24Seven, Volume 1

Written and/or Illustrated by Jose Luis Ágreda, Jeff Amano, Paul Azaceta, Gabriel Bá, Hilary Barta, Frank Beaton, Nate Bellegarde, Ivan Brandon, Ryan Brown, Chris Brunner, Eric Canete, Benito Cereno, Becky Cloonan, Dave Crosland, Farel Dalrymple, Jonathan L. Davis, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Rami Efal, Matt Fraction, John G, Rob G, Brandon Graham, Miles Gunter, Phil Hester, Mike Huddleston, Adam Hughes, Rian Hughes, Frazer Irving, Paul Lau, Jasen Lex, Sonny Liew, Vasilis Lolos, Andy MacDonald, Jim Mahfood, Alex Maleev, Paul Maybury, Fábio Moon, Tony Moore, Melissa Oeming, Mike Oeming, Dan Panosian, Leland Purvis, Rick Remender, Esad Ribic, John Ney Rieber, Eduardo Risso, Jim Rugg, Neal Shaffer, Lakota Sioux, Mark Andrew Smith, James Stokoe, Rick Spears, Ben Templesmith, Frank Teran, and Danijel Zezelj.

Edited by Ivan Brandon
Image Comics; $24.99

This was a hard review to write. Not because I’m conflicted about the material (though I am), but because I was so completely off in my expectations for the book and it’s taken some work to align myself with what it really is.

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Posting the page quick-like, then I’ll get back to fixing all the previous page links once the dog settles down.  He must be watched, watched very closely.

Quotes that caught my eye this week.

“She loves comics and loves sharing that passion.””
- John Givetz conveying the passion of Carla Hoffman, who along with her husband Lance, is recovering after suffering serious burns in the Tea Fire. To echo the sentiments of many, here’s hoping we’re all as passionate and dedicated in supporting the Hoffmans, through prayer or fiscal or whatever means we can spare.

“…if the last few years of DC’s publishing moves have taught us anything, it’s that they rarely do anything that makes sense anymore.”
- Stephen Gerding questioning the wisdom of cancelling the Blue Beetle comic with one corporate arm (DC) while raising the character’s profile by using him in the launch of the Batman: The Brave and The Bold show with another corporate arm (Cartoon Network)

“So many people have invested in me getting back on my feet; it’d be a betrayal of them if I didn’t keep going.”
- Bill Messner-Loebs explaining how much he respects the level of support he received from the industry and fans several years ago.

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Yes, I’m late.  Sorry, boss.  Next time I’ll have the post-o-matic 9000 queue it up ahead of time.  I done learned my lesson.

This issue is all about getting together the groups which will carry the fight to the Troika. Some of them even start to remember the Trinity. You might say they’re … what’s the word? … avenging the Trinity’s displacement.  First, though, they have to assemble….

Okay, that was a long way to go for a lame punchline. At least now it’s out of my system.

In other news, I am now a happy owner of Jack Kirby’s The Demon! Wish it had come out 25 weeks ago, when I needed it more; but better late than never.

On to the issue at hand!

SPOILERS FOLLOW

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You’ll forgive me if I include some of the news from Dan DiDio’s LA Times interview in this little roundup. Between that article and these solicits, there’s a lot to sort through … and, obviously, not all of it good. Cancellations, character shuffling, and general restructuring seem to be the order of business for the first part of 2009.

Any more of this and DC may need its own bailout–!

Wow, that’s a dark sentiment, isn’t it? Well, the days are getting shorter….

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Strangeways: The Thirsty rolls along every Monday, Wednesday and Friday here at Blog@Newsarama.com.  Almost a month into things now, can you believe it?

Yeah, me neither.

And while we’re here, let me echo the recent congratulations going out to the guys at High Moon and Bayou over on Zuda comics with the recent announcement of forthcoming print collections for both series.

If I’m running a little late this week, blame it on the winter weather. Or, at the very least, the avalanche of comics based on movies, television shows and video games.

Angel, Battlestar Galactica, Dead Space, Doctor Who, Halloween, Heroes, Star Trek, Star Wars, Street Fighter II, Transformers, The X-Files, World of Warcraft — they’re all represented on shelves this week.

If those aren’t your thing, there’s also an omnibus edition of Jack Kirby’s The Demon, a Walking Dead oversized hardcover, a collection of Stan Lee’s old monthly columns, Mark Waid’s debut on the Brand New Day-era Amazing Spider-Man, and yetis. Well, at least one yeti.

To see what other titles Chris Mautner and I think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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Page 10 of Strangeways: The Thirsty for your reading pleasure.  Yes, it’s going up a little early today because I’m up a little early because we have a new puppy here at the Casa Strangeways.  And if you know anything about bringing a new puppy home, you’ll know that I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.

Maybe tomorrow will be better, but right now it’s taking me half an hour to do a five-minute blog update here.

Aw, geez, not the toilet…  Gotta run.

An assortment of quotes that caught my eye over the past week.

“The cancellation of the Minx line of graphic novels aimed at younger, female readers strikes me now as even more unfortunate news, as the Shelly Bond-edited brand has brought us yet another compelling read.”
- Don MacPherson in praise of Alisa Kwitney & Joelle Jones’ Token

“But if you don’t like Kate Beaton’s comics—I mean, seriously, if you don’t like at least one of Kate Beaton’s comics—then you’ve got something wrong with you, and I hope that you never have children. You will raise them badly, and they will be humorless little bloodsucking ticks.”
- Tucker Stone

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This has been only slightly dramatized.

Maybe these projects are some sort of indicators of the zeitgeist. If you were a thirteen-year-old boy during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, I could see how you could get the impression that receiving oral sex can instigate a dramatic turn in your life. So perhaps I have President Clinton to thank for the several submissions I got like these this year. Or maybe that impression has always been there, lurking in the male psyche, and President Clinton’s antics merely confirmed it. And we all know that if something lurks in the male psyche, the comic book is the natural outlet for it.

So thank you, President Clinton.

And that’s really all I can think of to say about that.

So, just what is eating Drytown, anyways?

And if you want to jump to the beginning of the story, just hit the following:

http://blog.newsarama.com/strangeways

Next week: things take a turn for the stranger.

Oh, and I’m currently being interviewed by Jeff Lester of the Savage Critics (and of the Sam and Max online game, of which he’s a writer) about STRANGEWAYS and other things, process and the like.  Give it a look if you like.  It’s not your usual garden-variety interview.  Probably because I’ve got the attention of a lagomorph hopped up on Jolt and chocolate-covered espresso beans.

Part 1
Part 2 

Things are heating up both in space and on the Troika’s altered Earth.  What this issue might lack in trivia it makes up for with action!

Still, there’s always room for trivia, so….

SPOILERS FOLLOW

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LEAD STORY

“Dead And Burnt To Ash” was written by Kurt Busiek, pencilled by Mark Bagley, inked by Art Thibert, colored by Pete Pantazis, and lettered by Pat Brosseau; Rachel Gluckstern, associate editor; Mike Carlin, editor.

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Note: This was written before Tom had read the latest Newsarama interview with DC Comics Executive Editor Dan DiDio.

Longtime readers know that Nightwing — and specifically, DC’s continuing struggle to do right by the character — has been a reliable source of blogging fodder (blodder?) for this column.

Why, just last month I wrote that Mr. Grayson should

embrace fully his ties to the Wayne family and to Batman. Nightwing requires a lot less explanation next to Batman (or even next to Robin) than he does out on his own, so if he’s there all the time, it might cut down on all the existence-justifying contortions.

If that means cancelling his solo title in favor of making him a regular supporting character in Batman and Detective (and Titans, of course), so be it.

And, uh, well … I’m sorry–?

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As a wise man once said, ‘I don’t know art but I know what I like’.  It’s been a few months since Metallica’s latest studio album, Death Magnetic was released but I still have the same reaction every time the radio DJ announces their ‘new’ single on the playlist.  Having fond memories of … And Justice for All, not to mention the wonderful kismet of St. Anger’s summer release with Ang Lee’s Hulk movie, I couldn’t help but look forward to this new release.

And then I heard the single.

It just wasn’t the same, not at all what I expected and, more importantly, not at all what I remembered.  It didn’t sound the same as all my favorites and I had to wonder, Did Metallica lose it?  Did they get too old for their own music?  Or was what I listened to back in my youth not as great as I thought it was?  Is nostalgia coloring my view and, because I’m not an angry teen, the music isn’t as exciting as it used to be?

If you’re thinking of Metallica, the only next logical progression in thought is Jeph Loeb.

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As always until the end of time (or I run out of story – whichever comes first), a new page from Strangeways: The Thirsty is posted here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

To jump to the beginning of the story, simply go to:

http://blog.newsarama.com/strangeways

Nobody’s bitten on the “spot the reference” question from Monday yet, so I’ll let it drift until Friday.

EDIT to add that reader Mr. Pain got it.  And what’s more, he even corrected my error.  The answer was “Town with No Cheer” was the name of a song by Tom Waits, from the album SWORDFISHTROMBONES.  Though I’ll note that the song itself takes place in Australia and doesn’t have all that much to do with the old west.  

But a lot to do with thirst.

If you’re a fan of comics with spines, this is a good week for you.

Image Comics brings out the first volume of the Ted McKeever Library and a new printing of Bill Sienkiewicz’s Stray Toasters, while Dark Horse collects the “Wolves at the Gate” storyline from Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight. Marvel returns to Civil War with a 512-page hardcover, and gives Hulk the premiere treatment.

DC Comics, meanwhile, releases the much anticipated collection of James Jean’s Fables covers titled, appropriately enough, Fables: Covers by James Jean.

On top of that, there’s another volume of CF’s Powr Mastrs, the beginning of Kevin Smith’s Batman: Cocophony, and a complete set of Kia Asamiya’s Junk.

To see what other titles Chris Mautner and I think are worth mentioning, just keep reading. As always, let us know your choices in the comments below.

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The Slightly Askew Adventures of Inspector Ham & Eggs #1
Written by Stephen Lindsay; Illustrated by Lauren Monardo
Chimaera Comics; $3.95

Like my write-up of Pirat Tales last month, this is going to be a shorter review. Since I’m used to writing longer pieces about graphic novels and collections, I feel a little weird doing these briefer ones for single issues. It feels like I’m slacking off or something.

But thinking about the name of this column, I also feel like it’s a huge part of what I’m supposed to be doing to tell you about new series that look like they’re going to be really cool. Pirat Tales was one of those; Ham & Eggs is another one.

I learned about Inspector Ham and his junior partner Eggs over at Steve Niles’ forum, so I suspected right away that this wasn’t a kids’ book. And of course, any comic that proudly talks on its cover about reveling in the carnal delights of hookers, hatchlings, and hogs obviously isn’t meant for the little ones. So, in spite of the adorable characters and the cute names, I wasn’t exactly shocked at what I found in Ham & Eggs. Still the art and the concept is so disarming that with every profanity and decapitated guinea pig whore I found myself grinning and thinking, “No, they didn’t just do that.” But they had, and they’d continue doing it for the rest of the issue.

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Morning, folks.  Matt Maxwell here taking over posting of the thrice-weekly pages from John, so let’s have a big round of applause for him, eh?  Wouldn’t be here were it not for him Making It Happen.  Thanks, John!

This week we’ll get a good look at what’s ailing Drytown.  And in case it wasn’t noted before, Chapter One is called “Town Without Cheer.”  A virtual cookie to anyone who can name the reference without having to head to Google.  Googlers never prosper, remember that.

As usual, if you want to catch the previous pages, head to the following:

http://blog.newsarama.com/strangeways

I’ll turn that into a proper link as soon as I can figure out how to without breaking the entire works.  In the last month I’ve bricked an iMac and an external hard drive, so I’m probably not to be trusted around technology…

DC’s recent announcement of the cancellation of Robin, Nightwing and Birds of Prey has been making the rounds, causing a lot of reaction.

Rich from Comic By Comic reflects on the decline of Birds of Prey:

But sadly over the past few years it’s floundered. Gail Simone’s run started off strong but started to suffer as soon as the Birds moved from Gotham to Metropolis. And the thing is, at it’s heart, BoP had always been about the friendship between Barbara and Dinah. Sure, having Helena and Zinda in the mix was fun, but once Dinah left it wasn’t the same.

Since Gail Simone left, the creative juggling of Sean McKeever and Tony Bedard hasn’t helped, and neither have a few other things. Manhunter never really gelled with the team, Barda was killed by crossoveritis before she got settled, Gypsy vanished into the night, Misfit you wished would vanish, Black Alice came, went, came, maybe went…

Mon-El of the Fortress of Solitude is disappointed but resigned:

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