Happy New Year ! and some S.T.R.A.F.E.

Finally 2012 has come and I want to wish all my readers a Happy New Year. I hope you survived the holidays in good condition and for those who do not have to work the next days ( I have to - bummer ) relaxing holidays.


I spent the last few days on which I didn´t work watching season 4 of DR. WHO since I had started while waiting for this year´s Christmas special. Now I could have watched it already BUT I wanted to see how the 4th season ends and I must say, BEST SERIES EVER. They really put out all the stops on this one so if you still don´t watch DR. WHO - shame on you.

I´m going to watch the special in a few minutes ( more like an hour knowing how long it takes to even do these short posts ) but I wanted to put a shoutout to my readers on the blog first. There haven´t been many posts last month but I hope to do more this month.

Of course I want to thank my longtime readers for sticking with me ( as TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN is now going for 7 years ) but I also want to greet all the newbies who just found the blog this year or Today. You´re all welcome and if you like what you read spread the word. Speaking of new and blog I want to give a warm " Welcome back ! " to fellow blogger Kitty Pryde whose blog I´D LOVE TO STAY HERE AND BE NORMAL has finally returned from a long hiatus. I haven´t read all new entries yet but that´s because the font size borders on the microscopic. So kudos, and keep blogging.

Since everybody and their dog is doing a best of 2011 list and last year I only posted other lists ( which I may be doing in one of the next posts ) I wanted to do my own version. I have always been a fan of COMIC SHOP NEWS Red K Awards and so I´m giving out my own version of an award. Being broke there is of course no money involved but the honor of being nominated is everything that counts - right ?


First I wanted to call them Outstanding Honored Recipiants For Excellence In Graphic Entertainment or short OHRFEIGE, but that was just too long. So instead I´ll go with Subzero´s Totally Random Awards For Excellence or short STRAFE. Okay, maybe that´s not so lucky but until I can come up with a better name that´s it.

BEST FOREIGN EDITION OF A GEORGE PEREZ COMIC

This STRAFE goes to the spanish edition of Marv Wolfman and George Perez Teen Titans CLASSICOS DC - NUEVOS TITANES. Not only are these some of the best comics ever written but the 500 page hardcovers are just beautiful to read and re - read, which you will do. Trust me.


True, I can´t say how they compare to DC´s newly released OMNIBUS but at 35 EUROS they only cost half as much and are at least affordable for the regular comic reader. Planeta has now lost the rights to DC but they went out in style and gave comic readers ( at least the ones fluent in spanish ) a big present.

BEST GEORGE PEREZ COMIC NOT F - ED UP BY THE NEW 52

Again we enter titans territory. Longtime fans of George Perez or the Titans have of course heard of the unfinished GAMES graphic novel. Long since has the story become one of many urban comic legends until it miraculously resurfaced as an actual comic project that is once again coming out. I have mentioned it a few times and I bought it as soon as it came out. But I didn´t read it right away. There are some comics, special ones, where I like to wait for a quiet moment and the right alignment of the stars to read it so I can give it my full attention.

The way last year had been going there was always something else to keep me occupied but this week I finally read it. Because if I was going to read one last comic in 2011 it had to be NEW TEEN TITANS - GAMES.


And let me tell you, it holds up to all the expectations you may have and more. I´m feeling a bit uncomfortable with these expressions but if the word " nerdgasm " has ever had any raison d'être ( pardon my french ) it´s to describe this comic. In one of the ads the graphic novel is called a swan song for the Teen Titans and I couldn´t phrase it better. George Perez´art is the best it´s ever been and reading Marv Wolfman´s words is like it´s only been a few weeks and not twentysomething years since he last wrote a Titans book. It´s seems that sometimes you CAN go home again.

The only negative thing I can say about it - but which I already predicted before reading it - is that it makes you painfully aware how low the TEEN TITANS have sunk since then. Which brings us to :

BEST TEEN TITANS COMIC NOT F - ED UP BY THE NEW 52

I´d like to say that the pre - new 52 TEEN TITANS comic was really that good, but to tell you the truth the last 6 issues of that run are still lying in my box at the comicshop and that alone should tell you everything there is to know. Too many changes in the writing departement, too many changes in the art departement and really, after Eddy Barrows left there hasn´t been anybody nearly as good on the book.

Adding to that the fiasko of the new incarnation of the book it should be no surprise that the best Teen Titans related comic right now is TINY TITANS by Art Baltazar and Franco. Aw yeah, Titans !


Every issue is funny, witty and can even be enjoyed by new readers who don´t understand all the in - jokes. This is something you can read with your kids and I especially like the " theme " issues like the " all redhead " issue or the " all Batgirls " issue. Highest recommendation.

BEST COMIC THAT CAN´T BE F - ED BY BAD TRANSLATIONS

I know it was technically published in 2010 and was on most Best Of lists in 2011 but since I only read it last year ( and I still haven´t gotten around to get CONGRESS OF THE ANIMALS ) Jim Woodring´s fantastic comic parable WEATHERCRAFT wins this category.


Back when I started reading american comics I probably never would have thought that one of the best comics I would read in the future would have no superheroes, be in black and white and have no words. But that´s the beauty of Jim Woodring´s FRANK series. He has his own way of telling ..... well, what exactly ? It´s not really a story as there is no narrator and the reader takes more the role of a spectator who is just a witness to certain happenings and has to come to his conclusions of his own.


If the events are real or taking place on a higher plane of existence - who knows ? If there is any logic to the comics it more closely resembles dream logic and so it is rather difficult to categorize the comics.


The only thing that is for sure is the feeling of spiritual enrichment you have after reading them. Comics for the mind, body and soul, beautifully drawn, printed in lush hardcovers by Fantagraphics all this without words. I guess that´s why everybody loves Jim Woodring´s comics.

click here for the weathercraft review on comics alliance

BEST WATCHMEN - LIKE COMIC THAT IS NOT WATCHMEN

Ever since Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons gamechanging WATCHMEN comic came out everybody has been waiting for the " next Watchmen " and there have also been a few who have been given that title. So far there have been none who really have come close - at least in my opinion - and I´m not sure if that´s even possible. WATCHMEN has had such a profound impact not only because of the great story, the great art, the big scope which it takes, the complexity and layers upon layers of story and meaning but also because of the time it came out. And because it was groundbreaking and a gamechanger. And that´s where the dilemma is. Once you have broken new ground you can´t un - break it again and then break it for a second time. What´s done is done. So most attempts to recreate such an experience are doomed to failure from the start.

Which is the reason why THE BULLETPROOF COFFIN by David Hine and Shaky Kane came totally out of left field for me. I hadn´t read any announcements, the covers I had seen didn´t really inspire me to run out and buy the comic and apart from an enthustiastic write - up on fellow blog COMICBITS ONLINE I never heard of it.


Now since I trust Terry Hooper´s taste in comics and because it was described as " a must read for fans of comics, superheroes, rayguns, dinosaurs, or pop culture or any combination of it " I ordered the trade and was totally overwhelmed by it. The comic is not like WATCHMEN in the sense that it is not a deconstruction of superheroes but it does manage to show you what really is possible in a comicbook. Comics like these only come around every decade.

I don´t want to spoiler anything but you will start to question things about comic convictions you believe to be true, you will change your thinking about real life and reality as this comic crosses over to the real world and even involves timetravel. No joke. The story is brilliant and even the art that didn´t impress me at first is totally point on. I don´t know if any other artist could have pulled it off. As the sequel begins this year it´s not too late to get this comic and remember rule number one : The Doctor lies.

BEST INFINITELY ONGOING COMIC BY THE SAME CREATOR

This is a no - brainer as Stan Sakai´s USAGI YOJIMBO has now entered it´s 25th year of publication. The black and white samurai saga is still going on strong with stories going from ghost stories to murder mysteries to moral plays to funny comedy as well as everything inbetween.


With a brush stroke that looks really simple while being anything but, Stan Sakai does epic as well as small world stuff depicting everyday medivial Japan and the human spectrum of emotions in funny animal characters that will make you laugh, shout and cry. This is better than any history book and far more entertaining. It´s a series everybody should be reading and it´s going to be on my pull list as long as it lasts.

BEST INFINITELY ONGOING COMIC BY THE SAME CREATOR WHO KILLS THE LEAD CHARACTER ON A REGULAR BASIS

Savage Dragon is dead. This is a sentence you can read in a lot of issues of SAVAGE DRAGON written, penciled and inked by creator Erik Larsen.

And not because they like to remind readers of it but because it happens again and again and again. I don´t know if Dragon is just an especially tenacious character but he just won´t stay dead. He really gets more mileage out of his recuperation powers than Wolverine but Erik Larsen still manages to make you think that THIS one is the final nail in the coffin. This time he even went so far that Dragon´s son Malcolm took over the book with stepsister / secret crush Angel. There were many readers who were sceptical about this risky step all but ready to leave the title at the first signs of weakness. But within a few issues Erik won them over and the book is better than ever.


Nobody is sure if Dragon is ever coming back, if it´s really Dragon who´s coming back or if they even want him to come back. What nobody questions is that this comic that takes place in real time ( yes, really ) has kicked into overdrive with the EMPEROR DRAGON storyline and is only gaining momentum.

BEST CONSECUTIVE SERIES OF COMICS BY THE SAME CREATOR

I know this sounds a bit complicated but now that STRANGERS IN PARADISE and the equally brilliant but shorter ECHO has ended that´s my way of honoring Terry Moore.


When the end of SIP was announced I was sad because I thought it would leave a whole - not only in my pull list but my life. I hadn´t come aboard with day 1 but rather after the third trade had been out and only after a recommendation by WIZARD magazine. One of the things I will be always indebted for to them.

And it was a rough transition. But then Terry moore started ECHO and showed that he can also do drama ( and brilliant sci fi ) in a METAL BIKINI book of all series. Now he has also finished this story and the new RACHEL RISING continues on this path of comic book greatness adding horror to the genres where Terry Moore leaves his distinctive mark.

BEST AMERICAN COMIC ANTHOLOGY WITH DIFFERENT CREATORS

I have mentioned it once or twice, one of the best series of last year - at least in my opinion - has been the new DARK HORSE PRESENTS. With a WHO´S WHO list of creators like Mike Mignola, Neal Adams, Paul Chadwick, Dave Gibbons, Richard Corben, Evan Dorkin, Fabio Moon, Steve Niles, Howard Chaykin, Geof Darrow, Eric Powell, Frank Miller, Steranko and Harlan Ellison it´s totally worth the 8 bucks for 80 pages. Except issue 3.


That was 104 pages for the same price. But really.

Anybody who can pluck down 4 bucks for a 22 page comic from the big two but has problems paying twice as much for what is almost four times the page count can´t calculate. So far every issue has delivered and what is more I have made the experience that my favorite comics are not always the ones by creators I already know but rather comics like Carla Speed McNeil´s FINDER or Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse´s RESIDENT ALIEN.

BEST GERMAN COMIC ANTHOLOGY WITH DIFFERENT CREATORS

Another winner that shouldn´t surprise longtime readers Levin Kurio´s HORROR SCHOCKER series is another one that gets some STRAFE.

Issue 27 has just come out and it´s everything a german comic and horrorfan could want. With every issue Levin manages to keep the high quality level of this homage to old classics like TALES FROM THE CRYPT, HAUNT OF FEAR and the likes while adding a modern touch. Showing that you really can tell a great story in just a few pages he serves up little horror vignettes that always deliver no matter if it starts in everyday life, ancient Rome or the farflung future.


In fact the stories that take place in post apocaliptic futures are always entertaining and full of social commentary about human society. Other fanfavorites are the Stories from the Styx starring Charon, the Ferryman or stories with an historical background and people that really existed like Hermann Cothmann, burgomaster of Lemgo who was called The Witchjudgde.


The list of artists is not as famous as the one of DARK HORSE PRESENTS but not less talented.





Besides HORROR SCHOCKER Levin Kurio also somehow manages to publish several other comics throughout the year like WEISSBLECH´S WELTBESTE COMICS ( Weissblech´s World´s Best Comics ) with such great titles like SCHAURIGER SCHUND ( Scary Trash )


of which the latest issue includes a new look at old classics like HEIDI courtesy of Dirk Eggers, Stefan Hagenow and Carsten Dörr .


preview pages weissblechs weltbeste comics 20 - schauriger schund

preview pages hammerharte horrorschocker / preview pages issue 27

And with that it´s once again time to wrap up things if I ever want to get some sleep before going to work on Monday. I managed to give out ten awards which is a lot and maybe I can come up with a few more in one of my next posts. For now I want to wish you all the best for 2012, good health ( which is only appreciated once it´s gone ) and great comics.


Today I´m leaving with two videos. The first one is DINNER FOR ONE a sketch that has been a fixture for my generation on Sylvester and really, you can´t start the New Year in Germany without seeing DINNER FOR ONE. So for all who missed it here´s your chance.



The second video is the brilliant last minutes of episode 11 of season 4 of Dr. WHO called TURN LEFT. I just love it how they can turn your whole world upside down with two words. And what´s even more Airwolf is that those two words are not only the message but also tell you who sent it.



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

DC relaunch update and other comic news

Since these links were a bit buried in my last post I wanted to give them a post of their own as there will probably be quite a few additions over the next few days.


First up here are the links for articles about DC´s new line up :

dc announces digital pricing and retailer incentives

retailers reaction to dc announcement

dc announces covers and creative teams for 10 relaunched titles

dc announces relaunched green lantern titles

dc announces relaunched bat titles

new resurrection man and 6 other supernatural dc books

frank lemire on new animal man and frankenstein agent of shade

new hawk and dove by rob liefeld and 5 other dc books

what we know and dont about the dc relaunch so far

article on german website comicgate about dc relaunch

article on german website comic report about dc relaunch

george gene gustines look at the post crisis relaunch fiasko

Now after the whole panic has calmed down a bit I got to think which DC titles I´m currently reading and what all the relaunches mean to my pull list. So here´s a rundown of it :


BATMAN THE ODDYSSEY - Currently the only Bat - title I read in the US format. So far there have only come out 6 issues and issue 7 is nowhere to be seen. Maybe it will come, maybe not. I have enjoyed the series so far and as one of the few left who enjoys Neal Adam´s art I would like to see the storyline finished. Especially if Neal Adams is really going to throw cavemen and dinosaurs into the mix.

As for the rest of the Batuniverse I´m buying the german BATMAN comic by PANINI which mostly includes the regular BATMAN series and BATMAN AND ROBIN. As usual they are a few months behind so it will be quite some time before the fallout from the DC relaunch reaches Germany.

My brother has BIRDS OF PREY on his pull list but so far the series couldn´t deliver and Ed Benes only managed to do the first issue.


BOOSTER GOLD - One of my favorite titles but as it ties directly into FLASHPOINT it will probably end. So far no new Booster Gold title has been announced but at least he´s part of the new JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL book. After JUSTICE LEAGUE - GENERATION LOST it was clear that there was a new JLI book coming I just didn´t expect it to take place in an alternate world. I probably have to check the new series out before deciding if it´s an adequate replacement to BOOSTER GOLD.

GREEN LANTERN - Having just recently returned to the Lanternverse I´m still a few issues behind on GREEN LANTERN and GREEN LANTERN CORPS. But as Geoff Johns is one of the architects of the whole relaunch debacle it looks like it´s going to be " business as usual " for the Emerald Knights. Although what that means in the mirror DC universe remains to be seen.

JONAH HEX - I have no idea how this is affected by the whole relaunch thing but since I´m only buying the issues by Jordi Bernet this makes no big difference to me.


JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA - As I said in my last post, thanks to Scott Kollins art the book is already headed to the chopping block. The series has delivered instant classics like the THY KINGDOM COME story ( which I have already re - read at least six times ) and got an adequate replacement with artist Jesus Merino but the currenty storyline is just a shadow of the quality of the title. I mean JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA was the one book to outdo even Grant Morrison´s JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA.

Speaking of the JLA, it has also been crossed out from my pull list as James Robinson couldn´t follow up the " oompaah " from his CRY FOR JUSTICE story and instead turned the title into ULTIMATE TEEN TITANS. At the moment it´s not going to come back to my pull list and since Jim Lee will be drawing the new series ( at least the first issue like with his W.I.L.D.Cats restart ) it´s surely to go on my brother´s pull list.

LEGION OF SUPERHEROES - I missed the boat on the new series so I´ll have to wait for the trades anyway. The only book with Legionnaires I´m reading right now is ADVENTURE COMICS and that´s only till the end of the Legion Academy story. From the new Legion titles that were announced so far none really looks like a blockbuster.


SUPERMAN - The two reasons I´m reading this series at all are JMS´" GROUNDED " story and Eddy Barrows art. So far there has been so much tampering with it that I´m not sure DC is going to finish the argument. As Eddy Barrows leaves for the new NIGHTWING series and Grant Morrison is taking over as SUPERMAN scribe ( without an artist announced so far ) it looks like I´m nearing a kryptonian - free period.

SUPERMAN / BATMAN - Speaking of one Superman title I also have to mention the other Superman book I´m reading - although from my brother´s pull list. Ever since Ed McGuiness wrapped up his last storyarc in issue 25 - directly after Carlos Pacheco´s masterpiece ABSOLUTE POWER - the series has been in a constant artistical decline. There was an okay issue with Power Girl by Kevin Maguire but from then on it only got worse and worse. As THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD this is one series where I´m glad it´s going to be put out of it´s misery.

And speaking about misery - how else could one describe the SUPERGIRL series. This book has been flip - flopping since issue 1 and so far no coherent idea has been visible. There was one issue where it seemed for 5 minutes that they could finally do something interesting but they already nixed it all in the next issue. So good riddance to this one too.


POWER GIRL - The other kryptonian Maid of Steel is kind of a mixed feeling thing. Amanda Conners initial 12 issue run was fantastic, hilarious and almost everything you could want from a Power Girl book ( it was only missing a few unobstructed boobie shots and Guy Gardner as guest star ). It could even have done with less superheroing and more personal stuff. But after issue 12 the whole tone changed and while the art and writing was no too horrible it also hadn´t found its footing. As it´s probably not going to be continued we´ll never know if it would have sizzled or rocked.

TEEN TITANS - I think I kept the book solely on the 2.99 thing but lately it has almost become unreadable. Add to that constant changes in the writing and art departement and you get abook that better ends sooner than later. There has been a new Teen Titans book announced but I think I can do without it especially since Brett Booth is one of my brother´s favorites and not mine.

I never read the TITANS book so the only thing I´m really going to miss will be TINY TITANS. I don´t have a lot of issues ( at least till my next comic order arrives ) but every one is three kinds of Airwolf.


WONDER WOMAN - Another book from my pull list and I have to say that so far I have been unimpressed by the relaunch. Maybe we have better luck with the next one.

And now to the titles that have been announced so far, and I´m trying to be brief on that one :

AQUAMAN - as a plus it got Ivan Reis. On the other side it has Aquaman and if BRIGHTEST DAY has taught me one thing than that an Aquaman book can be quite boring even when drawn by Ivan Reis. Prospect 40 percent.

BATGIRL - at least seems to get rid of Stephanie Brown as Batgirl but also wipes out Oracles history. Prospect 0.

CAPTAIN ATOM - One of THE breakthrough characters of JUSTICE LEAGUE - GENERATION LOST this could be one of the more interesting books. If it hadn´t been after the whole BRAND NEW DC thing. Now it´s more a question of how much of the original Captain Atom is left in this version. All the changes, trials and tribulations he had to go through in GENERATION LOST have been wiped out so this is probably not the Captain Atom you´ve grown fond of. Prospect 10 percent.

FIRESTORM - since it includes Jason Rusch....prospect 0.


FLASH - the current series hasn´t piqued my interest so far and it looks like this won´t change. I´m a big Flash fan but DC has managed to alienate from a title I used to follow religiously. After reading the issue I got at the Comicbörse Stuttgart I was a bit curious what this war between the Rogues and the Reverse Flash is all about. But since all of this will be wiped out anyway we don´t even know if there will be any rogues left. Prospect 0.

GREEN ARROW - was last on my pull list with the first issues of GREEN ARROW & BLACK CANARY issues but at the moment he´s not going to make a return. Prospect 0.

HAWK & DOVE - are you kidding ? Not even my brother would be so stupid as to get this one. And he bought the original series. Prospect...do you really have to ask ? Even below zero. Waay below zero.


HAWKMAN - another relaunch another new origin, just as they were finally bringing them all together. too much confusion for my taste so....prospect 0.

MISTER TERRIFIC - doesn´t sound so terrific to me as I´m not sure he got what it takes to be in the spotlight. Prospect 0.

NIGHTWING - has art by Eddy Barrows which means I will probably get every third issue as the others are going to be by fill in artists. Prospect 30 percent ( or 100 percent foe every third issue ).

RESURRECTION MAN - this is the one that is definitely going to be on my pull list as it unites one of my favorite DC characters of all time with the original art team and my favorite artist from JUSTICE LEAGUE - GENERATION LOST. Oh yeah, baby. Prospect 110 percent.


SWAMP THING - good news for Mike Sterling but the last issue I got was one drawn by Richard Corben. Unless someone from my top artists list is doing a n issue it´s just not going to happen. Prospect 0.

BATWOMAN and CATWOMAN are not on my pull list and that will not change. BIRDS OF PREY is on my brother´s pull list and I really don´t care if he´s going to get the new series or not. STATIC SHOCK has Scott McDaniel on art chores who´s a favorite of my brother but I think even he is tired of constantly following him from book to book.

All other books I haven´t mentioned are just too much beneath me.....only kidding.

So from the 7 ór 8 DC books I´m reading at least 2 will stay on my pull list and only 1 of the remaining will be missed. And from the newly announced so far only 2 are good candidates for my pull list. Keeping in mind that only 1 of them is probably going to manage without fill - in artists it looks as there will be a few gaps in my reading schedule that I can fill with more indy titles like I always wanted.

Or I could cut back a bit since I should really reduce the amount of money I spend on comics. Thanks DC for making it so easy.


BUT WAIT THERE´S MORE - OTHER COMIC NEWS ( AND STUFF )

DC is not the only comic company that has been making news since Terry Hopper´s BLACK TOWER COMICS are going to reboot the entire line in their upcoming FLUSHPOINT event. Really a hilarious read that cracked me up.

As for DC´s distinguished competition here´s a new interview with Alex Alonso about digital comics and movies , Johnathan Hickman and Steve Epting talk about the future of the FF and Fred Van Lente and Dale Eaglesham speak about life imitating their new Alpha Flight series with the newest political developments in Canada.

Since we had ( kind of ) an end and a new beginning in our last post here is an interview with Terry Moore about the end of ECHO , the start of RACHEL RISING and digital comics.

I don´t know what it is but I never got around to do a post about Terry´s big metal bikini sf opus ECHO and I also never did a post about STRANGERS IN PARADISE although it was one of my favorite series. I had hoped to get the chance to do a post on ECHO during my BLOG WITHOUT SUPER HEROES month but I never got around to do it.


Well, now it´s too late ( as the ECHO series is wrapping up in a few short months ) but if Terry´s track record so far is any indication RACHEL RISING is going to be another instant classic.

If you are a fan of his STRANGERS IN PARADISE and you haven´t checked out ECHO you´re definitely missing out. There are already 5 trades out collecting issues 1 to 25. And if you haven´t read STRANGERS IN PARADISE go and get it now. What are you waiting for ? This series has my unconditional recommendation and it´s one of the best you´ll ever read. Just ask anyone.

For those who still have to jump on the ECHO band wagon here are a few preview pages from ECHO - issue 1 / issue 20 / issue 22

Over at ARCHIE COMICS Kevin Keller may become the first openly gay soldier and THE LINE IS DRAWN offers a new chapter of it´s popular mash - up series this time combing famous movie posters with comics


For my german readers I wanted to mention Christoph Roos blog one more time because besides having updates on the BOOK OF SHADOWS webcomic it also has brilliant articles about Charles Bronson , Geier´s new NICK comics and the slow dissapearances of german Kioske , those small newsstands where you could buy comics, pulp novels, adult nudie magazines and sweets. At the moment he´s writing a very interesting series about war movies.

As for the ever popular top 10 lists Today´s 10 TV Cop Shows that changed the medium comes from TOP ONLINE COLLEGES Jennifer Lynch. Thanks, Jennifer. You can find many more interesting articles in their archives. And if you also want articles or top 10 lists featured on this blog just send me an e - mail.

In the video section we continue with the MUPPET SHOW this one is with Brooke Shields and the Muppets are doing their version of Alice in Wonderland. The Jabberwoky number is just incredible. I think the Muppets are a perfect fit to bring Lewis Caroll to the stage.



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

Classicos DC - The brave and the bold - part 3.5

Welcome back to another episode of my little introspectives about Jim Aparo's work on THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD.


Since volumes two and three of the spanish edition are misprinted we skip them and go right to volume number four which also represents a huge step in Jim Aparo's artistical evolution. Because the Jim Aparo in volume four is not the same as in the first volume. On one side it sucks that I don't get to see the slow change from Jim Aparo's beginnings on the title to the artist of these pages.

On the other hand the difference between the two art styles couldn't be more different and it's much more evident by skipping the two volumes. The Jim Aparo in the first volume has a much more filigrane style and is much more realistic. It could even be compared with the engravings of the old masters. The Jim Aparo of this volume on the other hand is the Jim Aparo that I have come to love with his signature, slick style.

Where comic books are concerned I have always preferred the less realistic style that takes influences from cartoons and manga. Because in a comic I really don't want realistic style. Apart from Alex Ross I don't want my comics to look like photo stills - because that's not what I go for. If I pay for it I don't want to see how the world looks but rather I want to see the world through the eyes of another person. And that is the strength of comics for me.


Now you might say that there are tons of realistic artists out there like Neal Adams but that for me is not realistic but much more an idealised version of the world. Nobody's as ripped in real life as the protagonists of Neal Adams' comics. So for me that's more like the world is supposed to look - not like it actual looks. Because most people don't know what a realistic comic style is. Yes, comic masters like Neal Adams or Steve Rude have to know their anatomy. In fact I would say every comic artist should know anatomy. But it doesn't mean that Neal Adams or Steve Rude have to be the slaves of anatomy. They know it pretty well but they present a stylized version of it.

Another artist who also is often falsly called a realistic artist is Terry Moore. I guess that's mostly because his women look more like a real woman than most women in comics but that doesn't mean his art per se is realistic. I would rather say it looks outright cartoony. If you don't believe me just get yourself an issue of the STRANGER IN PARADISE issues he did over at the IMAGE imprint HOMAGE.


With the computer coloring on top it looks much more cartoony and in my opinion that's one of the reason he switched back to his own publishing company. Because it didn't look as realistic as in black and white anymore.

Now what all of this has to do with the fourth volume of Brave and Bold is that when I say that the art looks more cartoony I mean that it is slicker and Jim Aparo uses lesser lines. Which doesn't mean that the art is not as good as in the first volume - quite the opposite. The less lines you use the more difficult it is because they have to be more precise. If you use twenty lines one or two of them can be a little off or even wrong. If you only got three lines every one of them counts. That's something we learned when Bruce Timm's art style on BATMAN ADVENTURES got so popular and everyone TRIED to imitate it.


I say tried because the one thing that became clear very quickly was that while the style looked deceptively simple it wasn't that easy to copy. Which was the reason that so many would - be imitators failed. In this case less is more and I as an inker have always tried to do less lines. As an artist you're always searching for the one perfect line and I see some of that in Jim Aparo's art. And it's no wonder that his style changed over time as a certain style comes more from the experience and the choice of drawing materials. So as Jim got more experience he also got more confident about which lines to put in and which to leave out.

Because you have to keep in mind that comic artists at that time had to deliver on a monthly basis and I don't know the workload he had at that time. At that time artists were churning out two or three books a month and there are very few left like Sal Buscema who could still do it.

Like Steve Rude Bruce Timm is heavily influenced by Jack Kirby which for me was the reason to go back to the King's comics and come to appreciate it. And if you don't have that understanding where an artist comes from it's very difficult to produce something similar. There were dozen of cheap copies of Bruce Timm out there and only a few good ones like the french cartoon show about BOB MORANE



I read a few BOB MORANE comics but it was so long ago that I didn't remember that much about it when I saw the cartoon so I don't know how close it was to the original source material. But the cartoon show was very good and I watched every episode I could. My brother might even have taped one or two episodes.


I looked but there seem to be no DVDs on amazon.com, sorry.

Now coming back to Jim Aparo reading his comics in german was a full time job because EHAPA the german company that had the rights for DC comics in my youth was trying to publish as much as they could in as many collections as they could. Looking back I have to say they did a pretty decent job since I ( and my two brothers ) have kept all their comics in my collection. But it sure wasn't easy to follow Jim Aparo thruogh the various albums, comic books, pocket books and so on like BATMAN SONDERHEFT,BATMAN TASCHENBUCH, BATMAN EXTRA etc., etc. I wrote a bit about it in one of my COVERSTORY posts.

So I already read some of the stories in this volume in the german version.


But we will come to this in the next part as it's already pretty late. One thing I want to mention before closing is that there is one story that imvolves Sgt. Rock who also appeared in the first volume. In both stories they seem to know each other and I'm not sure if they had fought together in WW II. Because that is kind of strange and would make Batman very old. Or maybe that was supposed to be the Batman of Earth II. But what would he be doing in Brave and Bold ? It's just weird. Not as weird as one of the issues by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez in which Bruce Wayne undertakes a psychedelic hypnosis timetravel but weird.


Like I said more detail about the single issues of the volume and funny 80s pseudo science in the next part.

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MARVEL tricked SUBZERO ( and what I have been reading, too )

Yesterday I was at the comic shop. I initially wanted to wait a few weeks after Erlangen to go to the comic shop because I still have tons of stuff to read. But if I wait to long the stuff just keeps piling up. And since I got some spending money yesterday I decided to spend it on the best thing money can buy : comics. I got TAROT - witch of the black rose 38, 52 week four to six, SQUADRON SUPREME 4, WONDER WOMAN 1, SAVAGE DRAGON 126, JSA 86, FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER - MAN 9, NEXTWAVE - agents of H.A.T.E 5 and SHANNA 1.

I know what you´re thinking. SHANNA 1 ? Isn´t that more than one year old ? Yes, it is. But it´s been sitting in my bag with all the other issues from that series because Marvel tricked me. They tricked me ! When I ordered the series through PREVIEWS it was solicitated as a Marvel MAX series. When I ordered it it was an uncensored, action packed, boobs flying everywhere adult comic. And when the series came out it was a watered down, totally censored, no nipples or boobies Frank - Cho - light Marvel Knights sissy version. Not that I neeed naked boobs in every comic I read. There are tons of comics I read without exposed boobies on every page ( for that there are comics like TAROT ) but when you advertise with boobies you have to deliver the boobies. It´s just something that you owe to your readers. Don´t lie to your readers. Because the worst part is not that there are no boobies but that they were not honest about it. If the readers knows beforehand that there will be no naked women he can base his decision ( among other things ) on this fact. Not this fact alone but it IS part of the decision process. IF however you make a decision on facts that turn out to be untrue that decision turns out to be wrong. If you knew there would be no boobies you may nave ordered it or not. But you would not have ordered it based on facts that are untrue. And there was no chance to cancel the order when readers had the information that it would be different from the advertised version. You had no chance to react.

Now I say, Marvel knew that if they solicit the SHANNA series by Frank Cho as an uncensored comic the orders would go through the roof. So they did it. I´m not saying that it was malice on Marvel´s part and they set out to trick the readers from the get go. But they didn´t care if they could really go through with it as an uncensored version as long as they had the orders. Later on they changed it to the MK version and had Frank Cho redraw the pages. And that is something they MUST have known to happen. What ? I´m supposed to believe that a big comic publishing company like Marvel suddenly realized they would not be able to go through with it ? Afte more than 40 years publishing comic in America ? I´m supposed to believe that what was possible in Richard Corben´s CAGE is suddenly impossible with SHANNA ? Now, if Frank Cho would say : " Hey, I´m okay with this because that is how I planned it from the start. " then I would have bought it long ago. But everyone who has read an issue of LBERTY MEADOWS knows how he hates censorship and how he hates to redraw panels for newspaper publication. He even takes special care to include the uncensored versions of his strips in the issues. And now I´m supposed to be okay with this thing that I know Frank Cho will not like ? That´s just wrong. You don´t get somebody like Frank Cho and then tell him to censor himself and redraw panels. I mean what did Marvel expect ? They hired him for the boobies. You don´t hire a heavyweight champion and tell him to pull his punches. Unless you want him to cheat. And that is for me what Marvel did in this case. They took the quick money and ran.

And that´s the reason why this issues have been lying in my bag so long. Because I don´t like to be played. But now the patience of my comic dealer has run out and I have to start taking the issues home. So not only do I have to waste my money on a series I have already not very much money to spend I also have strained my relationship with my comic dealer and he´s now less likely to give me some leeway when I REALLY need it. So thank you Marvel, I will remember that and it will go on the list along with cancelling SPIDER - GIRL and the THING. It may take some time but I will get even. So start watching your back.

But enough of my little rant ( that topic always gets me worked up ) let´s forget about lies, treachery and all the hate. Relax. Exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale. Deep breaths. Just like Mr. Myagi taught you : search focus.

Okay, I´´m all cool now. I´m chilling. I´m groovy, brother. Now let´s come to the comics I have read and not gotten around to write about :

STRANGERS IN PARADISE 82 - Not much to say that I haven´t already said. It´s hard to see this series end but it is still one of the best reads. I just know Terry Moore is going out in style.

Black Panther 16 - No, no, wait. I really liked the issue. I know I have been bitching about the previous pre - wedding issues and that I still understand why suddenly Marvel feels the need to retcon Storm´s and Black Panther´s history and introduce a new backstory for them. What´s wrong with the 30 years of history and romance and flirtation they already have ? Anyway, finally some things happened and it seems like the wedding has the possibility to be the biggest superhero disaster ever. And the art by Scott Eaton is solid as always.

Batman 653 - Interesting read but mediocre art. It is interesting to see what happened in the missing year and it is surprising that Harvey took Batman´s job while he was away. But is it not just a question of time till Two - Face takes control again ?

American Way 4 - Now that everybody knows that the new member is black the shit starts flying. Note to self : Don´t try to fix a mess by starting a bigger mess. As soon as I read in the solicitations that they would release the biggest psychotic killer in history to turn this around I knew this was a bad, bad idea. And it is. It just turns out worse than expected. The art on this one is good but just too clean and sugar coated for my taste. But maybe that´s just me. Still...the story is top notch. How will it end ?

issue 4

Majestic 17 - This comic is incredible. But not in a good sense. This comic manages to combine two of the things I hate most in comics. 1. the old " it´s all just a dream " and 2. the old " whe are now back to where we started in issue 1 " shtick. Combined with the horrific artwork this is one series I´m glad I´m not spending any money on it.

Sensational Spider - Man 26 - I don´t like the art in this issue. I just don´t like this overrendered, painted art that loses all kind of livelyness and movement. The story progressed from last issue but the art just threw me off. Another case of writing for the trade but not drawing for the trade.

Issue 26

New Avengers 18 + 19 - Now, that I got issue 18 in Erlangen I could read it and it was absolutely brilliant. Big blockbuster action and the way Spider - Man was used just shows the new S.H.I.E.L.D.´s attitude towards superheroes. They are just things to be used and thrown away. This will play out in upcoming issues of CIVIL WAR and the question remains if there will be a superhero community...or a S.H.I.E.L.D. after all is over. At the moment it seems that the two cannot exist at the same time.

Amazing Spider - Man 532 - This is the issue for all people like me who read CIVIL WAR 1 and were just baffled by Iron Man´s 180 degree turn. Here is the reason why he is now a flip flopper and why Spider - Man is still on the side he is on. A great read with good characterisation. And it explains all the holes in CIVIL WAR 1.

JLA Classified 16 - 21 - At first I didn´t want to buy the issues because I´m not particulary fond of Klaus Janson´s inks on Jose Luis Garcia Lopez´artwork. For me he needs an inker like Joe Rubinstein or Brett Breeding. But while I was in Erlange I found all the issues of this story and decided to get them anyway. And let me tell you : compared to the inks by Sean Phillips Klaus Janson is an inking GOD ! It seems that Mr. Phillips is not content with ruining comics with his artwork, now he has to start with ruining other artists work with his inks. Aside from that I really liked the story. The JLA thought that with taking this particular dictators power away he would be defeated. But he was just getting started and he turns out more dangerous than any supervillain. It seems there is a contest going on between the writers of DC who can defeat or maim the JLa in the most horrific and gruesome way. And as an old horror comic reader I say : more power to them. A good story that involves the problems of superheroes dealing with everyday politics on a global scale. This is a recommended read for all guys ( and gals ) out there who think superhero comics are too simple and only are about punching bad guys and escapism.

Thunderbolts 100 - 103 which I will not writing about now because with all the previews that have been piling up while my comic shop was canceling this series they deserve a post all of their own.

Sgt Rock The Prophecy 5 - One more issue to go by one of the great masters. Good art and an interesting story.

Issue 5

Blood of the Demon 15 - One of the best ONE YEAR LATER stories. This series always surprises the reader and throws him a curve ball when he least expects it. Sadly there are only three issues left till the end of the series. I wonder how the new ATOM series by John Byrne will be. Well, only time will tell.

Warlord 4 - Not much to add since last issue. The art still freaks me out and the story is kind of complicated. Not intriguing complicated just confusing complicated. Just makes me more sad that I couldn´t find any cheap issues of the Mike Grell series in Erlangen. Why doesn´r DC release trades ( or even SHOWCASE ) from good series like this ? In my opinion they should start with their best stuuf from the 70s and include a special Jim Aparo line. I mean this is one of the few artists who literally BUILD DC, who defined the look of DC for decades, who drew the most prolific and greates stories ever and they didn´t even release some special comics. That´s not right DC.

Issue 4

Ultimate Spider - Man 95 - A good read like always altough the ultimate versions of Blade and Morbius look like the normal ones to me.

So, I just found out that most of the previews I put up from BUZZSCOPE are now nonexistend. So I have to substitute them with previews from MILE HIGH COMICS or delete the ones I have no substitute for. So from now on I will have to post the pages instead of the link. So this blog will be less spoiler free from now on. Great, as if I have too much readers as it is.

But before ending the post on this negative note I wanted to write about some of the old comics I have been reading since Erlangen. Since I haven´t had that much time on the computer to write my blog I have started to make note whenever something comes to mind like the diary I kept in Erlnagen ( to which we will come in my next post....hopefully ). First of it are TEEN TITANS issues 16 to 19 which are simply superhero gold. This, my dear comic reading fans, is the gold standard. When Marv Wolfman and George Perez were on the title it was THE best selling book of DC and to find out why you just have to read one issue. There are topics popping up in this pages other series didn´t dar to touch. Especially issue 18 that brings the topic of politics into play especially Kid Flash who is totally anti - communistic and tells the others to lay off him for being so redneck since he doesn´t give them any shit for being so damn liberal and free - thinking all the time. Wow, there really was a time you could bring something like this in a comic. Now, the heroes are all on the same level and understanding and political correct. All " Peace out. " and " We understand your pain. " that´s just too much wishy washy for me.

Another great issue is issue 19 which stars Dr. Light in his pre - Identity Crisis version where he is just a loser. It was really funny to read and what I liked especially about the issue was that the whole thing started with Dr. Light being pissed because the Riddler stumped the BATMAN. So he escapes from prison to show everybody up. At the end he naturally is in prison again all grumpoy and pissed off but when he hears that the Riddler is doing time in Gotham again he can´t help but smiling and saying : " Maybe this wasn´t such a bad day after all. " There´s nothing better than a little Schadenfreude to brighten your day. One of the first things that I noticed was that in the german translation Changelings dialogue was changed. In the german version he tells Cyborg how he was hitting on a mousy biblarian chick when she let her hair down and took off her glasses she had beautiful eyes. In the original she was still mousy so he went out with her sister. But apparently that was just too much for german readers. Obviously the german publishers were afraid to turn the young impressionable and innocent readers into morally questionable players and playboys who just use women.

One other funny thing about this issue is when Dr. Light decides to lead the monsters to the Titans so either the heroes kill the monsters or the monsters kill the heroes - which both works for him. And then he thinks : " If they kill the Titans maybe I can lead them to the JLA so they kill them too. " and I just can´t help picturing in my mind how Dr. Light leads the monsters in one big blazing trail of destruction through the DC universe and obliterating all heroes. But the best dialogue in the issue is between Kid Flash and Dr. Light.

Kid Flash : " You´d sell out your own mother for a nickel. "

Dr. Light : " No, I wouldn´t. " - " Not for a nickel. "

That´s like right out of an episode of Beavis and Butt - Head. Nice to know that even lowlifes like Dr. Light have SOME standards and won´t sell their mothers. For cheap. This series is one of the best in history and you just need to get all the trades or issues you can get your hands on. You won´t regret it.



The next issues I read are issues 16 to 19 of MOSAIC which is THE best Green Lantern series of all time. You can´t call yourself a Green Lantern fan if you haven´t read this sries. It´s a requirement. No, really. Can you call yourself a Batman fan if you haven´t read Frank miller´s RETURN OF THE DARK KNIGHT ? Can you call yourself an X - Men fan if you have not read THE DARK PHOENIX SAGA ? You see the point I´m trying to make.

GREEN LANTERN : MOSAIC was a different superhero book. The series was about John Stewart the broken Green Lantern, the one with so much tragedy with his wife Katma Tui being killed off by Star Sapphire and the death of a whole planet on his conscience. It was just a question of time till he cracked so noone is really surprised whenever he gets possesed or brainwashed or mindcontroled. The othe focus of the series were the little stories involving the everyday people ( and the strangest aliens ever to appear in the pages of a comic book ) and their lives. Really personal and down to earth stories. All very surrealistic with strange dreams and a main character who was a borderline psychotic - at best. At that time there was Green Lantern Classic ( Hal Jordan ), ther was Ultimate Green Lantern ( Guy Gardner ) and than there was Green Lantern on crack - which was MOSAIC. The series was started by Cully Hamner but in the last issues somebody else took over so I stopped reading it not knowing it would end in only three issues. The miniseries spun out of the five part storyx MOSAIC where a crazy guardian of the universe made up his own pet planet from parts of different other planets. But after he was defeated the other guardians decided to keep the planet intact as a big experiment to see if different species could coexist in so confined quarters. And they left John Stewart in charge to make it all work somehow.

The character the last issues focus on is Rose, who appeared in various previous adventures of Green Lantern, and her live. She has a different view of superheroes namely that they are not human but a different species. Which is true. Superheroes are not normal humans anymore, they have special powers and are not like they were before - some even returning from death.

Our daddies broke rock. We break ground.

This words are repeated throughout the story of Rose growing up the daugther of a coal miner on a farm. And through the course of the story the words take on all kind sof double meaning. Which was one of the characteristics if the series, working with double meanings and analyzing what things really mean. In the series all the meanings, metaphor or aspects of the terms " green " and " red " are explored. And there are a lot of references to architecture and music, especially jazz music. Like in one of the last issues the words " I´ll build a concert to paradies with a new tune every day. " is clearly a quote form Cole Porter´s AN AMERICAN IN PARIS song lyrics " I´ll build a stairway to paradies with a new step every day. "

Another thing that stood out to me is that in the last issue the small window of Power Girl´s dress has transformed to some serious cleavage almost down to her belly buttton. We need more artists like this. Yes ! But honestly, MOSAIC is one of Gerard Jones best series and you definitely need to check it out. Ther is no chance in hell this comic will ever be published in Germany ( since they didn´t even publish STARMAN here ) or to be collected in a trade so try to find some issues in the dollar bins of your local comic shop. Since there is no big buzz about the series ( which will change directly after this post goes online ) at the moment you should be able to find the issues pretty easy. They are worth it.

I hope I gave you some tips you can use and next time we will get back to my adventures in Erlangen.

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