It’s all in how you approach the mega-event tie in.

If you pick the book up off the shelf thinking to yourself, “Oh god, like I don’t spend enough on comics already!”, you’re missing out. If you roll your eyes at the slew of books with nothing more than a cover banner, a corresponding story and a dream, you might miss out on something original. Sure, I see the big list of books and get just as daunted, just as confused and just as exhausted, but sometimes there’s that one book that overcomes the whole mega-event to not only take a snapshot of the battle from their particular viewpoint, but self-promote as well.

World War Hulk should generate the easiest of tie-in books: the big fight. Despite this being not so much a ‘world war’ (or really a ‘war’ for that matter, discuss!), Marvel is at least sort of hinting, if not show out-right that every hero is throwing themselves against the Gamma Wall and failing to stop his revenge. Every title on the shelves has the chance to line up and take their shot at the big bad guy, to either fail or limp away as needed. So far, the Spirit of Vengeance has placed his stamp of approval on the Hulk’s revenge, the new Initiative Avengers have tried to take on an opponent, we get an all new team of gamma soldiers (who I still doubt will make it out of this event to even guest star), some in the trenches reporting, and a visit to the Mini Mutant Refuge in Westchester.

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the World War Hulk: X-Men mini-series. Find some copies (it’s only a three issue series!) and read along!
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Here we are again, another month ending, another season changing, new comics on the horizon. I don’t know about you, but I gotta get to new comic day at the shop, so let’s just dive in to what’s headed for us in the mighty Marvel manner!

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I first heard through the fans; a link on my friend’s page on livejournal caused me like many others to gasp audibly and I immediately thought to pass it on to my good friend, Rich. As self-styled art aficionados, we share a love of Mike Wieringo’s work and would boggle or laugh or just delight in what came next on his sketch blog. We weren’t the only ones by far; there are pages and pages of comments expressing the same shock and disbelief at the tragic loss of one of the finest artists in the field across the internet. Maybe even you, Dear Reader (hi mom!), are feeling the same sort of disappointment.

It honestly feels like we’ve lost a friend.

And in a way, we did. Sure, some of us never got a chance to shoot the breeze with him at the Baltimore Con or hit the jackpot by getting to work with him or even found themselves with a sketch of his in their hand, but we all read his work. We all formed a bond with the bright and energetic artwork, that pure ‘Ringo! style that just had to have an exclamation point. It’s a real tragedy that he’s gone, but thankfully, he never really will be. We have his sketch blog, his comics, stories from those who knew him best and stories from those who never knew him at all but still have vivid and fond memories of what his work meant to them.

Mike’s art was about hope, not hopelessness. He drew heroes, not martyrs. And if that was wrong, thank you Mike for never being right.

Karl Kesel
August 13, 2007

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As ash falls on my home city from a fire publicly declared a state of emergency, I find my thought less on the possible need to evacuate my little cabin in the hills and the air quality and more on where Doctor Strange is in the world.

There’s been a subtle but noticeable shift in popular culture between science fiction and fantasy; one could even say that the rise of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and the decline of Star Trek could show a clear geekdom curve, which always makes me wonder why the Master of Mysticism isn’t doing more.  Sure, he’s a member of the Illuminati and Sorcerer Supreme of Marvel Universe, not to mention now on the New Avengers, but no solo book.  His appearances have been rather desparate as of late, mainlining an evil potion to take on the Hulk, unable to save his fellow teammates from something as simple as a plane crash or the rather obvious traitor in their midst;  he even sat out the entirety of Civil War.  It’s almost as if he’s suffering from The Sentry Syndrome, where the House of Ideas knows they have a colossally powerful character that looks great on the page, working his mojo and fighting the good fight, but simply have no where to put him where the challenge is high enough.  As if the plots are too thin to
support such a heavyweight.

Are they right?

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Well!  Welcome back, all Comic Con attendees to their respective homes, I’m sure we’re all glad to be sleeping in our own beds and not having to sardine ourselves with thousands upon thousands of fans to walk half a block.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved every minute of San Diego Comic Con, but … *whew*  it’s good to be home.

Thor #2 hits stands today, reminding me that one of many things I heard at a Marvel panel was that it’s just going to take some time for J. Michael Straczynski to fully integrate Thor back with the Marvel Universe. And while I’m not too thrilled at waiting six or so issues for the God of Thunder to really take a hand in the world around him… I think I might be able to wait this out.

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Today I’m putting on my journalism hat and heading out to the one, the only COMIC-CON! As you might have seen to the start of the week, there’s going to be a cavalcade of thrlls and surprise coming from the editors and writers themselves (including… a head shaving incident as Astonishing X-Men changes hands? Oh, that wacky Bullpen.).

But never fear! You can save some cash and traveling headache by picking up a copy of this week’s Iron Man #20 because believe me, it’s pretty surprising.

NOTE! Spoilers for Iron Man #20 within. Enter at your own risk.

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Back from the dead! Many apologies to my friends and family here at B@N and my loyal fan (hi Mom!) for my lack of posting last week; I often find myself getting sick a month or so after school starts in the fall and a month after summer camp starts in the summer. Kids, man… breeding grounds for germs.

Anyhow, it’s another month gone by, Comic-Con looming over us next week, but never fear! We can look forward to October, a month that ends the World War Hulk phenomenon and starts off some new mini-series with a more eclectic bent for the … uhm, holiday season? There was a distinct lack of ‘Halloween’ issues, maybe they made up for that with the return of-

Well, you’ll see. On with the show!
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Well, it was a long shot, but I was COMPLETELY off regarding the big ’spoiler’ for Fallen Son: the Death of Captain America – Iron Man. We got in a preview copy at work and lo and behold… it wasn’t that much of a spoiler after all (like they weren’t going to have a funeral for someone as important as Captain FREAKIN’ America!). I was thinking more a ‘late breaking news story’ rather than something for the Today show to talk about in regards to the Fourth of July. But man, wasn’t it kind of exciting, even it it was far-fetched? Can you imagine a day where an African-American could take on the mantle of Captain America?

Anyhow, the week started with the news already starting to pick up the story, letting people know that yes, Captain America is still dead and is being buried with the issue’s release after the Fourth of July. Jeph Loeb, who is quoted through most of the interviews I’ve seen (and not Ed Brubaker; does this make the man who killed Cap less important than the man who buries him?), has said that “it’s impossible not to have it at least be a metaphor for the complications of present day.” And that’s perfectly true, more than I think even Marvel Comics realizes.

INSIDE! Silent War #6 and Fallen Son: the Death of Captain America – Iron Man; grab your books and head on in!
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With little warning to retailers, your local comic shop awoke the morning of April 14th to the loud ‘airhorn’-like announcement of the death of a beloved Marvel character. Some managed to up their orders on Captain America #25 in time, others floundered under the public pressure of a book only few were expecting to be on major news outlets.

To be honest, the now infamous ‘Death of Captain America’ obviously should have been broadcast live with news makers drawing attention to the demise of such an iconic character. It brought in business, called attention to the fantastic recent run on the title by Ed Brubaker and got Civil War into a few more hands. All in all a win for our team, just one I’m sure comic shop owners wished they’d been a little more prepared for.

This preparation can be both a blessing and a curse; at my store, we got advance word that a particular issue of Amazing Spider-Man would be a major sensation when it turned out that it was either the wrong issue or the wrong intel, leaving us with extra copies making some wonderful shelf decoration.

But never fear, True Believers! A recent reveal on the Diamond retailer’s website gave some warning regarding the last issue of the Fallen Son: the Death of Captain America mini-series. Now, I discounted this whole thing due to some so-so stories (though I’ll fully admit that the ‘Captain America’ issue was pretty good), but sources say that the last in the set staring Iron Man is sure ot be one of those highly publicized media events. There are threats of just as much media attention to this as there were to such hits as the reveal of Batwoman’s sexual orientation or, dare I say, the death of Cap itself.
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Another month gone by and if you read the full listing of September solicits for Marvel, please for your own safety, wear a hat.  Or a helmet.  Or have a net because a hefty majority of the books promise that your head’s going to come right off your shoulders.

Shock!  Awe!  Change!  Twists and turns!  They are everywhere three months from now and I only hope that we can survive the experience.

Enter if you dare, a hopefully correctly formatted listing of some of the highlights and lowlights headed our way in the month of September.
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Through a freak accident, a guy finds himself in a position to stop an injustice and winds up paying for it dearly.  In order to redeem himself and follow the path he should have taken from the start, he dons a costume and fights crime, for with great power comes great-

Oh, you’ve heard this one.

It’s no secret that I’m looking for something a little different in my Spider-Man comics.  I think the poor guy has gotten a rough break for the past year or more and is certainly due for an upswing, some situation he can fight and win and move on from a better person.  To call recent storylines a quagmire would cause me to go look up ‘quagmire‘ and make sure I’m using it correctly (“a difficult, precarious, or entrapping position”, yeah he’s had a few of those).  But as much as I would like to see more Spidey Writers use that Sensational Spider-Man annual as a springboard to a more stable and confident Peter Parker, but that doesn’t seem to be what people want to talk about.  We want Spider-Man in the mud, in the dirt, down on his luck and cursing his life for the tragedy it’s brought to himself and his loved ones.

And apparently, we want to hear it a lot.

WARNING:  Spoilers for today’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #21 and Fallen Son: the Death of Captain America – Spider-Man follow;  if you haven’t read them, please find a copy and follow along!  (Also, you may want to pick up a Marvel Adventures comic to bring your spirits back up.  Just sayin’.)
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One full year of continuous and exciting Newarama blogging! Semi live and coming at you week after week, collecting the best of the ‘net and the weird wide world of comics and popular culture, the accomplishment is nothing to sneeze at and the result of a lot of hard work and dedication from the writers and journalists here at Blog@Newsarama.

Well, except for me. The Fifth Color started in August, two months after B@N had gotten its wheels a-turnin’, so any reminiscing would look a lot like blank space or someone else’s Marvel op/ed column.

So instead, why not look ahead? Theorize where we’re going and what we’ll be seeing from Joe Q’s bullpen? Could we be at a dangerous moment in history where the planets align and some great insight is gained into the House of Ideas? Are there some secrets unearthed by thinking ahead to what’s in store for Marvel fans? Or will I be completely making this up as I go along?

Stay tuned, True Believers.

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Hoo boy, it’s it a weird wild time to be a Marvel fan these days. I’m not saying that the Distinguished Competition don’t have their own share of disharmony, but with Joe Quesada on the defensive again, this time for the rather surprising cover to Heroes for Hire #13 due out in August, there can be that sinking feeling. That ‘us’ and ‘them’ feeling. The fans get angry over a cover, the creators get mad at the fans for getting angry in the first place and where does that get anyone?

This past weekend I got a chance to go to the Star Wars: Celebration IV in Los Angeles. I’ve been going to cons of one sort or another since I was wee, just on the other side of the sci-fi tracks (I’m nerdcore enough to admit I have a perfectly good Romulan uniform in my closet), so it was kind of cool to see all the sights and sounds of how the other half lived. But we’re all here with a purpose and the con was aptly titled ‘Celebration’. One interest or another, everyone can speak the same language, whether that’s Klingon or Wookiee Speak.

And boy, is it a language. I have people almost every week come into the store and nervously tell me that they don’t know anything about comics because of that almost universal feeling that there is a certain amount of knowledge on something one must acquire before they are considered ‘a fan’. And it’s the respect paid to that knowledge, the ability to remember all of it and keep to it that puts us on the fine track to fandom. At the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed panel, I got a chance to listen to a portion of the design team and the story director talk about their new game and the biggest thing I was struck by (aside from watching a guy go through two walls with a Force push!) was how much at the service of the fans they were.

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Forgive the tardy appearance, but today we’re posting on PST time so set your watches accordingly … FOR THE FUTURE!

It’s solicit time again and Marvel has given us the goods for the month of August with all sorts of interesting tricks and twists to delight and amaze. The one thing it didn’t give us was a Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #21. Both the artist and the EIC has both said that they have every intention of continuing the series, but the lack of an issue this month makes me worry that I was right and the magic words of Sean McKeever are going to be that hard to replace. So, if you would, take a moment with me and think fondly of the little book that could, one of the most honest Spider-Titles out there and hope that another issue or two are in our future.

On to the books!

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You have to admit, mankind is pretty cool.  For all it’s faults, foibles and fallacies, there is a history of looking toward and sometimes achieving greatness.  It makes for great reading, watching the humblest of us all go out and do good despite odds or ability.  Stan Lee, back in the day, crafted a tale of Jekyll and Hyde through modern science fiction and dubbed this Hulk the strongest human on the planet.  But who could possibly oppose him?  What could stand in the face (and possibly defeat) of the mightest man on Earth?

Why, a god of course.
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Not even a third of the way through the latest celluloid installment of the Spider-Man mythos, this kid sitting next to me turns to his friend and stage whispers, “This is the best Spider-Man movie ever!”

I liked his moxie.

The day after this comment, my humble comic shop was deluged with Free Comic Book Day attendees, some of them even riding their own Spider-Man movie high.  Many of them expressed enthusiasm for going to see the movie that day or had just come back from seeing it.  Considering the money it made, I’m almost positive that everyone reading this article has seen the movie.  But just in case, there’s a spoiler warning ahead as seeing these movie fans and seeing the comic fans got me wondering about the concurrent storylines being played out on screen and in the books.

Again, WARNING:  lots of Spider-Man 3 talk to follow as well as points from today’s Amazing Spider-Man #540.  See both and come on back.
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So, I was sitting at the coffee shop down the street on my lunch break last Saturday and I was crying.

I felt like an idiot, more so than when I wanted to hide a preview copy of Anita Blake in another book so I wouldn’t be caught with the shame of reading a book with a guy in a He-Man harness. No, now I actualy had tears in my eyes and had gotten a little choked up a bit over something I had I read in a Spider-Man comic. Come on, what kind of a girly girl was I?

Click and find out! WARNING: this post talks about the Sensational Spider-Man Annual, on shelves today. If you have not read it, go buy one (heck, buy two!), read, ENJOY, and come on back.
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It’s going to be awhile before people can talk about the goings-on in the Marvel Universe without stepping back towards Civil War. It was a huge jump forward for heroes and villains across the board and certainly shifted a lot of perceptions of fan favorites. Iron Man being nominated for ‘Best Villain’ by a few comic awards, the Fantastic Four rearranged while Sue and Reed reconnect, one big Star Spangled Hero removed from the landscape entirely, it’s all rather dire and I just keep getting the feeling that there was something else…

Oh yeah.

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Well, looks like everything really is up for interpretation, even the death of children to further the seriousness of a plot line. But hey, that’s what ‘The Fifth Color’ is all about, the fact that once the comic leaves the publisher, it’s up to the reader to decide for themselves how important the story and what it means to them.

With that in mind, here’s a look at the July solicitations and what could possibly be considered the best of the best (just like Ms. Marvel!) of books we haven’t even seen yet.  Not too much listing this time, just consider this the hard and fast version as there’s a lot coming out this summer, let alone July…
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To Mr. Quesada and the editing staff at Marvel,

Hi, I’m Carla and I sell your comics. To tell you the truth, I love my job because I’m a long time fan and get the wonderful opportunity of sharing my enthusiasm for your product with my customers. I think it’s a perk of working in ‘the arts’, so to speak; you get it in music stores and movie rental places and book stores. I can’t say I’ve ever been sold a dress because someone enjoyed the way it looked on them, but I can say I sell a lot of books that I’ve really liked and had a moment of connection with the customer. Being able to turn a kid on to how cool Spider-Man is a pretty awesome perk of what I do for a living.

And it’s because of the kids I’m making this open letter today. Now, the industry is wide weird place with a comic style and story for everyone on the planet (by the by, the Marvel Adventures line is fantastic!) and I do direct younger readers to the more ‘family friendly’ comics than what are on the general stands but… well, I’m just going to ask as respectfully and as honestly as I can.

Please stop killing children with senseless violence in your comics.

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