It’s time to start our monthly walk-through of Diamond’s Previews catalog. As is my preference, we’ll start in the back section of the catalog and hopefully draw your attention to a few projects that caught my eye or that might catch your eye.
Adhouse Books has Ronnie Del Carmen’s (Batman Adventures and Pixar story supervisor) And There You Are scheduled. It’ll be a spotlight on “the life of fan-favorite muse Nina,” who has previously inspired Del Carmen’s Paper Biscuits series. I missed the latter, but Del Carmen’s an excellent artist and well worth paying attention to.
Comics’ greatest star of 2008 carries strong into the new year, as Barack Obama returns for Obama: The Comic Book Inaugural Edition One-Shot from Antarctic Press. Chris Allen writes and draws the latest from comics’ latest great character.
Jamie Delano’s new series, Rawbone, with art by Max Fiumara, debuts from Avatar, along with the usual assortment of violent stuff from Vertigo’s line-up of writers circa 1996.
I’m not typically big on media crossover projects (see my indifference to the Watchmen movie brouhaha), but I noticed that Boom Comics’ partnership with Disney/Pixar begins to bear fruit in March. Mark Waid’s four-issue The Incredibles debuts, with Marcio Takara on art. Since Waid’s humorous jaunt on Impulse is among the best work of his career and I’ve often wished he’d write more comedy, I’ll give it a page-through. Alan J. Porter and Albert Carreres handle the four-part Cars miniseries, if you’re up for more of the worst Pixar movie ever. And coolest of all, the awesome Roger Langridge rocks it on a four-issue Muppet Show serial. I don’t really care what it is, so long as it’s Roger Langridge.
That Rich Johnston fellow (I think he writes for a competitor site) collaborates with Simon Rohrmuller on the parodic Watchmensch one-shot from Brain Scan Studios. Will there be a film for it to mock?
For the good-cause supporters among you, the CBLDF two fund-raising prints, Echo #8 signed by Terry Moore, and Fear Agent by legendary EC artist Jack Davis. The Hero Initiative has two signed prints, Gene Colan’s Captain America and Frank Cho’s Howard the Duck.
Dabel Brothers jumps on the best-selling novelist bandwagon with Dean Koontz’s Nevermore. Keith Champagne handles the script and Andy Smith draws. Dean Koontz, always late to Stephen King’s ball.
Wolverine: Progidal Son (by Antony Johnston & Wilson Tortosa) and X-Men: Misfits (by Raine Telgemeier, Dave Roman and AnZu) will satiate your desperate need for mangafied Marvel mutants. Del Rey publishes. Marvel couldn’t hire these creators to do the same thing? I don’t get it.
Si Spencer and Hitman’s John McCrea have Pandora’s Box from Desperado Publishing. I know nothing about it, but I love McCrea’s work. The solicit says noir thriller, glamour model, kinky sex and drugs. Sounds like a good time to me, and Desperado puts out some interesting stuff.
D&Q publishes the first book in their John Stanley Library, collecting the Melvin Monster strips by the Little Lulu legend. If it’s half as good as Lulu, I can’t wait for it.
Beetle Bailey and Hi & Lois creator Mort Walker gets the big spotlight in The Comics Journal #297.
Harvey Pekar is among the contributors to The Beats: A Graphic History, along with Joyce Brabner, Trina Robbins, artist Ed Piskor and more. Hill &Wang publishes the do-wop ditty.
Media tie-in fans, pay attention: IDW has Angel: Blood and Trenches by John Byrne, starring the Buffy character in World War I action. Byrne’s also behind Star Trek: Crew #1 while Ty Templeton and Steve Molnar handle Star Trek: Mission’s End #1. The latter apparently bridges the gap between the original series and the first movie. And if you think IDW’s books cost too much, check it out: Omnibus editions of Fallen Angel and Desperadoes, each running in the neighborhood of 500 pages for only $24.99.
Larry Gonick’s always delightful historical graphic novels return with The Cartoon History of the Modern World Part 2, self-published. If you want to know what occurred in the world between the American Revolution and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, this is where you should look. Good comics that teach you things!
Top Shelf announces a new paperback printing of Alan Moore’s novel Voice of the Fire. All I can say is, good luck getting past that first chapter. You’ll be a better person than I if you do. Peter Kuper’s editing the 39th issue of lefty protest mag World War 3 Illustrated, an all-silent issue with contributions Kuper, Barron Storey, Seth Tobocman, Ryan Inzana and more.
Paul Hornschemeier’s new book, Life With Mr. Dangerous, looks pretty interesting. Villard’s publishing. It’s got a girl, romantic entanglements and obsession with cartoons.
In the front part, you’ll find:
Dark Horse’s Achewood vol. 2, more of Chris Onstad’s uber-popular online comic now killing trees. Taking advantage of The Spirit’s by-then five-month-old swan dive out of theatres, The Spirit Storyboards collects Frank Miller’s … well, storyboards. Will Eisner’s The Spirit: The New Adventures Archives collects the entire eight-issue run of Kitchen Sink’s The Spirit: The New Adventures. And for you completists, they’ve designed it to look like DC’s Spirit Archives, even including a volume 27 on the cover! Why exactly didn’t DC put this out in the first place? Don’t know, but Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, Neil Gaiman, Eddie Campbell, Mike Allred, Paul Chadwick, Mark Schultz, John Ostrander, Kurt Busiek and many more create. Goon #32 is the tenth anniversary issue. You do the math.
DC has a zillion Batman: Battle for the Cowl projects. No Batman, yet more Batman comics than ever. In keeping with the theme, Superman’s not going to be in Superman or Action Comics. How does this make any sense?! Green Lantern Chronicles vol. 1 hits stores to take advantage of the GL lovefest coming with summer’s Blackest Night. V For Vendetta goes Absolute. Personally, I’ll probably stick to the Jonah Hex trade, with Darwyn Cooke, J.H. Williams III and Jordi Bernet artwork, and maybe the second Shooter Legion trade (Enemy Manifest, collecting through the series’ final issue), because I’ve a soft spot for the Legion and a few friends have recommended it.
Over at Image, lots of characters who appeared in high-selling, late-(if at all)-shipping comics fifteen years ago guest star in Invincible #60. Wonder no more about the fate of Pitt or Ultra! Ultra? I’ve never even heard of that one. Eric Shanower’s Age of Bronze #28 comes out. It’s not an anniversary, but I have to mention it because it’s a brilliant series. Witchblade reaches issues 125, which is typically a hoopla for readers.
Marvel has more Stephen King, more Marvel Illustrated, more Ultimatum, and more X-Men titles than I can bother to read solicits for. Holy Christ, I thought there were no more mutants?! Some Dark Reign stuff, too. War of Kings looks pretty interesting. Also, if you’re inclined, piles of Omnibuses will be out, including the complete Millar Ultimates, Iron Fist by Fraction and Brubaker, and Daredevil by Brubaker. In trades news: Terry Moore’s Runaways and Spider-Man Loves MaryJane collections also hit stores, as do a thousand Secret Invasion collections.
December 30th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I’m cautiously looking forward to The Incredibles comic. I hope it’s good. MAKE A SEQUEL, PIXAR!!! Forget about Cars 2! More Incredibles!
I’ll take a peak at The Muppet Show too. I just can’t see it as a comic though, and I think it has the potential to be really stupid. I’m a Muppets fan, but I dunno.
I have the IDW Obama comic, so I’ll at least take a peak at this other one too. I’ll just hold my nose over the whole Rick Warren thing and hope for the best.
I’ve said it a million times, but I have no interest in Batman without Bruce Wayne, or in Superman comics without Superman. I hope these things are what finally blows up in Didio’s face and DC ends up replacing him. Other than Green Lantern (and Ex Machina in trades) I’m not buying any DC at the moment.
December 30th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
“Dabel Brothers jumps on the best-selling novelist bandwagon with Dean Koontz’s Nevermore. Keith Champagne handles the script and Andy Smith draws. Dean Koontz, always late to Stephen King’s ball.”
Um we’ve been doing Best Selling authors for years…So we’ve jumped on no ones bandwagon…just saying.
The book is looking awesome by the way. I should have pages to show some time next week.
December 30th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
“Cars… the worst Pixar movie ever…”
Nah, that’s Monsters Inc.
December 30th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Cars is not the worst Pixar movie by far. In fact it is one of the most popular ones ever. This is evident by the Cars mini cartoons running on the Disney Channel featuring Mater and the fact that Cars 2 is in preproduction. Oh and the fact there is a comic book comic out as mentioned. Worst Pixar film goes to Bugs Life. Just try and name 4 characters from that film if you can.
December 30th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Monsters Inc was the worst. An annoying human girl with a great premise for a story limited by its G rating.
December 31st, 2008 at 1:00 am
I can’t wait for the Ultimates, Immortal Iron Fist, and Daredevil Omnibuses, but my wallet can. I hope there are plans for a second Brubaker Captain America omnibus, as well.
December 31st, 2008 at 7:09 am
Derek, I apologize. It was just a bad joke written without much sleep.
Dabel Bros. have long worked with lots of respected authors, included George R.R. Martin, Laurell K. Hamilton, Orson Scott Card, R. A. Salvatore and more, and my half-ass attempts at humor should not be taken as a smear on their name.
Everybody else,
I didn’t see Monsters, Inc, but my fiancee loved it.
Bug’s Life was decent. Not great, but okay.
Almost every person I know, after Cars was released, said it was the worst Pixar movie ever and the only one that wasn’t at least passably entertaining. I’m honestly surprised by a) the sheer amount of merchandising I see everywhere, and b) the love expressed for it here. I’ve literally never heard anybody say anything good about the movie ever, until this thread.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:05 am
Hey Michael…”Ultra” was the Luna Brothers’ first project put out through Image…the mini-series basically followed the exploits of a female super-hero in a “Day In the Life…” format.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:43 am
Oh, yeah! Thanks, Russell. I was trying to remember something from Image circa 1994 by that title.
I didn’t read the series, but now I remember what it was.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:09 am
Ken B, I’m worried about what you wanted to happen to that little girl that couldn’t happen with a G-rating. Monsters Inc was charming, and all of you haters have no soul.
December 31st, 2008 at 10:47 am
I somehow missed the Melvin Monster book when I was reading the online solicits, so thanks very much for pointing that out!
And yes, Zesty, the worst Pixar film was certainly A Bug’s Life. Did anybody actually want the ants to win that one?
December 31st, 2008 at 10:55 am
Alexa, you are so right about Monsters, Inc. A fun, imaginative film that takes the idea of Monsters in the closet or under the bed and turns it on its head in some crazy ways. The movie’s just flat out FUNNY too. John Goodman and Billy Crystal had as much chemistry as Tim Allen and Tom Hanks did in the Toy Story movies. Bonus points for the casting of Steve Buscemi and James Coburn (his last role?) too. And Frank Oz!! I always felt like Monsters Inc. is something of homage to the Muppets, with all the wacky, bizarre creatures in that film.
If you don’t like that movie, you simply don’t have a heart. Or a funny bone. That chase scene with all the doors is especially fun. The little girl isn’t annoying in the slightest. What movie were some of you watching, anyhow?
Cars is easily the weakest Pixar flick. It’s popularity is hardly a sign of quality. The film appealed to little boys, which is evident by the continued marketing of the film, which is the main reason why they’re going ahead with a sequel. It’s not like the story is begging for a continuation. Its ability to sell toys is way we’re getting “treated” to Cars 2. Cars isn’t terrible, it’s just not up to the level of the Pixar films. Sadly, Paul Newman (the best part of the movie) is gone. So we’re left with Larry the Cable Guy. PUKE.
As for A Bug’s Life. I can name Flik, Princess Atta, Dot, and Hopper (a deliciously evil Kevin Spacey, much better there than he was as Luthor). That’s four right there! If I think about it, I might come up with more. It’s not Pixar’s best, but it certainly doesn’t suck either. Being one of Pixar’s earliest efforts, it has nothing to be ashamed of. Far superior to Antz, which came out around the same time.
@ Mike: Go rent Monsters, Inc. this weekend. You’ll be glad you did.
December 31st, 2008 at 11:27 am
Hipster Dad, that’s why I spend too much time reading the catalog and writing this column. Raising awareness is the goal. And making bad jokes, too.
Shaun, Monsters, Inc.’s in the Netflix queue. Not quite at the top, but it’s in there.
December 31st, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Jesus Christ, Alexa, you took THAT from what I wrote?
The girl was annoying, nothing more. Ziggy was annoying in the Wire, but that was the point. The girl was unintentionally annoying to the point that I didn’t like the film.
The premise was original, but scaring kids, you need something more than characters who weren’t scary to begin with. The witch in Snow White scared the hell out of me as a kid through her actions and the way she was presented in the film. That’s why the premise is something that can’t be done with a G rating (in today’s standards, I doubt the old Disney films would be G-rated if the same content was released today).
Cars wasn’t great either, mainly because it’s heavy handed “small time is always better” tone, but it wasn’t as bad as Monsters, Inc.
December 31st, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Ken, scaring the real-life kids in the theatre wasn’t the films intent… Maybe that’s not what you’re suggesting, but if you were to make the monsters all that scary looking, then you probably do run the risk of scaring actual kids away from the movie. Chances are, Randall (and maybe even Waternoose) was a bit scary for some younger children anyhow.
I’d love to see Pixar branch out a bit and do some “adult” fare (and I’d argue that The Incredibles and even Wall*E are more for adults than kids), but that was never the intent of Monsters, Inc… Nor should it have been. It’s a family film, and a damned creative one, for cying out loud.
Other than not being “scary enough” or being annoyed by little Boo (which I’m still not seeing, since she had very little dialogue) you haven’t given any good reasons as to why it’s such a “bad” movie.
December 31st, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I just checked Rotten Tomatoes, BTW… Monster Inc. scored a 94% Tomatometer there. It also had a $255 million domestic take, none too shabby.
To each their own, I guess… I think Blade Runner, Pulp Fiction and Sideways are three incredibly overrated movies myself. I like Blade Runner and Pulp Fiction fine (I truly hate Sideways), but I find all three rated much too highly.
December 31st, 2008 at 2:44 pm
To be fair, Pixar could make a movie titled “Poo,” having a lump of crap against a white screen for 90 minutes, sometimes changing shape, and it would at least break $150 million. The Terminal is one of my favorite movies of all time, yet it didn’t do so well and had only a 60% review on RT. Doesn’t change my opinion of it at all.
I didn’t like Monsters Inc. because the theme of kids being tougher and tougher to scare due to the media. Ok, fine. But you counteract that by making the characters too cute to be scary in the first place? The reveal at the end (it’s been 8 years, I’ll spoil it) that using laughter is better than scares seemed like a waste of characters and plot.
Or a better way to put it, is that the monsters were created for the big payoff at the end, being more funny than scary, while trying to carry the whole scary monster thing from the beginning. It didn’t work for me.
See, some things should be scary, or at least have that be the main thing about them. When the monsters switch from scares to laughs, what it really did was accept that there was nothing in the scares in the first place, making me not care about their world. Natural selection was about to take place until a dumb stoke of luck changed that.
And Boo was just plain annoying. In contrast, Jack Jack was great. Boo felt like a caricature of what someone who doesn’t have kids thinks a 2 year old may act like. Her face also seemed to be the first instance I can think of where I experienced Uncanny Valley.
Willing to weather the shitstorm being thrown at him, I also did not like Toy Story 2 because they clubbed you over the head with Jessie and her story, making me Woody A-Story boring and dull. They tried so hard to make you care about Jessie, and Joan Cusack’s voice was not a good choice with all the hootin’ and hollerin’, that it just made me not like her. The Buzz B-Story did its best to make up the difference (and was incredibly funny), but I just worry about how much Jessie will be given to us in Toy Story 3. It just reeked of some equality mandate, where because Woody was now in 2 movies at that point, Jessie had to be Poochy levels of “in your face” to make up for it because she was his female counterpart.
December 31st, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Add me to the “I Love Monsters, Inc.” Club. It amazed me how Pixar’s creators could create such an imaginative, thrilling, funny, smart, and heartfelt movie from “the monsters under the bed” myth.
I also am with the majority. For adults, Cars was a rare letdown for Pixar. Still, it had better acting and plotting than most of Pixar’s competitors.
December 31st, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Shaun wrote:
“I have the IDW Obama comic, so I’ll at least take a peak at this other one too. I’ll just hold my nose over the whole Rick Warren thing and hope for the best.”
Is this about Warren’s stance on gay “marriage”? If so, I don’t see what the deal is.
Since Obama is president-elect, he can invite whomever he wants to the inauguration. Besides, Obama stated during the campaign that he doesn’t believe in gay “marriage,” a view shared by Warren.
So, I suggest we all calm down, and let Warren pray the invocation next month.
December 31st, 2008 at 9:25 pm
I didn’t express “love” for cars, just said Monster’s Inc. was worse. Then again, I refused to see it because of a clip of the totally wrong & asinine rant about the pronunciation of the word “cretin.” Not only is a short “e” pronunciation perfectly legitimate, but it sounds meaner when used as an insult and doesn’t cause any confusion with inhabitants of a Greek island. I never saw a clip from “Cars” that made me loathe the writer involved in the same way.
The best is a tie between “Ratatouille” and “The Incredibles” with “Wall-E” close behind.
January 1st, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Fred, I just happen to find Warren a bigotted human being on a number of levels… His feelings about gays (and it goes beyond the “marriage” issue) being just one of them. The company my wife works for has just gone into a business agreement with Warren, and as she and others working there are finding more about Warren’s agenda they are none too happy about it. I’m not going to into details here, but I find him extremely troubling. Then again, I have very little use for organized religion in general, but that’s just my opinion. I really don’t see the need for a prayer in regards to an inaugural anyhow. As if *praying* for all the things that need fixing in this nation is going to somehow help it.
Feel free to flame away.
January 1st, 2009 at 2:42 pm
@ Ed: I wasn’t aware of another way to correctly pronounce “cretin,” but can you honestly declare Monsters Inc. to be a lousy film when you admit to not having seen it?
Even if the writer(s) made a mistake, I think it’s a pretty small one as far as movie mistakes go. Most people probably never caught it. Or, it’s possible that the Mike Wazowski character, who’s a bit of a doofus anyhow, was wrong and the writer knew that? Who knows, and really who cares? It really has no impact on what’s an otherwise delightful film.
I do agree with you about how good Wall*E, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille are though. I didn’t even expect to like Ratatouille, but I finally saw it on DVD awhile ago and loved it.
@ Ken: You have your reasons for not liking Monsters, Inc., so… OK. I don’t agree with them at all, but that’s why I said “to each their own.” I also can’t imagine why you wouldn’t like Toy Story 2 either… Easily one of the best sequels ever, and in many ways I like it better than the first Toy Story.
I’m not saying that Pixar’s infallible (I think Cars proved that), but they’re about as close as a studio has ever been. The reason why all of their films (even Cars) have been so successful is that telling good, often great, human stories (don’t let the fantasy trappings fool you) comes first for them.
Their films aren’t just a bunch of loud, annoying talking animals and fart jokes surround by inane, derivative plots.
January 1st, 2009 at 10:46 pm
I was just gratuitously making a dick statement, and make a bit of a habit of slagging Monsters Inc. when the opportunity arises; I was actually expecting such a short, un-backed-up statement to be ignored.
The short “e” pronunciation is more common across the pond, which almost automatically makes it more valid than the more North American long “e” pronunciation. Many words have multiple valid pronunciation and it’s just a pet peeve of mine when someone insists that his is the “only” one in a way that seems ignorant (as opposed to protesting a plain mispronunciation).
Also, I’m slightly annoyed that Monsters Inc. attractions have been installed in two different versions of Tomorrowland (Florida and Tokyo), a land where they are violently off-theme.
None of this is a valid criticism of the movie, sure, but until I’m tricked into watching it, or I happen upon it on TV during a particularly good part and end up watching, I’ll continue not feeling all that guilty about it until my annoyance is payed off.