Shameless comic pimping Tuesday

It´s been a while since I did one of those because lately I have done other posts on weekends, what with Halloween and all those other things that have come up. But now there are a few comic bargains at amazon I wanted to mention before going back to business as usual so let´s start with the shameless comic pimping.


As you all know I got my own little amazon store embedded in this blog but even though I have created approximately 0.00 bucks of revenue through it every once in a while I want to bring certain bargains to the attention of my readers. It´s what I did before I got the store and I guess it´s what I´ll keep doing once amazon decides that I´m not worth keeping as a partner and kicks me out.

I like to entertain the idea that such a thing has no influence on me or the way I write my blog. Which is probably true since I still have to pay for most review copies myself. And I never recommend any books I haven´t bought myself and enjoyed. As my amazon store is from amazon.de I should not have to mention that this is all for my german readers.

Keeping that in mind I just HAD to plug the WEDNESDAY COMICS HARDCOVER especially in the pre - Christmas period.


As every year another Christmas comes around in a few weeks and that means aside from the BIG FREE COMIC CHRISTMAS CONTEST on this very blog, getting presents - preferably comic presents - for your loved ones, family or acquaintances. Of course the best is when you manage to give one of those diehard comic muggels a comic as a present and they can´t get enough of it. That´s one big " Mission accomplished " on your Christmas list right there.

Now when I give presents for Christmas I prefer to give those big hardcovers that look very impressive on the bookshelf but here in Germany they are very expensive which means there are only two outlets for those kind of books for me : conventions like the Stuttgarter Comicbörse taking place this month on the 26th - or amazon.


Now you may find the new german hardcover edition of WEDNESDAY COMICS at the Comicbörse in Stuttgart. But - " as always " a frustrated Subzero added - PANINI COMICS GERMANY just had to make it unavailable to the general comic reading public. I really have no idea how they expect to bring more readers into the german comic market if they keep pandering exclusively to the collectors market. Now you better sit down because for some unfathomable reason PANINI COMICS GERMANY thought it would be a brilliant idea to make the german version of the american 50 Dollar hardcover a limited edition of only 999 copies at a price of 69 EUROS. No, really. If you don´t believe me check out this link

Just before Christmas they throw such an overpriced collectors edition hardcover on the market. What does that say about them ? Okay, you might find it with a bit of a discount at the Comicbörse in Stuttgart or at some other comic convention but to have an even comparable price with the american 50 Dollar edition the comic dealer would have to give you a discount of 19 bucks. Might happen. Okay, it might happen. But it´s not very likely and it´s not nice of PANINI COMICS GERMANY to put this kind of pressure on german comic dealers by forcing them to offer at least a 19 EURO discount to stay competitive.


I´m saying " at least a 19 EURO discount " because you can get the hardcover between 40 and 35 EUROS at your regular online comicstore. Now the reason why I had to make the WEDNESDAY COMICS HARDCOVER my first item is that at the moment amazon is selling it for 25 EUROS. That´s almost a third of the german price, half the price of the original edition and still 10 bucks below what the best priced online shop will charge you and it includes shipping.

And the reason why I want to put it on the blog right now is that those bargains can go very quick. In one of my first bargain books posts the comics I was writing about were sold out while I was finishing the post. And good prices will not last forever as the CAPTAIN AMERICA OMNIBUS or the ASTONISHING X - MEN OMNIBUS have already gone over 51 EUROS and the " 3 trades for 15 EUROS " offer has also already expired. Now if you really, really want to support the german comic market OR if you want to buy it as a Christmas present for somebody who only can read german you´re stuck with the german 69 EURO monster. But if you can read english and you may have thought about getting it NOW is the right time. I have learned a long time ago that with these things you only have one chance and in most cases you will regret it later if you don´t grab the bull by the horns.

Now what is WEDNESDAY COMIS ? Oh my god, I totally forgot that there may be people out there who have no idea what I´m talking about.


Back in 2009 DC comics had the idea of reviving those classic newspaper comics section and I´m not talking about the tiny cartoon strips you would get during the week but those glorious big Sunday pages in full color. Coming in the newspaper size and folded to standard comicbook size WEDNESDAY COMICS was printed on newspaper and although at a price of 3.99 per issue it tanked the whole " good comics at low prices " thing it still offered your money´s worth with comics that each had one page every issue by a literally WHO`S WHO of comic legends and up and coming artists.

On the top of my list is - naturally - KAMANDI written by Dave Gibbons and drawn by Ryan Sook,


METAL MEN written by Dan DiDio and drawn by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez,


METAMORPHO written by Neil Gaiman and drawn by Mike Allred,


SGT ROCK written by Adam Kubert and drawn by Joe Kubert


and SUPERGIRL written by Jimmy Palmiotti and drawn by Amanda Connor.


And the rest of the list is equally impressive : BATMAN by the 100 BULLETS team of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso,


SUPERMAN by John Arcudi and Lee Bermejo, DEADMAN by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck who´s channeling his inner Darwyn Cook,


GREEN LANTERN by Kurt Busiek and Joe Quinones,


TEEN TITANS by Eddie Berganza and Sean Galloway, STRANGE ADVENTURES by Paul Pope, a really strange WONDER WOMAN by Bill Caldwell, FLASH COMICS by Karl Kerschl and Brenden Fletcher that simultanely tells a story of the Flash AND a story of Iris West,


THE DEMON / CATWOMAN by Walter Simonson and Brian Stelfreeze


and last but not least HAWKMAN by the incomparable Kyle Baker. Now I would like to be able to give you a detailed analysis about each and every one of the comics but the truth is that I only got the first issue.

Because after reading the first installment of the strips I knew I had to get the collection at some point and buying any subsequent issues would just be a waste of money. And now that I have the hardcover edition on glorious highend paper my issue 1 is of course going into the bag for the big Christmas contest. In any case this book is worth it if you only like some of the comics and you won´t believe the size of this sucker. Throwing this book at somebody is considered assault with a deadly weapon and legally it should come with a weapon´s license.



Talking about blunt force trauma my next two items are also in the " get it while it lasts " section and the first one is the 50 Dollar DARK AVENGERS HARDCOVER by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato ( with some help by Greg Horn and Chris Bachalo ) that is still offered at 25 EUROS.



I have already written at length in this post why the 400 page collection gets my utmost recommendation so I´ll just post another piece of gorgeous art by Mike Deodato.


The second one is SECRET WARRIORS HC 6 - WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS that is now offered at 10.70 EUROS which is less than you pay for the paperback at amazon ( 11.99 EURO ) or at your regular online shop for the hardcover ( around 18 bucks ).


I haven´t gotten around to do a review on the series but from all the fallout of CIVIL WAR ( we just keep getting back to it don´t we ? ) this is one of the best written books. The art is done by Alessandro Vitti who first alternated art chores with Stefano Casselli and then took over when Stefano left the book and while it may not be the best volume for new readers I wanted to mention it for all those who already are fans of Nick Fury´s handpicked band of misfits and didn´t have the time to get the latest volume.



Now the next two items I HAVE already mentioned a few times on the blog : iZombie volume 1 and 2 by Chris Roberson and Mike Allred. So far I have only given some dubious hints or mysterious comments but now it´s time to let the cat out of the sack - so to speak. I won´t ruin everything but here´s the readers review from amazon :

For all zombie fans out there gnashing their teeth in anticipation for the next issue of WALKING DEAD, MARVEL ZOMBIES or DIE TOTEN, Vertigo offers a surprising new take on the zombie genre. iZombie is a significant tonal shift from most zombie comics on the market : it’s told from the perspective of female 20 - something zombie Gwen Dylan, whose undead existence comes with a great twist. In order to maintain the pretense that she’s alive, Gwen must consume human gray matter once a month or else her zombie instincts take over. Along with the brainy aftertaste comes selective memories from the deceased, and Gwen is cursed with flashbacks that are not her own. It’s a tough gig, coupled with a job digging graves ( bright side : her day job provides those necessary late - night snacks that she reluctantly craves), and the irony is not lost on her :

This is, by the way, totally some kind of symbol for my entire existence. Digging holes in the morning, filling them up in the afternoon, and sneaking in at night to dig ‘em back up again. Over and over. Like that guy in the Greek hell who rolled a big rock up and down a hill all day. What was his name? Syphilis? Something like that, anyway. Whatever. Seriously, though, I’d switch places with the dead Greek guy in a second.


Gwen’s best friend, Ellie, is a lonely ghost stuck in 1960s fashion, but she wears it well. Her melancholic state is just as interesting as Gwen’s predicament, and Roberson develops both female characters with an easy - going, natural manner, giving iZombie a refreshingly frank attitude. When Gwen’s oblivious coworkers ask her to join them after work, she off - handedly dismisses them: " I’ve got to wash my hair, or something suitably girly like that. " Even undead, Gwen is too cool--a graveyard hipster, hiding her secret under a thick coffin liner of aloofness.

Once Gwen cracks the latest cranium and devours its innards, however, she uncovers a murder mystery that threatens to spoil her detached routine. She, Ellie, and their were - terrier pal, Scott, form an askew Scooby - Doo alliance to solve the case, and along the way they cross paths with a sorority comprised of vamping vamps, a Hugh Hefner - esque mummy who might hold more answers than Gwen imagined and monster hunter Horatio who she should avoid but falls in love with instead.

Mike Allred’s pop art leanings imbue iZombie with a sly, ever - smirking temperament. His characters inhabit a canvas that’s instantly recognizable as his own : bold, unblended lines case characters who seem partially aware of the comic panels that frame their stories. They knowingly pose, at once a part of and removed from their backgrounds. The artwork is muddier than Allred’s Madman series, yet not as sharp - edged as his X - FORCE / X - STATIX run. The first paperback includes over ten pages of sketchbook material from Allred, and it’s fun to see his pencil - work before it gets handed off to his wife, Laura, for coloring.


As longtime readers of the blog may already know I´m a big fan of Mike Allred and so I might be a bit biased where the art is concerned but what really makes this a winner for me is how Mike Allred manages once again to collaborate with a writer who makes slackers interesting. First he did it in the aforementioned X - FORCE / X - STATIX where I started reading the series because I had to know which of those self - absorbed pseudo heroes would die a horrible death ( next ) and ended up rooting for them. Now he does it again and while I usually am not a big fan of slackers as main characters and find them boring the way Chris Roberson writes Gwen has won me over. Which might have to do with the occasional nudie shot by Mr. Allred.

This series is just all kinds of fun, intrigue, action, comedy, romance, horror and......well, stuff and it gets high marks from me.



And last but not least the HELLBOY - HOUSE OF THE LIVING DEAD HARDCOVER written by Mike Mignola with art by the brilliant Richard Corben is finally out.


I had totally forgotten about this but thanks to the suggestion list of amazon I was reminded of it. The book gets top scores from me without having read it first only based on their previous collaborations. It seems Mike Mignola read my comment that it would be nice to have a book full with Richard Corben Hellboy art because this time he went straigth to the graphic novel. It´s only about 2 EUROS cheaper as from regular online shops but I wanted to mention it because it´s new in my amazon store and the shipping takes 4 to 7 weeks as it is a new book. So if you want to get it for Christmas you should order it soon.


As I said, all these books are offered at a good price right now so you shouldn´t wait too long before ordering them.



Man, with all the HELLBOY, iZOMBIE, GEISTER SCHOCKER, JOHN SINCLAIR and GESPENSTER KRIMI lately you might think this was SUBZERO´s LITTLE HORROR COMIC BLOG but on the other side what would you expect from a blog called TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN ? There´s bound to be some horror stuff involved especially during the time around Halloween. And since I already mentioned JOHN SINCLAIR I´m glad to announce that the rumors about the death of Vincente Ballestar are just that : rumors.

The spanish artist who did most of the ( and the best ) covers during my period on the german horror pulp cult series is alive and well and you can find his blog right here . He even posted some artwork especially for his german JOHN SINCLAIR fans.


With pulp novels in most cases you have only the cover to give you some visual input of the story and the covers by Vincente always helped you greatly in that departement. Most of the issues I read have his covers which always managed to convey a mood of horror and suspense. It also helped that he has a knack for drawing the ladies although it sometimes took a long time until such massitas like Glenda Perkins finally made it on the cover. I mean managed to be shown on the cover.


And with that it´s once again time to wrap things up as it´s pretty late and the first comments are starting to come in. As usual around here it has taken me longer to write this post than anticipated and I couldn´t put in all the stuff I wanted. But with writing the post, doing the necessary research, receiving mail from amazon, making phone calls, writing e - mails, do the big clean up in my room, help with the cooking and even leave the house for some shopping I had a pretty busy day.

As this post was almost exclusively for my german readers I want to close out things with german band LOS DOS Y COMPANEROS who, according to my brother are the s - word.



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Don´t get even - get Madman !

I´m still working on my review of 2008 as well as my look to the future of what 2009 has in store for us comic readers. But I decided to make this a seperate post as I think this is going to be a bit longer.

I don´t know how much ground I´m going to cover and since this is probably one of the few titles that is going to remain on my pull list - which I will have to reduce pretty heavy this year - no matter what it´s difficult to say if it belongs to the stuff that was good in 2008 or to the stuff I´m excited about for 2009.


Because I was in Spain for the biggest part of last year there is a huge pile of comics waiting for me every time I come to my comic shop. Which makes it a bit difficult to write my review of 2008 since I´m way behind on my regular series. On the other side it´s good because I read the comics just before writing the review ( at least some of them ) and then they are still fresh in my mind.

So every time I go to the comic shop I decide which series or two series I´m going to pick since I want to get 20 issues maximum. I think next time I´m going to take all the TEEN TITANS and USAGI YOJIMBO issues - or maybe all the ECHO issues. Anyway, last time I took all the THUNDERBOLTS and MADMAN issues which meant that I could read six issues of MADMAN in a row.

Which was kind of difficult because I wanted to read just one issue when I started but the first issue I read was issue 7 - an all silent issue. So since I read that rather quick I went right to issue 8 which was divided into two parts. The first part is a retelling of the main characters history which was also very quick and a second story about something else ( it´s not important now and I don´t want to spoil it ).

The next day I popped open issue 9 which was a complete double spread issue - at least at first glance.


Now all this sound pretty negative but to say the truth it´s one of the reasons why I started reading the book in the first place. There is this old cliche that all superhero books are the same and no matter how many books like MADMAN, TOP TEN, ASTRO CITY, INVINCIBLE or SAVAGE DRAGON come along it never dies.

I think that part of it is that while there are tons of readers out there who say that they want different superhero comics only a select few really have the cojones to put one of these titles like MADMAN on their pull list. In the case of MADMAN I think it´s this weird " not flesh nor fish " thing were people who want to read something different are repelled from the outer appearance of yet another superhero comic while the more mainstream superhero fans immediatelly dismiss it as an independent book because it´s not drawn in the regular superhero style.

For me the art of Mike Allred was always something of an acquired taste. While many comic readers don´t like his style because it doesn´t fall within the regular perimeters for superhero comics people who don´t read much comics ( we need a word for comic - muggels ) accept it much easier because it somehow reminds them of Roy Lichtenstein´s art. And like it or not that´s what most people still think of first when they think about comic art.


Mike Allred´s style has evolved in a big way since my first encounters with the MADMAN books waaay back when it was still published by THUNDRA. Older comic readers may remember it newer comics readers never heard of that publisher. There was an interview in the ordercatalogue ( of which I totally forgot the name ) back when you got one catalogue for all publishers. At that time there were interviews in it and at that time I was still working and always looking for new interesting comics to add to my reading list.

The art didn´t make that much of an impression on me but it also wasn´t garish as in other articles I had read and the story sounded interesting. In the preview art there were some dinosaurs if I remember correctly and you can´t go wrong with dinosaurs. I think it was around that time that DINOSAURS FOR HIRE came out which was a total hoot. Can´t go wrong with dinosaurs. Anyway, I put the comic on my pull list but I think it didn´t last long till THUNDRA closed it´s doors.

Shortly after that DARK HORSE began continuing the book and with the collection of the first stroyline THE ODDITY ODDYSEE I could read it from the beginning. And the rest is history.


Well, you might ask yourself where am I going with all this ? My point is that I´m reading the adventures of Frank Einstein a.k.a. MADMAN for a long time and for me it was always about the story of MADMAN. Sounds weird coming from a guy like me who puts more emphasis on art then on story. But there are artists who write and draw their own comics which I mostly put in three categories.

First - artist who write. These are artists who either I get to know as artists first and as writers later or artists who start drawing and begin writing their own stuff later in their career. Even Mike Mignola or Walter Simonson didn´t write the stuff they illustrated from the get - go.

Second - writers who draw. These are artists who I get to know as writers first or artists who are mostly known because of their writing and not for their art. And of course artists who are far better at writing than at drawing.


Third - artists who make comics. Since the underground comics and the rise of independents in the 80s there are artists who have always done both and which I also haven´t known as doing just one thing. Jaime Hernandez, Robert Crumb and for me Mike Allred have always been doing " their own thing " in providing their readers with their original vision of the world in which you can´t seperate the art from the story without breaking it.

Both are an integral part of telling their stories and I couldn´t read the one without the other. Sure, Mike Allred did an incredible job on X - Static and even if the story was much more intriguing then I originally gave it credit for - it isn´t MADMAN. That´s 100 percent Mike´s baby and even if there are a lot of nice pin ups by the Who´s Who of comics in the back pages I couldn´t imagine it with somebody elses art.


Having said that I have to add that MADMAN is not really 100 percent Mike Allred´s since a big part that defines the look of it and which in fact has become one of the main attractors for the title ( at least in my humble opinion ) are Laura Allred´s colors. They have a distinctive look in Today´s world of computer colored comics which all try to look alike while the colors by Laura ( as somebody wrote in the lettercolumn ) really look like it was colored by a living person. It´s like something you expect to find on a painting instead of in the pages of a comic book.

Back to the issues I read. I think the part that was a bit discomforting for me was the accumulated impact of MADMAN crazyness that hit me all at once. Normally you read the issues with one month to catch your breath and digest the whole issue mentally. And this is also how you have to look at the issues. Because yes, Mike is always experimenting with the storytelling and the art. But it´s all for a reason. Apart from the obvious - which is his constant evolution as both a writer and comic artist - it´s a nice break from all the other comic books that tell the stories in the same way month after month.

Like I said issue 7 was an all silent issue......something you may know as " NUFF SAID month " from Marvel. But that´s because in issue 7 MADMAN is in space.


And as we all know there is no sound in space. Normally comics circumvent this with communicators but Frank´s helmet is damaged so there is no sound in the issue. And one of my favorite issues is issue 9. Which like I said looks like an all double page spread issue. Which it isn´t.

In reality it´s an one panel - panorama issue which means that all the double page spreads together give you one big picture which depicts the town in which the story takes place. And it´s not a cheap trick to make all readers buy various issue to put them next to each other and see the complete picture. That would be the case with a Marvel book. I only realized this when I began to read the next issue because on the second page of every MADMANS ATOMIC COMICS issue ( or the inside front cover how some people call it ) there is a short recap of the last issue with all the pages.

That is a nice way to see if you read last issue because you only have to look at the recap and see if it looks familiar. I wonder why none of the big publishers incorporated that into their comics. Anyway that´s were I could confirm that all the double page spreads could be combined to one big image. Now the reason why I liked the issue so much was that it reminded me of a thing we used to have in Germany back when I was young called " Rubbelbilder " which could be loosely translated to " rub on pictures ". Rubbelbilder were small pictures you could buy at the bakery or in a paperstore which had the two sides folded in.


The pictures depicted scenery like a town or a city or the inside of an apartement. Together with the picture there was a little foil with a thin paper layer on one side that had little pictures of animals, plants, things and of course comic characters on it. By removing the thin paper and rubbing the foil on the picture with a coin or some kind of plastic you could transfer the small things to the picture.

I remember going to a nearby village to buy them and making my own pictures with the town of Asterix, Superman fighting aliens, Batman catching thieves or Popeye belting some bad guys. I must have spent hours rubbing laserbeams, rayguns or nunchakus on pictures and I guess that´s were my love for comics was reinforced with my first layout compositions. So that´s what was going through my mind while reading the issue. If you want to see the full panorama picture of issue 9 here is a link where you can see the complete version. I would have included it on my blog but the size is really big and all you could see would be a looong black thing.

see the full image of issue 9 ( without words )

Another thing I must add is that the issue also shows Mike Allred´s strength as a storyteller as you have no problem in reading it even if your eye goes up and down on the page. There are other comic artists who have trouble with double page spreads or double pages in general. In some cases you don´t know if you read the part on top before the part on the bottom in other cases you don´t even know if it´s a double page or two seperate pages. I have read the first 8 trades of POWERS and to this day I´m not sure if I have read them the right way.

So one of the appeals of MADMAN is that Mike Allred is always experimenting with the form of telling the story. I mean in issue three he pays homage to all the great artists in the comic industry. Not just a few - all of them. If there is an artist you like or an artist you think is important....or even if it is just an artist you know - there is a panel in issue 3 that looks like it was drawn by him. American artists, french artists, european artists, comic book artists, animation artists - they are all there.


And not only is it an homage to the great comic artists that have made the comic medium what it is today. Since the issue deals with the issues of identity and selfawareness it helps to show how peceptions can change by showing the characters in different art styles. MADMAN has always been a comic that stands apart from other superhero books because of the topics of personality and identity. Frank Einstein has always been a man in search of his past not only because he has been brought back to life after his death and the resulting loss of memory.

In MADMANS ATOMIC COMICS the whole issue of finding out who we are, where we are coming from and where we are going to becomes the center of the story. The first issue in fact questions everything the reader ( and Frank ) took for granted and it does it in a really intelligent and intriguing way. I would like to go into further detail but I don´t want to spoil it for those who haven´t read it. If you want to know more just click the link below :

read the FULL first issue

But MADMAN is not only one giant headtrip into the frontiers of human existence, a rollercoaster ride to unknown metphysical and religious heights. It´s also an adventure full of weird science, rocket ships, space aliens, superhero teams like the Atomics, birth, death and rebirth ( and cloning ).


It has action, drama, romance, adventure, phylosophy and spirituality. It´s full of crazy ideas, wonderful concepts and a pure love for life and the comic medium which you can see on every page. No wonder it´s numer 14 on Comic Book Resources Timothy Callahan´s Top Twenty books of 2008 :

This comic seems to fly under the radar, even though Mike Allred has been one of the great comic book artists of the past fifteen years. I think the average comic book reader dismisses Allred's "Madman Atomic Comics" because of a superficial awareness of its contents. Either they think that it's all about camp nostalgia or they think, maybe after reading the first few issues of this series, that it's going nowhere. But what Allred is doing here -- what makes it a bit different than his previous Madman comics -- is bringing his metaphysical explorations to the fore. Frank Einstein has always been a character in search of answers to philosophical questions, but Allred tended to couch those questions in "ginchy" superhero tropes and wacky situations. He's still doing that to some extent, but he's not forcing conventional plots on his story anymore. He's letting his characters explore their universe at a slower, more thoughtful pace. And, to make it more enticing, Allred's been experimenting with his drawing style or layouts in nearly every issue. This comic is about the big questions, and it approaches those questions with grace and charm.


If I have managed to pique your interest and you want to find out more about Mike Allred and the MADMAN comic series here are some links. But be careful since there might be spoilers :

madman the series wikipedia entry

madman atomic comics 1 review ( with spoilers )

madman atomic comic 2 review

madman atomic comics 4 review ( with spoilers )

interview about what´s to come after issue 7 ( with spoilers )

madman atomic comics 9 review

madman atomic comics 11 review

another madman atomic comics 11 review ( some spoilers )

another madman atomic comics 11 review ( with spoilers )

mike allred on fanboyradio

mike allred on iFanboy watch it

mike allred on iFanboy with download link

mike allred homepage

a tour of mike allred´s studio

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housekeeping

Yes, today I spent most of my time on old posts. Yesterday I did some maintanence stuff on my other blog and realized that I had not checked all the old posts on this blog the last time I did the big overhaul.


I had added some tags but somewhere along the way I didn't check if all the pictures were in the right place. I posted a link to a COMICBABE BATTLE post where the pic was too close to the title so I corrected that. Well, going over the COMICBABE BATTLE posts I found out that this was the case in most posts. So because I wanted to fix that before returning to Germany I spent most of my day on that.

I have also begun to read all the old posts to check for spelling errors ( there are still quite a few left ) but for today I'm finished. I have to do one more complete overhaul for the tags.....but I have to postpone it to some other day. I think I have to add more tags. The idea was that I would a tag on every post where I write a lot about.....say Green Lantern......and by clicking the tag you can read all of the posts about Green Lantern.

Well, now I think that I should post a tag about Green Lantern in every post where I mention Gren Lantern. So that anyone who's interested in who this guy may be can just click the tag and read all the other posts. The only case where I'm going to be a bit more careful with that is Power Girl who's mentioned in every other post.


Now you might say that this is a lot of work for old posts but I recently got a comment for a post about X - STATIC which shows that even old posts get new readers. Tomorrow I will be busy with the new solicitation images so maybe next time we can start the next round of the solicitations.

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Long live the Legion !

I couldn´t sleep tonight so - once again - I´m spending the time writing on my blog. And it´s waaaay overdue since I wanted to write a few posts before going to Spain on Tuesday.


Yes, my days are numbered.....but in a good way. Tomorrow I´m off to the land of affordable comics, uncut movies and great tv entertainment. Compared to Spanish tv the German tv program is for monks and eunuchs. The spanish tv is more like in Italy.

I´m going to Spain to attend the SALON DEL COMIC DE BARCELONA 2008. Last year was my first time there and it was a really great experience so I´m really excited to go. Of course I am ill right before leaving Germany which is probably Germany´s way of saying : " Now don´t you forget why you are leaving. Here´s a little cough to remind you. And since you´re already sick how about a running nose ? " Man, that totally sucks. So that´s one reason why I can´t sleep tonight. Then I also had to get up and finally finish the CD with the music I´m going to take with me to Spain.


For the last two days I´m trying to finish it ( I´m going to save all my files on the computer to get the harddrive clean ) but my brother is always writing something and I don´t know if I have mentioned it......but if my brother is working I can´t do anything. Everything is a distraction so playing music was totally out of the question. Last night I made the mistake to stay awake to wait for him to finally go to sleep. The result was that five minutes after I was too tired to stay awake and finally went to sleep he decided to do the same. Which also meant that he got up ten minutes after me the next day. Looks like he´s gone back to ghosting me. Splinter would be proud.

Anyway, last night I didn´t wait for him to go to sleep but I didn´t get any more sleep either. At least I´m writing another post for my blog even if it will probably be my last post for the next few months. Since my mother is also flying to Spain I´m going to stay there for a few months to look for a job. There has to be more in life for a 40 year old guy who speaks four languages and who has a degree as a salesman than working for almost nothing or sweating at the factory.


And since I don´t have a return ticket yet I´m guessing that it will be three months till I come back and have internet access.

So for this post I have decided to write the all spoilers post about the SUPERMAN AND THE LEGION OF SUPER - HEROES story in ACTION COMICS. I was hoping that up to this point I was already finished with the SUPERMAN issues by Carlos Pacheco but again I didn´t get to it. So like it´s already a tradition I´m taking some Superman comics done by Carlos Pacheco with me to read.


Last year it were the SUPERMAN / BATMAN issues by Pacheco and the following issues by Ed McGuiness and the year before the first storyline by Ed McGuiness. If you ever take something with you to read at a house in the middle of nowhere ( like the one I´m going to ) than take somethin you can re - read at least ten times. And as a small tip : better take the stories done by Carlos Pacheco and Ed McGuiness - the rest is just downhill.

I don´t know why they are still publishing the book. I mean the first 25, 27 issues were gold ( with a few exceptions ) but after that the stories and the art got worse and worse. I couldn´t even look at the issues guest - starring the Metal Men. This book used to be the best of the best of DC and now the stories are even worse than what´s printed in the regular issues of Superman. I mean on one side you have the regular issues with Pacheco and Gary Frank and on the other side......well, it seems DC never heard about quitting while you´re ahead.

Anyway, the Superman issues are the only reading material I´m taking with me this year. Anything else I need to get sketches ( I bought a brandnew, mother - f - ing big sketchbook for this convention because my old little book has just a few pages left ) I will buy at the convention because it´s way cheaper there. And this year I will take the Pacheco Superman issues with me to the convention. Last year I didn´t take the SUPERMAN / BATMAN issues with me to the convention and I could have them all signed.


Well, maybe that´s a blessing in disguise since he signed all my AVENGERS FOREVER issues when he was in Erlangen and now I´m reluctant to read the issues. I have the trade of OBEY OR DIE ( or how it is lately called ABSOLUTE POWER ) but somehow I prefer to read the single issues. Anyway, I got my Wonder Woman sketch by Carlos Pacheco and that´s the important thing.

But most important is the real topic of this post which is Superman and the Legion of Super - Heroes. Like I already mentioned this post will be full of spoilers so if you want to enjoy all the surprises, twists and shocking cliffhangers then skip right to the clip section. You have been warned.

THE MAN WHO REMEMBERED TOMORROW


When it was announced that Gary Frank would be the new regular artist on ACTION COMICS I didn´t immediatelly jump and put it on my pull list. One of the reasons was that I expected my brother to put it on his pull list. He has way more money to spend and for the last few years he has had most Superman titles on his pull list even when the quality wasn´t very high. So I thought he would leap at the chance to get such an high quality book in his comic collection. Which for some strange reason he didn´t. Just one of the reasons why I have given up on understanding why my brother has certain comics on his pull list.

The other reason was that every time when a " hot " new creative team is announced you can count yourself lucky if they have no fill - in artists in the first five issues. So I decided to get the issues without putting it on my pull list. Who knows how the story will be ? If they´re good then I can keep an eye out for more issues.


So, are the issues any good ? You have no idea. It´s so good to have the Legion back as a part of the Superman continuity. The Legion is back with a vengeance. It´s like when you suddenly walk into your best friend that you haven´t seen in years. You know, back in the day you were best friends like till - the - end - of - the - world - best - friends but something happened. You moved and lost his address and phone number or one day he was gone without a word and you couldn´t find him or whatever. Something happened and your paths branched of and it´s been so many years that you have forgotten it. And than - bam - you two meet by accident and it´s like nothing happened. Like no time has passed at all. You´re going for a few drinks and you spend five hours just talking and it´s like old times. Well, that´s how the storyline is.

It´s a little weird to see Clark Kent as the deliberate awkward and oafish outsider at the Daily Planet again.


I mean, every time a new writer comes aboard a Superman title Clark´s personality changes. That may be a writer´s prerogative but as a longtime reader it´s a bit hard to swallow to see him go from seasoned pro and father figure to Olsen to burnt out ex - star reporter who has been demoted to insecure newbie with no reason whatsoever. A little bit of editorial oversight would be really appreciated here. But thankfully that´s not the main focus here even though the whole clumsy Clark routine is done superbly and just adds to the overall nostalgia feeling of the storyline.


And when I´m talking about nostalgia I´m not talking about the stories that are written exclusively for older fans and new readers can´t understand. I speak of an story that combines the best of the best elements of Superman and form an instant classic like the Porsche 911 of Superman comics. Like Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely´s ALL STAR SUPERMAN.

So in the first issue we learn that Superman had forgotten all about the Legion ( besides his encounters with the group as an adult like I retold in my last post about the Legion ) but thanks to the events in the JLA / JSA crossover THE LIGHTNING SAGA he knew that they had been best friends, they had many adventures together but one day the skies turned red and he never heard of them again till he was all grown up. In the first issue Brainiac 5 contacts him to help with some great desaster in the future and so Superman literally remembers Tomorrow - he remembers the days he spent in the future.


The first impression when I read the first issue was that aside from the exceptional art one has come to expect from Gary Frank Geoff Johns has a knack for explaining how alone Superboy really was before meeting the Legion. After being unique for many years it must have been pure joy to meet teenagers who were like Superboy. Kind of like when you´re at your first comic convention.


So of course Superman agrees to travel through time ( did I mention that I just love good time travel stories ? ) only to find out that like always the time machine was damaged, he didn´t arrive when he was supposed to arrive and when he finally meets some Legionnaries they are not too thrilled to see him.

NO TIME LIKE THE FUTURE


Well, it seems that Brainiac 5 didn´t listen to the other Legionnaries ( what else is new ) when he contacted Superman. It has been mentioned in THE LIGHTNING SAGA that : Superman must not return to the 32nd century ! Okay, maybe that has a little " Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts ! " vibe going. But it´s like they always say : If you have to borrow borrow from the best. And of course it added a whole new level of mystery to why the Legion never contacted Superboy again. It´s not what you would expect and let me just say that not all´s like Superman remembers in the future. There have been some changes since he left and not all of them are for the better.


One of the changes makes Superman´s stay in the future tougher than he expected if not outright life threatening. I´m not going to say what it is since it´s the big surprise ending of the first issue but there is a very good reason why the Legion voted against Superman´s return.

But Geoff Johns wouldn´t be Geoff Johns if that was all to it. No, to add another wrinkle to it there has been another change that forces Superman to confront the legacy he left behind and what history makes out it. And not in a good way.

REVENGE OF THE REJECTS


For the villains in this story Geoff Johns has really dug deep in Legion history. Although they seem to be new creations all the bad guys have appeared in Legion comics before. They were all rejected by the Legion but unlike Polar Boy who formed the LEGION OF SUBSTITUTE HEROES ( my favorite part of the Legion franchise ) and who later earned the respect and finally a place in the real Legion those guys went the other way and became villains.

So here are the bady guys and what they looked like in their first appearances :


Golden Boy


I was always a little baffled by the reasons the Legion chose their members and by which they rejected some of the guys. I´m not sure but being able to turn things into gold is a genuine superpower. And should the possible dangers to the economy really be one of the main reasons for rejecting someone ? Shouldn´t it be possible to be a hero if you vow only to use your power for good ? No, they just outright say that he is going to cause interplanetary economic disaster. I mean, Superman can turn coal into diamonds ? But was he rejected because if he made millions of diamonds that would be bad for the economy ? I think they just didn´t like him and had to come up with some stupid excuse to give him the boot.

And that´s not the only one. Just look at Radiation Boy


Rejected because he couldn´t turn his power off ? That´s totally bogus. Can Wildfire turn his powers off ? No he can´t. He even has to wear a freaking containment suit to stay in human form. Without it he is just a pulsating cloud of energy. Well, Radiation Boy has him beat on that level. He doesn´t need a stinking containment suit to have a human body - although it would help with the deadly radiation. Now, last time I read a comic with the Legion they said that their spacesuits shield them from radiation. So all they had to give him would have been one of their old suits ? Man, that´s cold. Anyway, Radiaton Boy - better than Wildfire. Hmm, I begin to see why they are so pissed off to begin with. I would also be angry if I got rejected because of some nitpicking. Like in the case with Storm Boy


Rejected because he didn´t have a real superpower. He only was a genius who could build a machine to control the weather. He was rejected because let´s face it - he´s just very smart.....like Brainiac 5. That´s right. Brainiac 5 also has no superpowers. All that he can contribute to the Legion is his intelligence and the things he builds like his forcefield belt or his time machine. It´s like building a machine that could say.......control the weather ! What´s going on here ? This guy got rejected for the same reason that Brainiac 5 is IN the Legion. Being very clever. Maybe Brainiac 5 didn´t want another member who could someday replace him and make him obsolete. It´s like in X - Static when the Anarchist is freaked out because there is another brother on the team. You have two very smart Legionnaries and all of a sudden it´s : You better don´t start any long holo fictions, Brainiac 5. So no membership for guys who are good at building things ( unless they´re green ) which means that Iron Man would have no chance to become a Legion member.

Another guy who had no chance was Tusker


He just got a bit nervous and got his tusks stuck in a tree. So what´s the Legion´s sensible response to the poor guy who just embarrassed himself in front of his heroes ?

REJECTED ! GET THAT LOSER OUT OF MY FACE !

It seems that in the future you don´t need social skills to be a hero. There goes one super hero to be. Scarred for life. Nice going dudes. So am I supposed to feel sympathy for the Legion in Geoff John´s new story ? More and more it looks like they only got what they deserved. No, really. The more I see about the tryouts for new members the more it seems that they admit whomever they like and they reject who they want if they feel like it.

I mean in Murphy´s laws there is such a thing like the effect of the demonstration. Which means that you can go and do something as many times as you want at home. Every time you do it at home it works perfectly. But then you want to do it in front of an audience and of course all of a sudden it goes wrong. And not only does it go wrong but it goes wrong in the worst way possible. Like for Spider Girl


Rejected for pissing off Saturn girl. Hmm, first this guy who was kind of like Iron Man and now this girl who is kind of like Medusa. I´m not sure but did Marvel build its heroes out of old Legion rejects ? Next thing you know Marvel will go and make a comic about someone called Spider Girl. Wait a minute.....they already have.

Now here´s what I find so fantastic about copyright laws and how DC deals with them. Superboy had to die because of some stupid thing concerning copyrights but it´s okay to have someone in an actual comic whose name is a ripp - off of a Marvel character. That sucks ! You just can´t understand it. And I don´t even try anymore.

But we have one last Legion reject who is also their team leader : Earth Man or TSHFKAAB which means " the Super Hero formerly known as Absorbancy Boy ". With a name like that I would also change it to Earth Man.



His superpower ? Kind of like Animal Man´s powers. He can absorb any residue superpowers. That´s like Amazo only better. Amazo can duplicate every superpower of every super hero who´s present. Now Earth Man´s powers go even a step further. He can duplicate the powers of every hero when they have already left. Which means that if he enters the meeting room of the Legion of Super Heroes right after a full membership meeting he´s one hell of a powerful guy.


Which in turn makes total sense that they rejected him and chose Tyroc. I mean Earth Man could have any superpower you want if you just have the right Legion members leaving the room. That´s way too powerful. And we don´t want guys who are too powerful in the Legion. I mean where would be the challange ? It´s better to have someone like Tyroc whose power it is to do whatever the story needs with his voice. No matter if it means burning up flying saucers or to turn elephants into flowers. Tyroc just screams and presto - instant story resolution. No wonder they imprisoned him in Brigadoon.


So there you have it. Somehow the Legion brought this one upon themsleves and now the whole universe has to suffer. What else is new ? But that´s what happens when a bunch of Teenagers pick favorites for a super team. We like to think that people with superpowers are like Peter Petrelli but the truth is they have more in common with Paris Hilton.

" You´re hot and you´re not. And I only want hot people on my super team. "

Somehow it´s really strange how the creators of the Legion could tell that in the future young people with special abilities would gather to be chosen to join a small group. Somehow they could see the future but they did not foresee that it would happen on television. There you have it : Legion tryouts = Star Search with superpowers.

Damn them all to hell. Who wants to be in their damn team anyway. I don´t care if I always get picked last. One day I´m going to show all them suckers.......heh, got a little carried away. I was playing a bit of devil´s advocate for the villains. Just to get the point across. Not like I would know how it feels like to be in their shoes.

In his new story Geoof Johns has Brainiac 5 say that the process by which the Legion decided the worthiness of the contestant was not based on superpowers alone.


Probably because nobody could really understand why someone was picked and others weren´t now Saturn Girl was doing telepatic scans of the contestants. To check for signs of mental instability or other disturbing stuff - at least that's what they say. But who knows what she really did while inside those minds and which ideas she might have planted.

So, not only did the Legion mock and belittle the poor schmucks who failed their so called " tryout " they also violated their civil rights and read their minds without asking them for permission or even telling them they were doing it. Forget about the government hacking your computer to fight terrorism. Here we have a case of Teenagers invading other peoples innermost thoughts for fun and membership in their little faschists club. But what can you expect from someone who thinks it´s okay to repeatedly mindwipe Superboy ?

CALL IN THE SUBS


The Legion Rejects have taken over and are now calling themselves the JUSTICE LEAGUE. Superman´s legacy besmirched and turned into a lie. The Legion imprisioned or on the brink of defeat. The universe five minutes away from a total intergalactic war. You know what time it is ?

Time to call in the subs. It seems young SUBZERO wasn´t the only one with a special fondness of the coolest assembly of super heroes for whom failure was just the beginning. Apparently Geoff Johns also likes the substitutes since they are the inofficial stars of the book. Right from the moment Brek Bannin a.k.a. Polar Boy appears the subs steal the spotlight.


Many writers would just cast them off as Losers but Johns puts the right spin on this little team that could. If you don´t have big, cool powers like the normal Legionnaries you have to work twice as hard and you have to be three times as tough. And of course much more crazy to mix it up with super villains. Especially if you can´t control your powers 100 percent. All you have is your will power and the hope that somehow you will win. Or like Brainiac 5 says : " Although, please note that I don´t approve of the substitutes´impetuous modus operandi. They don´t just jump into the deep end of the pool without looking. They do it backwards and handcuffed. "

To which Polar Boy grinning replies : " Hey, Brainy, when you´ve never had anything to lose you can get a bit reckless. " Which pretty much says all there is to say about the subs´attitude.


Geoff Johns just knows how to thread the thin line between cool and insane. His Chlorophyll Kid thinks he can communicate with plants ( which he clearly can not ), his Rainbow Girl strikes fear into the hearts of evildoers and Stone Boy takes the time to strike a cool victory pose before turning to stone and acting as a living battery ram. Which reminded me of the scene in ONE PIECE when Zorro, Nami and Vivi are slowly turned into wax figures and Zorro strikes a cool pose for posteriority.

So far only five of the six parts have come out but so far the story is incredibly good. Geoof Johns makes the subs cool and the rejects menacing. Earth Man becomes an unstoppable, allpowerful menace and the Legion has to fight against overwhelming odds. Just when the Man of Steel is turning 70 this story shows us what´s so special about the Legion and why they just belong into Superman continuity like signal watches and bottled cities. The future is no nice, clean utopia but a grim and gritty urban jungle where survival of the fittest is the only law.

Aside from Geoff John´s great story the visuals of Gary Frank really help bringing the reality of the bleak future home. There are many cool double page spreads and there are hints of the history of the DC universe throughout the book.


The ideal story for Legion fans as well as for comic readers who always wanted to know what´s so special about the Legion.



Now before closing the topic of the Legion before I spoil too much there is one thing I have to mention : the costumes. Or rather the new costumes. Or rather the new old costumes. I know that the whole story has kind of a classic vibe which may be the reason why Gary Frank designed his costumes to resemble the initial costumes. But in my mind that´s a mistake since the costumes of the 70s looked much more " futuristic " for lack of a better word than the originals. The new costumes look more like spacesuits designed in today´s day and age covering up waay too much skin especially where the ladies are concerned. And as the authority on all things COMICBABE BATTLE I just have to cry foul. What has happened here ? The costumes just get more restrictive over time. I mean Dawnstar has a small cleavage window left in her costume.


Not that I´m complaining about cleavage windows, I´m all for them and more power to the artists drawing them. But just a few months back Dawnstar appeared in the LIGHTNING SAGA and boy did she wear something different there.


Holey Moley ! Now that´s what I call a costume. Am I the only one for whom this is the classic costume of Dawnstar ? As far as I can think back that´s the costume she always had in the legion stories and the new one just looks weird. Much too heavy for a flyer. But all the costumes that have been changed in the past few incarnations have changed for the worse.

What Princess Projectra used to look like.


And how she looked after the re - design.


It doesn´t even look like the same person anymore.

Or Phantom Girl. Here she is in her stylish 70s outfit.


And here´s the re - done political correct version.


That´s not right ! The only Legion lady that shows her 70s roots in the story is Shadow Lass who wears something at least resembling her disco era costume. The original.


And the costume she wears in the new storyline.


Pretty close, huh ? I don´t know why the costumes were redesigned but in my opinion they didn´t have to do it. Aside from that minor flaw the story is really a high octane blockbuster action comic - like the name ACTION COMICS implies. The last part hasn´t come out and I don´t think I can read it before I go to Spain ( no, I´m pretty sure I won´t read it before I go to Spain ) but so far it has really become one of my favorite Legion stories and whenever I finished an issue I was more excited than before to read the next issue. I´m sure Geoff Johns will find an intelligent and surprising way to wrap it all up in the final issue. After a long time this is finally a Superman comic that in my opinion is well worth the money.

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