Everyone’s heard that you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover. I think that’s supposed to be metaphorical though, and to apply to not making assumptions about people based on their surface appearance. You know, like ugly people might have really great personalities, or that handsome Christian Bale might be a rude, scary guy to work with on a set. Like that.

When it comes to actually books, it’s not always a bad idea to judge them by their covers. Particularly if you’re talking comics, since the cover is one of the few things retailers have to judge them by when deciding whether to order them or not (along with the creator credits, and a paragraph or two worth of description provided by the publisher. And, perhaps, whatever press the company or creators do).

The direct market’s two biggest publishers each announced a new series debuting in the summer that a lot of folks have judged by their covers and the little info so far available, and ended up judging them pretty harshly.

These are, of course, Marvel Divas, a four-issue miniseries by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Tonci Zonjic featuring four random characters and being promoted as a sort of ensemble superhero soap opera (albeit a soapier one than all the other superhero soap opera’s Marvel publishes), and Gotham City Sirens, a new ongoing series by Paul Dini and Guillem March featuring a trio of Batman villainesses.

The criticism of each is, for the most part, fair, and certainly anyone with an Internet connection or soap box and megaphone are entitled to pre-judge the hell out of them. That is why DC and Marvel release the covers and solicits, and then promote the books through media interviews and through in-house press efforts: To get retailers and readers thinking about buying their books.

Since the books were announced, I’ve heard an awful lot of criticism about the work of Siren artist Guillem March, based on the cover for the first issue that was released, and some of his other cover work for the Batman office.

I just wanted to take a few minutes today to defend March from some of the criticism, which seems to focus on how sexy he draws female characters, and whether or not it is somehow exploitive or inappropriate for the comics or the characters within them. While the effects of such art in general is certainly up for debate, I would just like to point out an important difference between March and a lot of the more established and popular here’s-a-drawing-of-a-lady-posing type artists: March is a really, really great artist.

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Hiya, Rama Readers! Ready for a SECOND dose of Dial H for History?

But this segment is so secret — so SPOILER HEAVY — I can’t even show this to you without a cut! If you haven’t read Legion of Three Worlds #4 yet, and can’t handle any spoilers… DO NOT READ AHEAD!!!

Seriously, you’ve been warned.

Still reading? Well, then I’m excited to say…

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The weekend not coming fast enough? I got a couple of odds and ends that I haven’t been able to squeeze into an actual story, but that seem worth mentioning becuase they made me chucke. First off, we have Ethan Van Sciver out on Facebook encouraging fans to “Join my crusade to harass The Gameshow Network into returning What’s My Line? to the air! Bennett Cerf needs you!” To assist him, he urges fans to “Call or write, complain bitterly, and earn my love” to the comment line at (310) 255-6835 or via e-mail at help@GSN.com

On another note, FunnyOrDie.com, who recently brought images of Lex Luthor appealing for a federal bailout of his ailing corporate empire and Malin Akerman’s roommate giving star-struck Watchmen fans a tour of their apartment, has this amusing little video of Adam West, still posing as Batman after all these years, and liquidating the contents of the Batcave following having been taken in by Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme.

Artist Humberto Ramos announced this morning on his blog that he would be withdrawing from a convention appearance at Comicpalooza in Houston this weekend, citing concerns about traveling in Mexico as a result of the country’s recent outbreak of Swine Flu.

“Fortunately Me and my family and and friends we are all alright,” wrote Ramos, “but this is a more important reason to remain alert and precocious, avoiding places where is a big concentration of people is one the main warnings  we got from day one of the outbreak, so being in a plane or the airport is not the best place to be right now.”

There have been nearly 1600 cases of Swine Flu in Mexico, and nearly 150 deaths to date. Fox recently canceled its Mexico City premiere of X-Men Origins: Wolverine over concern about the virus.

A representative for Comicpalooza told Newsarama, “The only statement we have made is that Humberto Ramos has decided to cancel his appearance due to concerns about the swine flu in Mexico. No other creators have made a similar decision. According to what we have seen on the swine flu in the US media, swine flu does not appear to be very contagious, and appears to require some form of touching to spread. We will be providing hand sanitizer to our dealers and artists for their use during the event. We do not expect to be very much affected by the swine flu epidemic.”

Why, happy Walspurgisnacht, Rama readers!

Don’t know what that means? I hadn’t heard of it either, but our resident Calendar Man, Troy Brownfield, alerted us to this holiday. The long and short of this holiday is that witches in Germany hold a celebration in preparation for the Spring.

So in keeping for the Spring (which I hope lasts after that nasty Winter), here’s some of our favorite witches in comics! (And possible spoilers ahead, duh.)

TO REITERATE ONCE MORE — THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!

Zatanna: Perhaps we’re splitting hairs this early on in the list, but Zatanna has been a magic user after many people’s hearts. The daughter of master magician Zatara, Zatanna initially joined the Justice League trying to find her father. She eventually stepped out of her father’s shadow and became a fully-fledged member of the Justice League — yet she made a major lapse in judgment by mind-wiping and lobotomizing the villainous Doctor Light (as well as Barry Allen rogue the Top), as well as wiping Batman’s memory of the event. Since then, she and Bats have reconciled, even almost entering a relationship. She has since been a member of Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers, regaining her confidence while battling agents of the Sheeda horde. While Batman might be MIA with the rest of the Big Three after Final Crisis, Zatanna is still a member of the Justice League.

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ICv2 reports that Central Park Media has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, citing liabilities of more than $1.2 million.

The firm apparently cut staff in 2006 following the bankruptcy of Musicland, and have been sinking ever since. The current economic crisis has only exacerbated their troubles.

Central Park Media helped distribute anime and manga to the U.S. in the early 1990s, helping spark off a trend of Eastern-style art that influenced creators like X-Men artist Joe Madureira and others to give mainstream comics a makeover.

So I came across this comic a few weeks ago from Non Sequitur:

And it had me thinking. In a lot of ways, it seemed a bit obvious in retrospect — and then watching the episode of South Park (a NSFW moral to the story here) with the Jonas Brothers really rattled it around in my head. Are comic book fans getting exploited for fantasy, whether it be power, sexual, or otherwise? Is this a willing symbiosis? Is it a fair one?

Now, there’s been a lot of discussion regarding the “fantasy” economy that we comic consumers seem to inhabit. Don’t believe me? The Dark Knight is the #4 best-selling film worldwide. As we reported several months ago, copies of Amazing Spider-Man with Barack Obama garnered enormous lines, and sold into third and fourth and fifth printings. With the recession as bad as it ever was, Heidi MacDonald notes that tickets for the San Diego Comic Con are still selling like hotcakes, and you know as well as I do that many participants are coming from outside the San Diego area.

So it’s obvious that fans are willing to shell out the cash — now the question is, looking how content producers respond. The “geek” audience has been widely coveted, with genre spectaculars coming out every May (like I discussed awhile back in Dial H for History). Radical Comics, meanwhile, has combined Hollywood and comics to create properties that span both mediums. Meanwhile, on the TV side of things, Comedy Central has been trying to mine that territory with Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire (not to mention Hugh Jackman going on the Daily Show tonight), and even Stan Lee himself was used to promote Who Wants To Be A Superhero. And let’s not forget the celebration of geek culture known as the Big Bang Theory, which recently hit Blog@ and the Mothership when it showcased Battle for the Cowl.

Now, one could certainly argue that fans are going to shows that are catered to their tastes (and a lot of people would agree with you). But I look at this a bit more cynically — I think the real hook that fans are falling to is that of validation and compulsion. Validation, in the fact that many can remember (I sure can, and I’m a pretty young guy) when their habit was seen as “uncool.” But now that comic book films are being fought over like oil fields for summer tentpole features, it’s a cathartic feeling to know you’re in the know when you’re waiting several blocks to get into X-Men Origins: Wolverine. You can finally explain the intricacies of the Weapon X program, and your friends will thank you for it!

All right, so perhaps I’m being a bit cynical on that front. But the other hook — compulsion — is the root of the “fantasy economy” I discussed earlier. We hear all the time about completists, people who must buy every issue of Action Comics or Amazing Spider-Man, no matter how much they love or hate it. There’s also the element of impulse spending, whether it be on a new title or hard-to-find collectibles. (I’ve been guilty of it myself — I have a prop Thor hammer on my TV, and it takes a lot of restraint on my part to hew to my $15-a-week budget when I buy books to review for Best Shots.) But if you’re a Batman junkie, and Warner Bros. is offering a high-profile, and POPULAR fix? Well, that’s what the movie studios and comic companies are anticipating — that readers will buy and buy across genres and mediums.

But here’s the real debate: is this fair? One the one hand, comics, even with the recent price hikes over at the Big Two, are still much more bang for your buck than a movie (and sometimes even video games, especially if you’re trying to keep to a budget). They are mass printed, and come out on a blisteringly fast basis compared to film and video games (and could certainly go toe-to-toe with some television stations). Does giving money towards these projects — no matter what the medium — help comics as a whole?

Indeed, there is that element of choice, which is the heart of this matter: if you love comics, you buy them, and hopefully you buy what you buy because you like the product and not because you feel obligated. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, I really have no answer as to the rightness or wrongness of the situation: only that it exists. I dig comics, and that’s why I write about them and, more importantly, buy the books. What do you think, Rama readers? Are we being targeted too much? Is such a thing possible? Sound off!

Since David, below, posted the beginnings of the Wolverine reviews, I’m inspired to go on a wee bit of a rant.

He quotes:

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: While packed with effects and action, without the attention to story and emotional investment present in such films as The Dark Knight and Ironman, Wolverine ultimately doesn’t rise above its comic-book roots.

You can tell where I’m going with this, right? The idea that a Hollywood blockbuster movie, a vehicle often for nothing more than product placement and profits for the Hollywood machine, is going to somehow be higher art than a comic book annoys the ever-lovin’ crap out of me.

I consider myself both a film geek and a comic geek, and I will argue ’til the end of days that superhero movies can be as good as any other film (Exhibit A: The Dark Knight). I don’t read a lot of superhero comics, but nearly always see the films, mostly because the movies are self-contained and don’t require me reading 8000 miles of back issues to know what’s going on–the same reason that millions more people see the movies than read the comics.

It’s certainly, however, not because film is intrinisically a higher art than a comic. Film, like comics, print, the Web, television, etc. is simply a medium. Anyone who’s watched Six Feet Under knows that television can be as complex, beautiful, and creative as film. And anyone who’s read Sandman, Preacher, Local or, obviously, Watchmen knows that comics when done right are capable of outshining any cinematic explosion of CGI and star power.

Sure, Wolverine/X-Men comics are a franchise. So are most movies that make money at the box office. And sure, the comics I like best tend to be smaller creator-owned books that come straight from the heart, and the movies are indie films written and directed by people who love and care about them, not who are out to make a box-office killing. Art is always at its best when it comes from the heart.

Yet just because a movie is a giant blockbuster doesn’t mean it can’t be brilliant. Again, see my Dark Knight review. The Dark Knight is great because of its comic-book roots, not in spite of them. Because it didn’t try to dumb itself down to a mass audience level, but assumed that a mass audience could not only hang along for the ride with the Bat-mythology, but could handle a blockbuster that was both action-packed and smart. And superhero comics are not automatically worse than indie comics simply because they’re a franchise.

I think most of us would agree that the worst comic-book movies are the ones that strayed the farthest from their roots (Watchmen being an interesting exception, where hyperloyalty made for a less thrilling film and also one that was hard to follow for those who haven’t read it). I’m so friggin’ tired of elitism and snobbery directed at comics which are often in every way superior to the films based on them.

If Wolverine sucks, it’s because the crew did a crap job making a movie, not because it “fails to rise beyond its comic-book roots.” I haven’t seen it yet, so I’ll reserve judgment until I have, but I’m quite sure that if it’s crap, there are plenty of Wolverine comics that far outshine it as far as excitement, heart, storytelling skill, and pure love from the creators, whether or not they’re the originators of the character.

Wolverine has been known to take a lot of punishment, but no healing factor can take the most harrowing abuse of all: movie critics.

While the film is not set to be released til midnight, the first of the reviews have begun to surface — and currently, the outlook does not look good. Earning 39% Rotten on RottenTomatoes, here’s some highlights of what the critics are saying:

Justin Chang, Variety: Heavily fortified with adamantium, testosterone and CGI, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” is a sharp-clawed, dull-witted actioner that falls short of the two Bryan Singer-directed pics in the franchise but still overpowers 2006′s “X-Men: The Last Stand.” For all its attempts to probe the physiological and psychological roots of its tortured antihero, this brawny but none-too-brainy prequel sustains interest mainly — if only fitfully — as a nonstop slice-and-dice vehicle for Hugh Jackman.

Lisa Schwartzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Is it possible to make a movie about a superhero these days without injecting scenes of dreary superambivalence between expensive action sequences?

Fionnuala Halligan, Screen International: It just about scrapes through as being enjoyable, loud, banging, daft multiplex entertainment.

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Jackman invests his fierce character with a cheeky attitude, clear-eyed intelligence and inherent decency, compelling viewers to care about his metamorphosis.

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: While packed with effects and action, without the attention to story and emotional investment present in such films as The Dark Knight and Ironman, Wolverine ultimately doesn’t rise above its comic-book roots.

David Germain, Associated Press: Sadly, Wolverine’s journey is one long run-the-gauntlet scenario, with people pounding on him from all sides until he emerges at the other end as the lone-wolf amnesiac bound for membership in the X-Men gang.

Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star: Whoever pirated X-Men Origins: Wolverine got a punishment that fit the crime.

We’ll keep you posted on everything shakes out as more reviews keep on coming.

If you like what you’ve read so far (c’mon, how can you not?) totally check out more super cute comics at:www.sosuperduper.com!

By your Love Counselors Christian Beranek and Tony DiGerolamo

Christian Beranek and Tony DiGerolamo have dated women so you don’t have to.  Just like the avatar you use in your World of Warcraft online adventures, let CB and Tony D take the hits for you in the ever dangerous world of mingling with the opposite sex. And don’t worry, if you can’t tell the difference these days, CB sometimes can’t either.

Dear Web of Love:

Last year I met this great girl during Free Comic Book Day, but I was too shy to ask her out.  I know she’ll probably be at the store again this year.  She is a Bird of Prey fan and a hardcore Dr. Who enthusiast. How should I approach here?

Signed,

Green Arrow Looking for his Black Canary

TONY D:  Wow, that’s a tough one.

CB:  Yeah, I don’t get the appeal of Dr. Who.

TONY D:  Dude!  That show is quality science-fiction!

CB:  Yeah, with $1.99 special effects.

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(No relation. See the second e?)

From my inbox:

Award-winning cartoonist Al Jaffee is known for his innovative work in MAD Magazine. But before he created Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions and the Fold-In, he gave us “Tall Tales,” originally syndicated daily throughout the world by the New York Herald Tribune from 1957-63.  Come hear him discuss his book!

Sunday, May 3rd, 7:30
Congregation Beth Elohim
274 Garfield Place
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718)768-3814

What are you waiting for?

When you’re a show on the bubble and your season’s about to wrap, it’s good to give the fans something tasty that they can savor for awhile. The season (don’t make me say series, NBC) finale of Chuck was pretty darn successful at doing just that. This final, wedding-based episode did a terrific job of tying up loose ends and giving certain characters some new direction without really closing the door on anything in a finite way. This is in no way meant to be an Post Game-style episode recap (so spoiler shields up) to get you up to speed, this is for the faithful viewers who watched Chuck this week and hope that the line “I know Kung Fu” is only the start of something special.
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All you action figure junkies out there have some good news coming from Mattel:

On May 15th, Mattel plans to release four Legion of Superheroes figures, with this wave consisting of Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, and Brainiac 5.

In addition, they plan to release figures of the Crisis on Infinite Earths incarnations of Earth-3′s Alexander Luthor and Ultraman, the good-evil reversal of Superman and Lex Luthor.

And — according to their release — an Adam Strange/Starfire set of figures will be back on sale soon…

Arcana Comics has announced that his signed a movie deal with British Columbia Films to produce a short animated film called Kleo.

Kleo tells the story of the later years of Queen Cleopatra, where she has been de-aged into a teenager and put into Nile Junior High.

Yet, at Arcana notes, “this 13 year old has seen more than any individual could imagine, but with her knowledge, she still struggles with the problems that face any middle school student. Boys, chemistry tests, and pimples.” The film will also deal with Kleo struggles to redeem herself for her actions as Queen of Egypt.

There is no word yet on when the film is scheduled to be completed.

If shouting “JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAN” takes you back to a special place in your childhood, Marvel hopefully* has something for you:

That’s right — not content with just streaming X-Men: Evolution, or the 1970s Spider-Man show from Japan, Marvel will now stream the seminal ’90s X-Men cartoon from Fox.

This cartoon was seen a sort of Marvel counterpoint to the wildly successful Batman cartoon by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, and acted as a gateway for many prospective Marvelites to get a taste of the mighty mutants. Basing itself lightly on Chris Claremont’s epic runs, the X-Men cartoon also solidified Cathal J. Dodd as the voice of the one, true Wolverine.

But click here to check out Marvel’s growing catalog, and accept no substitutes.

*If you were shouting “JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAN” and were not referring to the ’90s X-Men cartoon, I’m sorry. Because you are living the ’90s X-Men cartoon.

Over at the Source, DC Comics has announced that CAFU (the artist of Vixen: Return of the Lion) will be pencilling the Captain Atom co-feature:

What do you think? I’m thinking the pencils show a lot of promise — if DC can put a good colorist on this, it’ll sing.

The co-feature will be written by current Superman group writers James Robinson and Greg Rucka, and will appear in Action Comics.

DC head honcho Dan DiDio said that in this co-feature Captain Atom would “be returning to be a key figure in the DC Universe” — based on Atom’s actions as the villainous Monarch during Countdown, it’ll be interesting to see how Robinson and Rucka will execute this character’s redemption.

The library is a great place for readers to discover comics, and it’s a great place for comics readers to check out things that they want to try without spending their hard-earned cash. I’m looking at comics that I find in the New York Public Library system.

After talking about Jeff Lemire’s first Essex County trilogy book, Tales From the Farm, last week, today I’ll give a few thoughts on the middle segment of the inter-connected tales. Splitting pages between the modern day and the past, Ghost Stories uses Lou LeBeuf’s wandering, disassociating mind to draw connections between today and events of his family past. Retired, modern day Lou is a deaf old man struggling to hold onto his independence, arguing with his nurse and belligerently trying to remain in his home. In the past, Lou and his younger brother Vince were young hockey players hoping to graduate from semi-professional status to NHL stardom, torn apart by family matters, differing priorities and lost in seas of solitude.

Far more assured and nuanced than the first chapter of the trilogy, Ghost Stories is easily the most gripping of the Essex books, and among my favorite comics ever. Lemire adds natural humor to the confusion of the elderly people in current-day Lou’s life, while he adeptly mixes the pastoral setting of Essex County against the urban crush of younger Lou’s life in Toronto. The hockey sequences are exciting (and I don’t like hockey), yet the emotional sequences are quietly brutal.

As this is a trilogy of books, Ghost Stories ties back to Tales From the Farm, though Lemire doesn’t make the connection explicit until near the end, and even then he lets readers make the connection themselves. If you’ve not read Farm, there’s nothing in Ghost Stories that will leave you scratching your head. If you’ve read both, you’ll smile at the deeper understanding of Ken and Les you’ve gained by reading the lives of Lou and Vince.

Strong dialogue complemented by evocative, loose artwork brings the characters to life, each of them reminiscent of some you might’ve known.  It’s powerful stuff, and if you find a copy in your local library, I’d strongly encourage you to check out Jeff Lemire’s Essex County vol. 2: Ghost Stories.

Better Lat than never: Here’s a New Straits Times cover story on Malaysian artist Lat that’s well worth a look.

“All you have to know about Battlefields: Dear Billy is that it’s one of the best comics you will ever read and one of the high points in the legendary career of writer Garth Ennis”: I can’t imagine Dear Billy is quite as good as Jerome Maida says it is in the Philadelphia Daily News, but now I’m a little more eager to read the trade collection of it than I was before.

Good news!: Kate Beaton apparently now has a book.

Mark Waid on almost everything he’s ever written: Pretty much everyone who links to things on the Internet has already linked to Mark Waid’s interview at Ain’t It Cool News, but I’m going to go ahead and link to it here too, in case you somehow missed it. Why?  Because it’s the very definition of a must-read piece. The long-time editor, writer and editor and then editor again talks about his career and some of the guys he’s worked for over the years, and he does so a lot more frankly that you usually see in the comics industry. Meanwhile, over at Savage Critics, David Uzumeri picks up on some of the things Waid says about his most recent time at DC and folds it into a review of Neil Gaiman’s “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?” two-parter.

Speaking of Savage Critics…: Chris Eckert reviews a handful of new releases, and comes up with some extremely depressing statistics about regarding the latest issue of Justice League of America. Check it out:

—It’s twenty one issues in.

—It began with Justice League of America Wedding Special #1, in which no one got married.

— That first issue tied into the relaunch of Green Arrow/Black Canary, and his run has subsequently been used as a tie-in depository for Salvation Run, Tangent: Superman’s Reign, Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag, Final Crisis and the forthcoming Justice League: Cry for Justice, a book that won’t be out until July at the earliest.

—Pursuant to these tie-ins, seven out of twenty one issues have been written, in whole or in part, by someone else.

—There have been sixteen pencillers and twenty three inkers so far, and at least one more of each in the next couple issues, if solicitations are to be believed.

Yikes. I knew from flip-throughs and keeping an eye on the solicitations that the title has been creatively…chaotic, but I didn’t realize it had gotten that bad. Even more depressing? JLoA is one of DC’s best-sellers, sometimes the best-selling title, depending on what’s up with Batman during that particular month.

“It’s a waste of trees, of shelf-space in my store, of resources on DC’s part.  Not everything is worth collecting, not everything is worth a larger audience”: I linked to it the last time Christopher Butcher of The Beguiling liveblogged his ordering from Previews, and I’m going to link to it again, because it’s pretty funny and, if you’re interested in comic as an industry from the retailer’s perspective, it’s also kind of fascinating. That quote is in response to the existence of a Terror Titans trade paperback. I’ve always wondered about why everything seems to get a trade now, especially poor sellers that seem extremely unlikely to find a wider, more appreciative audience outside the direct market. Also , Butcher’s comments on DC’s variant cover scheme for Batman and Robin #1 are especially worth paying attention to. Here’s part one, and here’s part two.

Why if it weren’t for him, Green Arrow might have never grown a goatee!: I really enjoyed this interview with longtime writer and editor Denny O’Neil, whose influence over modern comics can occasionally be hard to overstate. I enjoyed the pictures of O’Neil that ran with it even more though.

  Earlier this month when a workprint of Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine was leaked in its entirety over bittorrent sites on the Internet, the blogosphere and the entertainment press erupted with reviews, previews, debates, examinations of the financial fallout and all manner of other reaction to the event.

As a comic book fan, though, this weekend isn’t, and never has been, “the week Wolverine will hit theaters” to me. Instead, I’ve been eagerly anticipating the release of DC’s Free Comic Book Day offering, Blackest Night #0 by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis and Doug Mahnke. Imagine my surprise, then, to find out that with no fanfare or attention, apparently someone has also leaked that book. (more…)