I assume few of you are actually reading this on Christmas Day, and I hope you all have better things to do on the holiday—even if it’s just a day off work for you than a holiday you celebrate—than read me talking about comics. But in the off-chance than any of you do check out Blog@ today, I thought I’d leave some content for you. Here then are some short reviews of several recent-ish graphic novels and collections...

365 Samurai and a Few Bowls of Rice (Dark Horse Comics): J. P. Kalonji’s violent tale of an Edo-era swordsman’s bizarre quest, to kill the titular number of samurai in order to avenge his master and discover the meaning of life, is deceptively simple. It’s also blisteringly paced; it’s almost-400 pages flying by with the speed of protagonist Ningen’s steel being unsheathed. That’s because of the rather unique format.

Each page of the small, square, seven-by-five-ish inch book is a splash page, so each page is also its own panel. From the craft perspective, it strikes me as a very interesting way to produce a comic book, but from a reader’s perspective, the results are a lightning-fast pacing that’s perfect for the subject matter. I can’t be positive without going back and counting, but I think we may actually see 365 samurai get killed within these pages—although, to be fair, he does kill over 200 by simply dodging a blow in one of the book’s more clever fight scenes—but when Ningen’s quest is completed, he (and we) learn an appropriately Eastern, zen-like moral.

Kalonji’s character designs are a real treat, a bit of exaggerated, funny cartooning, a bit period-appropriate simplified Japanese abstraction and a bit of samurai movie actor caricature. It’s black and white, with plenty of black ink arcing and splattering about as Ningen cuts his way toward enlightenment. It’s a truly unique work in the genre that should feel fresh to its adherents, and good enough at what it does that even those with no prior affection for or experience with samurai comics should find something to appreciate in it.

Showcase Presents: The Warlord Vol. 1 (DC Comics): Writer/artist Mike Grell’s late-70s/early-80s fantasy series still seems doomed to never be anything more than the second best comic book barbarian adventure series, but it does have its advantages over Marvel’s (and now Dark Horse’s) Conan. There’s the modern day setting (Well, now it’s a few decades in the past, but you know what I mean) and the Hollow Earth element, which makes Skartaris more of an unpredictable, anything-can-happen sort of environment. Rogue CIA agents, robots and alien invaders fit in just as naturally as the dinosaurs and Dungeons & Dragons stuff, and after these first 28 issues (plus the DC First Issue Special), I’m hard-pressed to imagine something that would actually seem out of place in The Warlord’s weird milieu.

Grell’s work is especially well-suited to the Showcase Presents format, as the black and white re-presentation eliminates the period coloring and the ravages of time on the original back issues so that there’s nothing to come between a reader’s eyes and Grell’s impressive designs and line-work. Additionally, the paper stock and low price-point seem more appropriate for this than more high-end, color collection—Grell’s  was pure pulp adventure, so the pulpier the presentation, the better.

I’m sure the storyline grows more epic, complicated and sprawling as it goes on—the first volume lasted 133 issues, after all—but these early adventures are a nice introduction to a pretty fun premise, if a readers need more than 500 pages of nice drawings of scantily clad beautiful people and rampaging monsters and dinosaurs to get them to pick up a book.

The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book (Fantagraphics Books): The two Joe Daly stories collected here are difficult to describe, as the great pleasures of each story are the odd, idiosyncratic details Daly includes, and the way in which he reveals them.

I suppose it’s safe to say that it stars Dave, a freelance artist in Cape Town, South Africa, who has red-hair, a monkey-like face and even more monkey-like feet. Hell, they’re not monkey-like; they are straight up monkey feet, with thumb-toes and everything. He and his best friend Paul, a freeloading hippy-type, find themselves involved in strange mysteries. In the first story, “The Leaking Cello Case,” Daly introduces us to his characters, and Dave and Paul find a dangerous mystery within Dave’s own apartment complex.

In the second, “John Wesley Harding,” the two begin the story hunting for a runaway capybara, and things just get progressively weirder, in a bizarre spiral of unlikely coincidences and seemingly random but interconnected plot points that the story gets funnier every couple of pages. I’ve never read anything like it—and now I want nothing more than to read more of it.

Sublife Vol. 2 (Fantagraphics): This is a John Pham’s gorgeously designed one-man anthology book, including about a half-dozen stories of various genres, formats, sensibilities and even art styles, each impeccably laid out on longer-than-it-is-high, 8.5-by-7-inch rectangular pages. Some of them seem to begin in-progress but, having never read the first volume, I’m not sure if that is the case, or simply Pham’s approach to those stories.

There’s a short, funny story spread across a stack of four comic strips on the inside front cover that you’ll have to turn the book sideways to read (this is a book that will require a lot of turning). There’s a 13-page story set in space (that’s the one the cover reflects) that really needs to be seen to be believed—it features some of the most innovative and interesting use of a comic’s page that I can recall encountering this year. There’s a four-page slice of life story told in sketchier, slightly more abstracted designs. There’s a weird, two-page, many-tiny-paneled story about St. Ambrose (the actual saint, a school named after the saint, and some of the people who went there). There’s a 27-page, cryptic, post-apocalyptic action-adventure story, with softer lines. And there’s another short, funny one-page story on the inside front cover.

They’re all pretty great on their own, and taken all together, they make up a downright remarkable book.

Wolverine: Weapon X Vol. 1: Admantium Men (Marvel Comics): This recent trade paperback collects the first few issues of Marvel’s fourth ongoing Wolverine title, and while there’s never a lack of Wolverine comics available for purchase, writer Jason Aaron and artist Ron Garney have managed to separate their Wolverine from the pack. It’s hardly essential reading or groundbreaking comic book-ing, but it is accessible and fun superhero entertainment, and if one wants to read a comic book about Wolverine, this trade seems like as good a place to start as any, and a lot better a place to start than most.

Despite the familiar sub-title, Aaron moves forward rather than looking back, and takes a stab at relevance by having one of Marvel’s evil corporations buy the plans for making Weapon X-es to use in their security firm. He takes an even bigger stab at over the top action that makes the recent Wolvie film seem restrained. These new Weapon X-es have laser claws and guns that shoot bullets that give you cancer, and Wolverine’s plans for taking on the bad guys involve such subtleties and crashing his motorcycle headfirst into a limo and cutting people with his claws as he flies through the windshield and out the back window and bringing an attack helicopter to a claw fight.

For his part, Garney does the work of his career, seemingly having made such progress in his work since the last time I encountered it at any great length that I hardly recognized it as his work.

There’s an even better story following the initial arc, although it’s more poorly communicated through the art (Adam Kubert illustrates it, and his layouts are choppy and hard to read, with overly showy, over-designed captions calling to much attention to themselves).

Aaron goes a bit meta, showing a few weeks in the life of Wolverine, who had two Marvel Universe ongoings, is a member of various X-teams and the New Avengers, and can be relied on to show up in a few random one-shots and make around a dozen guest-appearances every month. It’s funny to see what a few days in the poor guy’s life are like but, in the second half, Aaron finds an in-story reason for Wolverine’s business, and ties it into recent events in the hero’s fictional life in a way that make it almost seem to matter. It’d be a stretch to call it poignant, but it is clever as hell.

Yotsuba&! Vol. 7 (Yen Press): Still great.

What happens when you get two Missouri-raised comics icons together over the phone? You get a Missouri-raised comics blogger posting about it.

The Comics Journal has an awesome interview up with former Bat-editor and Green Lantern/Green Arrow writer Denny O’Neill and current Invincible Iron Man writer Matt Fraction up, in which they talk about deadlines, the direct market, editors, and a whole lot more.

Here’s a highlight of this lengthy piece of essential reading, in which they discuss their seminal takes on Tony Stark, the Invincible Iron Man:

O’Neil:
Yeah, well, the first Iron Man story I did was a fill-in and Dave Michelinie had established the drinking problem in the continuity. I opened on Tony having a dream that he’s in the Iron Man suit, but he’s drunk and then you turn the page and he’s waking up, saying, “Wow, what an awful dream.” Steve Ditko did a great job on the rest of the story but we ended up having Marie Severin drawing that one page. There are people who think that heroes should never have serious flaws. I don’t think they should be jerks, the word “hero” is from the Greek “to serve and protect” and I think that has to be element of it. But, having a guy overcome something like an addiction or a terrible flaw seems to me to enhance his heroism and I think Gruenwald’s boss was of that school or something like it.

We — Mark and I — if we had to do it again it would be six issues shorter. I think we did stretch it too far. There were a couple of other glitches but, basically, it was pretty successful and we got a lot of praise from rehabilitation organizations. So, what’s Tony’s drinking situation these days?

Fraction:
Well, he’s onto a bad patch, but I’ve written him as being, basically, a dry-drunk. I don’t know that I want to get him drinking again, but I want to show him not asking for help — that’s been a big deal for me — and so this has been him as an arrogant, headstrong, “it’s OK, I can keep it together, I can fix everything” — coming from that sort of place. So, he’s learning the hard way that that is not, in fact, the case.

Check out the rest of this awesomeness by clicking here.

One of my family’s Christmas traditions when I was growing up was that each Christmas Eve, after returning home from a celebration and present-opening at my grandparents’ house, but before my father watched The Bells of Saint Mary’s while he, um, waited up for Santa Claus, was that he would read me and my sibling’s Clement Clarke Moore’s A Visit From Saint Nicholas/’Twas the Night Before Christmas.

We don’t do that anymore for a variety of reasons, foremost among them being that Santa doesn’t visit grown-ups the way he visits children, so I was rather excited to see this link on Tom Spurgeon’s indispensable site The Comics Reporter this morning. Give it a click and you’ll find Stan Lee reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.

It’s quite charming.

Lee has always been a perfect performer and showman, but, beyond that, like a lot of comics fans, I feel that I’ve grown up with him. I know he’s still working like crazy, but the role he embodies most fully to me these days is that of an elder statesman for comics and, in a more nebulous way, a sort of distant uncle to anyone who spent very much time reading superhero comics or watching Marvel superhero cartoons at pretty much any point in the last 40 years.

So if you’ve got a couple of minutes this evening and are in need of some additional holiday cheer, why not let your old Uncle Stan read you a bed time story?

********************

QuickStopEntertainment.com, the site responsible, also had Lee read Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” for Halloween in 2008, which you can listen to here (Quoth the raven: “Excelsior!”) And, if you ever find yourself needing a quick fix of Stan Lee, he’s a pretty prolific Twitter-er.

I don’t celebrate Christmas (although I hear nice things about St. Nick from all his friends), but I think I would kick it with Modok for Christmas, as seen in the latest episode of WHAT THE–?!.

Okay, Punisher saying “Bah, scumbug,” made me laugh out loud.

To be honest, though, while this is a great video, I was kind of surprised to see Modok celebrating this particular holiday. Wouldn’t his designation be “Mental Organism Designed Only for Kwanzaa”? Make it happen, Marvel!

(Click the image above for a larger version of the strip.)

WORLD OF HURT – The Thrill-Seekers – Episode 16: “Back With a Vengeance”

This strip was a major turning point in WORLD OF HURT.  Pastor had been off-panel for a month and a half and I really wanted his reappearance to have a big splash, and I think this episode delivered.

Drawing-wise everything really came together, and from a storytelling standpoint, it was a big time “F***K YEAH!” moment.  This strip also came at a major point in my personal life.  The day after it was originally posted was my girlfriend’s birthday, and I chose that day to propose to her.  She said “Yes.”

I hope everyone has a wonderful, and safe, Christmas!  I’ll see you next week.

New strips of WORLD OF HURT – The Internet’s #1 Blaxploitation Webcomic are posted every Wednesday at www.worldofhurtonline.com.

- JEP

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!

*Updated on December 27*

DC bigwig Dan DiDio told Newsarama in his 20 Questions feature today that “The ’80s JLA group is going to be back, and be back with a vengeance, in 2010,” and it got me thinking that maybe a handful of recent comments and announcements add up to something–that something being the reformation of the Justice League International, a development I’ve been expecting since DC announced that there would be two Titans titles and two JSA titles but that the JLA, their tentpole franchise, wouldn’t have the same treatment.

So what’s happened lately that might play into this? Characters like Blue Beetle, Superboy and Kid Flash/Impulse, who have been written with a humorous aspect in the past, have been freed up lately. Also free of obligations right now is Wally West, who served on the Justice League Europe for a while. You’ve also got DiDio trumpeting a “new direction” for Booster Gold in 2010, both as a character and as a title (complete with creative changes). When he announced the jettisoning of Jaime Reyes’ second feature in Booster Gold, DiDio told CBR that the character would be seen as a regular in another title soon, but that he wouldn’t be featured as either the headliner, or the second feature. Of the existing DC Universe teams, the only one that would really make sense for Blue Beetle III to be on is the Teen Titans–of which he’s already a member.  Recent comments by Geoff Johns suggest that Martian Manhunter’s life as a character may not end as a Black Lantern–and when I think of his being back I wonder about Aquaman–another character who seems, based on February’s Brave and the Bold solicitation, to be back among the living after Blackest Night.

There was, a couple of years ago, a panel in Booster Gold that depicted a reformed JLI as having played a role in Final Crisis. The story hasn’t yet come to fruition,  but it did depict Aquaman on the team and wearing his blue-camo suit. Although it was very short-lived when he wore it in the early ’90s (I think), he does appear dressed that way in a new toy available at KMart. Do the marketing folks know something we don’t?

Not conclusive, I grant you, but all of that tends to suggest that some or all of these characters could be headed in the same direction. Add to that famed JLI artist Kevin Maguire’s recent departure from Doom Patrol‘s Metal Men backup–the co-feature was ended when, DiDio said, Maguire had to leave for “another project” and they decided it would be best not to try and go on without him. What project could he be working on? UPDATE: Not this one, apparently. When questioned via e-mail, Maguire responded that he had no idea whether or not a project like this was in the works. “This is the first I’m hearing of Dan’s comment,” the veteran penciller told us. “Whatever’s going on doesn’t involve me.”

To me, if even half of these announcements are connected, they suggest a JLI mini-, maxi- or ongoing series starting in late spring 2010. What say you, ‘Rama readers?

The Talisman #1
Based on the novel by Stephen King & Peter Straub
Comic script by Robin Furth
Penciled and Inked by Tony Shasteen
Colored by Nei Ruffino
Lettered by Bill Tortolini
Published by Del Rey

Many, many years ago, I read this novel, but at this point, any vestigial memories of the experience are sufficiently withered away that I came to the comic with no expectations or preconceptions. This debut issue focuses on young Jack Sawyer, as his notions of the world are stripped away and his importance explained by the janitorial Speedy Parker.

The issue works pretty effectively, I suppose. The script moves quickly through its points, and the art is effective – slightly over-rendered and tries too hard at times to be spooky, but there are some solid panels and the storytelling is easy to read. I’ve always hated reviewing (and reading, really) serialized comics, because it’s nearly impossible to tell you, my theoretical reader, anything real about The Talisman from this issue. Nearly the entire twenty-five pages seen here is exposition. Buckets of back story, the ground rules of The Talisman’s reality, are heaped on the reader, as Speedy Parker talks and talks and talks to Jack about his mother and twinners.

Now, honestly, Furth, working from King and Straub’s dialogue and narration, does a solid job laying down this theorizing. It’s still all groundwork and does little to move any story, however.

Most perplexing about this issue is its existence. Del Rey’s been putting out some interesting book length comics, from the Dabel Brothers stuff to a range of manga. Serialized, monthly comics, however, haven’t really been in their business model, and really, why should it be? Yeah, a lot of people love the serial form, but what’s the benefit here? Most of us recognize that it’s a dying format.  Digital serialization, okay, I can see it.

Stephen King and Peter Straub bring massive fan bases to this project, an audience that (The Green Mile excepted) isn’t geared toward reading in this form.  I’m sure that, with those dedicated readers, The Talisman will probably succeed as a serial, but I still don’t see much point to it either. I’m sure it’s much more convenient for most of those same fans to go to their local bookstore, or to Amazon or wherever, and buy the entire comic in one bulk shot.

Maybe I’m wrong.  Perhaps there’s a stupidly huge market for a monthly The Talisman series.  If there is, I hope readers will be patient and give the story time to develop, because there’s a suggestion of something interesting in this first issue.  Only time, and more issues, will tell if that suggestion becomes an actuality.

I’ve long been fascinated by Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, one of the crazier  sounding comic book crossovers and one of those books you hear about and see the cover of all the time but—if, like me, you didn’t start reading comic books until about 15 years after its 1978 release—you probably haven’t ever had a chance to sit down and read.

Well, DC is apparently going to make one of my minor comic book dreams come true, as they’ll be reprinting the book in two different trade formats. Here’s their Source blog announcement. There aren’t a whole lot of details included, but for now I’m just happy to hear the publisher will be giving me a chance to check it out without having to seek it out in back-issue bins or buy it off a store wall somehwere.

Special Caleb Slept In So This is Super-Late Edition!

And you thought Earth-Prime had a rough decade…: If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Graeme McMillan’s “The Most Important Events of 2000-2009, Comic Style,” a sort of timeline listing all of the various world-threatening crises to impact the WildStorm, Marvel and DC Universes in comics published during those years. So 2000 began with “Part of America literally becomes city of the future thanks to time-traveling evil robot” and ends with “Lex Luthor becomes President of the United States of America”…and those are among the calmest, least traumatic experiences.

I got exhausted by around 2001 or so, but the list is well worth a read (or at least a scan), if only to try imagine actually living in one of those places for a civilian (And it also serves a nice reminder that all of those message board posters who say things like “Dr. Light should rape because that’s totally realistic” should probably just shut up about realism in their super-comics). I’m not sure which universe is a worse one to be a citizen of—the DCU or the Marvel Universe. The scale of the problems facing the former are much greater—all of reality was re-written several times this decade there, while only Spider-Man and those who knew him had their realities re-written in the MU—which makes it seem more stressful. But then, on the other hand, reality being rewritten seems like a handy excuse. Like, “Hi boss, sorry I’m late. When history was re-written yesterday, I no longer worked here, and it took a while for my memories to return after Superman and his gang recreated the universe” or “No honey, you’ve got it all wrong! She was my wife on Earth-2, and now our continuities have all been merged!”

“Still here? Good, because now it gets more complicated”: The sales analysis at The Beat is always worth a read for super-comics fans, but Marc-Oliver Frisch’s look at DC Comics sales for November of 2009 is particularly fascinating, if only to watch Frisch wrestle with DC’s plastic lantern ring promotion in an attempt to discern how much they boosted sales, or even if they did so at all (evidence seems to suggest that Blackest Night itself did a bunch of the sales-boosting, rings or no rings). Also, holy crap did that work! Some of the books more than doubled their sales. That’s great news for DC, but for some reason I don’t think it bodes well for comics, given the industry’s habit of noting something works inexplicably well, and then repeating it until it’s stopped working and started hurting.

“Historical look and gay stereotypes in comic books and cartoon strips”: Metro Weekly picked up on Jeet Heer’s essay from earlier in the month about the early portrayal of gays in the comics. R. Fiore responded at The Comics Journal, and a conversation broke out in the comments.

“For some reason, the comic-book character Tintin, beloved just about everywhere else, has never quite caught on in America”: That’s the lead in a New York Times books section piece about Hergé: The Man Who Created Tintin. That would make Tintin the comic book equivalent of soccer then, huh?

Attach some faces to some of your favorite bylines: Sure you’ve always enjoyed the work of David Mazzucchelli and Hope Larson, but did you know what a dapper dreser the former was, and how cute the latter’s haircut is? Find out, in Calvin Reid and Heidi MacDonald’s photo round-up. (Link via Dirk Deppey)

Them Nav’is are taking our jerbs!! Or at least, that’s the message of Avatar Wars, a new mashup by the Black 20 guys that is either funny or frighteningly prescient.

[Hat tip to Topless Robot for this]

And now, in recognition of the holiday season, A Christmas Gift for all of you.

Okay, so it’s not from me. I’m regifting.

No, not like those guys.

I’m regifting in the sense that I’m sharing something awesome with you, which had been passed along to me as a member of veteran comics writer J.M. DeMatteis’ e-mail list. The writer behind “Kraven’s Last Hunt” and The Life and Times of Savior 28 has written a short story, called “The Truth About Santa Claws,” which is available for free on his blog.

While you’re at it, pick yourselves up a copy of the recently-released collected edition of The Life and Times of Savior 28 from IDW, which quotes yours truly on the front cover–which is itself a pretty awesome cover featuring new art by series artist Mike Cavallaro.

Like comic books? Like Twitter? Then check this sucker out!

Dark Horse is holding a Twitter contest today, and the winner will win a copy of Hellboy Library Edition Vol. 3!

Entering is pretty simple:

1) Follow Dark Horse Comics on Twitter.com, winners must be “following” Dark Horse Comics to be eligible.

2) Use the tag “#newcomicday” and direct it to “@darkhorsecomics” to show your support. Winners must use “#newcomicday” and “@darkhorsecomics” to be eligible.

3) Wait to see who wins!

That’s about it. Then keep an eye on Dark Horse for today, and if you win, they’ll ask you to DM them your address and the like. Want to know more? Want to read the legalese? I bet you do. Click here for more.

When it comes to comics and their readership, there have been a few burning questions in everyone’s minds: What constitutes accessibility? What constitutes appropriateness? How do you bring in new readers in an otherwise closed-off industry? One of the answers to that question — at least for me — was the superlative Marvel Adventures lineup. The only problem? Looking at the Marvel March solicitations, it seems like that that all-ages line is going to be a thing of the past, with Marvel focusing on its Super Hero Squad book as its gateway book for young readers.

In certain ways — assuming that the Marvel Adventures line doesn’t get some sort of reboot on its own later on — I can understand Marvel’s rationale. If Marvel focuses purely on the Super Hero Squad — almost as an answer to DC’s equally blocky Super-Friends kids book — it targets fans of the Cartoon Network show (and the toy line that inspired it). Why have two lines designated for the same core audience? Indeed, Super Hero Squad does currently outsell the Marvel Adventures Super Heroes book, with 4,384 copies versus 3,308 copies — so having two competing publications for the same target could be problematic, so why not strike while the iron is hot?

In other ways, however, I can also see it as potential further ghettoization of the young comic-reading crowd. If there’s anything kids hate, it’s being talked down to — and the Super Hero Squad (as well as its Super-Friendly counterpart at DC) does aim for a much younger audience than, say, the David Micheline Spider-Man ever did. The question, to refer back to the earlier one, is this: Why have two lines designated for the same core audience? To play Devil’s Advocate, I would ask — what if there are two different audiences here? One audience that could be inoculated early via the Super Hero Squad, and another audience that demanded a tone that was closer in style to the original source material?

For me, I feel like Marvel Adventures really was the spiritual successor to earlier works of Marvel’s that could be read by kids as well as adults. Growing up in the ’90s, we didn’t have a “kids line” — we had Spider-Man, the X-Men, Captain America (he said, waving his cane around angrily until someone brought him prune juice). Of course, there was certainly some violence back in the day — Wolverine did get his skeleton ripped out — but it was done with a degree of distance that it wasn’t overwhelming to my eight-year-old sensibilities. Things are a little bit different today — and why, I would argue, the Marvel Adventures line filled a necessary niche to Marvel’s publishing lineup.

With the company’s main titles getting more adult in their tone due to evolving storytelling — regardless of the merits of the book, it’s tough to hand out a copy of Amazing Spider-Man to a seven-year-old if Pete’s waking up after a one-night stand with his roommate — Marvel Adventures allowed readers to get a sense of what Spider-Man, at its core, was all about, while nudging away crossover mandates, continuity pains, as well as the edgier swerves of the main book. Even as its take on the Avengers was a bit more cartoony than the mainstream Avengers books — and thus, similar to the Super Hero Squad book — it combined humor, characterization, and action with a look that would allow young readers to “graduate” to the main books.

In the end, what can be done with the Marvel Adventures line? In certain ways, if Marvel decided to reboot it, bringing it “back to basics” is a smart move. What do I mean? When Marvel Adventures was in its infancy, they would print out small trade paperbacks, collecting Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, even the Runaways. One of the many ways companies are looking to expand is via the bookstore chains, and most reliable bit of currency for comics publishers in those arenas are trade paperbacks. Yet while making these trades normal-sized would give them a bit more edge at book stores, another question remains — what do you do about single issues? Do you let them go, and cut your losses? Do you go the original graphic novel route? Or do you focus your energies on the population you know will buy your books, and keep running with Spider-Man and Wolverine, even if you couldn’t hand them to a kid?

At any rate, the answer is unclear. There is a ray of hope, of course — Paul Tobin on his Twitter feed did write that this was “a ‘stay-tuned’ sort of announcement” — but the question of what is the most successful method of youth-oriented storytelling is very much up in the air. (Not to mention all those gorgeous Skottie Young Spider-Man covers. That’s a shame that half the kids in the room might not appreciate how beautiful they all are.) What do you think, Rama readers? Should Marvel Adventures stick around? Or are we living in a Super Hero Squad world?

Find out more about Global Freezing here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays or at ComicsByEgg.com.

My latest borrowing from the New York Public Library:

Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!
Written & Illustrated by Scott Morse
Published by AdHouse Books

I find myself wondering if the title of this book borrows from Kipling’s “Tiger! Tiger!,” though the tiger in Morse’s book comes through in significantly better health than Mowgli’s foe. Providing a philosophy on life does tie both stories together, however. Morse’s tiger, looking very similar to the protagonist of his Southpaw book, is actually Morse himself.

Taking the outward form of a children’s book with large dimensions, a sturdy hardcover and colorful pages, Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! provides a window into the inspirations for Morse’s own comics and work. Within these pages, Morse explains and examines his outlook on life, including his ability to “go inside his head” and how daily rituals such a jury duty (the bad ones) and fatherhood (the good ones) support and confirm his philosophy.

Morse’s key to life and creativity is to always keep a place within for the innocence of youth, retain the ability and willingness to daydream, and follow the threads of those mental wanderings to see where they take you and what connections develop between them. It’s not entirely profound and Morse presents his dissertation in form and manner intended for readers of any age, but it’s nonetheless a wise book.

Continuing with his traditionally angular, water colored style, Morse illustrates each page as a whole image, embedded panels throughout that support the structure and overall message. While he and his son appear as tigers, others throughout the book are depicted as humans, caught up in a web of worries and responsibilities.

As he spends his days working at Pixar, it’s no surprise that Morse is supremely effective at pacing pages and breathing unique life into his characters.  He balances the internal narration against evocative and impressive renderings that keep the reader engaged on multiple levels.

Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! examines Morse’s ability to disconnect from the world in order to find his creativity.  The book is an engaging, enjoyable journey through one man’s philosophical outlook, presented in a large, well-designed hardcover.  And, best of all, many readers should be able to find it at their local library, as I did!

Everything old is new again at DC.

It’s been years in the making, but Barry Allen is back in the saddle as The Flash, and while all the company’s comments and reports until yesterday had indicated that Barry would be the lead feature in The Flash, while Barry’s successor/predecessor Wally West would take the backup feature and the recently-resurrected Bart Allen/Kid Flash would have his own title, Dan DiDio announced during his “20 Questions” feature on the Newsarama main page that both of those features are on hold, essentially resetting the status quo for The Flash as a character back to what it was before the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Not only is this just the latest in a long line of DC moves that seem to be focused on rolling back character and plot development to the ’80s, but it begs the question: Why bring back Bart?

I loved the Impulse series by Mark Waid and Todd Dezago as much as the next guy, but as a Booster Gold reader, one of the conversations I often find myself having with regard to Ted Kord is–why bring him back if there’s no plan for what to do with him once we have him? WIth a Kid Flash series imminent, bringing Bart back made sense. Now, all we can expect is to see him cluttering up the backgrounds in Teen Titans or whatever unnamed series it is that Jaime Reyes will be appearing in. Frankly, that kind of coverage hardly seems worth cheapening his death (and by extension all other DC Universe deaths) for.

I suppose there isn’t much chance that that’s what Fall of the Hulks: Gamma #1 will be about, huh? The various Hulks all raking leaves, going for hay rides, hanging out at the high school football games and getting ready for the big dance? No, I think it’s probably simply the next part of the prelude to the next Hulk event, by regular Hulk writer Jeph Loeb and artist John Romita Jr. It’s $4, probably over-sized and, based on the cover, oughta feature just about every character in the Marvel Universe that you can loosely fit under the umbrella term of “Hulk.”

What else will be in shops on this, the last real New Comic Book Day of 2009? Let’s take a look, after the jump.

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(Click the image above for a larger version of the strip.)

WORLD OF HURT – The Thrill-Seekers – Episode 15: “What’s Done in the Dark”

This is my first experiment with a Sunday strip, double-tier format.  The previous strip that introduced The Duke was a little lighter in tone, but got a little creepier with each panel.  This one left no doubts that The Duke is a sick, cruel, manipulative bastard.  I wish I had done more with Carmen.  I can’t say more without giving too much away, but I’d like to revisit her character more in another chapter of WORLD OF HURT.  She certainly has every reason to want to see Pastor again.

New strips of WORLD OF HURT – The Internet’s #1 Blaxploitation Webcomicare posted every Wednesday at www.worldofhurtonline.com.- JEP

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!