And a Happy All Hallow´s Eve to you !

Welcome, my fellow ghosts and werewolves, vampires, zombies and other creatures of the night. Happy Sammhain, praised be the Goddess and all hail to the Green King and all things fertile and growing.


Another year has passed and we meet again on All Hallow´s Eve, the night when the boundaries between the living world and the spirit world are at their thinnest and contact is possible. After Saturday´s long post I didn´t expect to do another one Today especially because I spent most of the day trying to phone some people to get information concerning my new job. I couldn´t reach most of them which on the other hand means I´m not working Today so I can spend the night with the things you ought to do on Halloween.

Man, I was so busy with the new possible new job that I almost forgot Halloween. I had to go to the supermarket really late and when I was finally there it took me at least 20 minutes to find the Milka Oreo bars. Yesterday I watched another episode of SLEDGE HAMMER while trying my first Milka Oreo and this could become my new favorite over Milka Daim.


So I remembered to buy more chocolate but I was totally surprised that some kids were actually Trick or Treating in my neighbourhood. So I wasn´t prepared and by the time I thought about giving them some free comics they were already at the next house. Yes, I think it will be still a few years until Halloween totally catches on here in Germany. Like I said I already did a bit of Pre - Halloween partying on the weekend because german tv stations show all the horror movies during the weekend even if Halloween DOES NOT fall on that weekend.

Which on one side defeats the purpose of the Halloween special since it´s not shown ON Halloween. On the other side it´s nice that they are making an effort to celebrate Halloween at all and Yesterdays CRIMINAL MINDS episode took place during Devil´s Night. Normally they show the Christmas specials on Easter, the Easter specials on Summer and the Halloween specials in May on german television. I think one of the few exceptions are the SIMPSON´S Halloween specials which are shown around Halloween. I guess it´s because they have such a huge fanbase here since they sell ten times as much copies of the comic than in America.

I used to buy all the various comics, mostly the ones with Radioactive Man but apart from the spanish issues I only buy FUTURAMA from time to time and the BART SIMPSON´S TREEHOUSE OF HORROR specials. The german editions of comics like FUTURAMA even have an extensive glossary section because you have to explain things like Neil Gaiman´s Dream, the Speed Force or DC´s various speedsters to the german non - comic reading audience.


I think that´s one of the things why the Simpson comics are so successfull here : the people who translate them expect you to be familiar with the simpson characters but not much else. So anybody can enjoy the comics no matter at which entry level they are.

But back to Halloween. Aside from my last post, where I put all new Halloween things I have already done posts on hot horror hotties , HORRORSCHOCKER , Krabat , the DARKNESS and DYLAN DOG , Richard Corben´s HAUNT OF FEAR : EDGAR ALLEN POE , Richard Corben´s HELLBOY IN MEXICO , part 1 , part 2 and part 3 of my ELVIRA posts and last year´s grindhoouse horror comic double feature time I want to spotlight 2 comics that are guaranteed to give you goosebumps : BATMAN - THE UNSEEN and HELLBOY - THE CROOKED MAN and OTHERS.

Right now I´m sitting in my room with the lights out listening to another episode of GEISTERJÄGER JOHN SINCLAIR. THE JANUSHEAD KILLER is a big fan favorite and I thought maybe some of my readers who haven´t tried the new audioplays, or who have already listened to a few of them but don´t have that particular audioplay, want to join in on the fun. To tell the truth I was on YouTube looking for some clip to watch while listening but I found the whole thing in one video. No picture except the cover but the important thing is the sound. So without further ado : John Sinclair - Der Mörder mit dem Januskopf.



Another REALLY scary thing I found is somebody´s casting for the villains in the big AVENGERS movie that´s coming up. Since everybody who saw the THOR movie already knows the cosmic cube is involved somebody thought that 80s villain / all powerful entity the Beyonder might make an appearance.


Yah, who better to play a mad and omnipotent malignant cosmic entity than the Hoff ? And you know that the movie is going to be sold out all over Germany. Man, those tickets are going to sell better than Sauerkraut with Schnitzel, mein Freund !

To compensate you for that shocker here´s another one but in a good way. Guess who´s the newest addition to Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 ? I´m giving you a hint. It has to do with the three Fs : fur, flying and firing and it´s NOT a ferret.



The next two episodes of SUPERNATURAL are on in a few minutes, so I hope you have a lot of fun tonight, and that you get a lot of candy when you´re trick or treating. And that you picked the right costume IF you´re dressing for the occassion.


New to the blog ? Everything you need to know about TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN : top ten posts / more posts of interest

In preparation for Halloween

It´s been quite some time since my last post but something always came up when I was just about to get started. That´s so typical, I even change the look for Halloween but then don´t get to benefit from it.


By the way how do you like the new look ? So far I have had a few comments who have said that they like it better than the normal look. So what do you think ? Should it become a permanent thing ?

Today I´m feeling like I have been run over by a truck ( and a very large one at that ) because Yesterday I was at the Stadionbad for a job interview as addition to the sauna cleaning staff and at the evening I worked with the cleaning crew to see if it´s something I can do.

As it was the first time that I went back to cleaning work I´m not accustomed to it yet but maybe I´ll have a regular job soon. The only negative is that I´m not sure if the busses are still running when I finish work after midnight but I could go by bus and walk to Neckarweihingen. That would be better than having to drive all the way with the car at night since I´m night - blind. Another negative is that IF I manage to get the job I will never hear the end of it since my brother told me to send the application. On the other side a job means more money for comics.

Usually I´m doing comic news and links for the weekend but this time I´m doing it a little different because I´m posting stuff for Halloween. I wanted to do a big one on Halloween but since that doesn´t fall on the weekend this year I will probably be busy with other stuff. Which also means that there will be no talk about DC´s new 52 in this post. Yay !


QUOTH THE RAVEN " NEVERMORE "

For those who haven´t kept up with the bloggers on the blogroll GOLDEN AGE COMIC BOOK STORIES is doing a series about Edgar Allan Poe adaptions to comic and art and has such great post like Bernie Wrightson´s Edgar Allan Poe portfolio


or the poem THE RAVEN illustrated by the great Gustave Doré . I wanted to add one of Gustave Doré´s illustrations as an example but I would have had to cut it in size in order to post it and that wouldn´t do the intricate and elaborate linework by the great master any justice. Just head on over to GOLDEN AGE COMIC BOOK STORIES and marvel at his craftsmanship.

There´s also a post with Richard Corben´s comic adaption of the same poem from CREEPY 67 published in December 1974


and one with all black and white Edgar Allan Poe adaptions by Warren publications including THE TELL - TALE HEART by Reed Crandall ( Creepy 3, June 1965 ), THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO also by Reed Crandall ( Creepy 6, December 1965 ), BERENICE by Jerry Grandenetti ( Eerie 11, September 1967 ), one of my favorite tales of all times THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH by Tom Sutton ( Eerie 12, November 1967 ), THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER also by Tom Sutton ( Creepy 20, May 1968 ) and - last but not least - THE BLACK CAT once again by Berni Wrightson ( Creepy 62, May 1974 ).


All of the stories are worth reading if you haven´t read them previously but I think the story by Bernie Wrightson is the best known of the lot because it has been reprinted a few times. I first read it in the color version in Pacific Comics´ BERNIE WRIGHTSON - MASTER OF THE MACABRE series that had just loads of Wrightson goodness.


Over at GREAT CAESAR´S POST Max Romero continues his COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN, presenting the most horrific movie scenes and Ol´Groove from DIVERSIONS OF THE GROOVY KIND has 13 cool and creepy Werewolf by Night covers by Monster Master Mike Ploog.

WAY OF THE GUN

Not really Halloween or horror related, but interesting nevertheless ( and twice as interesting for people outside of Germany ) : aside from CHRISTOPH ROOS´ usual pop culture assortment of posts about Bruce Lee´s FIST OF FURY, turkish cigarettes, Juanita Banana, collectible cards, alien abductions or the newest illustrations of BUCH DER SCHATTEN there´s currently a western motif going on with topics like the different kind of holsters


colts and other revolvers


gunslingers , the cult classic A FISTFULL OF DOLLARS , german western movies or Carl Lindeberg the best known illustrator of Germany´s most famous western writer Karl May. Fascinating, surprising and a source of research material you won´t find anywhere else, be sure to give it a look.

SINCE WE GOT BLOOD AND VIOLENCE ALREADY COVERED

I wanted to do this post Yesterday but since there were two celebrity birthdays I thought I could wait one more day because I´ve had some complaints about too many hot babes on the blog. And I was busy with the job interview stuff.

The first one was Jami Gertz ( 46 ) who was in such 80s movies like BELOW ZERO and is now the hot Mom on the comedy series STILL STANDING. She appeared in the vampire movie THE LOST BOYS ( so it´s kind of fitting for Halloween ) which also had a comic version


and the other one was Lauren Holly ( 48 ) best known for playing new director Jenny Shepard on Navy CIS but who also was on the family show PICKET FENCES that - probably - still sells on DVD thanks to a dream sequence in which she appeared in a bikini ( episode 14 of season 1 ).


The kid in the episode is experiencing his first wet dreams and I bet Lauren Holly made a generation of kids reach puberty prematurely.

I thought I had my bases cover but fate is a fickle thing. What´s the old saying : Life is what happens while you are making other plans. Today there are also two hot actresses celebrating their respective anniversaries so, to paraphrase one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century, what the heck : Winona Ryder who appeared in one of the best DRACULA adaptions by Francis Ford Coppola turns 40 Today


and hot nubian sex godess Gabrielle Union, who starred in popular tv series LIFE and FLASH FORWARD, and the movies 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, BRING IT ON, BAD BOYS II and CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE.


Gabrielle celebrates her 39th birthday and she says her best ASSet is her bum. Boy, she really got some serious back ! To quote Sir Mix - Alot : My homeboys tried to warn me, but that butt you got makes me so horny !

Feliz cumpleaño to all four.

THINGS TO MAKE YOU WANNA SCREAM

I have mentioned the SPIKE TV SCREAM AWARDS 2011 in my last post and I know it´s been some time since they were aired but in Germany they weren´t broadcasted this year. Usually pro 7 shows it live but this year they didn´t for some strange reason. Maybe the audience was too low, which may have something to do with the fact that THEY NEVER ANNOUNCED IT IN THE TV GUIDE so the only ones who could watch it were the unemployed, nightowls and other persons with sleeping disorders.

As for my own Halloween celebration, I have got my midnight snacks ( Milka Daim and the new Milka Oreo ), my horror audio with the third part of GEISTERJÄGER JOHN SINCLAIR - DIE ULTIMATIVE HORROR SAMMLUNG, some horror reading material with volume 70 of CASE CLOSED that includes the flesh curling story CURSE OF THE DEMON DOG, the newest issue of HAMMERHARTE HORRORSCHOCKER ( preview pages ) with its usual collection of spine - tingling horror tales


and the second trade of Chris Roberson´s and Mike Allred´s emo / hip / avantgarde I ZOMBIE. I had hoped to do a review of the first two trades for Halloween but it´s probably not going to happen.


What´s definitely going to happen is the next episode of DOCTOR WHO which looks like it´s going to be a real screamer. I tried to watch some episodes during the week but I just never got to it. And I really have to start watching them as they are clogging my hard drive.

HAMMER HORROR ( SLEDGE HAMMER AND JACKHAMMER DORI DOREAU )

What I have been watching the last days is the 80s cult tv series SLEDGE HAMMER starring David Rasche as Sledge Hammer that I got on DVD.


I have to confess that I mainly bought it because it was a bargain ( both seasons for 10 bucks instead the usual 20 ) and of course for Anne Marie Martin who plays Sledge´s partner Dori Doreau ( Bare with me, faithful readers, I´ll explain in a minute ) but so far it´s really entertaining. Since I´m used to the german dubbing I´m watching the german version which is especially interesting because the parts that were cut out for tv are in the original english version. So when you´re watching it and they are suddenly talking in english you know those are the parts they cut.


In the first episode there is an entire scene that was cut for television in which Hammer interrogates a criminal by pouring hot coffee on his legs and then do his own impression of sharp shooter Wilhelm Tell - although his version includes a gun and ballons. It´s unbelievable that they cut it !

But I know, you´re all thinking about the Anne Marie Martin thing being a factor for buying the series. Wasn´t Dori Doreau looking pretty normal ?

Yes, on most episodes she dresses really conservative but there are a few exceptions like the episode MODEL DEAREST in which Dori infiltrates a model agency that´s really white slavery ring and in which Sledge Hammer almost blows her cover. Anne Marie Martin really gets to strut her stuff when she´s posing as a model which is totally believable because while she plays a really classy lady in the series there´s an absolutely stunning physique beneath it all. With her trim and fit body and those incredibly long legs she could double the sales number of any men´s magazine.

But there´s more true believers, because the criminal organisation is not the only thing that gets uncovered in the episode. There´s a scene where the models are presented to one of the possible buyers where Anne Marie Martin pops out this mindblowing piece. Holy bikini atoll, Batman !


No wonder the client says : " She´ll make a good wife AND a concubine. " Her partner may be Sledge Hammer but I bet she´s a real jackhammer. Like the song says : We want a lady in the street but a freak in the bed !

Oh, and for those readers who need a comic connection : she appeared in the unsuccessful 1978 DOCTOR STRANGE series pilot / telefim.

So that´s all for today as I´m already running late again to wrap things up. If I don´t manage to write another post before Halloween I´m wishing you a splendid time and like they always said in the COUNT DUCKULA cartoon : " Goodnight out there...WHATever you are ! "

Today we got two clips. The first one is the intro for COUNT DUCKULA, one of the funniest horror cartoon series ever. The comics are equally hilarious and if you find them in a dollar bin you should get them.


This is where Peter David got his " And don´t call me Shirley. " from that he so blatantly used in most of his comics.



The second clip is the model showcase from SLEDGE HAMMER´s episode MODEL DEAREST where Anne Marie Martin shows off her hardbody.



Speaking about hardbodies, since I like to add another clip every time I have to redo one of my old posts below the 5 videos limit here´s Lauren Holly in her black bikini from the most watched episode of Picket Fences.



New to the blog ? Everything you need to know about TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN : top ten posts / more posts of interest

You all laugh because I am different. I laugh because you are all the same.

Today just some public announcements

Since I spent most of my weekend writing the last two posts and Yesterday I was busy doing things in Ludwigsburg Today´s post is just going to be a short post with some public announcements.

STUTTGARTER COMICBÖRSE RETURNS ON NOVEMBER THE 26TH


I don´t think I have to mention it to my german readers but for all those who haven´t looked so far or who have forgotten : like usual the Comicbörse Stuttgart is once again taking place 4 weeks before Christmas, just in time to do some early Christmas shopping.

I know it´s where I like to do my christmas shopping because it´s one of the few places where I can get those expensive german hardcover comics with some kind of discount. Even if they are only for my own collection a visit always pays off, may it be to get comics at a discount price, get some comics signed by comic artists ( I hope I can get a signed copy of the new HARTMUT comic that´s out ) or meet and greet with the usual suspects.

The event is - of course - taking place at the usual locality of the DGB Gewerkschaftshaus in the Willi - Bleicher Str. 20 and you can get there via public transport.

AMAZON GERMANY SLASHES PRICES

Speaking about discount prices, this is another announcement solely for my german readers. Amazon.de is doing a sales campaign where you get three english books for 15 EUROS. Normally I wouldn´t mention this on my blog but besides a dozen discworld novels there are also some comic trades among those offered and the campaign ends at the end of this month.

Going through the books I just ordered volumes 13, 14 and 15 of FABLES since it´s a series I was half - interested but never had the budget to try it. Okay, those may not be the best trades to start but at 5 bucks each, it´s worth a try.


There are other books in the mix I wanted to order like BATMAN - THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, BATMAN - YEAR ONE, GREEN LANTERN - NO FEAR, GREEN LANTERN - REBIRTH or GREEN LANTERN - THE SINIESTRO CORPS WAR Vol 1, but since I already have them in another form I opted for comics I don´t own already.

Originally I wanted to also get THE UNWRITTEN Vol 1 - TOMMY TAYLOR AND THE BOGUS IDENTITY since it seems this could become my new VERTIGO BOOK to follow but you can only get 3 books for 15 EUROS so I opted for the FABLES pack. Also with a price of 8.40 EUROS it´s much more affordable regularly than the FABLES trades which go for 11 bucks. Other trades include 100 BULLETS Vols 1 and 2, Alan Moore´s LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN Vols 1 and 2 and PROMETHEA Vol 1, Brian Wood´s DMZ Vols 6 and 10, and NORTHLANDERS Vols 1 and 5, Charles Burns BLACK HOLE, JACK OF FABLES Vol 9, PREACHER Vols 2 and 3, THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE, Y - THE LAST MAN Vols 4, 5, 6 and 8, RED ROBIN - THE HIT LIST and BATMAN - BATTLE FOR THE COWL.

Not really the newest releases but you may be able to close some gaps in your collection or start some new ones. As always these books go fast so don´t wait too long and use the links : all books / comic trades

TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN CHRISTMAS CONTEST RETURNS

Because of the huge success of last year´s big Christmas Contest I have decided to give away even more free comics this year. The big announcement with the list of comics I´m giving away will follow, but I just wanted to remind my german readers that a whole bunch of comics from GRATIS COMIC TAG 2011 will be among them.


I still haven´t finished my reviews but if you want a certain comic like PROFESSOR BELL, UNGEBREMSTER SPASS, DER SKORPION, PEANUTS, THE GOON, DER TOD UND DAS MÄDCHEN, POLLY UND DIE PIRATEN, DIE MÜLLERS, TALES FROM THE VAULT OF THE GRINGO, HOLZHOF COMIX, COMICS FÜR ALLE, GREEN MANOR, DIE UNGLAUBLICHE REISE DER ABRAFAXE, DER COMIC ZUM FESTIVAL, BONGO COMICS FÜR UMME, THOR, GREEN LANTERN, ZARLA, MONSIEUR JEAN, BOULE & BILL, CANARDO, DIE SCHLÜMPFE, WEISSBLECHS GRATIS GEISTERSTUNDE or DIE TOTEN just let me know and I´ll see if I can reserve you a copy.

As usual there are also going to be a few comics from last year´s GRATIS COMIC TAG and FREE COMICBOOK DAY in the bag to give away. Sorry, no comics from this year´s FREE COMICBOOK DAY since I still haven´t gotten any from my local comicshop. I got some from online comicshops but I also have to write the reviews for those and I´m not sure if I can finish them up till christmas.

One last thing since we´re talking about this year´s GRATIS COMIC TAG : I would really appreciate it if somebody could tell me where the story from HOLZHOF COMICS called DER PUPPENKASPER by Gilbert Schwartz, Dirk Seliger and Sacha Wüstefeld continues. I really like the art but I couldn´t find issue 9 / 1740 KASPER LARIFARI - where the story is supposed ti be continued according to the free comic - since the issues are numbered in numerical order and the newest is issue 430 or something. I tried the website but it was impossible to get some information. So if somebody knows where the story continues it would be much appreciated.

JOHN SINCLAIR ULTIMATE HORROR COLLECTION III OUT

I also wanted to mention that the third part of GEISTERJÄGER JOHN SINCLAIR - DIE ULTIMATIVE HORRORSAMMLIUNG has already been released.


Longtime readers may recall that I already mentioned that I was a huge fan of the pulp series JOHN SINCLAIR by Jason Dark who still writes one issue each week and one pocketbook each month. Recently I got back into the series by the really brilliant audio CDs by WortArt and LÜBBE AUDIO who employ the voice actors who dubb actors like Robert De Niro, Pierce Brosnan ( John Sinclair ) or Gillian Anderson ( Jane Collins ).

The audioplays are usually a bit expensive for me but you can get IM NACHTCLUB DER VAMPIRE in a special edition for 1 EURO and the ULTIMATE HORROR COLLECTION include six stories for between 8 EUROS and 10. So if you want to do a special Halloween John Sinclair marathon like me the third collection has just come out and it includes such classics like DER MÖRDER MIT DEM JANUSKOPF and DAS BUCH DER GRAUSAMEN TRÄUME.

CLOSING TIME FOR THE DOCTOR ?


Last but not least a quick reminder that the second part of the sixth season has started. I know i shouldn´t support file sharing but for me it´s the only way to see the episodes since in Germany they stopped after the first season with David Tennant. I have the episodes since I got back from Spain but so far I haven´t had the chance to watch them since my Mom is hogging the tv. Since I have to watch it on my computer anyway and it´s been a few months since I saw the first part of the season I have started again with the first episode so I can see the whole season in continuation.

So far the series has been getting better and better and I´m curious to find out how it ends. Things really don´t look good for the Doctor this time around and the title CLOSING TIME sounds really ominous. Maybe it´s finally time to pay the piper.

By the way, kudos to Matt Smith for winning this year´s SCREAM award for best Science Fiction actor. Other winners were Ed Brubaker, John Romita Jr. and Hugh Jackman. The ceremony will air Today at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV and you can get the complete list of winners here .



New to the blog ? Everything you need to know about TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN : top ten posts / more posts of interest


" Apollo 11 is your secret weapon ? "

" No, no. It's not Apollo 11. That would be silly. It's Neil Armstrong's foot. "

Yes, these two posts are practically everything I did this weekend

After so much depressing negative scandals in the DC news section we come to the rest of the comic publishing world which means first it´s Marvel´s turn. Determined to get the readers DC alienated they are putting their heavy hitters on the frontline and are taking no prisoners. Nobody is safe, not even humble comic bloggers.


First I wanted to mention a celebrity birthday that´s kind of comic related : french model Marie - Claude Bourbonnais who has appeared on comic conventions as Susan Storm celebrates her 32nd birthday. So I wanted to use this opportunity to wish her a Feliz cumpleaños ! and to remind my readers who still haven´t googled her to do so or use the link on ComicBits Online to be found on the blogroll. You won´t regret it !


IF YOU CAN´T BE WITH THE ART YOU LOVE LOVE THE ART YOU´RE WITH

It´s no secret that I´m a big fan of Arthur Adams ( as you can see by me declaring October Arthur Adams tribute month ) and I´m lamenting that he doesn´t do more monthly sequential work. He just recently finished his ULTIMATE X work - at least for me since I´m always a few months behind - and although he´s doing a lot of covers and variant covers right now I am already starting to miss his art on the interior pages.


It doesn´t even have to be 22 pages each month and I thought after the good experience Marvel had with him and Frank Cho sharing art duties on HULK they would continue in that direction.

Since cloning still hasn´t reached the point of perfection where you can just clone as many Arthur Adams as you want safely, Marvel has done the next best thing : getting somebody who draws in a similar style. Which in this case means Nick Bradshaw, whose art I first saw on the awesome cover below that you can see in full size in CBR´s article about Adam Kubert and Nick Bradshaw´s POINT ONE variant covers . I think I first came across it on a post on Pedro Angosto´s MAN OF BRONZE blog ( which also can be found on the blog roll ) titled ARTHUR ADAMS IS NOT DEAD BUT LONG LIVE NICK BRADSHAW.


On Friday I was at my usual comicshop and among others I also got issues 39 / and / 41 of ASTONISHING X - MEN that are part 3 and 4 of the MONSTROUS story Jason Pearson started. I´m not sure how this will be collected into tradeform but I think it´s a good idea to have the issues in - between, that are done by other artists because the main artist needs more time to finish his issues, deal with a different story.

I haven´t had the chance to read the issues yet but I like Nick´s art. Like Terry Dodson, who for the longest time got all the jobs Adam Hughes couldn´t take, Nick Bradshaw´s going to be compared to Arthur Adams for a long time - you can see the big influence he has on the art - but if I should describe his artstyle I would propably say it´s part Arthur Adams part Ed McGuiness with a dash of Jim Cheung.

Speaking of Jim Cheung : AVENGERS - THE CHILDREN´S CRUSADE is finally being released in Germany and in it´s unimitable way PANINI GERMANY has picked the worst ever translation for a Marvel title with YOUNG AVENGERS - DIE KREUZFAHRT. I know, some people may once again accuse me of bashing the translators at PANINI because they have the job I would love to have but if you don´t know the difference between a cruise and a crusade you should be looking for another line of work. And for those who say I don´t know what I´m talking about : try translating a sentence like " Pero la gorila estupida era demasiado tarde y el loco brillante tuvo hoyos en cerebros y ahora usted comedores carnosos de uva estaran en un apuro ! " without having the actual comic in front of you, which means you have no idea of the context, and then we´ll talk.

More AVENGERS news : at the Avengers panel at the New York Comic Con new information was released about Avengers - Shattered Heroes with a lot of upcoming covers like this one for Alan Davis´upcoming run on CAPTAIN AMERICA ( pencils for his first issue ) .


The other Avenger related news is that Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley are reuniting for the upcoming AVENGERS ASSEMBLE ongoing series which will feature the same team that is in the upcoming AVENGERS movie. Wow, it took Marvel how long to get the idea to do a comic, that resembled what actually happened in the movie adaption so movie - goers who where unfamiliar with the character could follow it ? Nine years ? That´s what I call quick thinking.

So far I have mentioned a few of my favorite artists so I couldn´t leave the fact that the first preview for UNCANNY X - MEN 1 by Carlos Pacheco is finally available. Carlos is one of my all - time favorites and although he had some bad luck with his inkers in the last few series he looks pretty good again. I think my favorite comic by Carlos is still JLA / JSA - VIRTUE AND VICE with SUPERMAN / BATMAN - ABSOLUTE POWER a close second, because he had already begun to draw superheroes less iconic and more mundane in it. Now with the X - MEN franchise this new look may be more suited as far as I can judge by his Point. One issue with Magneto and the first issue of X - MEN SCHISM - which I sadly didn´t get signed since I didn´t have the opportunity to go to the XII Jornadas de Cómic y Manga de Leganés. Well, I´ll get my Power Girl piece one day.

Till then I´ll have to settle for new issues of UNCANNY X - MEN.


Another favorite artist of mine - oh, I´m the slick master of the segueway, ain´t I - is Ed McGuiness and there is also a preview of AVENGERS X - SANCTION 1 available.


Other Marvel previews of note are ALPHA FLIGHT 5, FF 10, NEW AVENGERS 17 and ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER - MAN 3 and you can follow the link for more Marvel previews .

Staying a bit with Marvel, school´s in with Matt Seneca who gives a detailed analysis of a Frank Miller WOLVERINE page in another installment of YOUR WEDNESDAY SEQUENCE that every comic artist or aspiring comic artist should read. As the bard puts it : " the whole thing is a piece of comics with a wonderful balance to it " and " the directionality of this page is like a thesis on effective flow. "

Just in time for Halloween is an interview with Scream Award nominee Mike Mignola and - another one of my favorite artists - mike Allred, about whose new series I ZOMBIE I wrote in my last weekend post talks in another interview about his unfinished series THE GOLDEN PLATES which is an adaption in comicbook format of the Book of Mormon.

I don´t think I have to introduce Adrian Tomine and Daniel Clowes who speak out about all aspects of their decades - long careers, and there´s a second interview with Daniel Clowes on his new superhero comic THE DEATH - RAY. It seems even the most hardcore non - superhero comic creators can´t resist the allure of superhero comics once they realize that you can tell every story in the superhero format.

Speaking of superhero comics that are not published by the big two, David Hine takes on THE DARKNESS and returns to THE BULLETPROOF COFFIN which was THE best superhero comic published in 2010, called " the WATCHMEN for a new decade " by some comic connoisseurs myself included. As the BULLETPROOF COFFIN sequel is slated to come out in January 2012 you still have time to get the first trade which is really a must read for fans of comics, superhero, rayguns, dinosaurs, or pop culture or any combination of it. And maybe I´ll finally get to write my incredibly brilliant and funny review of the book till then.


Like with most good comic I came late to the party because Ithe initial solicitation got lost in the shuffle of too many monthly books and when I finally read a positive review about it the series was well into it´s penultimate number. Therefore it made more sense to me as a customer to wait for the trade. Johanna Draper Carlson from COMICS WORTH READING has an interesting essay that takles the problems of indy comic series like late books or books that go on indefinite hiatus as one of the other reasons why many readers wait for the trade instead of reading the monthlies.

An example of an successfull indie comic creator is Dave Roman who turned his webcomic / minicomic TEEN BOAT into a collected version in the first part of his interview at THE DAILY CROSS HATCH. And staying on the subject of webcomics on warrenellis.com is an interesting post about the difference between webcomics and digital comics which is not the same. More internet / comic stuff : Graeme McMillan at ROBOT 6´s The Middle Ground number 72 explains Why Previews is still better than the internet, Sean Kleefeld takes a look on autobiographical webcomics and Author Paul Gravett has inaugurated his 1001 comics you must read before you die website .

Going from the producer side of things to the retail part the San Angelo Standard Times has a piece about Tom Moore, owner of Texas Comic Shop, how his passion about comic books became a successful career and Caleb Goellner from COMICS ALLIANCE reached out to a number of comic retailers to ask how they manage to keep stores stable in a down economy and how customers can help to keep their local comic shop open. I have been in a few really fantastic comic shops like FREAKS in Barcelona ( see my posts last months ) and comic shops where you can find almost everything like my current comic shop, the Sammlerecke in Esslingen and the articel has many priceless pointers for comicshop owners and comic readers.


Although I buy a lot of comics online nowadays ( mainly because of the price difference or availability ) I still think the comicshop is the best place to decide what to buy and what not. You can see the actual comics for yourself and hold them in your hand which can be the deciding factor, like in the case of the X - STATIX PRESENTS: DEAD GIRL miniseries. The preview pages looked really x - tremely garish but when I flipped through the pages in the comicshop it looked muc nicer. The comicshop is the best place to check out trades and hardcovers, to see if it´s just a book to read or if it looks sooo good you just have to get it for your bookshelf. And you can see if the art really grabs you.

Another reason why I still go to my comicshop is that I have a pull list there - which is one of the ways customers can help their comicshops - although I don´t always clean out my box like the article suggests. One of the reasons why I don´t do that is that I like to choose which comics to get on each visit, something that my comicshop lets me do. I´m not always in the same mood when going to the comicshop and I also like to read some series in chunks. Right now the last 8 or 10 issues of TEEN TITANS is waiting in my box because there were other comics I was more interested in reading. And to get from Neckarweihingen to Esslingen you have to take the bus and the subway which alone costs 9 bucks ( getting there and back ) so it´s better to be sure that I have some stuff waiting for me in my box whenever I have to go there.

It may be for a regular visit but sometimes I have to go there because I need a certain book or because I have to return some copies my brother received erroneusly. On such occasions it´s nice that I can also get some new comics for myself. Another plus for comicshops is that you can have the best conversations with other customers or employees and I don´t think I can recall any visit to my comicshop where somebody hasn´t told me about a comic series I didn´t know or brought my attention to some up - and - coming writer or artist.


And they are always very generous with prospects and free stuff, in fact I managed to get four more free comics from GRATIS COMIC TAG 2011 ( which makes up for not receiving ANY of the FREE COMICBOOK DAY comics I ordered this year ) that I can review when I finally get to continue the review series I started. Which in turn means I can then go on to give all of them away for free, probably just in time for this year´s big FREE COMIC CHRISTMAS CONTEST on this very blog.

So like I always say : support your local comicshop.

CLOSING TIME, LAST CALL

It´s almost time for me to go to bed so let´s wrap up this post before the weekend finally is over. You are probably already tired of hearing me promising that I´ll get the ARCHIE trade by Norm Breyfogle as soon as it´s available so i´ll just mention that Archie Comics is resurrecting the NEW CRUSADERS as an exclusively digital comic series. I´m not that big into the whole digital comics thing but I´m familiar with the whole characters from on of their series at DC. I didn´t read the last one they put out ( if that really were the CRUSADER character ) but it´s nice to see these heroes return into digital comics and - possibly - a printed version later on.


Two other series I´m not reading, but that are on my radar, are IRREDEEMABLE and INCORRUPTIBLE and all fans of the books may be delighted to hear that superhero - turned - bad Plutonian is slated to go up against reformed supervillain Max Damage in the upcoming IRREDEEMABLE / INCORRUPTIBLE crossover.

This weeks notable independent previews are for SAVAGE DRAGON 174, a series that is always surprising and that I can´t recommend highly enough,


ELRIC THE BALANCE LOST 4 , which I also mentioned in my last weekend post, IRREDEEMABLE 30 and WAREHOUSE 13 number 2, one of my guitly tv pleasures. Here is the full preview list .

No funny Top Ten lists this time, but here´s a picture where the artist has hidden WALL - E between what is probably every robot in pop culture. I have seen Herbie, Big Guy, the hot Robot from Metropolis, Twiggy, a Cylon, something that might be a Cyberman but definitely a Dalek.


To better search Wall - E click the full size version once again courtesy by Los Comic Geekos.

Finally, it´s been a while since I did my last feature on cosplayers but Today´s candidate is Ormeli ( and again, by Los Comic Geekos ) who does some characters I´m not familiar with but also some I do know.


As with other female comicfans I previously featured on this blog the costumes are really spot on and she takes a lot of effort to get as close as possible to the original look as you can see in her photogallery . It´s definitely worth checking out and who knows - you might even get some ideas for Halloween. As for Ormeli : You go, girl !

Todays video at the end of the post is CBR TV´s an interview with Mark Evanier, partner in crime of Sergio Aragones on many occasions but probably best known for his long GROO series. Mark talks about how comics have changed in the last decade, what a great visionary Jack Kirby really was and an upcoming GROO / CONAN crossover.



New to the blog ? Everything you need to know about TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN : top ten posts / more posts of interest