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Friday Follies
Posted by Joel Rosenberg Categories: Editorials, Television, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,
We are two episodes into Smallville, so a few comments are in order. Saturn Girl looks a lot better on TV than she did in the Wizard photos. I guess you don’t have to be telepathic to figure out what’s on the mind of every guy that meets her. Plus there were quite a few inside references. No flights, no tights for one. And why is Clark so uptight about even trying to fly? Tess, or as I prefer to call her MISS TESSMACKER, is talking merger with Ollie. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. With Lana back are they doing the deed? Saw the photo of Serinda Swan who will be playing Zatanna. Have they grabbed every good looking girl in Vancouver? Clark talking about teaming up more with Ollie and John Jones? How about teaming with guys who actually have super powers? You know, Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman who have already been introduced? And Martians lose their powers under a yellow sun? Since when? Jones is played by Phil Morris, who is the son of original Mission Impossible star, Greg Morris. And Chloe calling John ” My favorite Martian”? Where’s the antenna?
If you want the best explanation for Batman that I have seen click on the comment Bubba made about my Deaths of Batman posting. It is far better than anything I or my DC rep could come up with.
Whoa… I just got it, Faces of Evil is Foe’s. F O E. Took me awhile.
When I went to reorder the second printing variant of Amazing Spider-Man, I was told by Diamond that I already missed the third printing variant, but I could get the 4th printing in early February. How did I miss the third?
Over on Battlestar Galactica we now know the 12th cylon is the XO’s slightly dead wife. Of course she would have been resurrected had not the humans and renegade cylons not blown up the resurrection ship. Mind you, he killed her for betraying her people,which, of course, she isn’t and neither is he. And why, if you are making human looking cylons, would you make them susceptible to alcohol? No wonder he drinks so much. And where are they getting all this not home brewed liquor anyway? Assuming that there are only the 12 human looking cylons that they have told us about, that makes Starbuck not a cylon. People who remember the original Galactica remember the Lords of the Light who rescued the almost dead Apollo instead of Starbuck and sent him/her/it back in a brand new white viper. Well,they have borrowed quite a few plot devices from the original so why not one more?
Toon in Tuesday for the famous Tuesday Preview.
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Let’s face it. They’ll kill Captain America before they kill Batman. Whoops - they did
Now we all know comics are not for kids anymore. Trix maybe, comics, no. But we are all adults here and we know that Cap will be back in time for the movie and, after the second year without Batman, he will return also. I am sure that if Captain America can sail along with Bucky as the Winter Soldier then we can rest assured that a Search for the Cowl will find some worthy person to fill it. Add the fact that with RIP and Crisis totally screwing continuity all to hell and is so confusing so much so that my reps at DC can’t even keep it straight. Giving an answer such as “Well, it’s Grant Morrison…” is infuriating because adult fiction should be able to keep itself consistent. But, you know what? I can live with it.
What I cannot stand is this. They have killed Batman twice in two separate books. Dead in Batman 681 and dead in Crisis 6. Let us assume, for argument’s sake, that neither Batman was a clone, an android, a robot, a hero of any of the other 52 universes, or a leftover LMD from Marvel. My customers expect me to be the comic guru and I hate to feel foolish trying to explain, but I can’t explain. Maybe all the inconsistencies are really caused by Superboy Prime banging on the Walls of Eternity. I just don’t think so. It is sloppy writing and I can abide stupid better than sloppy. Still, I am sure that Crisis 7, which comes out next next, will explain it all. Don’t you?
Random and Not So Random Thoughts
Posted by Joel Rosenberg Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,
- Okay, in JLA 28 we have this character named Starbreaker. He devours the energy of planets and sends heralds out first. Now I realize there are a few differences, but haven’t we seen a similar character over in Marvel? Galactoid, Galacman, Dark Galac…something like that.
- I actually liked Dark Avengers. This is the way to set up a new storyline. Each replacement of an Avenger is recruited based on their powers in a nice orderly way. After trying to slog through Final Crisis this story seems so straightforward that it is a great relief. Starting a storyline at the beginning - a novel concept! And Mighty Avengers, also plunging into a new storyline was pretty much linear too. To have two Avenger books that have easy to read stories in the same month… Christmas is 11 months early.
- But Superman 3D is beyond awful and in a universe all its own. I guess I could try to re-read part 1 to have any hope of figuring this out, but life is too short. Who the hell are all these people? And why do so many entities want to destroy everything? Is it the characters or the writers that have deep-seeded psychological problems? The DC Universe needs its own Doc Sampson.
- There are so many factions running around trying to kill each other and conquer each other in Guardians of the Galaxy that it could get confusing, but luckily, we have Rocket Racoon to keep everything on the straight and narrow. And Cosmo the dog is just too precious.
- Over in Astonishing X-men besides all the regular mutants, we have Triploids (mutants with three-stranded DNA) and mutants from a parallel universe. Gee, weren’t we supposed to be down to 198 mutants plus one baby. And speaking of babies, wasn’t X-Factor off the weirdness chart?
- Emma Frost and Namor? Who knew? I am not sure if this book raised or lowered my mental IQ, but did I ever mention the sex quotient has really gotten more blatant in comics? Still, on a purely prurient basis I loved it. And it actually blends into the entire ILL-illuminati story line. And it has lots of sex in it. Or did I already say that.
Welcome to the Tuesday Preview. We are up to 2 in a row!
Books will be issued on regular Wednesday. Monday was MLK Day but if UPS doesn’t take the day off, Diamond ships stuff. On the other hand, If we are supposed to celebrate the day, why do the Knicks play MLK afternoon every year?
Dark Avengers is the big book. Now we are inaugurating a new president on Tuesday so I could make a really cheap joke but I won’t. Rumor has it that some Thunderbolts are switching sides so we have Change Baby. Astonishing X-men also drops. The art and writing are usually fine but the storyline is hard to follow so the book is better in trade paperback format. Still, we hope. Spider-man Noir was. I thought, okay and with one main character it is certainly easier to follow than X-men Noir.
Remember that the 2nd printing of Amazing 583 debuts. The is the orange variant cover which is not the highly saught blue variant. Do not over pay for this. Also the Obama trading cards are here. The media reported that a signed Obama card went for $3100 on E-Bay. My distributor thinks this is insane because a Thomas Jefferson cut signature went for only $3000. Needless to say we are going to see a lot more Obama signed items in the future but they ain’t making anymore more Thomas Jefferson items. But if you come to my store,buy the cards anyway.
Finally, sad to say, Diamond has cancelled MILF Magnet 1. Now I always say to the comic critics that if they think it is so easy, design a complete new super power. All my customers were anxious to read this book although none of them actually committed to buying it.I guess, however, when we discuss which super power we want, this might beat flying.
What’s next for Batman after Final Crisis?
Posted by David Torres Categories: Editorials, DC Comics,
Batman is dead. In this week’s issue of “Final Crisis”, Batman died at the hands of Darkseid. I always felt that if DC were to ever write this story, (I’m not including the death of Earth 2 Batman or any Elseworlds stories) Batman’s death would come at the hands of one of his rogues. It would be an epic tale where the Joker or Ra’s would finally succeed in getting one over on Bruce in a moment of weakness.
So now that he’s dead, where do we go from here? Well we know DC will be putting “Detective Comics” and “Batman” on hiatus and in it’s place will be a three part miniseries entitled “Battle for the Cowl”. We can assume from the title that there will be a fight of some sort to see who will take over as Batman. The players are: Nightwing, Robin, Jason Todd, and Hush.
This is much different that what we saw during the “Knightfall” trilogy where the mantle was simply given to Jean Paul Valley aka Azrael. Bruce’s relationship with Dick Grayson was estranged at the time and Tim Drake was too young, so for some reason it was deemed fitting that the character of Bruce Wayne would rationally relinquish the most important thing in his life to this guy he barely knew - but that’s ancient history now.
Click to continue reading What’s next for Batman after Final Crisis?
This is the final chapter of the “Batman: Confidential” storyarc, “Rites”. I’ve blogged about this story before and how it’s been a breath of fresh air over the past few months in contrast to what Grant Morrison has been doing over in “Batman”. Overall this was a very good story. It’s a story so good that I think it would be accepted by fans if this story was incorporated into the current Batman continuity.
The story continues with the rogue police officer looking to get revenge on the Joker for tricking his wife into committing suicide. The story has no surprise endings really. The cop doesn’t kill the Joker obviously and Batman of course comes in to save the day. However, there are some cool moments like the birth of Arkham Asylum where the Joker tortures his fellow inmate the rogue cop with cruel jokes about his dead wife.
The cover of this issue gives away the ending as the story comes full circle and shows the Batman bringing in a new villain to police headquarters for booking - the Riddler. The writer of this story Andrew Kreisberg is a Hollywood writer and producer. I doubt he would give up his day job to come and work for the comic industry full time. It’s our loss as he has done a fine job here. Scott McDaniel is on the money here as always with the art work.
The next storyarc is the introduction of the 1960s Batman TV show villain King Tut into Batman comics. Whether this story will be in continuity I have no idea. The story will be written by Christina Weir and Nunzio DeFilippis who wrote the very underrated “New Mutants” relaunch a few years back and its next incarnation “New X-Men Academy X”. I’ll be sticking around as there won’t be any Bruce Wayne/Batman stories hitting the stands for a while. Whose idea was it to kill off Batman as we enter his 70th year of publication? Nice move!
Let me start on the Spider-Man variant story. Marvel and DC usually make dealers buy 20, 40, or even 75 copies of a book to get one variant. Sometimes you can buy as many copies of an unimportant variant as you want. Now, dealers can change their orders via an FOC three weeks before they arrive. In this case, Marvel announced that any dealer that ordered more copies of Spider Man 583 than 575 could get as many copies of the Obama cover as they wanted. This slipped by most of the dealers. And who knew that Joe Quesada would be all over TV to plug it ? So I didn’t get any, but I could have sold plenty.
And next week they are printing a second printing with the same Obama variant cover except it has an orange background instead of a blue one. Don’t be fooled as some people on E-Bay who are buying the second printing thinking they are getting the original variant. The original variant is worth up to 100 dollars on E-Bay.
Now the real random thoughts (SPOILERS!!!):
- You’ve been warned about SPOILERS… stop now! Okay…
- So Darkseid kills Batman in Final Crisis 6, but which Batman died in RIP? And if the continuity was screwed up by having a live Batman in the next two issues of Batman, what the heck is going on now? Even DC couldn’t straighten it out to me on our weekly call. Luthor zapping Libra was cool, but Sivana saying “and that’s the classic we haven’t heard the last of him” was priceless. Batman and which Superman were flying around in Crisis 6 heat visioning everybody in sight? For a non-killer he seemed to kill a lot of who? Good guys or bad guys? Can’t tell. Is it the same Supes carrying Bat’s body in the end? Final Crisis 7 comes in two weeks and we are promised that Grant Morrison will clear everything up. I am holding my breath.
- In Faces of Evil - Prometheus, it seems he goes off to a secret monastery in the Himalyas to learn all about evil. Holy Dr Doom, Batman, where have we seen that before?
- Adam, Legend of the Blue Marvel was great. What they plan on doing with a hero who has talks with the Watcher after the series is over is interesting. Calling the Watcher a white guy with attitude is classic.
- Batman Confidential is a fun way to introduce all the old villains but I am sure they are screwing with continuity? But, who cares?
“Final Crisis” is garbage. There I said it Grant Morrison fans. I can’t believe there are people who defend this man and say his work on “Batman” and “Final Crisis” has been great - they’re not. But that’s not why we’re here. We’re here for a review of the 6th issue of the “Final Crisis” mini-series which features the final fate of Batman.
For those of you who haven’t read it yet, do not read any further. I can’t review this issue without revealing that piece of information.
Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Final Crisis #6
President-elect Obama To Team-Up With Spider-man
Posted by Jeffrey Harris Categories: Editorials, Reviews, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,
USA Today recently got the scoop about the latest issue of The Amazing Spider-Man #583, appearing on store shelves today. In the issue, Spider-Man gets to team up with the next President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama. The story penned by Zeb Wells, Todd Nauck, and Frank D’Armata will depict the Chameleon trying to thwart Obama’s inauguration. The issue will be sold for a cover price of $3.99, and the limited-edition cover by artist, Phil Jimenez, will be limited to half the printing run.
Preview panels from USA Today show Obama going up to Spider-Man and performing a legendary fist-bump to end all fist-bumps as Obama expresses his fandom and support for Spider-Man. Reflecting on the incident, Spider-Man thinks, “I can’t shake the feeling that if I hadn’t showed up, he would have handled the Chameleon all by himself. Guess it’s time to head back to New York. It looks like Washington is in capable hands.” Joe Quesada, Editor-In-Chief of Marvel Comics, was excited about Obama having a cameo in a Spider-Man comic after the President-Elect said he was a fan of Spider-Man in an Entertainment Weekly pop-culture survey. Obama’s then opponent, Senator John McCain, only mentioned liking Batman, the flagship character of Marvel publishing rival, DC Comics.
The mainstream media outlets and the overt love over Obama getting elected is hardly a secret. But this appearance just feels so blatantly overt with Spidey basically hero-worshiping Obama in the story. Yeah, Obama could’ve handled Chameleon because everyone knows Obama has had training sessions with Captain America like Spider-Man. Also, if I was Spider-Man, I would be telling him to watch out for Norman Osborn, who is now in charge of HAMMER in the Marvel Universe in the fallout of Secret Invasion. Just saying, if Obama trusts Spider-Man and the admiration is for real, “Mr. President, the guy in charge of HAMMER is a psychopath and admitted former super-villain that’s killed a ton of people. Might want to do something about that.”
Just saying.
Read More 
| USA Today
1.13.09 - Tuesday Preview
Posted by Joel Rosenberg Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,
Welcome to what I hope will be a series of Tuesday previews to let you know what to look forward to on comic day.
Tomorrow, Amazing Spider-Man 583 comes out with a variant cover and a five-page Obama back-up story. The variant cover is a one of fifty so, as usual, I didn’t get any. And, as usual, I have people coming out of the woodwork to buy it. Luckily Marvel is coming to my rescue by issuing a second printing variant next week and I will have plenty. Of course what this does to the resale value of the original variant is anyone’s guess.
X-men Manifest Destiny should be here tomorrow to make up for the screw up of last week. Those miscover books were up immediately on E-Bay, but they tell me the real book will be free to me to make up for it, but as they are not on my invoice I won’t know until they get here. Destiny?
Also appearing is Adam, Legend of the Blue Marvel 3 and the first two have been pretty good.
On the other hand, there is Death Defying Devil which is part of Project Super Powers. They could call it Hard to Read Devil because the entire series makes it difficult to follow this storyline, but we’ll give it another try.
Final Crisis 6. What can I say? When Final Bar Mitzvah comes out I will comment.
And last but not least is Mad Magazine. I know everyone thinks I am old and senile (Thanks Dennis; ED: No problem, buddy. Hahaha.), but compared to the past Mad this is horrible and not funny. Pick up a few Mad trades if you don’t believe me.
And to cap everything off we have Obama trading cards. Now I once asked a distributor why cards don’t come out before the movie opens? It would be great to sell cards before an anticipated hit (Iron Man) or bomb (The Spirit) comes out, but I was informed that movie cards contain scenes from the movie so they don’t want to give away spoilers. But folks only buy the cards for the inserts anyway. Bikini swatches and kiss cards from Benchwarmers and costume cards and autographs from Iron Man are big hits. They say there are inserts in these cards and I am wondering what they are.
That’s all for this preview. Tune in next Tuesday for our hopefully second installment.
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