IFC.com will be airing a web series based on Dash Shaw’s upcoming book from Fantagraphics, The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D.

The five-part series revolves around Rebel X-6, a man who poses as a droid in a futuristic art school, looking to subvert the institution’s methods and reinstate humanity as the model for art.

“Dash Shaw is a known entity in the comic book realm with a cult following.  We’re excited to bring him, his art and his fans to IFC.com, a platform that recognizes and broadens the reach of up-and-coming, independent content makers,” said Craig Parks, vice president of digital media at IFC in a statement. “Shaw’s work on IFC.com will offer a fresh and completely unique take on the animation genre; the type of approach that defines our brand.”

The book from the Bottomless Belly Button author should be out in November, with the series to follow.

It’s time to be super self-referential here; my instant reaction after reading Ex Machina #42 has to be re-said here:

The problem with Ex Machina from @WildStorm is when it’s on my pile, it ruins every other book in its wake of awesomeness. So. Damn. Good.about 8 hours ago from TwitterFon

TheGeek616

Lucas Siegel

I think that’s the best 140 character sum up of the experience of reading this book I could come up with. The true measure of greatness that Vaughan, Harris, Clark, and Mettler have achieved is that this story is perfect as a comic book. It could be told through another medium, but it wouldn’t be told as well.

The art in #42 has to be mentioned first. I’ve always been a fan of Harris’s art, but the way he has grown in his storytelling over the course of 42 issues has been incredible. In this issue, there are 8 pages of conversation with no real action. The story, thanks to both the great flow of the actual words and primarily the story telling in the art. The first half takes place in a dark underground room, and most of the conversation features the two characters’ hands and their shadows. It’s such a brilliant device and it made the whole thing that much more exciting. There is some action in this story, however, and while it is a little more static that some artists’ work, that is actually the preferred style here. The snapshot style of his art serves the building tension beautifully. The last three pages were especially gloriously creepy, and while the reveal at the end was expected, it was still exciting to see. Clark and Mettler know exactly how to bring out the best in Harris, and these three should work together for the rest of time.

Brian K. Vaughan continues to top my favorite writer on a regular basis: himself. While Y: The Last Man has been my favorite comic for quite some time, the final year of Ex Machina may change my mind. This issue is remarkable in that it tells a solid story on its own, it fits into the current story arc nicely, revealing just enough about the past and present to keep it going, and fits in the overall 42 issue so far story, building on what has come before and setting up the future. This is comic book writing at its absolute finest. It proves that characterization is just as important as high action, and the balance between the two that should be reached in any story. Vaughan definitely rewards longtime readers, showing that he’s had an overall story in mind for Mitchell Hundred since the very beginning.

I can’t wait for more Ex Machina, and oddly, thought it is one of my favorite reads, I can’t wait for it to end. All that means is I’ll get to enjoy it all over again, and more easily share the whole story with others.

So if you’re not reading this, I’d like to know why. The book has something for political fans, superhero fans, fans of deep characterization, fans of conversation, fans of writing taking the forefront, fans of art driving the story. This. Is. Comics.

So yeah – all those changes in Superman’s world and Batman’s world, huh? Mon-el, Dick as Batman, Chris back as Nightwing, Superwoman, Batwoman, Red Robin, Superboy and more. You’d think that these two “families” of heroes would at least get a chance to recognize the changes in the other, wouldn’t you?

Well, you’d be right. In this quick preview of today’s Dan DiDio: 20 Answers and 1 Question, we’ve got the scoop on the World’s Finest miniseries. Here’s the excerpt:

Newsarama: Dan, the Batman books will be going through their expansion in June and July, which will pretty well cover the Batman Family in Gotham, and with Red Robin, around the world. But what about in regards to the rest of the DC Universe? When and where will we see Dick interacting with the rest of the DC Universe as Batman? When you’re talking about story potential, it seems that there’s tremendous potential the first time Batman walks into the JLA’s meeting room, and everyone’s left wondering for a minute as to who this guy in the cape and ears is…

Dan DiDio: There’s a good chance that Dick Grayson as Batman will be appearing in Justice League towards the latter part of the year, which will be a fun moment, especially with the changes that are in store for the League as the year progresses. On top of that, we’re also doing a four-part miniseries for the back half of the year called World’s Finest where the changes in Batman’s world meet up with all the changes in Superman’s world. It won’t be a head-to-head Superman/Batman meeting, but everything that’s happening in those books right now will meet up.

Check back later today with the mothership for the full “20 Answers,” which covers Batman, news on the Red Circle expansion, and much more.

The uprising is here!

Marvel has launched a new Halo: Uprising web site, in honor of the hardcover graphic novel coming out June 3 by Avengers captain Brian Michael Bendis and Daredevil artist Alex Maleev.

What’s good about this, is that Marvel is also letting people read the first issue of the series, absolutely free — just so you can find out if this book is right for you.

This series, based on the hit XBox games, bridges the gap between Halo 2 and Halo 3.

Marvel.com is starting to roll out information on the upcoming Dark X-Men lineup, which includes Emma Frost, Namor, Daken, and Professor X.

Well, if you’re curious, keep reading: Marvel has unveiled some new profiles on some other members, as well, including Mimic and — perhaps most hotly contested — Cloak and Dagger.

Each of the profiles have had design pictures from Terry Dodson (such as the beauts above of Cloak and Dagger), as well as snippets from Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia writer Matt Fraction. Here’s a great highlight from the man himself, on these two runaways:

“They’re here presented with a chance to have their reputations exonerated and their records sealed [if they join the Dark X-Men]… Osborn presents it to them as the ultimate public service, [where] they can work off their past indiscretions—[such as] Cloak’s dealings with the Avengers during the [Skrull] invasion.”

And I think Fraction’s take on an underused character like Mimic especially is interesting. Broken heroes are always fun to watch:

“They’re Norman’s X-Men in the same way that the Dark Avengers are Norman’s Avengers, and at the moment [he] has a tremendous amount of political and popular capital. So as far as [Mimic is] concerned, he’s part of a winning X-Men. It’s not about [the idea that] these kids have made his life miserable, but rather a chance to get on a winning team.”

Pretty cool, right? I’m curious to see how all these Dark X-Men break down in the grand scheme of things, and I definitely dig Marvel’s differentiation between mutants and mutates, and discussing whether or not Cloak and Dagger fall into one category or the other. (And I love the Cyclops war diaries, sort of picking apart these heroes and antiheroes with a general’s eye.) What say you, Rama readers?

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!

A writer who has become synonymous with the DCAU, Alan Burnett, spoke with Warner Home Video about his take on Green Lantern: First Flight. The film is due out July 28, 2009.

QUESTION: What made Alan Burnett the perfect choice to write Green Lantern: First Flight?

ALAN BURNETT: They had been going through some ideas for Green Lantern stories and none of them were quite working out and I came up with this notion that I thought would be interesting.  So, I just pitched it to them in one line. “Have you ever done Green Lantern as Training Day?” with the idea of the Denzel Washington role being Sinestro.  They said, “That sounds pretty good – start writing.” And that’s how it began.

QUESTION: So this is a police story?

ALAN BURNETT: We’re treating all the sectors of the universe as precincts and there’s, I believe, about 3,600 Green Lanterns – one for every precinct. Hal Jordan covers our section. The story is essentially Hal Jordan’s first day on the beat as a cop and he’s partnered with Sinestro. He’s seeing the universe for the first time, and we get to look at the universe through his eyes. It’s a bizarre place, but it’s also pretty recognizable.

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After Rich Johnston surprised (or didn’t) the comics community yesterday with his announcement that Lying in the Gutters was ended at CBR and his own comics blog would be taking its place, it seems Warren Ellis just has to one up him.

At which point, I may as well confess that I’ll be returning to writing weekly about comics and things at bleedingcool.com.

At his blog, he posted the news today. This isn’t a first for Ellis, as he has previously held several internet columns about comics and otherwise. The prolific writer maintains a massive internet presence already, with the aforementioned blog, his ever-hilarious twitter stream, a highly successful webcomic that blends traditional style comic pages with a free weekly delivery called FreakAngels, his own message board that has a mostly non-comics focus and boasts several industry members (check out the remake/remodel threads for a real treat), and that’s just his core set of sites. So if all that, plus the Bad Signal mailing list wasn’t quite enough Ellis for you, well, you have less than a week to add another place.

As a small aside, congrats to Rich and best of luck on your new endeavor with BleedingCool.com

EW on that GL fan-trailer: Can we all just vote on who plays the lead in a Green Lantern movie, American Idol-style? Because I’ll cast my vote for Brian Austen Green (It’s the role he was born to play! Or at least named to play!); Marc Bernardin prefers Nathan Fillion. Not me, as that would potentially interfere with my enjoyment of Castle. Plus, I hate to say it, but I think at 38 Fillion may be too old. Or at least, I think producers and studio people might think he’s too old (Especially if they’re hoping for a three-film franchise sort of deal).

“In 2004 issue No. 300 was published, fulfilling Sim’s promise to go 300 issues“: Every once in a while it’s worth stopping to think, “Holy crap, he actually did it!” regarding Dave Sim’s Cerebus. That’s what this article in the Miramichi Leader does (although it’s phrased differently).

I really like this cover: Mostly because it looks like Bucky-as-Captain America is teaming up with a little version of himself as Bucky and a teensy version of himself as Winter Solider.

That should have been a super-rare, 1-in-100 variant: Christopher Bird was not surprised by the cancellation of Captain Britain and MI-13, but then, he read one of the covers a little differently than most of us.

100 years?: Here’s a nice, brief history of Korean comics, prompted by a museum exhibit entitled “100 Years of Korean Comics.”

“Five Comic Book Heroes Who’d Oppose Propisition 8”: MTV’s Splash Page tries to tie current events into comic books. I’m pretty sure the second person on the list, Jenny Sparks, is all the opposition needed: She could sic Apollo, Midnighter and the rest of the Authority on California and they could just straight up conquer it and change the name to Authorifornia.

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.

Kim Deitch is one of my favorite cartoonists, authoring strips that harken back to my childhood perspectives on the world (if my childhood outlook had more drugs and sex, that is). So much of his work explores the strange underside of pop culture, surprising familial connections, the borderlands of reality and the delight of sideshow freakdom, so of course when I learned that his father, a renowned animator, had created his own short-lived comic strip in the 50s and that Fantagraphics had collected the strip into one handy volume, I had to track it down.

The Real-Great Adventures of Terr’ble Thompson is really the precursor to much of the “kids and their imaginations” entertainment that cropped up, typified during my childhood by Muppet Babies. Thaddeus “Terr’ble” Thompson is the hero of history, called on by George Washington, Cleopatra and Christopher Columbus to right their problems when nasty old Mean Morgan tries to deter their historically documented triumphs. Through Terr’ble’s youthful perspective, Deitch plays with upbeat, surprising twists, such as Cleopatra’s father, the Pharaoh, turning into a tree because Mean Morgan put tree seeds in his food.  The strips may not be Earth-shaking, but the playful fun is hard to deny, as Deitch’s upbeat mangling of the English language and silly twists will keep readers of many ages entertained.

But like his son Kim’s work, Gene’s comic has a strange, and darker, undercurrent. You see, Terr’ble runs off repeatedly to save history, but his parents never meet his legendary friends and the kids in school just laugh when he tells his stories. Deitch never really answers the question, are all of Terr’ble’s real-great adventures only in his mind? It’s really up to the whimsy and imagination of the reader, but Deitch plays effectively with the balance between Terr’ble Thompson, hero of history, versus Thaddeus Thompson, eight-year-old neighborhood kid with too few friends.

Even if the story weren’t engaging and whimsical, Deitch’s surrender of the strip for a more lucrative and high profile animation job was a loss for cartooning. His lines are crisp and lively, open and warm. Very spare in detail, Deitch’s panels focus on the characters and their slightly skewed, one might say “childish”, anatomy that fits perfectly with Terr’ble’s view of the universe. During the course of the strip’s six-month run, Deitch seemed to grow more confident in the layout and pacing of the daily strip format, and it would’ve been a treat to see what more he could’ve done as a cartoonist.

If you come across any work by the Deitch family, Gene, Kim, Simon or Seth, in your local library, you really should make it a point to explore the worlds they’ve created.  Apparently, it all starts with good genes, and Gene Deitch’s The Real-Great Adventures of Terr’ble Thompson is the proof in the pudding.

Mike Allred’s Madman Atomic Comics is wrapping up in August, and he and Image are already promising more.

From the press release:

“MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS marks the end of an era, but definitely not the end of MADMAN at Image,” Allred said. “MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS was a really fun time for me, Laura, Madman and friends. Working at Image gave us  an unprecedented freedom with the book, allowing us to experiment like never before! I hope fans have enjoyed the trip thus far and will be back with us on the next leg once we get to it!”

MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #17 wraps a nearly two year run for the series, the longest for Allred and MADMAN in terms of consecutive issues, seeing his beloved superhero series finish off stories in the making since its inception as well as experiment in ways it never has before. Allred’s run produced some of the most acclaimed issues of his career, including his tribute to the entire history of comics wherein each panel featured a different style of a famous creator. The final issue will also tie in his RED ROCKET 7 series in continuity for the very first time, leading in to his second, long-awaited album, THE GEAR: LEFT OF CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE.

THE GEAR: LEFT CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE amps up the psychedelic space rock influences hinted at on the first album and features special guest musicians including The Dandy Warhol’s Courtney Taylor-Taylor. Furthermore, August’s release is a limited edition Direct Market exclusive released well in advance of the mainstream edition and will include tracks not available anywhere else, including iTunes. MADMAN will return in a different form at Image Comics to be announced at a later date.

It’s been a long-standing tradition of the DC Bullets softball team to fail both offensively and defensively early in games, setting the stage for inspiring, late-inning rallies that often come up a few runs short. During last Thursday’s game against The Nation, the Bullets broke type with a fast start, but would they still need a late run to pull out a victory?

The Bullets struck quickly in the first, with center fielder Andrew Arnold (2-3, 2 triples, 2 runs, RBI) hammering a one-out triple, and Doug Harrison (3-3, HR, 3 runs, 3 RBI) – just activated from the DL and patrolling short center – launched a mammoth two-run homer in his first AB of 2009. Third baseman Mike Lorah (3-3, triple, 3 runs) tripled and scored on a foul pop by outfielder Vince Letterio (2-2, Sac Fly, HR, 2 runs, 4 RBI). Four consecutive two-out singles produced one more run, and the Bullets were out to a quick 4-0 lead.

After Lorah (pitching the first when both of the scheduled pitchers were late to the field) and Dan Didio (1-3) retired The Nation 1-2-3 in the first two innings, the opposition strung together three hits in the third, trimming the Bullet’s lead to 4-1 after three full innings.

Larry Ganem (2-2, Sac Fly, run, 2 RBI) took the mound from the tiring Didio and shut down The Nation in the fourth, setting the stage for the Bullets to add to their lead. Harrison, Lorah and Letterio led off the bottom of the fourth with singles, and Adam Staffaroni (3-3, 3 runs, 2 RBI) cashed in two runs with a base knock of his own. Ganem’s sac fly and back-to-back singles by OF Joel Press (3-3, triple, run, 2 RBI) and C Sal Cipriano (2-3, RBI) tacked on a fourth run.

Leading 8-1, the Bullets surrendered another run to The Nation in the fifth; however, true to form, a late offensive run by the DC bats put the game out of reach. Too many offensive stars in the bottom of the fifth to name them all: RF Brian Cunningham (2-2, HR, run, RBI) whaled a solo homer, Arnold added a second triple, Letterio blasted a three-run roundtripper, and Press punctuated the onslaught with a two-run triple. The fourteen-run explosion marked the Bullets’ best inning of the young season. After quickly turning away The Nation in turn in the top of the sixth (and with time expiring on the field permit), the Bullets headed to the bar with a stunning 22-2 rout of The Nation.

The Bullets record stands at 2-1 (0-0 in league play)

Game Notes:

An impressive 18 Bullets made it to Thursday’s game, including Harrison, Rickey Purdin (1-2, run), Cunningham and Laura Demoreuille (1-2, run, RBI) who made their 2009 in-game debuts. Demoreuille’s sterling defense at first base was welcome.

The Bullets are above the .500 mark for the first time in the tenure of manager Adam Schlagman. Have the Bullets finally responded to Schlagman’s “leadership,” or has Schlagman simply learned to front-load the schedule with winnable games?

And finally, a reporter and photographer from The New York Times covered the Bullets’ game against the Paris Review several weeks back. Though there’s little mention of the team in the article, there were pictures of the team in The Times (see above for the most self-promoting image).

Area fans are encouraged to come out to Central Park’s North Meadow Field #2 to watch the Bullets take on the undefeated Scholastic Red Dogs this Thursday evening at 5:30pm.

This is the week where we celebrate the noble sacrifices of all those men and women who have laid down their lives to defends this country by…waiting an extra day to read new comic books. No wait, we honored them by giving everyone Monday off, which pushes new comic book day from tomorrow until Thursday. What will be waiting 24 extra hours to read this week? Let’s take a look at see what comics has in store for us…

Aliens #1: The aliens-with-a-capital-A  first introduced in Ridley Scott’s 1979 movie Alien are turning 30 this year, and Dark Horse is marking the occasion by returning the monsters to their comics in a big way. This is a four-issue, subtitle-less miniseries written by John Arcudi and featuring artwork by Zach Howard and Mark Irwin. The plot revolves around a group of prospectors who land on a distant but mysterious new world and, I think it’s safe to assume, are slowly picked off by eye-less horrors with stabby tails, acid drool and a very unpleasant way of reproducing. Preview here.

Batman in Barcelona: Dragon’s Knight: If you’re not digging DC’s current Batman-free Batman books, this should prove a perfect antidote. Mark Waid writes an over-sized one-shot about, well, Batman in Barcelona, and Barcelona-based artist Diego Olmos illustrates it. So let’s see, Batman, a great writer, and a great artist—I can’t imagine how this could possibly end up not being pretty good.

Jan’s Atomic Heart: This looks like a pretty interesting book. It’s a $5.95 graphic novella with nice, delicate black and white art with strong shading. The story revolves around a cyborg who gets a loaner body in the same model of a sort recently used in a terrorist attack, and it seems to wind through science-fiction, conspiracy thriller and slice of life scenes. You can download a hefty, 22-page preview of the book here.

Justice League of America #33: This is the issue with the cover depicting the Justice Leaguers all strewn about unconscious on the ground. Not, not that one. Or that one. Or that one. Or that one. Or that one. This one.

Last Days of Animal Man #1: This series looks like something of an odd duck. It’s written by Gerry Conway, who, you may notice, has a name other than “Grant Morrison.” And while Morrison didn’t create the character, it’s his version of Animal Man that is foremost in the minds of most fans, and which established the direction that other writers seem to have had the most success following (Most notably Peter Milligan, Tom Veitch and Jamie Delano). Is there something left to be said about Animal Man? I’m not so sure, but I really like the character, and I did enjoy seeing him pop up in 52, even if it was just to spend some more time with him. As the title indicates, Conway’s six-issue miniseries will be set in the near future, and, judging by future covers, squarely in the DCU. Chris Batista handles the pencils, and Dave Meikis the inks, so it oughta look nice. The covers by Brian Bolland sure aren’t going to hurt any either.

(more…)

By Jimmy Palmiotti

This week a lot of links to some fun stuff in and around the Internet a quick movie review and some assorted madness.

SIGNING AT TATE’S COMICS: I am jealous of all you people that live near this store. This is hands down one of the greatest comic stores I have been to and I have been to many. The selection is unbeatable and I was able to get around 20 different art books I have been looking all over for and some out of print trades. That and some huge vinyl toys I never knew I needed before. Here is a big thanks to Tate, Amanda and the entire staff of the store for making Amanda and I feel like old friends. If you go to the store for the first time, tell them I sent you… I am sure Tate will take good care of you.

ANGELS AND DEMONS: Well, I didn’t like the first movie of this series and this one was a tiny bit better, but after having 8 years of Catholic school under my belt, I find it hard to buy into all the pomp and circumstance of any religion. I respect it, and the people that follow it, but the things that should mean more to me just don’t. I wish I was more religious, but I am not because I had most of it beaten out of me at a very young age. There are beautiful set pieces, solid action and acting and if there isn’t anything else out there, well check it out for the fact that it is indeed more intelligent than 80% of the crap is delivering these days. Seems most movies, to me, are made for completely brain dead audience. All in all, its just OK.

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer may be venturing forth once more…

But this time, without her most potent weapon — Joss Whedon.

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that not only is a new Buffy feature film in development, but it’s going forward without the input of her creator, Joss Whedon, who shepherded her through a film as well as an immensely successful television show (and comics).

This new film, which is being worked on by original director Fran Rabel Kuzui along with her husband Kaz and Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee and Doug Davison, would be a remake or relaunch of the franchise, leaving out supporting characters Willow, Angel, Xander, and Spike. According to the trade, Kuzui and Kuzui Enterprises has held on to the rights since Kuzui, “discovered the “Buffy” script from then-unknown Whedon. She developed the script while her husband put together the financing to make the 1992 movie, which was released by Fox.”

The producers are meeting with writers and hearing takes on the property, and while they do not rule out Whedon’s involvement, they have not reached out to him. Kuzui told the trade that they are constantly approached about not only Buffy film sequels but also theater, video games and foreign remakes.

“It was Roy’s interest in taking Buffy into a new place that grabbed us,” Fran Kuzui told THR.

Needless to say, many of the fans on Whedonesque are not thrilled — what say you, Rama readers?

War comics are admittedly not my field of expertise, but the minute I thought about a Memorial Day blog entry, one comic came to mind: Jason Aaron and Cameron Stewart’s The Other Side.

I reviewed it for Best Shots at Newsarama two years ago on Memorial Day, and I still can’t recommend it enough. For so many of us, war is something we just hear about on the news, not something we feel. Memorial Day is specifically designed for us to remember those who gave their lives at war, even though most people just barbecue and search for sales. Comics like The Other Side are important not because they’re fun, but because they bring home the things that the news shies away from showing.

Two years ago, I wrote:

We watch these two young men on a collision course, one terrified, one determined, and it is easy to parallel today’s war. Perhaps America no longer has the draft, but we cannot deny that we lack the determination of those we call enemy. We are still seen as invaders, as imperialists. But Aaron and Stewart do more than just portray the fear of a young soldier. They surround him with archetypes of soldiers and an army of horrifically wounded ghosts, all the more terrifying for the knowledge that this really happened. This is no horror story where the villains are chased away by turning on the light and the reassurance that it was all just a story. It isn’t just a story. It’s a true story.

“War is hell,” we hear it said over and over again, often with a knowing shake of the head that says, “You’ll never know, you weren’t there.” We weren’t, that’s true. Neither were the creators of this comic. But it feels real, visceral, gut-wrenching, and every other cliché that of course will never do the reality justice. The ghosts that haunt Private Everette do not speak, perhaps because there is nothing more to say, perhaps because to begin with, they had nothing to say about the war. Dai is different, committed, a volunteer, determined to reach the battle and glory through all obstacles. The narration from his side is beautiful, poetic, speaking of the beauty of war at the same time as its horrors envelope him. The horrors are dictated simply, as if Dai simply accepts them as necessary, while Everette cannot accept even his own rifle, which talks to him in riddles, taunts, and Sex Pistols quotes. Death surrounds these two young men, and there is no pretty life-affirming moral here.

So why the hell should you read it, you ask? You should read it because the writing is stunning and the art better, both beautiful and nauseating and extensively researched. You should read it because it will teach you something about the world you live in, and not in a cheery, metaphorical X-Men way. We spend millions of dollars on entertainment that glorifies and romanticizes war, but only rarely does it attempt to understand it, to explore two of the possible reasons to go to war. Actor Ewan MacGregor stated, before the release of the film Black Hawk Down, a post-9/11 urban war movie, that we ought to watch films like that when we were sending soldiers to war, because we damn well ought to know what we are sending them into. The Other Side does a masterful job of conveying not only the immediate experiences of a soldier, but the real damage that the war has done to him. In a world where casualties are carefully hidden, Private Everette and Vo Binh Dai stand in for a host of soldiers, American and otherwise, who go to fight wars they didn’t start.

In addition to The Other Side, I recommend Unknown Soldier, Garth Ennis’s Battlefields books, and on a less historic but no less real level, DMZ.

I hope everyone had a good day and took some time to remember those who serve.

Geoff Johns’ Pal, Superman: I noticed the amusing cover design of the Superman: Ending Battle at the shop on Wednesday, but couldn’t post about it because the full cover with the text and everything wasn’t available online. Luckily, James Sime took a picture of it, so you can click through his name to see it, and his post about it. Now I know why they probably designed this cover so that it looks like it’s a trade by Geoff Johns and some other guys who might have helped out a little, and I’m not about to say they’re wrong to push the most popular name on the credits roll or anything, but this sort of thing always makes me giggle. In this case I found it particularly amusing since, as Simes points out, Johns name eclipses Superman’s, and also because I was reading the Super-books pretty regularly at that point, and had no memory that Johns was even involved in that story at all, although looking back at what the trade contains, I guess he would have written one-fourth of the scripts for it (The other writers were Joe Casey, Joe Kelly and Mark Schultz, and the pencil artists were Pascual Ferry, Duncan Rouleau, Brent Anderson, Brandon Badeaux and Derec Aucoin). Regardless of how DC’s selling the trade of it, I remember the story being a pretty good one: Manchester Black, the Jenny Sparks analogue from the DCU’s Authority analogue team The Elite, has discovered Superman’s secret identity and sets in motion a chain of events that sees pretty much every villain Superman’s ever fought targeting the regular people in Clark Kent’s life, all climaxing in the death of Lois Lane! Sorta!

Emmanuel’s Interview: As part of their Memorial Day weekend coverage, NPR spoke with cartoonist Emmanuel Guibert about his collaboration with Alan Cope that resulted in Alan’s War (Released in English last year by First Second). You can read and/or listen to the piece here, and they also have a six-page excerpt. Check it out; it’s a really great book.

Neil Gaiman features are always fun to read, right?: Here’s a nice long one from yesterday’s  Chicago Tribune.

This year’s National Cartoonists Society winners are…: These people.

This week’s Comics Reporter interview is…: Jim Ottaviani, the writer responsible for such science-related comics as Wire Mothers, Fallout and, my personal favorite, Bone Sharps, Cowboys and Thunder Lizards. Ottoviani and his Bone Sharps collaborators Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon have a new book out, T-Minus: The Race to the Moon, and Tom Spurgeon uses the occasion to have a rather detailed chat with Ottaviani about the work.

Not a hoax! Not a tease! Not a dream!

Wait — okay, actually, it was a dream.

As we reported at the beginning of 2009, the Spider-Man newspaper strip had followed the main comics’ Brand New Day in erasing the Spider-Marriage, by giving a soft reboot to the entire strip. No longer was Peter Parker a married man, but a swinging college student dating the lovely Mary Jane Watson.

Well, no longer. Stan Lee, “decid[ing] to bow to your letters,” has decided to write off the past five months as a dream, reuniting Spider-Man and Mary Jane as man and wife. “Aunt May? You’ve never called me that before!” I won’t spoil an easy joke for you, only because Comics Curmudgeon beat me to it.

A lot of fans out there have been campaigning for genre superstar Nathan Fillion to fill the emerald boots of Green Lantern.

Well, Youtube wunderkind Jaron Pitts has taken one step further, with a truly awesome fan trailer, incorporating the Firefly alumnus as well as Kilowog, Tomar-Re, and the Guardians of Oa:

Now according to Pitts’ notes, he’s used clips from more than two dozen propertes, ranging from the Fountain to Iron Man to G.I. Joe, to make this awesome trailer. Talk about some awesome work, right? If you dig it, click the link above and rank him high!

[Link found at Loyal K*N*G]

So the combination of Jason Aaron and my unhealthy glee at the Wolverine movie conspired to make me do something no one else has been able to do: buy Wolverine comics. Wolverine: Weapon X 1 & 2, to be exact. This isn’t so much a formal review as simply my thoughts on the books thus far. I’ll keep writing as I keep reading, and I’m still open for suggestions on more Wolvie books to read.

Jason Aaron has a voice. It’s clear and strong and though it shifts from book to book, and from narrator to narrator within those books, it’s still instantly recognizable as his from the first page of the book, and so I’m sold. He never overwrites, but has a knack for the perfect word that leaves me licking my lips and re-reading sentences to myself, out loud, for the sound of them.

I would say that Aaron was born to write Wolverine, the same way perhaps that Garth Ennis says he was born to write the Punisher, but I haven’t read enough of either series to be any sort of convincing authority on the subject, so I’ll just say that he gets it, gets the right amount of swagger and smirk and snarl, which bits of gore to show and which to leave up to the imagination.

Wolverine: Weapon X is a military story, a spy story, not a spandex tale even though the costumes do show up plenty. It’s got an archetypal female reporter heroine as ballsy as its title character and ready to get herself in deep trouble to uncover the story (gee, wonder why I like her?) and a private military contractor called “Blackguard” that probably didn’t need the obvious namecheck for anyone with half a grasp on current events to get the reference.

There’s a bit of the wisecracking noir hero in this Wolverine, and a bit more of the lone cowboy in a Western, even in the sci-fi setting. The Louis L’Amour book Logan’s reading on the plane is only the obvious hat-tip, but this story is nothing so much as a tale of a man riding into a setup where he’s outgunned and out-supplied and has to survive using nothing but his wits.

Ron Garney’s Logan has a face occasionally more animal than human, better suited to howls than to smartass comments. He’s good with the gore and the pacing of the fights is spot-on, shifting from shadow to light to closeup to speeding action shot.

Maybe I’ve finally found a superhero book I can sink my teeth into.