you heard right, while most writers start of a new superhero universe Kurt Busiek limits himself to one town.

Although " limit " may be the wrong word since he does more innovative storytelling than other writers who have a whole galaxy to roam. Kurt Busiek, who has won numerous awards for ASTRO CITY including various EISNERS, demonstrates that you can show the whole range of human condition in one little microcosmos which a town basically is. You don´t need a big Metropolis or the big city lights to get to the human part inside the superhero - or the heroic side inside the mild mannered reporter.

All the while Kurt Busiek builds layer upon layer of this superhero town not only mapping out the town itself but also the history of the superheroes of this town, their history, the history of his superhero world as well as the history of comic books. There´s always the history of our real life world underneath it all - of course peppered with intriguing questions like what the Silver Agent´s tragic story is.


Aided in this herculean task is Mr. Busiek by cover artist extraordinaire Alex Ross, who provides absolutely stunning covers for each issue and the capable Brent Anderson on the interior pages, whose art can look deceptively unspectacular at times but so far Í haven´t seen a single thing he hasn´t pulled off. From big cities, to alien space ships, to talking cartoon animals ( surprisingly one of the best issues ), to small country towns, to the great pyramids to the amazonian jungle there´s nothing he can´t draw effortlessly. If Kurt Busiek is the one to get you in touch with the people living in ASTRO CITY Brent Anderson is the one who gets you to feel the city vibe.

The trash in the rundown alleys, the hundreds of post-it notes on a reporters desk and even the wonderful logos for every company and store in the city Brent gives you the whole canvas of city life.


And even beyond that he´s equally a master of showing the big superhero fights with the big explosions as the little moments of human drama that makes up the life of the people in this not - so - ordinary town.


THE DARK AGE is Kurt Busiek´s longest running storyline - YET - that not only spans the length of four four issue books, it also tells the tale of the DARK AGE between the beginnings of the superhero community in ASTRO CITY ( which of course is an allegory for the comic industry of America on some level ) through the times of doubt and distrust of the 70s to the much darker and grimmer age that followed.

Our tourguides through the times are Charles and Royal two african american brothers ( no pun intended ) who witness their parents murders as kids and fall on different sides of the law.


One becomes a cop and the other a crook - with everything that means in a city like ASTRO CITY. Now this may sound a bit cliche but let me tell you : from the first issue you never waste a tought on this. The story is just too exciting to that. What starts as a simple black and white story takes turns and goes in circles as you learn that cops are not always the good ones and there may be more honor among thieves. In the end you´re not sure who wears the white hats and the black hats. And if there really is a difference.


Of course there is the backdrop of the story : all the changes in the superhero society while more heroes get fleshed out and we finally learn more of the Silver Agents tragic end.

In the past ASTRO CITY has suffered from gaps in the publishing schedule but by chamging from ongoing to four four issue arcs ( with specials between them ) that problem has been solved. So far the first three books have come out, each on time with not a single issue skipped and the series is now on the break inbetween with the special issues that focus on ASTRA - the First Family´s teen member - coming out. At 3.99 it´s in the higher price category but if you compare this to other books by the big two it´s worth every penny.

Along with USAGI YOJIMBO, SAVAGE DRAGON and now ECHO ( before it was STRANGERS IN PARADISE ) this series will stay on my reading list as long as it´s being published because - as the afore mentioned - it brings you the unique quality that only a book that follows one artists unique vision can.


If you haven´t read ASTRO CITY, now is the right time to get in on this story arc as the first book is already available as a trade. I´m sure if you try it out you may become a regular visitor to ASTRO CITY.



BATMAN AND ROBIN 8


Not much to say about this one. I liked the first three issues by Frank Quitely but I´d have to see the following first - hand before deciding to buy them. With the increase of a lot of books to 3.99 ( although not this one ) you have to select a bit more as I really found out the last time I was at the comic store. Because this time around I only had one or two 3.99 books and that added a considerable number of books I could take home.

This Saturday there is the Comicfair in Stuttgart and maybe I can check out the issues there. If you are like me waiting for Mr. Quitely´s return to the pages of BATMAN AND ROBIN you can get your monthly Batman fix with BATMAN - THE UNSEEN.


This series by BATMAN - GOTHAM AFTER MIDNIGHT artist Kelley Jones and Batman veteran writer Doug Moench. The untold story of Bruce Wayne´s past ( of which we will be reading more now that they have wasted the O.B. - original Batman ) is really hitting it out the ballpark each issue.

BOOSTER GOLD 29


Another series I highly enjoy each month is BOOSTER GOLD. At first I passed up on this great book that combines some of my favorite stuff : time travel, alternate realities and Booster Gold and Blue Beetle. Dan Jurgens writes the story of the best hero nobody knows as former superhero blunder Booster becomes the secret defender of the timestream.

As one of the books from DC that has gone up from 2.99 to 3.99 I have to pay more for the book but because they have added BLUE BEETLE ( the new one ) as a back up feature it lessens the impact a bit. Although I have to say that there has been better art on the book which looks more like BLUE BEETLE ANIMATED now.

GEN 13 issue 34


Why is this book still being published ? With each new incarnation the series just gets worse and worse and worse. Worse art, worse writing, worse stories, worse main characters. There are seldom such books where you can experience the gradual decrease of quality while readin it. This is one of them. And don´t let the cover by Amanda Conner fool you, normally the covers suck too ! If I had to sum up the bad parts of this book I would probably just repeat the verdict about the bad part in DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION : Just about everything ! Whatever you do.....don´t buy this book.

JONAH HEX 52


Finally I can buy a new issue of JONAH HEX as Jordi Bernet returns on penciling duty. I already did an extensive review of his issues here :

Hex appeal

Getting a new issue by Jordi Bernet is always a treat and I already know this one will be no exception. One of these days I have to check out the issues by other artists to see if they are as kickass. As I have to do another post on Jordi Bernet´s comic book work.

And this brings us to the end of this part as - once again - our time is up for today. In the next part of the DC solicitations we will get to Power Girl, more JSA than you can shake a stick at ( although I can´t fathom for the life of me why anybody would want to shake a stick at the JSA ) and even more Power Girl.


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Bargain books ( and some links )

This was supposed to be just a quick post but as usual it took me far longer. I just wanted to do a post about the new bargain priced books I have added to my amazon store.


I really should be doing something else like finally starting on the english version of the next HORST story. But it took me extremely long to find out the regular prices for the items. In some cases I couldn´t find any. Now I´m always feeling a bit guilty when doing this amazon posts but in Today´s economy you have to save whenever you can. Not only with comics. And if you can get the new CAPTAIN AMERICA - MAN WITH NO FACE hardcover for 8.40 bucks I think it is my obligation to inform my readers. If they take that offer is up to them.

There are a few items to which I wanted to add a few things but I didn´t write about all the new items. Just check out my amazon store and I hope you can find something for your collection.

INCREDIBLE HERCULES / AGAINST THE WORLD trades

One of the best series at Marvel right now is INCREDIBLE HERCULES. As one of the few books still at 2.99 the art has been a bit lacking during the trial of Zeus storyline but has improved in the latest issues. Anyway it´s worth it for the story alone. There are too many books out there who takes themselves way too serious so it´s a breath of fresh air to read a book that´s entertaining, action packed and funny at the same time.

If you haven´t checked this book out here´s your chance to get the first trade - in which the whole story began - for a measly 7.90 EURO instead of 14.99. It´s written by Greg Pak and illustrated by Gary Frank and collects issues 106 - 111. And to top it all off the second trade AGAINST THE WORLD collecting issues 112 - 115 and the " Hulk Vs. Hercules : When Titans Collide " is priced at 5.90 EUROS instead of 14.99. It has beautiful covers by Arthur Adams and the Ares / Wonder Man team up is one of the funniest ever. But you shouldn´t think too long about it as there are only three copies left.

edit : the AGAINST THE WORLD trade for 5.90 has sold out


INFERNO hardcover

Now this is one of my favorite storylines of all the X - Men books. When I added this item to my amazon store I wondered why this is regularly priced at 75 US Dollars. But through some research I found out that it has about 300 pages more than the trade edition I have. Apart from the issues in the trade it also has X - FACTOR 33 - 35, X - FACTOR annual 4 and X - TERMINATORS 1 - 4. If you don´t have it in your collection you can get it now for 31.40 EUROS.

edit : the INFERNO hardcover for 31.40 has sold out

MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS first trade

There is not much to add to what I wrote in my big MADMAN post :

In MADMANS ATOMIC COMICS the whole issue of finding out who we are, where we are coming from and where we are going to becomes the center of the story. But MADMAN is not only one giant headtrip into the frontiers of human existence, a rollercoaster ride to unknown metphysical and religious heights. It´s also an adventure full of weird science, rocket ships, space aliens, superhero teams like the Atomics, birth, death and rebirth ( and cloning ). It has action, drama, romance, adventure, phylosophy and spirituality. It´s full of crazy ideas, wonderful concepts and a pure love for life and the comic medium which you can see on every page.


The trade is usually priced at 19.99 I think but you can get it now for 8.40 EUROS at amazon. It´s already in my amazon store and there are only.......no, it´s also already gone. I hope you got your copy.

SPIDER - MAN / HUMAN TORCH : I´M WITH STUPID hardcover

This five issue mini series by Dan Slott and Ty Templeton is one of the best Spidey stories I have read. It takes a look at the rivalry turned friendship between Spider - Man and the Human Torch through the ages. Not only does it manage to evoke the flair and art style of the different areas the issues take place it also manages to include such craziness like the Spidermobile and the Twinky ads. And it has a great story to boot. So if you want to have a great Spidey book from back before all this BRAND NEW DAY madness started you should check this out.

The regular price for the hardcover is 17.99 $ and it has 128 pages. There is a digest size versiona vailable for 7.99 $ but with the hardcover available for 8.90 EURO at amazon you should spend the extra buck.

edit : this bargain priced book has already sold out


WOLVERINE WEAPON X trade

There is not much anyone can say about this that hasn´t already been said. Barry Windsor Smith´s mini series that first appeared in MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS is one of the quintessential Marvel classics and should be in every comic collection - not only X - Men fans or Wolverine fans. Normally selling for 16.99 it´s now available for 7.40 EUROS.

edit : the bargain priced version has also sold out

Also in the bargain book section :

ANITA BLAKE GUILTY PLEASURES 1 trade 11.20 EURO instead of 14.99 ( hardcover at amazon 13.99 ).
ANITA BLAKE GUILTY PLEASURES 2 trade 9.90 EURO instead of 15.99.
ANITA BLAKE FIRST DEATH trade 10.99 EURO instead of 14.99.
CAPTAIN AMERICA - THE MAN WITH NO FACE HC 8.40 EUROS instead of 19.99.


CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI13 1 trade 9.40 EURO instead of 15.99 ( 5 copies left ).
CLOAK AND DAGGER : CHILD OF DARKNESS, CHILD OF LIGHT HC 11.90 EUROS instead of 19.99 ( 5 copies left ).
MIGHTY AVENGERS SECRET INVASION 1 HC 13.99 EURO instead of 19.99 ( 3 copies left ).
MIGHTY AVENGERS SECRET INVASION 2 HC 14.99 EURO instead of 19.99 ( 1 copy left ).

edit : a few items have already sold out :

52 AFTERMATH - THE FOUR HORSEMEN trade 8.90 EUROS
NEAL ADAMS MONSTER trade ( 68 pages ) 6.90 EUROS
STAR TREK - ASSIGNMENT EARTH trade for 8.40 EUROS

As I said, you can get them from my amazon store. And don´t wait too long since they can go rather quickly. You can also find more bargain books right here in the bargain section of amazon.de

the link section

As usual a few assorted links of interest :

Robot 6´s comic book college takes a look at Jack Kirby´s work


APE has a spotlight on Jeff Smith. In related news Jeff Smith announced new Bone projects ( this news is a bit older ).

Today´s links are a bit like SESAME STREET. Today´s letter is J. J is for Jack Kirby. J is for Jeff Smith. J is for Jim Steranko. Comic master and graphic visionaire Jim Steranko did a Q & A at the Big Apple Comic Con

J is also for Joe Quesada who also had a Q & A at the Big Apple Comic Con

As is Jim Lee´s Q & A at the Big Apple Comic Con

So I guess this was the reason they were not at the Marvel panel at the Big Apple Comic Con ( only kidding ) which in turn became a conversation between fans and Carlos Pacheco and Mike Choi

The Baltimore Comic Con had a spotlight on Stan Sakai

AVENGERS - THE INITIATIVE headwriter Christos Gage speaks about what happens beyond issue 28


MIGHTY AVENGERS writer Dan Slott talks about his plans beyond issue 29

Geoff Johns PRIME is back and talks about his writing on various books like FLASH REBIRTH, SUPERMAN SECRET ORIGIN and BLACKEST NIGHT

In related news there is a road to blackest night, the daily news on blackest night ( with some spoilers ), an article about blackest night titans ( spoilers ) and a spotlight on Geoff Johns

In the sales charts DC´s BLACKEST NIGHT is picking up speed, some titles are even going up around 1,000 copies from the previous issue like Green Lantern 46, and the second issues of two titles ( Blackest Night Batman and Blackest Night: Superman ) actually selling more copies than the first issues, a very rare occurrence.

With Marvel it seems that the price increase to 3.99 is starting to take it´s toll as the Ultimate 2s ( Avengers and Spider - Man ) dropped a around 25,000 copies each from the first issues. Another title recently converted to 3.99, Hulk, is also down substantially, with issue 15 down about 18,700 copies from the previous issue. I think this has something to do with the decline in the quality of the stories and Ed McGuiness departure as regular artist. Read the full coverage of the September sales charts


It´s been a while since I posted links for new episodes for ComicGeekSpeak because I´m soo far behind it´s not even funny anymore but they have two new ones that might be interesting. Dan Jurgens is currently writing and drawing the immensly popular and successful ( at least I hope it is ) BOOSTER GOLD series and Sal Buscema is providing inks for SPIDER - GIRL which has recently moved in to the new WEB OF SPIDER - MAN anthology title. Both are longtime comic veterans and have interesting stories to tell.

a conversation with Sal Buscema

a conversation with Dan Jurgens

To finish this post here´s the first clip of the Dr. Strange movie. The TV series pilot movie ( 1978 ) originally aired on CBS, and starred Peter Hooten as Dr. Stephen Strange, Sir John Mills as Lindmer " The Ancient One ", co - starring Jessica Walter as Morgan Le Fey. It seems they changed Dr. Strange from a snobby bastard to the medical version of Ghandi in this one. I think you can watch the whole thing on YouTube. IF you want.



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This is Morgan Edge signing off by saying : God bless America. And God save Metropolis !

You´re fired !

Yes, like I figured I got the call Yesterday that my new life as a working class stiff is over before it had really begun. Which may be for the best.


Yesterday I was too bummed to do a post so I wrote some new reviews for amazon for the things in my shop. I wanted to add my reviews directly in the part where I can write stuff but they have a limit of how long it can be. I have used what I have written on my blog so far.....which I have to confess has to be edited somehow. Here I´m used to get on a tangent and talk about all kind of things which have nothing or very little to do with the comic. In my amazon reviews I have to stick to the topic and just put in what the reader needs to know.

Even so I have noticed that my reviews are still a bit too long for my taste so I have to see if I can make them shorter. Now I´m not going to write a review for every article that I put in my shop. I know, if I make a recommendation then I should explain my reasons but on one side that´s what the blog is for. On the other side there is always the short info text that is sometimes followed by one or two reviews. In that case I don´t think it´s necessary to add a third, fourth or fifth review. Especially if everything important is already said.

I will still be doing reviews for comics that have none so far. A few of the reviews I wrote are already up and there will be more in the days to come.


Besides writing reviews I didn´t do much Yesterday. I was still hurting from Monday and my whole left back was aching. Today it´s a bit better and I can move almost normally. I already got my tax card back but I still got the working shoes the temp agency left me. At the moment I think I´ll just keep them. Maybe I will bring them back if they want to bill me for it. They said they will give me a ring when they have another job offer that doesn´t involve as much physical work - which could take a few months.

In the meantime I´m still waiting on a few comics I ordered because there was a snafu in my order. Apparently I ordered some issues twice because at first they didn´t appear in the shopping cart and I forgot to check how many copies I ordered. It´s all cleared up now but as usual it takes longer to get here.

One of the comics I ordered is AMAZING SPIDER - MAN FAMILY which contains the Spider - Girl comics. For months I tried to order them but I couldn´t find them because I thought they were included in the SPIDER - MAN FAMILY comics and didn´t know there was a AMAZIN SPIDER - MAN FAMILY. Yes, it´s not easy following Spider - Girl. I´m thinking about giving it to my brother as a Christmas present as he is the one who has all the other Spider - Girl comics. But that depends if he´s interested in following her over to the new WEB OF SPIDER - MAN title. If not I will buy them for myself. I just hope there are no gaps between the FAMILY issues and the WEB issues.


Is it just me or is Marvel making it extremely difficult to read Spider - Girl ? I can see why it´s so difficult ( meaning nearly impossible ) for readers outside the comicscene to follow certain characters.

And speaking about comics I ordered and which DID arrive in the meantime. The INVINCIBLE trades have finally arrived and I have already read them. So I´m looking forward to delight my readers with the awesomeness that is Invincible. I just got two words for you : totally Airwolf !


Another comic that has arrived is MARVEL MASTERS : THE ART OF JOHN BYRNE from PANINI UK. Looking for comics to put in my amazon store I came across this thing which had no details on the amazon page about what it is. I also couldn´t find anything through Google, PANINI UK or the website of the printer of the thing. My brother told me to order it anyway as he always buys all kind of how - to - draw stuff. Well, as it turns out THE ART OF JOHN BYRNE is really not so much about the art of John Byrne but rather the comics of John Byrne so I´m the one who´s stuck with it.

Meaning that MARVEL MASTER : THE ART OF JOHN BYRNE offers no drawings, sketches or interviews - only comics. It´s priced at 17,99 has over 300 pages and includes comics from all over his career at Marvel. Which seem to be selected rather randomly. It includes some number ones, some specials and some odd comics. For a selection of number ones they should have included his first issue of Fantastic Four, Uncanny X - Men, Captain America, Alpha Flight and X - Men : The Hidden Years. For a BEST OF THE BEST they should have included the THIS LAND IS MINE story from Fantastic Four or the story with the Beyonder and Johnny Storm. Or something big like THE TRIAL OF GALAKTUS. And another issue from She Hulk like the one with Santa Claus or where she´s skipping rope.


There also were some issues of NAMOR where he experimented a little with his art style that would have been more fitting for a collection called THE ART OF.

So for my taste it is quite a lot of reading material but the selection seems rather random. There are other tomes available about Alan Davis, John Romita, John Romita Jr. and John Buscema. But without knowing which comics are included I´m not inclined to order more. I just can´t risk twenty bucks without knowing what I´m going to get. Okay, in the case of John Buscema that´s not much of a gamble since most of his comics are good. But I thought the same of John Byrne and there are some comics in the trade ( which is strangely labeled as Graphic Novel on every page ) like the Kyle Baker inked Avengers Annual 14 that are really not his best work.

I already have most of the comics in this volume in one form or the other as I said for a special edition the selection is just too random. If you are new to Marvel comics and John Byrne you get a good overview of the different stuff he did and the way his style changed over the years. Just don´t give it to non - comic readers as a present since most of the stories are continued elsewhere. If you are a longtime reader you probably have most of this stuff and should skip it.


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As there´s precious little water to be found, I see it as our civic duty to drink beer.