DC relaunch news - finale

So since this is not only a Sunday but Whit Sunday I´m only doing a short post Today. Tomorrow is also a holiday and I´m sure most people will just relax and prepare for the start of the week.


Here at TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN, Germany´s best comicblog, we want to use this opportunity to post the final chapter about the DC relaunch. And with " we " I mean " me " because I´m the only one contributing to to the awesomeness of this blog.

So here are the latest news, articles and musings about the DC relaunch :

dc announces omac, western and wildstorm titles

tony bedard and ig guara launch new blue beetle series

dan jurgens interview about new jli and green arrow books

judd winick writes black batman in new batwing book

steve cornell on demon knights

We have the final details of the DC relaunch , the complete list of the 52 new DC titles and ROBOT 6's John Parkin has gone to all the trouble of mapping out which creators and books are being published before the relaunch adding up which creators and books land after the relaunch, noting major shifts to come for creators and characters.


As the whole line - up is now known the first ones have already taken a look at what the new DC looks like. Greg Hatchers at Friday from the Cheap Seats takes a look at the new DC that explains DC´s new strategy from the publisher´s point of view in detail and has lots of interesting thoughts on the subject while Kelly Thompson´s look at the new DC is more concerned about how the female point of view is represented - or better almost nonexistent - in the new announcements.

To round things up Dean Hacker has a few interesting bulletpoints about the new DC and there is a survey asking Which new titles will you buy ? . I have already participated myself ( so far only 3 titles have made it on my list ) and I´m anxious to see the results next Wednesday. Heh, see you next Wednesday, right, John Landis ?

Last but not least THE LINE IS DRAWN has another hilarious mash - up, this time their own versions of new DC number 1s of which my favorite - so far - is DARKSEID WITH AN AFRO. I mean, the title alone sells this book.

Now it looks like there will be a lot of empty spots in my reading schedule, which won´t make my online comicshop very happy since most of what I order online is from DC.


Although if I know myself and what a hypocrite I can be there is the possibility that I will read more DC titles than ever by the end of this year. I mean, who knows ? I bet when DC started it´s new line of books after CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS there sure were a lot of fans that weren´t too happy about it.

But it´s where I and a whole generation of new readers came in and it´s now considered a golden age of innovation and creativity by many. I wish I could say that this is the last I will write about DC comics in the near future but there are some things I haven´t addressed yet. Like the fact that there are some books that deserve to be put out of their misery ( I think I mentioned 1 or 2 ) or which books I´m going to miss.

And if the new DC really goes as bad as me and a few others fear it could be the perfect time to catch up on all the back issues or check out the series you never got around to read. Right now I got the first trade of Vertigo´s I ZOMBIE ( which thankfully will be continued as far as I know ) and with every issue of TINY TITANS I can get my hands on I´m more convinced that it´s the best Titans series out there at the moment.


Since the last few videos have been from the Muppet Show here´s another one, this time with german movie cult siren Elke Sommer.



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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.



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The fall of DC - the rise of Valiant ?

You may already have heard that DC is going day and date with its line of comics and that to further facilitate this they are going to relaunch 52 of it´s books with a new number 1 following the events of FLASHPOINT.


That´s right. New series, new creative teams and most important - new number 1s. Because we haven´t got enough number 1s as it is. Who cares that a book like Justice League has at least six number ones already not counting the number 1s of series like Justice League Europe, Justice League International, Justice League Classified, Justice League Task Force, Formerly known as the Justice League, etc., etc., etc....
And comic companies wonder WHY they have so much trouble getting new readers.

HELLO ! First rule for getting new readers : You have to take them by the hand and guide them, not throw them at the lion pit.

Why is WALKING DEAD so successful ? Besides being a terrific book with great art and writing there is only one book.

No TALES FROM THE WALKING DEAD, no WALKING DEAD EUROPE, no WALKING DEAD REDEAD. If a customer asks : " Is this the comic to the tv series ? " the shop owner can say yes. This is it. And he doesn´t have to explain to the customer that there are five books and what they are all about and which ones he needs to read to understand it.

One book.

But DC relaunches 52 of its titles.


I´m gone for the internet for 5 friggin days and THIS is what I come back to ? Has DC gone mad ? I swear, I can´t leave them alone for 5 minutes.

I´m still reading the books I got at the Comicbörse Stuttgart ( I already gave DAS MARVEL - PROJECT away as a birthday present ) and since I invited my sister and my brother in law to celebrate his birthday I spent most of last week cleaning up the house.

Longtime readers may recall that I mentioned in my last post ( or any other about HARTMUT ) that I always buy two copies of every new HARTMUT comic since it´s one of the few comics my brother in law reads. So after the Comicbörse Stuttgart I called my sister and as fate would have it I asked her when her husband celebrates his birthday ( I didn´t want to wait till Christmas to give him the present ) only to hear that it was the same weekend on which the Comicbörse took place.

So we talked a bit and decided that they would visit us on Saturday ( this weekend ) but that also meant the house needed to be cleaned up a bit. And since none of my brothers seemed to be in the least bit inclined to help with that I had to do it all myself.


I tried to get a bit of rest on Friday after I had almost finished with cleaning but then I also had to cook and that was that.

On Saturday I wanted to take a nap after returning from the ice - cream parlor but just when I started to doze off my sister and her husband had arrived. As usual the time was too short but we had a good meal of paella that my younger brother had cooked ( his birthday present ) and - as my sister hasn´t the time to watch all new DC animated movies - we watched GREEN LANTERN - FIRST FLIGHT and SUPERMAN / BATMAN - ACOPALYPSE.

All in all an enjoyable day and I also gave away my first comic from the GRATIS COMIC TAG, the MUPPET SHOW comic because my sister is a big fan of the show. I´m pretty sure she will love the comic.

As a matter of fact I have already read all the 12 comics I got at the GRATIS COMIC TAG ( and one my brother got ) and besides the MUPPET SHOW comic there are 6 that I´m definitely giving away, 2 I´m also probaly going to give away and 3 I will keep. Unless I can get more copies of the comics. It all depends on my next visit to the comicshop.


I would like to write about a few more comics in the GRATIS COMIC TAG post. Which would have been this post if I hadn´t heard the news of DC´s suicidal tendencies from COMIC BITS ONLINE ( which you can find right on this blogroll - you are checking it out regularly I hope ) which has me shaking my head in disbelieve.

Seriously, I just don´t care anymore. FLASHPOINT doesn´t interest me in the least bit besides the SECRET SEVEN series – and that´s only because George Perez will be doing the art. I´m a big George Perez fan and this way I can hopefully bridge the time until the TEEN TITANS GAMES graphic novel is finally released.


But I wasn´t interested in the FLASHPOINT crossover before and now I´m even less interested.

I mean if you have seen one bleak, grim and gritty alternative timeline you have seen them all. Been ther, done that, bought the t - shirt. And from what I have read so far it doesn´t seem that this is another one of the highly entertaining " Alternate timelines in which everybody dies ".

DC is relaunching 52 books ? Whatever. Wonder Woman was being relaunched anyway and now this is – what ? A re – relaunch ? A re – retrolaunch ? A back – and – forth launch ? In the words of a certain ex – president I would say : Wonder Woman is a flip – flopper.

Every time Wonder Woman has been successful in the last years ( as in the storyline that was drawn by Terry Dodson ) it has had really exceptional art and it has always gone back to the roots and used the things that made Wonder Woman popular. And every time Wonder Woman has flopped in the last years was when the book had below - par art and was trying to re - invent itself.

This is one of the main problems of Wonder Woman ( and comic books in general ) instead of working with the tools they have and writing good stories the company think they have to constantly re - invent the wheel. But once you´ve invented the wheel that´s it. You can fidget with the basic design but the general idea is solid. You just have to use it wisely.


Wonder Woman is one of the best known female comic characters and thanks to a tv show that was better than it got credit there are a lot of things people know about Wonder Woman. She comes from a secret island of amazons where men are forbidden to set foot and she´s a princess. She´s strong, she deflects bullets with her bracelets, she can talk with animals and she has a lasso of truth and an invisible jet.

People know what her costume looks like and that she changes clothes by spinning around. Now, can anyone tell me why the people of DC think they can sell more Wonder Woman comics by changing all the things I mentioned above ? Because I can´t understand it.

It´s still a mystery to me why companies like Marvel decide to flood the market with 5 different versions of IRON MAN whenever a new movie is in the cinemas but not one of them is like the movie version.

In my opinion DC is just digging it´s own grave with this new relaunch and I´ll – as usual – keep on reading my regular books unless they are canceled or relaunched. And I´ll maybe try a few ones that sound interesting which I will mostly decide by on the grounds of who the artist of the books will be. Not like the creative line up of DC books had such a good track record. I mean, every three months I want to do a post about TEN TITANS but the new writer I wanted to announce is already out and the current writer is only temporary until the new one takes over – this time for real. That book goes through more writers than Hawkman has origins ( and I think DC is going to add one more to the list with the relaunch ).


I´m usually a " let´s wait and see before crying bloody murder " guy, but reading the press release........sorry this all sounds like a lot of bs ( pardon my french ).

Guided by writer Geoff Johns and artist Jim Lee, JUSTICE LEAGUE will begin its first year with an updated secret origin reflecting DC’s new initiative, giving the group a reason for coming together that it lacked when the league first appeared in 1960. And while it will ultimately boast 14 members, at its core will be DC’s A - list do - gooders: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern and Aquaman.

Okay, first of all what´s all this nonsense about lacking a reason for coming together ? A giant alien telepatic starfish that´s bent on enslaving the entire human race is not reason enough for you ? What more do you need ? So far there always was a reason for the Justice League - besides the obvious. Namely that they banded together to fight the threats no superhero could battle alone - oops, wrong comic company.


And since when is Aquaman A - list ? Since BRIGHTEST DAY ? Which was pretty disappointing especially the ending. I mean all this trouble just to bring back one character ? Okay, how much did Mike Sterling pay DC ? This is a ripp - off.

“ The approach is very much about who they are behind the masks and how they interact together and how these personalities mix, ” explains Johns, DC Entertainment’s chief creative officer. “ With the world’s greatest superheroes, how does that team actually work? Do they all get along? Being able to pull together and see how that relationship is forged and continues to grow has to be at the heart of that book. ”

For Lee, working on a team book is a different experience than a Superman or Batman, both of which he illustrated in recent years.

“ When you have a Green Lantern mixing with a foil like Batman, you get scenes that are comic - book history. There’s the epicness of it all. You’re dealing with iconic characters and you want to give them all equal grandeur and weight. ”

Now call me oldfashioned but we already had all this in the DC books that were published so far. At least in the good ones.


Every good Justice League book focuses on the persons behind the masks and their unique interaction. Like the Giffen League or the recent JUSTICE LEAGUE - GENERATION LOST book. So far I haven´t heard anything new about this new relaunch.

Also I´m not sure how good Jim Lee is at keeping deadlines since the wait for new issues of ALL STAR BATMAN & ROBIN kept getting longer and longer. The sequel to that has been announced every year now but with all the new books at DC and Jim Lee starting a different title who knows if that ever will happen.

The recent emphasis on diverse characters such as lesbian superheroine Batwoman, Hispanic hero Blue Beetle and African - American adventurer Cyborg ( who will be a core member of Johns and Lee’s new Justice League ) also will continue.

“ He’s a character I really see as the modern - day, 21st - century superhero,” Johns says of Cyborg. “ He represents all of us in a lot of ways. If we have a cellphone and we’re texting on it, we are a cyborg — that’s what a cyborg is, using technology as an extension of ourselves.”

Okay, this is where the train not only heads off the rails but swandives into the abyss. Batwoman did not profit from the hysterical media coverage of a lesbian superhero and if it has gained a following it´s because of the solid creative team.


Blue Beetle´s book was canceled.

And Cyborg is neither a new character ( he´s from the 80s ) nor is his inclusion in the Justice League a new idea. James Robinson did it during his run on the book and it didn´t fit even back then.

Cyborg is one of the rocks of the Teen Titans and an integral part of the team. On the Justice League he´s just one of many and not even someone special. He has no ties to the team especially when Dick Grayson is not their Batman, Wally West is not their Flash and Red Arrow, Starfire and Troya are not on the team.

And what the f - word is Jim Lee smoking ? If I am using a cellphone I´m a cyborg ? Last time I looked in the dictionary the word " cyborg " was short for cybernetic organism meaning a living organism being partly organic and partly machine. Half man, half machine. All cop.

I don´t know but as long as your cellphone is not implanted in your body or growing out of your elbow you are not a cyborg. Calm down. Just using technology will not turn you into a man - machine and Skynet is not going to control you to terminate all humans. Really.


Can anyone explain to me why comic companies seem to be in a self – destruct mode lately ?

But there is also good news as the prospects of a return of VALIANT looks pretty good. Another strange coincidence since I just bought the trades of SHADOWMAN, HARBINGER and RAI at the Comicbörse Stuttgart. Now they could be worth more - along with the rest of my VALIANT collection.

Valiant Entertainment – the company which purchased the rights to Valiants original properties in 2007 – announced that it will begin publishing new comics in both print and digitally formats in 2012 featuring heroes like XO Manowar and Bloodshot. The move comes in part thanks to a capital infusion from Cueno & Company, LCC – an investment firm headed by former Marvel CEO and Vice Chairman Peter Cuneo and his son Gavin. Cuneo left Marvel in 2010 as a result of the Disney buyout of that company and will serve as Chairman of Valiant, rounding out a management team that already included CEO Jason Kothari and Director Dinesh Shamdasani. You can read a full interview here


This reminds me a bit of the time Jim Shooter left Marvel and started Valiant. Or when Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld, Marc Silvestri, Whilce Portaccio, Jim Valentino and Jim Lee left Marvel to start Image. Hmm, it seems that every time someone leaves Marvel new grounbreaking comic companies follow in its wake. Maybe more people should leave Marvel.

Now although you have to take the press release with a grain of salt since no release dates or creative teams are announced. Also you won´t be seeing new comics about Gold Key properties SOLAR, MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER or TUROK since they are currently published by Dark Horse ( and written by Jim Shooter nonetheless ). But there are such great books left like X - O MANOWAR, BLOODSHOT, RAI, ARCHER & ARMSTRONG, ETERNAL WARRIOR or SHADOWMAN to name just a few.

So it seems that while I may be reading less DC books in the future ( JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA is already on the short way to the chopping block of my pull list thanks to Scott Kollins abominable art ) I may fill the vacant space in my pull list with new Valiant titles. I have too many books on my pull list anyway and I would really like to find out what´s up with my favorite armored barbarian Aric Dacia. And who knows we may actually get rid of the awful SUPERGIRL series and Stephanie Brown as Batgirl.


Since the biggest part of Todays post has been rather depressing here´s a clip to cheer you up. The MUPPET SHOW comic has finally reached Germany and at the same time the show is also finally released on DVD. To remind you of the greatness of the show here´s the episode from the third season that had Raquel Welch as the guest star.


Thankfully you can watch the full episode on YouTube unlike most cartoon shows where YouTube always insists on deleting the third part.



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Comicbörse Stuttgart 2011

Last Saturday it was once again time to saddle up, grit your teeth and jump headlong into the maelstroem we call Comicbörse Stuttgart. Just like last time I needed a few days to get around to do a post on it.


I already said that it would be a few days before my next post which is kind of a self - fulfilling prophecy on this blog because it always takes me a long time to do posts. Yes, I´m still a bit bummed out about having to do the post about JUSTICE LEAGUE - GENERATION LOST again but my problem has never be what I could write about. It was always more a problem of choosing about which one of a dozen subjects I´m going to write TODAY. I got a huge pile of comics at the comic fair in Stuttgart and since it´s starting to erode I wanna comment a bit on the swag I got before it vanishes forever on the desks of my brothers.

Or in the hidden passageways of my own comic collection.

The GRATIS COMIC TAG 2011 was a fiasko this year as I had decided to go out and live the experience that many found so invigorating last year. Well, I should have stayed in bed and that´s all I have to say about it. I´m going to do a longer post on the comics I managed to get from the 44 that were offered this year. And I will tell all about my long descent into hell on that occassion but now I´m focussing on the Comicbörse Stuttgart.

One of the things that still baffle me is that regardless of how many times you tell yourself that THIS time you are going to start with the table where you bought so many cheap comics the last time you NEVER find that table. Or if you find that table it´s once again the last table you check out.

Happened last time, happened this time.


What also seems to happen each time is that I mention the same things every time I write about the Comicboerse Stuttgart. I just hope I can keep from putting too much redundant stuff into this one.

After my bad experience at the GRATIS COMIC TAG I decided to sleep as long as I could and make my treck to Stuttgart whenever I am rested. As usual things didn´t go as planned and I woke up pretty early. So I took a shower, finished packing my stuff and took some public transportation to find some german comics.

When I go to my regular comicshop I mostly just get the books I have on my pull list and since I don´t go to as much comic conventions as I used to events like the comic fair in Stuttgart are my only way to get up to date on german comics and also to get easy access to them. Starting out is always a bit difficult for me and I always need a few tables till I have reached full " comic buying mode " and the old engine has reached it´s working temperature. Which in most cases means that the first table I check out is the one from GRINGO COMICS.

They always have new stuff and they usually have more new titles then I alone can get. This is one of the few occassions where brothers come in handy since you can split up the series. There was no new KOMMISSAR EISELE comic out but there were 2 new books from KOMMISSAR FRÖHLICH. Since that´s my brothers series I got the new TUMBA comic DIE FRATZE DES TODES ( The ugly face of Death ) which is a spin - off of KOMMISSAR FRÖHLICH since Tumba is part of the supporting cast.


KOMMISSAR FRÖHLICH is a black and white crime series written and drawn by Stephan Hagenow in the vein of the german crime series you see on german tv. Like in most german tv series the main character is a commissioner ( which may have something to do with the fact that Germany´s two state - controlled tv stations have a tendency to glorify bureaucrats ) but unlike most german crime series I have seen the main character is a sarcastic, chain smoking and disillusioned hardcase. You get the impression that he´s pretty much seen too much in his job and that´s why he´s so bitter about humans in general.

I have read the first 3 stories of KOMMISSAR FRÖHLICH ( who of course is anything but ) and all of them deal with pretty heavy stuff and it´s really not for the faint of heart. TUMBA is inked by Geier who transforms Stefan Hagenow usually pretty expressionistic pencils into a more realistic looking artwork akin to Michael Lark. Which adds extremely to grounding the horror of the story in reality.


The cover by Geier is another masterpiece and although I haven´t read it yet what I have seen so far looks pretty solid. It´s one of the comics I bought without thinking twice about it.

preview tumba die fratze des todes

Geier also handed me the fourth and final collection of HORST and I have to say I feel a bit guilty that I haven´t managed to continue with the translations. There´s just too much stuff that always gets in the way.

The other comic I bought at the GRINGO table was DER HARTMUT HAT EUCH ALLE LIHB ( Hartmut loves you all ) by Haggi and I didn´t even have to look inside.


At this point HARTMUT has become a german comic mainstay and I have to buy 2 copies of every new issue anyway since one of them always ends up as a gift to my brother in law. He doesn´t read a lot of comics but HARTMUT always cracks him up. I have already written a few times about the series so I won´t do it again now but this is one comic that gets my unconditional recommendation for - basically everyone. I don´t think that there is any gender, age group or social class that wouldn´t enjoy the book.

Since I already mentioned the GRATIS COMIC TAG 2011 I wanted to say that I managed to get 7 new comics which are THE GOON ( which includes a preview of STEAM NOIR of which the artist was present ), MOSAIK, UNGEBREMSTER SPASS VOM BSE VERLAG, COMIC FESTIVAL MÜNCHEN, ICOM, CANARDO and GREEN MANOR. Together with the 5 I already got ( POLLY & DIE PIRATEN, TALES FROM THE VAULT OF THE GRINGO, DIE TOTEN SPECIAL, DIE MUPPET SHOW and WEISSBLECHS GRATIS GRUSEL GEISTERSTUNDE ) that´s enough to do a post about the GRATIS COMIC TAG issues this year although I hope to get my hands on a few more before that.


Which I have to admit sounds quite greedy but while I try to get as many GRATIS COMIC TAG comics I can it´s mostly to be able to write about it. And I´m giving most of them away anyway. From last year I have given away at least 5 and I´m planning to do another free giveaway when I´m done with the posts. I think I have a few left from last year that were prizes for the big anniversary contest and all of them are going out.

As is the idea of the GRATIS COMIC TAG I picked some series I normally don´t read like MOSAIK, or CANARDO. The CANARDO comic contains the full story WEISSE VÖGEL STERBEN LEISE ( White birds die silently ) and it´s a good example of the gritty stories the Canardo series tells. It´s like Kommissar Fröhlich with animals.

At the moment I´m reading the GREEN MANOR comic which includes the first volume.


GREEN MANOR is a collection of short stories about bored, rich members of a Gentlemen Club in London whose main ocupation seems to be to plan ( and sometimes implement ) the perfect murder. Not a series I would have picked up normally but so far it seems to be exactly the kind of series I love. I´m definitely going to keep it in mind once the RUSE series ends.

Back to the Comicbörse Stuttgart, the next comic I bought was MECHANIKO WIRD ERSCHAFFEN ! ( Mechaniko gets created ! ) by Yves Ker Ambrun with dialogues by Antonia Pont.


Yves Ker Ambrun also has the album ES DARF NICHT WAHR SEIN ( It cannot be true ) out but since I´m more a superhero guy I bought the MECHANIKO comic.

The retro art alone was enough to get me to buy the comic although 6.95 EUROS for a 24 page comic ( no ads ) seems a bit much. Even if it´s full colour. But that´s one of the reasons to go to such events, to eliminate the middle man and buy directly from the creator. I also got a pin and some free postcards and Yves really is a swell guy. We talked a bit about drawing tools while he was doing a sketch for me and I even could give him some tips where to get a pentel brush which for me is the best inkpen brush I have used so far. Which means that after a few years I still haven´t managed to ruin it.


Yves art on MECHANIKO reminds me a bit of James Fry, who once was at the top of my artists list and although the whole comic has an enticing retro Flash Gordon charme I think that nostalgia is not it´s only merit. The classic look and storytelling are very appealing even to casual comic readers and I really hope it can reach a broad audience.


You can read the first 21 pages in english here and you can get the german comics here

Up to here all comics I got were at normal price but I got all the following with the usual discount. It´s the only way I can afford some of the more expensive hardcovers as the prices for comics in Germany are pretty high. And I´m always looking for possible Christmas gifts since I like to do the shopping when there´s an opportunity instead of the last minute. Really, Christmas and birthdays are not enough. We really need something like El dia del libro so I can give away more comics.

For my own collection I got GREEN LANTERN SONDERBAND 23 : AUFSTAND DER ALPHA LANTERNS which collects the complete five - issue storyline Revolt of the Alpha - Lanterns that ran from issue 48 till 52 of GREEN LANTERN CORPS.


I´m still behind on my GREEN LANTERN CORPS issues so this was a welcome chance to close a big chunk of that particular gap. I´m not an ardent fan of Ardian Syaf but here his art looks better than usual thanks to inker Vincente Cifuentes. And of course you can´t go wrong with evil Cyborg Superman as the villain. That´s what comics need : more evil robot twins. Tony Bedard has been one of my favorite writers since he started on NEGATION and here he delivers his usual level of quality.

I also got the 3rd volume of RED ROBIN which - pretty fitting - features 3 of the 4 Robins running around in the Batuniverse right now. Jason Todd is missing and for my taste he can stay in his own stories for all I care. You know, there was a time when Batman was a loner but now there are 4 Robins, Ex - Robins and whatnot loose in the DC universe.


I got the first volume of the RED ROBIN series at the last Comicbörse Stuttgart but I couldn´t find the second one. Which I really should get one of those days although having read the big showdown between Tim Drake and Ras Al Ghul in volume 3 ( which collects issues 10 to 12 plus Batgirl 8 ) it takes a way a bit of the suspense. A good read though. The only thing that was a bit irritating - but that´s more a complaint with DC in general - is that Stephanie " let´s kick off the biggest gang war of Gotham´s history to impress Batman " Brown is now the new Batgirl. She tried being Spoiler, she tried being the substitute Robin and now she´s the new Batgirl ?

Well, it seems that the DC universe is not that different from the real world. Just keep failing in enough cases and somebody will give you a costume just to shut you up.

And finally I got DAREDEVIL 7 - DIE RÜCKKEHR DES KÖNIGS ( Return of the King ) by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark at the same table.


I also got volume 5 at the previous event but since volume 6 seems to have sold out at the publisher I will have to order the english version if I can´t find it at the SAMMLERECKE. I have been in a number of comicshops since I got volume 5 but so far all are missing volume 6. I really have to do a long post - or better : a series of posts - about the DAREDEVIL series although I felt the last two storylines were somehow similar. Matt finds a woman ( who is often handicapped like him ), falls for her, she falls for him, he reveals his secret to her, than some of the usual Daredevil s - word happens and in the end the woman leaves him while her life is f - ed up forever.

In some cases this gets repeated till the woman´s life is even more f - ed up and a wedding is optional.

Don´t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the stories, especially DEVIL IN CELLBLOCK D, but either Matt is not too bright or the greatest masochist on God´s earth. At this point he should be aware of his track record with women and he should know better than getting involved with any female. On the other hand the heart wants what the heart wants and it seems supermen are not that different from normal men.

I also bought the hardcover of CAPTAIN AMERICA - WINTER SOLDIER by Ed Brubaker ( again ), Steve Epting and Michael Lark ( also again ) even though I have all the issues.


But at 12 bucks I couldn´t pass it up and it fits really nicely next to my other CAPTAIN AMERICA hardcover which is THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA - THE BURDEN OF DREAMS. Once I didn´t grab the chance to order the MAN WITHOUT A FACE hardcover when it was available at amazon for 6 bucks because I listened to other people and I have regretted that decision ever since. With my budget I can´t buy a lot of hardcovers and most only when they are at bargain price. So since then I grab all the chances I can get.

I wanted to come back to the table later for THE ESSENTIAL HOWARD THE DUCK but as usual money got a bit tight at the end and it´s really not that urgent.

At the next table I got the big trade collections that are possible candidates for Christmas presents. I got volumes 2 and 3 of Stephen King´s THE STAND with a slight discount and it mainly depends if I already got my sister the first volume.


I think I did but my memory these days is a joke.

I also got the JUSTICE LEAGUE - RISE AND FALL collection with a 5 bucks discount.


It contains all issues from RISE OF ARSENAL and FALL OF GREEN ARROW in a nice bound hardcover. Me being a huge fan of JUSTICE LEAGUE - CRY FOR JUSTICE I knew I was going to get the issues sooner or later since this is the resulting fall out from the series.


Another collection I was itching to get although I got all the individual issues was DAS MARVEL - PROJEKT by Ed Brubaker ( and that´s the third time ) and Steve Epting ( once again ).


At this rate Ed Brubaker should think about getting a seperate account just for my money. Sorry, old accountant joke.

I´m thinking about giving this one away as a present but it´s just so nice - looking and shiny. And I got it at a real bargain. The regular book is priced at 30 bucks but I got the limited version ( 333 copies ) that usually sells for around 40 bucks for 20 because it was slightly damaged. Of course I only remembered why I usually don´t buy Captain America comics in german when I flipped through the pages. They have to change all the Swastikas. This time they didn´t change them to squares with a cross in the middle and instead they used this:


I´ve always found it ridiculous that german legislation has forbidden to show Swastikas in comics while you can still see them in movies. My idea for this would be why not go all the way with this whole political correctness crap ? Next time just change it all for this one :


I didn´t find the new SOLO album - some dealers didn´t even know it was out - but I found the second album of Eriks Detektiv Deschamps VERLIEREN SIE NICHT DEN KOPF ( Don´t loose your head ). Here in Germany Erik´s mostly known for his neverending DAEA EX MACHINA online comic that also appears in printed form in the pages of COMIX.


I never got around to read the first album that my brother has hidden somewhere in his room but maybe we can exchange comics. In any case even if I only got a 20 percent discount any comic with Erik´s artwork is worth buying.

preview pages detective deschamps 1

preview pages detective deschamps 2

As I said in the beginning I finally found the table where I got the issues of JUSTICE LEAGUE - GENERATION LOST last time. This time I found the following for 1 EURO each : ZATANNA 6 and 7, GREEN ARROW 5, FLASH 7, GREEN LANTERN LARFLEEZE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, DC UNIVERSE HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2010 and JLA / THE 99 issues 1 - 5 ( of 6 ). Tom Derenik who does the art on JLA / THE 99 is one of my favorite artists but somehow I can´t keep up with his books. I remember putting the book on my mental pull list when I read that Tom was providing the art but as always I later forgot all about it.

So far I have only flipped through the issues but I´m a bit confused why Wonder Woman is wearing her new costume and the other heroes call her Diana and seem to know who she is. I thought her storyline was supposed to be contained to her own title but now it is leaking through all other titles like SUPERMAN, JUSTICE LEAGUE - GENERATION LOST and now JLA / THE 99.


I also got the first trades of RAI, HARBINGER and SHADOWMAN for 1 EURO. At that price you don´t have to think too much about it and although I already had all the issues of SHADOWMAN I could fill gaps in my HARBINGER and RAI runs. Meaning I only got some numbers around issue 8 from the big UNITY crossover so I´m on the safe side with the first numbers. Not that it was absolutely necessary but at this price you can´t do anything wrong.

There also was the SUPERMAN / DOOMSDAY : PREY trade for one buck but I already got that one and I really don´t need it twice. DC should have left DOOMSDAY alone instead of doing so many miniseries about him. I swear at some point it seemed like all Dan Jurgens was doing seemed to be coming up with new ways to do another story with Doomsday in it.

All in all I really got a huge pile of comics at a really good price and I´m probably be reading a few weeks before I have finished them all. With a bit of luck I can do more extensive reviews on some of them.


As I had already gone way over budget I decided to call it a day and paid SATURN in Ludwigsburg a visit on the way home. The week before I had bought the 8th season of SMALLVILLE ( which oddly enough has Doomsday as the big anthagonist for Clark ) as they are finally starting the 9th season Today. With my memory more resembling a piece of swiss cheese than anything else I had already forgotten the whole 8th season and I missed the first episode and the death of Lex Luthor.

Since I still had some money left I wanted to buy the 7th season but they were already more expensive. It looks like SATURN doesn´t always think GEIZ IST GEIL and put a higher price tag on all SMALLVILLE seasons in anticipation of season 9. On my way to the Comicbörse Stuttgart I ate at BURGER KING and since I still had a double cheeseburger left and a small bottle of mountain Dew I only stopped at the local ice cream parlor to get some ice and at the Netto for some Mirinda light. After eating I slept till wrestling was on and I also didn´t do much on Sunday.


In fact Today is the first day that I´m on the internet again. All in all this was a very successful day at the Comicbörse in Stuttgart but although I will go to the next one I´m glad that it´s not before December. Really.

I´m not sure if I already posted the Muppet´s version of QUEEN´s classic Bohemian Rhapsody but since the Muppet comic was one of GRATIC COMIC TAG comics here´s a little reminder was the show was so popular in it´s day.



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