The 2009 Harvey Awards nominees were announced this morning. Congratulations to all the nominees; this must be an exciting day for everyone who received a nod. I do have a few thoughts on some of the nominees, and since I can, I’m going to share them with you, my faithful readers.

BEST ARTIST

Jimmy Gownley, AMELIA RULES, Renaissance Press

BEST LETTERER

Jimmy Gownley, AMELIA RULES, Renaissance Press

BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM – PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED

AMELIA RULES!: FUNNY STORIES, Renaissance Press

Don’t dismiss the kid-friendliness of Amelia Rules!, because it’s one of the best comic books being published today. Jimmy Gownley is a master at mixing humor and gravitas to create hilarious and heartbreaking stories that can be enjoyed and loved by people of all ages. And the characters are instantly endearing. If you don’t fall in love with Amelia after reading just one issue, then you must be a robot or something. If you haven’t read Amelia Rules! yet, give it a shot, and then you can thank me later for the recommendation.

BEST SYNDICATED STRIP OR PANEL

BREWSTER ROCKIT: SPACE GUY!, Tim Rickard, Tribune Media Services
GET FUZZY, Darby Conley, United Features Syndicate
MUTTS, Patrick McDonnell, King Features Syndicate
THE NORM, Michael Jantze, Uclick Gocomics
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, Stephan Pastis, United Features Syndicate

These days, it’s very difficult to break into the syndicated comics biz. The newspaper business is dying a slow death, daily comics are becoming less of a priority for them, and there are way too many crappy old comics past their expiration date wasting space simply because the newspaper editors are too afraid or too lazy to get rid of them (I’m looking at you, For Better Or For Worse). So I have tremendous respect for Tim Rickard for the success he’s had with Brewster Rockit. That being said, how the $@#% did it get this nomination? In my opinion, it’s a painfully unfunny comic, and it’s not remotely as good as the other four nominees. There are so many other strips that are more deserving of that nomination. Hell, I’d give it to Blondie just for John Marshall’s gorgeous inkwork. Is there something about Brewster Rockit that I’m just not understanding? Could it be that it’s the Andy Kaufman of daily comics, in that it’s so unfunny it turns around and becomes funny?

BEST SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY

LOVE AND ROCKETS, VOL. 3 #1, Fantagraphics Books

Hell yes. As painful as it is to wait a year for new Love and Rockets now that the Hernandez brothers have switched to an annual format, it’ll be worth the wait if each issue is going to be as good as this one. Jaime Hernandez created the best superhero story of 2008 for this issue, and it should be required reading for anyone who reads or creates comics.

BEST SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY

NASCAR HEROES #5, NASCAR Comics

WTF? I didn’t realize this comic book even existed. And with all due respect to the creators of this comic, I’m having a difficult time wrapping my brain around the idea that a comic book devoted to a competition where the winner is the person who can make the best left turns could deserve a Harvey Award nomination. Are any of you reading Nascar Heroes? If so, I’d really like to hear your opinion of it. Is Nascar Heroes a hidden gem in the world of comics?

So there you go. Feel free to share your own opinions, particularly if you disagree with me or want to talk about something I didn’t cover.

What happens when the quest for eternal life goes horribly wrong?

Captain America artist Mitch Breitweiser and new comics writer Patrick Stiles are finding the answer, in their new webcomic The Futurists, which has just opened on their web site, WhoAreTheFuturists.com. The series will come out about 3-4 times a month, Breitweiser says, according to his commitments at Marvel. Here’s a taste, from the first page (bigger image here):

The logline of the story: ” Set in colonial India in the late 1800’s, The Futurists is an epic tome about the quest for eternal life gone horribly wrong, the search for absolution , and the path to self destruction.” Want to know more? Mitch was kind enough to answer a few questions from Newsarama on the series.

David Pepose: I see on your web site that The Futurists is a story “set in colonial India in the late 1800’s… about the quest for eternal life gone horribly wrong, the search for absolution, and the path to self destruction.” So the first question I’d have is — what inspired this story?

Mitch Breitweiser: Patrick and I had been crafting stories since college, but  with my career taking off, and his writing talent really maturing, we felt the time was right to fully develop and publish one of our collaborations.

As for the inspiration for The Futurists, we actually sat down one weekend for a creative jam. Our previous ideas were good, great even, but they were too familiar. We wanted to take advantage of the perspective we’ve gained since our college years and create something with greater depth of character and a richer atmosphere.  Then, we threw it all out and just focused on elements that entertained us, which was far more satisfying.

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I guess that’s sort of me telling you what to read. I will have a review of Gotham City Sirens #1 later this week when I can think straight, but the new Vertigo series that I’m almost as stoked on as I was on Unwritten hits this Wednesday. So. Read it with me.

There is also The Boys, and Bang! Tango (which appears to be the last one) and…well, that looks like it for my list. Still, Greek Street should be worth it, with a mix of gritty street violence with classic myths, unless the stellar combination of Peter Milligan and Davide Gianfelice somehow doesn’t mix, oil-and-water style. I’m betting on them, though, and at $1, why not?

(This post in no way paid for by Vertigo comics, Peter Milligan, or Davide Gianfelice. Sometimes I am just a fangirl like anyone else who reads comics.)

If the goings-on at your average Big Two comics publisher sometimes look chaotic from this side of the comic book, just imagine how crazy they must be behind the scenes. Justice League: Cry For Justice is a good example of a book that makes one wonder about the process of comics publishing.

The series was first announced in March of 2008 at the Wizard World LA convention as a second ongoing Justice League title. A year or so later, it was down-graded to a six-issue miniseries. Then just a few weeks ago Cry For Justice writer James Robinson was named the new Justice League of America writer, so it seems as if his Justice League plans may be back to being an ongoing after all, just in the original JLA book, not a second one.

The timing seems awfully wonky too, as the events of Cry supposedly spin directly out of the events of Final Crisis, which wrapped up (late) back in January, and the events of the main JLoA title since March’s JLoA #31 have apparently occurred after the events of this book, which is just now starting, and won’t wrap up until the end of the year, if it stays on schedule.

None of that is terribly important though. Nor are the details of the book, like the fact that it’s painted by Mauro Cascioli, or that it’s $3.99 for 30 pages, or that the story “pushes our heroes to the brink and beyond as evil can no longer be tolerated to win.”

No, all anyone really needs to know is that this comic features the triumphant return of Congorilla, the giant golden gorilla who switches minds with great white hunter Congo Bill via magic ring. Buy two copies of each issue, and maybe we’ll get a Showcase Presents: Congrorilla out of it!

After the jump, the week’s Congorilla-free books!

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As part of Sub-T Independent Week, MTV brings you a multi-part interview with comic artist Becky Cloonan. If you don’t know her work from Demo and American Virgin, familiarize yourself. Start here.

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!

Well, if you live in Las Vegas and loved Batwoman as much as I did, then I have some good news for you.

Artist J.H. Williams III, via his blog, has announced that the Dynamic Duo behind Katherine Kane will be rocking Las Vegas on Saturday, July 11. Attendees will be able to get the special commemorative print seen above.

Ich Liebe Comics reports that the event will begin from 11-2pm at Alternate Reality Comics, and will move to Comics Oasis from 4-7pm. All proceeds from the event will go to the Hero Initiative, which helps creators in economic need.

The Trial of Sherlock Holmes #2 (of 5)

Written by Leah Moore and John Reppion

Art by Aaron Campbell

Cover Art by John Cassady

Dynamite Entertainment $3.50 US

The Trial of Sherlock Holmes is a new Holmes tale and a “locked room” mystery that finds Holmes appearing to be the only possible murder suspect in this five issue series published by Dynamite Entertainment. Poe’s The Murders in the Rue Morgue is considered the first locked room mystery and first detective story. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, among other writers, would build on the idea of a shrewd detective with an assistant/narrator as well as the idea of an impossible crime.

It’s a puzzle within a puzzle and lots of fun. Considering it’s been done by some of the best writers around, the bar is set pretty high for the writing team of Leah Moore and John Reppion but they are no strangers to telling a good yarn, particularly a good Victorian one. This is Alan Moore’s daughter and son-in-law and they’ve learned from the legendary storyteller. They’ve been around for awhile now and have gotten some credits under their belts. I suspect this could be their best work yet.

The art of Aaron Campbell picks up nicely from the impressive cover art of John Cassady. It looks like Campbell did his homework and studied the original Holmes illustrations by Sidney Paget and built on that. Campbell’s style also makes me think of the gritty noirish art of Sean Phillips, Ed Brubaker’s partner in crime for a  number of books including, Incognito. Interestingly enough, among the many comments of praise on the back of the first issue is a quote from Brubaker: “A fantastic opening shot, literally, to a great new Holmes mystery that I can’t wait to read the next chapter of.”

That opening shot is quite impressive with its steady pacing leading up to a dramatic explosion that sets the plot off and running. It is 1895 and a quarter of London’s East End is in flames after a bomb is detonated. A threatening letter is sent to Sir Samuel Henry, a retired police official, demanding that, unless he remains at his home at precisely seven the next evening, more explosions will follow. Sir Henry requests that Holmes be at his side at that hour. Holmes obliges and subsequently is found in Sir Henry’s room with gun in hand and a dead Sir Henry. Not only that, but it appears that Sir Henry had evidence proving Sherlock Holmes to be the infamous criminal mastermind, Professor Moriarty.

So, here we are into Issue Two and into a devilish mystery. Hats off to colorist Tony Aviña for his deft handling of moody colors and lighting. There is quite a lot of play with light to see as in an engaging scene with Watson struggling over what little clues he has before him bathed in lamp light. Campbell’s bold use of marks across a face or surface in place of more delicate lines adds to the suspense. All well in good for an issue that continues to set the tone for this story.

By the end of this issue, Holmes has escaped from prison and Watson has snuck into the crime scene and found another clue. This last one appears to be a scrap of paper. This could lead back to the threatening letter sent to Sir Henry. Perhaps Sir Henry sent it to himself. Or maybe it was from Mrs. Gammage, the overbearing housekeeper. For now, Holmes is on the loose disguised as an English bobby with only his wits to rely upon. Like Ed Brubaker, I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Need a little bit of music with your webcomic? Well, look no further!

Matthew Petz, creator of the supernatural western adventure The Corpse Carries A Gun, has written a nice little theme song for his Zuda comic.

You can rock out to the song here, and learn more about the series by clicking here!

Steve Weintraub has an interview at Collider.com with Johnny Depp, who’s working the publicity circuit for the Wednesday release of Public Enemies. The interview covers a range of topics from his love for director Tim Burton, and their upcoming collaborations like next year’s Alice in Wonderland and the planned-but-not-in-production-yet Dark Shadows. He also had something to say about the possibility of a fourth Pirates of the Carribbean:

On Pirates, Johnny said, “What we’re trying to do is just get a script in order and make sure it’s the right thing to do. If we can get a great script it’d be a ball.”

Go read the entire interview for more from Depp. It’s a good little read.

I’m sure a lot of you are rolling your eyes over the idea of yet another Pirates movie. I’ll admit, the sequels weren’t nearly as good as the original, which was pretty damn awesome. Dead Man’s Chest was boring as hell until the climax, but I thought At World’s End redeemed the franchise enough to make me want to see another sequel. And don’t even try to deny it; you know you’d still go see another one too, even if you thought the sequels were crap.

And though I’ve never been on an acid trip, I think seeing Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is going to be about as close as you can get to one without actually dropping acid.

One of my favorite things about watching Marvel superhero movies is seeing what Stan Lee is going to do in his obligatory cameo. Let’s face it, the only good thing about the first Fantastic Four movie was seeing Stan The Man playing Willie Lumpkin. Now, word has leaked out regarding who Smilin’ Stan will be playing in Iron Man 2. The info comes from Collider.com, so I’m not sure how reliable it is, especially considering they’ve admitted straight up they’ve only got one source for the news. Nor will they give any hints as to the source’s identity. That’s some bad journalism, right there. But, the news sort of makes since in context with his cameo in the first Iron Man flick, in which he played a pseudo Hugh Hefner. So if you don’t mind getting this little bit of casting info spoiled for you, click on this link to find out. If you don’t want to know, then just ignore this post and move on to the next post. I’m sure it’s a good one.

Written by Sal “The Bagman” Cipriano

After a frustrating loss to the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago, the DC Bullets were anxious to get back on the field and redeem themselves. Unfortunately, the next week and a half turned into a scene from Blade Runner as rain constantly poured down on NYC, consequently canceling the next three games. Hurt and deflated, the Bullets could only wait for the weather to provide any sort of opening. Finally, after even more rain made a mess of their home field earlier that morning, the DC team were back to New York Media League action this past Thursday; this time against a vaunted, talented High Times team. Considered one of league’s two best teams (along with BusinessWeek) the Bullets were wary, but came in ready for the challenge. And a challenge it would be, too, as they were missing two of their power bats: Third Baseman Mike Lorah and rookie DH LP Vollano. They also started the game with 9 players instead of the required 10, and by the time the second inning was over the sweet leaf-loving Bonghitters were up by three runs.

The Bullets got it going in the bottom of the second, though, as Left Fielder Andrew “The Armadilla” Arnold (1-3, Run) and Second Baseman Christine “CNAP” Napolitano (1-2) got on with one-out base hits. Arnold then scored on a single to centerfield by Catcher Sal “Bagman” Cipriano (2-2, RBI, BB).

The Bullets were on the board, and now had a full complement of players, which allowed their defense to close up tightly. From the third inning on, DC’s favorite sons and daughters did not commit an error, a frequent thorn in their sides, with Team Captain Adam Schlagman (3-3, 2 runs, triple) leading the way with one spectacular play after another at short! The third inning ended with two crazy plays as Right Fielder Rickey Purdin (1-2, double) snagged a sun drenched ball at the last second, followed by a sliding catch from the Bagman on a foul pop by the Times’ best hitter!

Those outs seemed to fire DC up as the Bullets loaded up for their biggest offensive inning of the evening. The Captain started it off with a single, and immediately scored on Left Fielder Vince Letterio’s (1-3, run, RBI) hard hit triple over the opposing left fielder’s head! Right Fielder Pat “Two Scoops” Brosseau’s (1-2, 2 RBI, sac fly) RBI grounder scored Letterio, and a third run was added by Third Baseman Joel “The” Press “Man” (1-3, RBI) scoring Rover Dougie Harrison (1-1, run). The Bullets led after that third inning, 4-3.

Both teams put up goose eggs in the 4^th, but in the top of the fifth, a Bonghitter smoked a solo home run, tying the game. Ace Bullets Pitcher Larry Ganem (1-3) shook it off though, and retired the next batters. The bottom of the fifth showed off the Bullets resilience with Schlagman lacing a triple, and scoring one out later on Brosseau’s sac fly.

The Bullets again led by one going into the sixth, but the two teams traded off zeroes for a third time in the game. The pressure was now on as Ganem took the mound in the top of the seventh, 3 outs away from DC’s biggest win in the last couple of years. The first out came easy, but the second required Captain Schlagman to make the web gem play of the game with a diving stop of a smashed grounder that was destined for center field, but instead found itself in his glove and consequently into First Baseman Laura Demoreuille’s (0-1) sure handed mitt! One out away, but the Bonghitters seemed determined to do what they do best, no not that, win! The next two men got on second and third, but they were going no where else as a fly ball fell into Center Fielder Neil Hiremath’s (0-2) glove! Put it in the books, the Bullets win!

Final score:

5-4 for the DC Bullets over the High Times Bonghitters. A hard earned victory for a gritty, gutty team that’s gelling well under pressure, and truly beginning to put a disappointing 2008 season behind them. The Bullets pull up at .500 (4-4, 2-2 in league games) and will look to improve that further in their next game.

Game notes:

The pitching and defense in this is game were stellar. Captain Schlagman continues to show the way in the field playing a superb short stop. The tandem of Ganem pitching to Cipriano has also meshed well over the last year, and this year they’ve really shown it holding the Daily Beast to 5 runs, and High Times to 4. If the team can continue this way, they can easily make it to the playoffs.

This Thursday, July 2^nd, DC are home against the Seamless Web. Can the Bullets break through their web? Come find out at Central Park’s North Meadow, field 2, at 5:30PM!

The Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed reports that Battlestar Galactica creator Ronald Moore’s newest piece of scifi television, Virtuality, isn’t likely to move further than the 2 hour pilot episode. The show, presented as a TV Movie by Fox, was tied for the lowest rated network program Friday night, with a .5 adult demographic rating. Granted, it went up against a Farrah Fawcett special and a Michael Jackson special, both of whom were firmly in the public’s minds Friday night, but with ratings that low, there’s little to no chance of the show getting picked up in the fall.

Considering I had heard little to nothing about the show ahead of its airing, I can’t say this is super surprising. Too bad, as it showed some promise. If you haven’t seen it and are in the US, you can hit the break to watch the pilot in its entirety, courtesy of Hulu.com.

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Officials from the Long Beach Comic Con have announced that Jeph Loeb and Geoff Johns will be attending the Long Beach Comic Con on October 2-4th.

This announcement comes alongside some other heavy hitters in the industry, including Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Peter Tomasi, Dustin Nguyen, Steve Niles, Tim Bradstreet, Mike Choi, Scott Lobdell, Peter Stiegerwald, and Alex Sinclair.

“The talent line-up being put together for LBCC is coming together quite nicely. We are so appreciative of the support the industry is showing to our inaugural show,” said event planner Martha Donato, President of MAD Event Management, in a written statement.  “We’ll be utilizing all of our talent as we finalize our programming schedule. There will definitely be something for everyone.”

While we at Newsarama are proud of our Best Shots feature, the Hero Initiative has created some best shots of a different kind…

That’s right. Shot glasses based on the Brian Azzarello series 100 Bullets.

These shot glasses can be yours if you purchase your tickets to the Hero Initiative’s 100 Bullets: Last Shot party on July 11th, at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles.

This party will be to celebrate the 100th and final issue of the acclaimed crime series, which explores a shadowy organization and its offer of giving anyone 100 untraceable bullets to fix their lives.

Interview conducted by CB and Tony D, two comic book outlaws in their own right.

1. Michael, congrats on Outlaw Territory Volume 1 out in stores now from Image Comics. We hear reviews are great, particularly for the “Ahiga” short story. What gave you the idea for the book?

Michael Woods: Thank you very much.  With Outlaw, I wanted to do something that was a polar opposite of the previous anthology (Low Orbit) and a western theme seemed to just fall into my lap.

2. How hard was it to handle Christian Beranek as a creator? We’ve heard he can be quite difficult.

Michael Woods: I have booze and pictures he’d rather not get out.

3. At anytime did Christian Beranek go renegade on you? Did he ask you to meet him in that dive bar he likes to frequent in Silverlake? The one where those people were murdered?

Michael Woods: People were murdered there?  I thought we were just going for drinks.

4. What are the plans for future editions of Outlaw Territory? Any creator names you can mention?

Michael Woods: There will be a volume two, which is almost finished.  Creators include Stuart Immonen, Sean Phillips, Greg Pak, Joshua Dysart, Paul Azaceta, Jeff Lemire, Francesco Francavilla, Rafael Albuquerque, Dustin Weaver, Tom Fowler and many more.

Oh, and that Christian Beranek guy is back again.  I mentioned about the pictures and the booze, right?

5. What is your craziest convention experience?

Michael Woods: My lawyers have advised me against telling that story.

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I’ve been more affected by Michael Jackson’s death than I thought I would be, so I’ve been thinking about this stuff for a few days. Mostly about pop stars and iconography and the image vs. the person–what do we mourn when we mourn a dead celebrity? In Heath Ledger’s case, it was so obviously the work he had left to do, but in Jackson’s case, it seemed fairly likely that he’d never make any music again, that his music was completely overshadowed by his court cases and plastic surgeries. Yet people have still been publicly mourning.

Daryl Cagle, cartoonist extraordinaire, wrote about Michael Jackson and editorial cartoonists, and his sadness was clearly only that he didn’t have an easy target for cartoons anymore.

Michael Jackson was God’s gift to editorial cartoonists. Now that the gift has been “returned to sender” the cartoonists are mourning the loss of one of their most evergreen gags.

Yet this cartoon, that I saw this morning, really seems to sum up all the feelings about Jackson.

Do you remember, indeed. Before the accusations and the surgeries and the baby-dangling, when it was just about the music.

This week’s cartoontroversy?: Well, it’s only Monday as you read this, so maybe something bigger will come up later. Anyway, political cartoonists seemingly had a blast drawing goodbye cartoons featuring a long-time favorite subject of theirs, Michael Jackson, most choosing either a bland “Hey, he’s dead now” sort of acknowledgement cartoon, others making jokes about his physical appearance or legal troubles concerning his alleged sexual interest in young boys. One of the more…potent cartoons was that of Mike Luckovich, featuring Heaven and Hell flipping a coin (above). Here’s a brief story in which Luckovich talks a bit about the cartoon, which proved controversial among readers, and here’s Washington Post comics blogger Michael Cavna asking readers if they think it went too far.

“You’ll be in awe of how perfect it is and certainly envious of it if you are a writer”: This guy really, really, really liked David Mazzuchelli’s eagerly anticipated Asterios Polyp.

“These two comics, for all their surface similarities, serve as almost perfect examples of How To Do It and How Not To Do It”: That’s Andrew Hickey on last Wednesday’s issues of TEC and Gotham City Sirens. Can you guess which one is which? His post reviewing the two issues is entitled “Comics Review (Guaranteed 100% Michael Jackson Free).” But that guarantee makes reference to Michael Jackson! So it’s actually just 99% Michael Jackson-free.

I’d read a comic book about a comics fan with a time machine who goes back in time and tries to deliver these messages: Comics Reporter Tom Spurgeon had his readers “Name Five Decisions You’d Like To Talk The Comics-Related Person Who Made Them Out Of Doing.” Check out their responses here.  And while I’m linking to Spurgeon, this week’s Sunday interview was with cartoonist Trina Robbins, regarding her recent Nell Brinkley book.

I would also read a Marvel comic in which Ben Grimm replaced Steve Rogers as Captain America, but only if it was entitled Cap-Ben Grimm-erica: Bully the Little Stuffed Bull likes Ben Grimm a whole lot, so much so that he’s devoting a full 365 days to spending time with the big lug, but he has found one way in which it is possible to improve upon Aunt Petunia’s favorite nephew. Click here to find out how!

In your face Dr. Wertham! Batman was never really gay after all: It was just a phase he was going through, and he tried to keep it up for Robin’s sake, but his heart just wasn’t in it.  At least, that’s what I gather from Robin’s thoughts in yesterday’s Daily Batman, which has since changed, as it’s a new day, and a new day means it’s time for a new Batman. Anyway, The Daily Batman. Some day I might stop linking to it, but not today.

The Last Days of Animal Man #2

Written by Gerry Conway

Pencils by Chris Batista

Inks by Dave Meikis

Cover Art by Brian Bolland

DC Comics

My comics tastes tend toward the offbeat and that’s what made me curious about The Last Days of Animal Man. It’s a pretty odd title and the Brian Bolland covers are really eye-popping.

The cover to Issue One has Animal Man and a pack of various animals running toward the reader, all as skeletons, which is a tribute to the first run of Animal Man in the same pose with the same animals. Issue Two has Animal Man suspended in midair as a Green Lantern whale keeps him aloft with a powerful green light beam. Bolland’s art has graced quite a number of Animal Man covers over the years and so it makes sense for him to be around for this six issue limited run. It also makes sense to have Gerry Conway killing off Animal Man since he’s the guy who killed off Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker’s famous first love. That alone makes it interesting to me but this isn’t the offbeat read I had expected.

Animal Man began with a few appearances in Strange Adventures in the ’60s and never took off until, twenty years later, Grant Morrison turned him into something cool and experimental. Buddy Baker was no longer just some guy who finds himself with super powers after a fateful encounter with an alien. With Morrison, the whole language of comics is explored with Buddy Baker speaking back to the reader as well as Morrison. Animal Man was offbeat and unconventional and found a home with Vertigo but, after being passed along to different writers, the trend has been to make Animal Man less weird and more a superhero which this current run conforms to.

It’s not a bad little story so far. It’s one of those fantasy segments with events twenty years or so into the future. Buddy Baker and his lovely wife, Ellen, still live in San Diego, which has undergone a rebirth after suffering a Katrina-like deadly storm. Buddy is starting to feel his age and is struggling with a mid-life crisis that only gets worse each time he’s called upon to use his super powers which continue to fail him. Ellen sells time shares instead of being an artist. The kids have left home. Life is a bit boring. Buddy and Ellen maintain a sunny California youthful look but that is little consolation. Not even Botox can smooth away the pain.

The domestic troubles seem more a hint at what Animal Man used to explore more fully in its heyday. Issue Two, with its Green Lantern tie-in, really makes no bones about the fact Animal Man is being marched out for review as a standard-issue superhero. The Green Lantern sequence is fun with the whale’s charming salutation, “Friend, of my friends.” The other workhorse in this issue goes back to Animal Man’s archrival, Mirror Master. Twenty years have passed, long enough for Mirror Master’s daughter to be all grown up and ready to kick some ass in her brand spanking new identity as Prismatik.

Towards the end of the issue, Animal Man finds a way to get his mojo back and, in a fight scene with the formidable Prismatik, is close to killng her until the Justice League descends upon him. Apparently, Superman, The Flash, Power Girl, and all the rest, need to have a talk with Animal Man. He is a standard-issue superhero and he better not forget that.

Quick, think “autobiographical graphic novel.”

What comes to mind?  A black and white trade paperback, containing the intentionally rough, scratchy, simplified artwork of a twenty- or thirtysomething revealing intimate details of their love life? Maybe a black and white trade paperback version of a memoir, in which the middle-aged author discusses a particularly interesting aspect of his or her life, like coming to grips with a new child or dealing with a terrible disease?

Well, C. Tyler’s You’ll Never Know Book One: A Good and Decent Man (Fantagraphics Books) isn’t like that, nor is it much like any other autobio comic I’ve encountered.

The form of the book distinguishes it immediately. It’s a big, huge rectangle, a foot across, and 10.75 inches high, although it’s only 100 pages long, and the story is expected to continue into two more books. The form (like the amount of color) sets it apart from many of the works in its genre, but that’s no necessarily why it’s in that form—it also serves the story.

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