Reviewer: Craig Reade
Quick Rating: Makes me miss the days when Teen Titans was good.
Title: Horror Business Part One of Five

Scott loses his job in Cleveland’s Animal Control Department, and his new job is a little more unusual than he expects.

Written by: Stephan Nilson
Pencils by: Karl Waller
Color by: Romulo Fajardo, Jr.
Ink by: Rick Bonilla
Letters by: Charles Pritchett
Cover by: Karl Waller, Ron Riley, and Rick Bonilla
Publisher: IDW (Digital), Frozen Beach Studios

The story starts off with a quick sequence that finds a typical “damsel in distress” being chased down by a trio of thugs who looking to rob her (perhaps worse?). She is momentarily saved by an unseen force, but before she can finish breathing that sigh of relief, her savior turns on her as well. We then move to our protagonist’s story, and you quickly put two and two together and realize that this story is going to be about dog catchers who capture werewolves. Ok – that’s something unique. The Pound is something of a slow starter, but off the bat I have to say that Nilson does a pretty good job of keeping your interest through a somewhat dry portion of this story.

A lot of time is spent introducing Scott, his family, and Howie – and teaching us a bit about who our pair of protagonists are before they decide to go into business together. We find that Scott is a hardworking, old fashioned kind of guy who is too proud to take charity (but, for some reason has no trouble riding on unemployment for a while… not sure what that is about). Howie’s young and a little naive, but insightful and energetic to take a piece of advice and learn the correct lesson from it – even if it wasn’t the lesson intended. The two look like they will share an interesting dynamic as this story progresses. While I would have preferred a little less time spent on character introduction, I have to admit in the end that Nilson didn’t waste the time. Not only do we know who these guys are, but they are more than generic ex-Dogcatchers. That’s going to make the rest of this series much easier to read. The team is hoping to turn this concept into a “Series of Mini-Series” if this one does well. If they are successful, the groundwork laid out in this issue will be that much more important.

The art is strong overall. The characters are all distinct and unique, and Waller does an outstanding job keeping their looks consistent. He also isn’t afraid to toy with perspective a little bit – a few scenes appear “shot” from above or askew in effective ways. Mechanically the art is great – he can draw different characters in different situations from different angles, and have them look as they are supposed to. The “storytelling” aspect of the art shows occasional flaws – particularly on action scenes or panels that are very crowded. At these times you sometimes find yourself having to pause a moment and analyze what is going on, deciphering the art in the panel based on the dialogue, and what you think should be happening based on the panels before and after. It’s a minor issue – and not representative of all the work in the issue, but it stuck out enough that I felt I needed to point it out. Besides that minor quibble, the book has an outstanding look. It’s easy on the eyes and the style is appropriate to the story’s feel. The art contributes to the story in a meaningful way, which means it has done its job.

The Pound is going to start off as a part of IDW‘s Digital Storefront, with the first issue set for a March 30th release. The future of comics in the new digital age is a common topic of debate, but we are now starting to see some of that future become a reality. Independent comics could benefit a great deal from the advanced medium, so it will be very interesting to watch how titles like The Pound do. IDW’s Digital Storefront is available on iTunes, if you’d like to check this one out on its release, and the series will be collected and printed for a release on August 31st, 2011.

The Pound #1 was a fun read – and I anticipate future issues will be a nice blend of horror and comedy. I’m looking forward to checking out the second issue.

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Reviewer: Craig Reade
Quick Rating: Excellent

Jennifer Strange must cope with the unfortunate demise of Dragonkind

Author: Jasper Fforde
Publication Date: November 4th, 2010
Pages: 280
ISBN: 1444707175
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Let me tell you, it was hard to snag a copy of this one. For whatever reason, it was not released in the United States. I was able to order it direct through Amazon and import it, but even that turned into something of a chore. I ordered this book shortly after Christmas, and due to normal international shipping times and increased security, it took almost 2 months to arrive. I don’t know if it was worth the wait or not, but it certainly was an enjoyable read.

Fforde is most known for his Thursday Next series, but American readers probably aren’t as familiar with his other works. This is another one that is sure to fall under the radar for some reason – I’ve never understood why he didn’t take off as an author in this country. His writing is characterized by a dry, witty absurdity that is truly unique. I am happy to say that those who appreciate those qualities in his writing will find that The Last Dragonslayer is very much a typical Fforde book.

The story follows Jennifer Strange, who is going to turn fifteen in just two weeks. She is an orphan who was abandoned outside a sort-of convent in a VW Beetle, and eventually finds herself an indentured servant working for Kazam Mystical Arts Management. Though she has very little magical ability, she proves to be an effective manager by helping the sorcerers who work for Kazam find a wide variety of employment. The trouble is – magic is vanishing from the world, and what magic is left is heavily regulated. Even the smallest spells require a mountain of paperwork to legally cast, making it more and more difficult for sorcerers to earn a living. A string of precognitive visions foretell a turning point: the final dragon in existence is about to die. Magic may die with him, but it might be an opportunity to restore magic to its former glory. A centuries old prophecy thrusts Jennifer right in the middle of the whole episode, forcing her to make a few impossible choices.

The Last Dragonslayer is a young adult novel. It’s right up there with Harry Potter – it seems designed for a teenage reader, but it is definitely something adults can enjoy. There are obvious comparisons to Harry Potter – magic and the United Kingdom being common threads – but that is where the comparison stops. Not only is Jasper Fforde a much more skilled author than the somewhat amateur (but now disgustingly rich) J.K. Rowling, but those talents are reflected in his writing.

Jenny’s choices aren’t so black and white. She is given a great view of the plot’s current… decides what course it should take, and is then told by all parties that she is completely wrong. And she is. There is an incredible futility to her situation that is interesting to experience – you completely sympathize with her and feel her confusion as she is caught up in a centuries old scheme. But she makes you proud – she stands up for herself in all the right places, instead of backing down and taking the easy way out – she earns the admiration of the reader, which makes her far more endearing as a character.

As any Young Adult novel, this is a quick read, but an entertaining one. This probably isn’t the best book to try out Jasper Fforde for the first time, but fans of his work should seek this one out. Even if it takes two months to arrive in the mail.

Support cxPulp and buy The Last Dragonslayer from Amazon.com!

Reviewer: Craig Reade
Quick Rating: Braiiiiiiiins…..

Asylum Press treats you to a collection of Zombie horror.

Contributors: Frank Forte, Arzynat Studio and Doug Sirois, Royal McGraw and Adauto Silva, Doug Williams, Dwayne Harris and Bernie Lee, Craig Wilson, Tim Vigil and Joe Vigil, John Ho and Santosh Kumar Rath, Szymon Kudranski, David Zuzelo and Billy George, David Paleo, Bartosz Sztybor and Maciej Wodz, Joie Simmons, J.C. Wong, Robert Steven Rhine and Nenad Gucunja, Pawel Wojciechowicz, Aaron Rintoul, Pyko, David Hartman, Steve Mannion, Jason Paulos, Jason Edmiston, and Nenad Gucunja
Cover By: Aly Fell
Editor: Elizabeth J. Musgrave
Publisher: Frank Forte, Asylum Press
ISBN: 61724001X
ZombieTerrors.com

The title of this one says it all. If you are a fan of zombie horror, this one is for you.

Especially with the arrival of the AMC series, The Walking Dead has become synonymous with zombie horror in comics. While you simply can’t tear that work down at all, it does eliminate the element of fun from the zombie comic. A lot of that can be found in this collection.
As with any anthology, a variety of creative teams creates a variety of stories – some better than others. Taken as a collective, one of the strengths of Zombie Terrors is the story diversity. You might wonder how a zombie book can have diversity, but some of the writers did an excellent job telling these stories from a unique perspective. The lead story by Frank Forte – Beheaded – follows a swamp dweller who beheads zombies, and hangs their heads on a wall for decoration. Only – as zombies are – their heads are still alive on the wall. Royal McCraw‘s Feast follows the old Masochist’s Meal/Fugu Chef trope with a gangster blackmailing a trained chef into serving him the edible parts of a zombie. Pyko‘s Hunger: Evolution of Zombie Kind told a decent story from the perspective of a Zombie, which I found kind of original. Bartosz Szybor‘s Bond told the story of a guy who kills zombies to buy raw meat to feed his zombie mother. Weird stuff.

It is absolutely correct that Zombie horror is a somewhat limited genre, which is why I was so surprised to see such a diversity in story concept out of this one. With only one or two exceptions, I really enjoyed the writing in this anthology. Even the more common, generic stories had something about them that were worth reading.

The art in this one wasn’t nearly as consistent. There were a ton of different artists lending themselves to a wide variety of styles – some clicked for the stories, and some just did the job… which is good enough in most cases. One or two kind of hurt the story a little bit – but in each of these cases they were fairly generic zombie yarns and you are able to suffer through the pages pretty easily.

I do particularly want to complain about Aaron Rintoul‘s When We Disappear. I am sorry – getting together a few of your friends, posing them for pictures, and then using Photoshop to jazz up the backgrounds is not artistic storytelling. I’ll grant that he is pretty good with his Photoshop filters, and that a couple of these panels would make fairly good looking standalone shots, but that does not make it comic art. There is a great deal more to artistic storytelling than slapping together a pretty picture, and Rintoul absolutely fails to use his “art” to advance his story. Yes – this is one story in an anthology of otherwise passable work, but there is a very good reason most of this kind of art is limited to ashcans and really, really independent comics. It is pretentious and the mark of a poor comic artist. Frankly praising it is an insult to the folks who spend years honing their artistic craft. I’d take this kind of think a lot more seriously if he took the photos and then used them as models to digitally paint his characters.

Sorry for the digression there – that “art” style is a real pet peeve of mine, and I probably went on about that one short story near the end of the anthology for longer than was warranted. But boy does it bug me!

Overall, this book is solid. If you are a fan of zombies or horror in general, I really have to recommend it. Some of the stories have really interesting looks, and on the whole the stories are interesting. Recommended.

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March 2011
by Craig Reade and B. Schatz

Craig Reade: Another month, another dollar. Which is more than I get paid for this column.

Brandon Schatz: What, suddenly my love isn’t enough for you? I’m a offended Craig. My feelings are crying now. I HOPE YOU ARE HAPPY.

Reade: Brandon, your love is cheap. You love everything and anything. Look at the dirty things you are doing to that keyboard right now…

Schatz: Shh, shh, shh. Don’t listen to him, baby. He doesn’t know you like I do.

Reade: Speaking of dirty thing… comics!

FEBRUARY ISSUES

Generation Hope #4, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 02/02/11 DELAYED – RELEASED 02/16/2011
Written by Kieron Gillen, Art by Salvador Espin with Scott Koblish, Colors by Frank Martin
Hope and the Lights – all of them – make the trip to Utopia, where they are given the lay of the land. Wolverine and Teon fight things out, and that ends in fish. Meanwhile, Kenji has a good long think about what he’s done, and Dr. Nemesis is a dick to everyone!

Reade: Dr. Nemesis was great, to be sure.

This issue was obviously a transition – geared towards character development. And I have to say that there was finally some meat in this issue. Without harping on the first three too much, I learned more about each one of the Lights in this issue than I did the previous three combined – including the first issue, where we had an artful but generally void introduction to the first four.

Anyway – sticking to the positive, I think this issue was a big step in the right direction.

Schatz: Dammit Craig you don’t understand the–

Whoa, wait, what? I’m sorry, I think I have accidentally ingested internet peyote, I am reading your word right, yeah?

Reade: If you mean “you have something good to say about this issue?” then yes – you got me. In fact, if people haven’t been reading this series yet, I think it’s a great issue to start on. I’ve beat up the first three issues enough – this is the kind of thing I was expecting, so as long as it keeps up like this, I will be happy.

Schatz: Awesome. I’m glad that something in this issue clicked for you – because it would be a shame, in my opinion, to see this book disappear from our list so soon. For my money, while it still has the same bones as an X-book, it seems to be accomplishing the same goals in different ways. Like, even when the teasers were coming out, Marvel wanted people to remember Generation X, which was huge at the time it was released, and maintained quite a bit of staying power over the years. I only got to read just a little bit of that book when it was still shipping (I’ve been told to remedy this), but I get the feeling that this is acting a little more different than even that – which was a bit off center.

Anyway, I enjoy this book. I enjoy the characters, I enjoy the creators… and hey! Next issue, we get a nice one-and-done issue that reunites Kieron Gillen with Jamie McKelvie! Team Phonogram! I’m so very excited.

Reade: Done-in-Ones make me happy. Should be sweet!

Schatz: As you should be. I’ve been hearing a lot of comic creators, in interviews, talking about how the art of the single issue comic is almost lost these days – and how writing one is a fun exercise in economic story telling. They seem to enjoy it, but the industry usually ends up telling them that’s not what it wants, for whatever reason.

Reade: Oh, I’ve been on that bandwagon for years. That’s one of the reasons Jonah Hex was on this list for so long – it’s general “done-in-one” policy. I do think that with Digital Comics being on the rise, we might be ready for a shift in the “print for the trade” philosophy that the industry is currently stuck on.

Schatz: Man, that digital revolution is going to be one sticky wicket. I know they’re already having troubles with some double page spreads, which should cause some extra thought as to how many of those we get anymore. Also, uh… my job relies on print comics! Though, I’ve gone on record many times saying that I’m not really worried – there will always be room for print, so long as you run your business well, and roll with changes (less singles, more trades, really).

Reade: Oh, Local Comic Shops have every reason to be concerned – however, all of the concern in the world will not stop it from happening. The smart LCSs are going to recognize now that they need to change their focus, and find a way to keep people coming back to the store in spite of the availability of digital books.

Truthfully, I think this will be great for the industry. I think part of the problem with the current LCS system is its dependence on those print books, and the collector mentality of comic readers, combined with the stranglehold Diamond has on the industry. LCSs will survive if they maintain the positive atmosphere that they provide now, while at the same time finding other income streams.

And anything that breaks the back of Diamond, allowing more books to become available to a wider audience… well, I favor that.

Schatz: That’s exactly why I’m not worried. Things have already changed, and we’re rolling with it. You can’t stop change from happening – so don’t. The entire comics industry was down approximately 5.6% last year (in print) and my store was up – and this January and February were our best in years. BECAUSE I’M AWESOME.

But that’s neither here nor there. My biggest hope, is that the big comic book publishers have a back-up plan for when Diamond goes down. We’ve looked into alternatives, but none exist right now, for distribution to Canada. That’s the only scary thing for me.

Reade: I think that’s part of the precarious situation the industry is in now. You know Marvel and DC see the writing on the wall, and have already made plans to cope with it. But if either one of them implemented those plans – Diamond would be destroyed. It seems to me that they won’t do a thing until they absolutely have to.

Schatz: They won’t make a move until cutting Diamond loose seems like a feasible plan. Right now, the direct market is still Marvel and DC’s primary source of comic book income. Now, what will probably happen someday – in which case, comics and trades will be distributed in another fashion. And I would love for that to happen, if only because Diamond is doing the industry no favours. It’s pretty much actively hurting it.

—

Weird Worlds #2 (of 6), $3.99, DC Comics. Due Out 02/02/11 ON TIME
Written by Kevin Vanhook, Aaron Lopresti, and Kevin Maguire; Art by Jerry Ordway, Aaron Lopresti, Matt Ryan, Kevin Maguire, Jared K. Fletcher, Dave McCaig, and Rosemary Cheetham.

We rejoin Lobo as he is trying to take down his target, S’Glayne, so he can return him to the sleepy planet of Xanaxx. But the shape-shifter claims to be something of a freedom fighter – an excuse that doesn’t get any traction with the Main Man, who teaches him that monologuing exposition doesn’t pay.

We next rejoin Garbage Man, who exploring the limits of his new powers. Only he’s attracted some Dark Knight attention. Garbage Man makes his way to Dr. Clive to demand that he change him back to his human form, only Clive’s guards follow orders too well.

Finally, Tanga stumbles on an interplanetary traffic jam, and is overjoyed at the prospect of finally having someone to talk to. She finds a bar and orders herself a Bruk, and has a conversation with Eeeeelehrgahognatvispertillia Bent – before accidentally blowing up the bar.

Schatz: You know, around the internet, and a little bit in the store, I always heard people complaining about Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness’ run on Hulk. But as we’ve discussed before, complaints and/or perceived quality don’t usually correspond with sales. If that were the case, books like (and I’m just looking over the racks right now) Morning Glories and Scalped and the new Power Man and Iron Fist would be rocking the charts. But I digress.

Hulk sold – both in terms of overall industry units, and in the store. It sold because it delivered what a lot of Hulk fans wanted from the Hulk. Big action, where big things and people are punched. And it delivered without fail.

Now, I’m not a big fan of Lobo. I’ve been of the opinion that he’s one of those characters who do those things. Or: a less funny Space Deadpool (despite the fact that Deadpool has been in space inside one of his books for quite some time now). And if there’s two things I just don’t dig without another hook, it’s space stories, and stories about mercenaries who cannot die. That said, the Lobo story is delivering on every single point it needs to. It’s a fun space story, and Lobo is doing Lobo things. The story is well told, well crafted, and so far, has been segmented nicely, to fit inside the serialized format. Basically, it’s not a 60 page story that just stops every 10 pages or so. It’s good: but it’s not for me. But hey, this is an anthology, and there’s a lot more in this book that just the decent Lobo stuff.

The Garbage Man stuff intrigues me. It’s definitely more of a straight laced, new super-person origin (I’m thinking hero, but really, we don’t know) and it’s got a bit of silver age mixed in. The whole science experiment gone wrong angle… while it’s still around today, was a big part of stories back then, because it played off of a lot of fears at the time. Like, nuclear bombs, radiation, all that jazz. Anymore, if you’re getting an origin, more often than not, you’ll see maybe a bit of science, but from more of a terrorism angle. It’s just the times! Anyway, this origin, combined with Lopresti’s penchant for having the characters really talk instead of just showing really feels a bit older to me. The only thing it’s really missing to give it that last bit of jazz is exclamation points! At the end of sentences! Like Archie Comics still do! That said… there’s just enough modern storytelling in the story, that the exclamation marks wouldn’t quite work – so really, in the end, it’s just an interesting brew of the two flavours. And it’s good.

And then there’s Tanga. Oh man, Tanga. This story? Is my jam. It’s funny, it’s strange, it pulls up some more traditional sci-fi/superhero comic book tropes, and then twists them quite nicely. And Kevin Maguire really knows how to work his pages. The joke of having the big guy walking in wouldn’t have worked as well if he hadn’t set up the, uh… “confrontation” with that big, impressive splash. Plus, man, not only does the guy have a grasp of expression, but the aliens! They all looked great. Fantastic, strange, and hilarious. The best in this book, in my opinion.

Reade: I have to admit that I am more than a little shocked by how much you have to say on this one!

I absolutely have to agree. As an anthology, this is hitting all the right notes. You are particularly spot on with your observation that it isn’t just a few 60 page stories that occasionally stop. I am shocked at how well each of these are hitting the serial storytelling marks, particularly the Lobo and Tanga stories. Each part has a point, a purpose, a beginning, middle, and end – and they have been distinct enough that you could even enjoy one part without having to have read the previous installment (though that does help). Garbage Man had a good outing – far better than what we saw last month, but I’m still not sold on it long term. Taking by itself though, this part was solid. The Lobo story was fun and, as you said, hit all of the notes it was supposed to. And Tanga… I’m still not sure where they are going with her, but it’s fantastic.

You know what does suck about this? The cover. HORRIBLE! Not only do the characters look bad, there is absolutely nothing that makes you want to buy this book. They really should take a cue from some old sci-fi pulp anthologies and put a little more effort into those covers. The only thing (outside the boobs) that would make someone want to buy that book is Lobo – and the art is so distorted that you wouldn’t know it was supposed to be Lobo at a glance.

Schatz: What can I say? My life is pretty much consumed by comics, and so most of my being is geared towards just talking about them. Practice, practice, practice.

This book was part of a mysterious trend at my store, where the second issue outstrips the sales of the first. It doesn’t happen with all books, but it seems to happen with the smaller books. If I had to guess why, I’d say it’s because there are a lot of shops in this city, and while every shop tries to breed loyalty, some folks just don’t like the idea of having a set list. Which is fine. But what I suspect is happening, is like most stores, these shops are dropping their sales on issue two, before the first issue even hits – and when there’s interest, they don’t correct this – and so, our sales go up, quite noticeably, for two issues, before settling somewhere in between. Anyway, this all came up in my brain, because you were talking about the second cover, and I got to thinking about cover treatments in general, and how more interesting ones lead to sales. (And sales got me off track).

Which brings me to my actual point: how great would this book look if they tossed a few coins in Chip Kidd’s direction and had him pulp the shit out of some space covers.

Reade: That’s exactly what I am talking about. The inside of this book is strong. Is it so hard to come up with a cover that reflects the content on the inside? Is quality cover work really a dead art in the comic industry today?

Schatz: There seems to be a bit of an aversion to the atypical, when it comes to cover design. I mean, a while back, Marvel experimented with changing the cover design of Invincible Iron Man, and you could see that book from across the room, in a sea of others. It was striking, fit the contents, and sold so well, because it succeeded in being something eye-catching and different.

But, they went back to doing what they always do. Because of brand recognition maybe? Whatever. Fact of the matter is, the best covers can tell you what the book is from across the room – or at the very least, can catch your eye from there. It really does translate into sales, if you give people a bit of a nudge when they pick the issue up from the stands.

—

Batgirl #18, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 02/09/11 ON TIME
Written by Brian Q. Miller, Pencils by Dustin Nguyen, Color by Guy Major, Ink by Derek Fridolfs

It’s Valentine’s Day! Which means all of a girl’s attention turns to the love of a Witchboy’s cat companion that is terrorizing the city, looking for his mate. To stop this, a cat needs to be picked from a tree, and Cass needs to not die. Things work out. OR DO THEY?

Reade: This series is quickly making me a fan of Miller. He just “gets” these characters. There are few people that can tell a good Klarion story that make you not only appreciate the character, but enjoy him as well. I was nervous about this team-up, but my fears were totally unfounded. This was a great issue.

Schatz: Like a lot of characters and ideas that Grant Morrison has left his stamp on, people have a hard time really hitting the right notes, to make them work. Because seriously, there are a lot of talented guys out there, but you absolutely can’t tackle a lot of Grant’s concepts from the traditional angles. Here, Miller is coming at it all sideways. Basically, instead of creating a more traditional superhero story and dropping Klarion in, he goes the route of a super powered Odd Couple, in which the pair gets to play off each other, rather than hitting tonal loggerheads. It’s pretty much all about taking the characters, finding the chemistry between them, and letting them go – and not only did Miller do this, but he made it happen without feeling the need to strike up a romance. Because ew.

Reade: Yeah, Morrison didn’t really get Klarion either… kind of spoiled him for a new generation of readers. But then, that Seven Soldiers mess is better left unspoken.

Yeah, a romance would have been horrible. But this was pretty well classic Klarion – as annoying as he is, he has a strange ability to get people to go along with him. This was a great Klarion story – the typical stranger in a strange land – extremely powerful with a child-like temperament, sucking Stephanie in for the ride as you watch his skate on the edge of blowing up and crossing a dangerous line at any moment. Fantastic stuff.

Schatz: Klarion wasn’t really ruined for me – but I would say it’s because I had never heard of him before. And man, Seven Soldiers is just one of those books. People either really love it, or really hate it. I applaud what Morrison attempted (and I say attempted, because some people say he accomplished his goals, and others, not so much) – because those minis, you could read just on their own. But when you read them together – and this is made more apparent in the collections, where they are collected as they came out chronologically, bits of the separate stories end up affecting the others in strange and wonderful ways.

But I’m getting a little off topic. Where has Klarion appeared before, Craigers J.? You’ve intrigued me.

Reade: I wouldn’t say that Grant Morrison ruined Klarion… and Seven Soldiers started off decent enough. Trouble is – Morrison’s lost the ability to close a story, and we saw that in Seven Soldiers. The early minis were strong, but as the story progressed… not so much. His Klarion was basically good, but it missed a little of the spirit, I think.

As much as I loathe to recommend a Peter David book, Young Justice: Sins of Youth from 2000 is a decent Klarion story. He’s also got a few appearances in Demon Volume 3 (his origin is in Demon Volume 1).

Schatz: These are things I’ll try and check out for the next list. And hey, remember way back when, when I said I would read Secret Wars and get back to you? I should probably do that too.

Hrm.

Reade: I’m tempted to hold my breath, but I think I’ll just smile and nod.

—

Heroes for Hire #3, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 02/09/11 ON TIME
Written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, Pencils by Brad Walker, Color by Jay David Ramos and Guru eFX, Ink by Andrew Hennessy

Paladin is assigned by Misty to take break up a human sex trafficking ring – with the help of Moon Knight. Paladin’s got a side job first – surveillance on some of the original Heroes for Hire – the details of which he is hiding from Misty Knight. Moon Knight discovers that the slaves are women from the Savage Land – but further investigation reveals that isn’t the only thing in Bedrock imported from that protected area. Paladin continues his surveilance, only Iron Fist spots him – and a fight ensues.

Schatz: SEX FIGHT!

Ah, no wait, different Iron Fist comic. Also: I should not respond to these things when I’m feeling sleepy. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS.

Fun fact: I am still enjoying the crap out of this comic. I love the conceit, love the execution, love the mystery… and I really enjoyed watching Paladin attempt to put together the overarching mystery while another one continued to play out. Of course, it will all hitch on the impending reveals, but DnA have earned my faith on about a billion different projects.

Reade: You know, I think some things finally started clicking in this issue. Moon Knight was one of them. I absolutely loved that the “heroes” started responding to that lame-ass “Are you for hire?” line a little more in character. I think someone actually acting like a Hero for a change instead of a mercenary did wonders for the tone of this book.

Schatz: And see, this book was always clicking with me, so I’m not quite sure what you’re getting at. I do like the pace they are taking with this mystery, and I’m very interested to see how all of this will work out after that comes to a head.

Reade: Well, you know what I am getting at – when talking about the pace of the mystery… well, until this issue, the pace was “STOP.”

Obviously, we are going to disagree on some things – and I am pretty firm in my opinion that the first two issues were largely fluff. But then, we’ve had this fight, so it’s probably better to focus on the fact that I did enjoy this issue, not that I wasn’t so hot on the last two!

Schatz: I’m willing to do that. But before we move on, I just want to say, I love how DnA can take characters that I could normally not care about, and make them work for me. Which would be pretty much every person in this series so far, but Iron Fist. I love that guy.

But really, Moon Knight? I can do without that guy. But in the span of the issue’s he’s appeared in (issues 1 and 3, I think), I get the sense of what the guy is like, what his motivations are, and more importantly, I care. And that’s pretty rad.

Reade: Oh, Moon Knight, properly written, is an outstanding character. That last ongoing was absolutely horrible – which did a lot of damage to his character. I’m glad to see him back in a role that makes more sense.

Schatz: Moon Knight didn’t really hit my radar until that Charlie Huston ongoing. But to be fair, that was because he really hasn’t been hanging around since I got into comics. Or at least, in the period where I had money enough to buy more than 4 comics a month. Did you know that comics used to run upwards to $4.75 a pop in Canada, for a $2.99 book? And I think $3.75 for a 2.25 book. Ridiculous.

But that’s neither here nor there. I have two thoughts, coming through to the other side of your comment. The first: we should definitely keep getting this. And two: I pretty much need to see your reaction to Bendis and Maleev’s Moon Knight ongoing, that starts in May… because depending on style of Bendis that comes to play, you’re either going to love it, or hate it.

A discussion for another month, definitely.

—

Birds of Prey #9, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 02/09/11 ON TIME
Written by Gail Simone, Art by Inaki Miranda, Color by Nei Ruffino

Black Canary has some disturbing visions as a result of Mortis’s touch, and is completely catatonic. Batman tries to get her to safety. The rest of the Birds, meanwhile, are en route to the Calculator as hostages. Batman gets back with Dinah, and Mortis makes a rookie mistake, and Dinah is able to break her hold. Oracle comes to the rescue… but will it be her last?

Schatz: Oh, the ol’ exploding body trick. It’s a classic for a reason.

I’m still really enjoying this series, probably a little more than the original, because this expanded cast? Just works so, so nicely together. I love the part where Mortis attempts to play the “your friends don’t like you” card, and that’s what turns the tide.

Reade: Oh, you knew the second they said she would never come out of it – she would come out of it.

This run has been a great deal of fun so far. It’s often frantic – as it should be, and Simone just clicks with these characters. I really, really wish that we’d get that regular artist already – but I have to admit I liked the Golden Age style we got on those panels with the original Black Canary….

Schatz: I thought Inaki Miranda did a fantastic job with this issue – and I think that if Jesus Saiz can’t quite make a go of a monthly, I’d love to see him drop in every now and then to help out. Clean lines, with just a small touch of kinetic manga-esque expression. Just a touch. I like it.

And yeah, like you said, it looks as though he’s capable of a few styles, which is always a bonus.

Reade: I would be more than happy if Inaki Miranda stuck around on a regular basis, but we aren’t even getting that. The art has been quality – and I suppose I should be happy with that (since I’ve read so many books with regular, poor art), but I think this book deserves a quality regular artist, whoever that may be.

Schatz: It seems odd that regular artistry is harder and harder to come by – but listening to interviews, a lot of times, it seems to come down to a couple of things: nailing yourself to the drawing board. I know I’ve heard both Mark Bagley and Stuart Immonen say that they don’t really draw faster than any other artists… they just sit down, and do the work until it’s done.

In the case of Birds, I know Ed Benes has always been a little slower on his deadlines, but the other bits come from the every regular DC artist shuffle. For a time, Jamal Igle was slated to take over this book, probably right after those two Alvin Lee issues, but he was moved onto other things, and this last arc, I think, is just keeping pace with artists until Siaz takes over. To be fair, I would not want to have to be any kind of comics editor. Those hours are terrible, and a certain amount of your deadline skills rely on the shoulders of other people. No fun.

Reade: This doesn’t really surprise me – on more than one occasion I’ve lamented the fact that nine times out of ten, a book is late because the artist didn’t bother meeting the deadline. With so many hungry artists, I wish the industry would send the ones that refuse to work packing. Come back when you can meet a deadline – there are other people, just as good, who want to work. What’s going to happen? Said artist goes to Image to do their own stuff, and they still can’t come out on time, and the book sells a tenth as much?

If you aren’t cut out for the monthly serial game, don’t do it. This is the only industry where deadlines seem to mean absolutely nothing. Save for government work.

Schatz: A lot of it is put up with because – quite frankly, comics is a horrible career path for an artist. The money just isn’t there, in comparison to what you can make doing storyboards, or character design or whatever. This is generally why deadlines tend to be a bit looser – it’s mostly about passion, rather than eating food.

Reade: Well, despite the fact that it is a bad job to have overall, there are still talented people lining up who want it.

Schatz: Yup, true story: which is what I love about the medium. For all the internet’s bluster about how comic creators and editors are “only in it for the money” and “don’t actually care about comics”, it definitely is all about passion. There really is no other reason the industry still runs – it should be floundering like most print. And yet.

Reade: Well, to be fair, there isn’t a collector or a cultural element to most print media, and there still isn’t a viable online alternative, yet…

Man, we are excellent at going off-topic today.

Schatz: That’s because we don’t ever talk like this anymore, Craigers J., you lovable scamp.

And the digital thing might not really find a good collectible angle. It’s not built into its DNA. Print media has scarcity built into it – once things are gone, they’re gone. Digital will make a great way to keep products available indefinitely, but print objects will always find a home. This is exactly why vinyl has seen a resurgence lately.

Reade: Freeing comics from the collectible angle is what is going to make it grow. I’ve done it myself, but the reason comics don’t gain more popular appeal is because of the reputation the physical comic books have. You can like Spider-Man, but actually read a comic? That’s not even a kid thing anymore, to some it’s a “loser” thing. Part of that reputation comes from the way the current consumers treat the product. Digital changes that – and changes it for the better if you ask me.

Schatz: Well, there’s just a stigma attached to comics. And really, it all comes down to comic shops. No seriously, some fans can be a bit… well, you know, but it’s the presentation and atmosphere of comic book shops that give the product a stigma. And the whole digital comics thing is really going to help do away with the ones that cater too narrowly, leaving the stronger ones behind. Really, it’s just going to strengthen the whole industry, once everything shakes out.

—

Hack/Slash #1, $3.50, Image Comics. Due Out 02/9/2011 ON TIME
Written by Tim Seely, Art by Daniel Leister, Color by Mark Englert

The story opens with slashy murder! Which, considering this is a book about such things, is perfectly okay. We then retreat and find out where all of our favourite characters are. Cass and Vlad are out, kicking ass and taking names. Cat Curio has just awoken and is on the search for her killer. And her killer is… well, doing something. We’re not sure what yet. First, we have to get into the crux of the current mystery, which involves a make-out point and acid. There’s a reveal. It’s a little chilling and involves boobs.

Reade: A character guide! What a shocking addition for a brand new #1 at a new publisher!

This was a great first issue. There was a ton of exposition, but Seely made sure you knew who everyone was and what they were doing. Good thing too – I stopped reading this a while ago because of my issues with Devil’s Due, and I had no idea who most of these characters were. But the additions are great – Nancy Drew all grown up after being in a coma, and out for revenge? And alien dog talking about his penis-knowledge? Seely’s really rounded out his cast here, and I like it.

Schatz: I’ve been following the series off and on through the years, recently just picking up trades, until the Image move. I always find this series to be just… so odd, in terms of what I usually collect – because the concept screams cheesecake, and the contents deliver it, and that sort of thing just never appealed to me. I mean… yay boobs and everything, but hording boats of boob art always just seemed a little sad to me.

But the thing is… this is a book that plays off of those tropes. It takes the idea of slasher movies, and creates a world around it, and the fact is, if you created a slasher world, this is probably a pretty accurate depiction of what you’d get. It’s told in a very smart fashion, even when it aims for low humor, and has done some surprising things, over the course of the past several years, resulting in the cast that you’re seeing now.

And for the record? This is one of the very, very few books at our store that has a higher female readership than it does a male readership. Which is equal parts strange and fitting.

Reade: That’s really not a surprise. When you look at all of the other female protagonists in comics – there is always a “male love interest” that she pines for or needs rescued by, some emotional weakness that dents her authority. Gail Simone’s Wonder Woman even had that for crying out loud. Cassie Hack is the exact opposite of that. She’s tough, in charge (firmly in charge) and on a mission – probably one of the best examples of female protagonists in comics today.

Sure, there is a little salaciousness… but you have to have it. As you pointed out, Boobs have always been slasher-bait. That partial nudity is a hallmark of the genre.

Schatz: I always feel weird about it all though. I mean, in my head, it all makes sense, because of all the reasons we’ve said, but there’s still a part of my brain that says, “You’re just making excuses for boobs, and you should feel bad about that.”

Fact is, as well as this book works, it definitely is what it is. And it’s the kind of book that a random girl will pick up at your house, hold up and go, “This? Really? This is what comics are?” And then its explanation time – and no matter how you phrase that argument, you’re going to lose that battle, unless you have something like New York Five close at hand, to help show the variety, instead of attempting to explain with a lack of actual evidence.

These could just be my own personal issues, though.

Reade: Brandon, there is nothing wrong with boobs, per se. Boobs are just fine. As long as that isn’t the only thing representing women in the book. That’s the issue I take sometimes when people get a little up-in-arms over the presentation of women in comics. It’s ok to draw pictures of attractive women. It is even ok for straight men and some women to like looking at pictures of attractive women. The issue arises when the only purpose the woman serves in the book is to be something for a guy to drool over.

Cassie Hack stands head and shoulders above most comic heroines in her competence and self-reliance. There is no one who could make a serious case that she is a victim in this book. I think they’ve earned the right to have fun with a little partial nudity.

As far as explaining it – there is a simple answer to that. Tell her to read it. If she isn’t willing to do that, it’s her failing, not yours. And if you don’t care what she thinks, and are just looking for something more base – well that’s your own stupid fault for leaving a comic book out for her to find

Schatz: I usually reserve fare like this for when I’m moving a person from the weed, to the coke. Which I should probably explain.

I treat my job as a comic shop guy, and my private life as a fan as though I am a drug dealer. You always want to start off with the least offensive thing you have, but you still want to open up the person’s mind to the larger world. An old employee used to try recommending Crisis to people getting into comics, because it was a classic, but if you do that, you’re probably just going to end up giving someone a bad trip. I agree that this comic is good, but the art would probably need a bit of easing, if I were to try and sell this to someone cold. Or, you know, no easing at all, if this is what the person is into, but that doesn’t really fit with my point.

What I’m saying is, the art, such as it is, would bring about a pretty visceral reaction, I think, and I’d probably start someone elsewhere, before bringing them to this. But I like the shape of your idea. This book does work, because Cassie is pretty much never the victim – and when she is, it’s only to make the impending skull crush all the more sweet.

—

Booster Gold #41, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 02/16/11 ON TIME
Written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, Art by Chris Batista & Rich Perrotta, Color by Hi-Fi

Rip and Booster have it out over his “arrest,” but are interrupted by Doctor Nishtikeit’s attack. There is a battle, and once it is complete, Rip takes Booster to the future to stand trial.

Schatz: If this book feels like it’s building to something – that’s because it is. Giffen and DeMatteis are off the book in two more issues, and Dan Jurgens is taking it back over. Which… man, I hope means this team is shifting over to some kind of JLI type ongoing. Because please, DC? Haven’t we been good? And aren’t we acting cool, even though you just shot the Jamie Blue Beetle in the head too? (I think he’s going to get better, but still. Seriously.) Do this for me.

Oh, and uh… this series is still good. They sort of did a slow build with the little girl Booster saved from the future, and while that makes me worried for her, it also made me a touch misty, when they had their scenes together.

Reade: How typical of DC. You have an awesome thing going, so what do you do? Shake-up the creative teams!

Stupid DC. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I don’t want any kind of JLI ongoing if it means losing what we have on this book. Dan Jurgens is ok – but I lost interest in this book during Jurgens’s run. A creative shift is the worst possible news right now.

—

Magus #2, $3.99, 12 Gauge Comics. Due out 01/12/11 DELAYED – RELEASED 02/09/11
Written by Jon Price, Art by Rebekah Isaacs, Color by Charlie Kirchoff

After a short dream sequence/fantasy, Andrew Johnson tries to grapple with the implications of magic returning to the world. The President fears the world to come, but all the while he doesn’t suspect that his own wife has magical gifts of her own. Meanwhile, Denae, Father Swain, Darius, and Ben go off in search of Lena Cullen, and Denae explains to the boys a little something about the history of magic, and the origin and role of the Guardians, of which Denae is one. Lena is tracked by some agents of the sanitarium she escaped from – but before they can capture her, Darius’s dream begins to come true… to a certain point. Only in reality it doesn’t quite work out as it did in the dream. They still manage to protect Lena, with the help of a reformed Inquisitor named Samuel.

Schatz: I definitely liked this issue a whole lot more than the last. There’s definitely a lot less of the whole… damsel in distress thing that happened in the first one, and a lot more plot. A lot more plot. It made me happy.

Reade: There is an absolute ton going on here. Almost too much – I have no idea what kind of writing experience Jon Price has, but this story could be a little tighter. A small complaint really – I’ll gladly take a little too much stuff with a strong story than a slow, plodding, “deliberately paced” pad-fest. But it’s unique – there is a lot going on here, a lot of pieces in play, and it is a concept that could last for some time. I’m definitely interested in seeing what happens next month.

I’m thinking that this isn’t the last of the damsel in distress stuff – but it might be a little more balanced here on out. Whichever guy is the one they are looking for is going to be a bumbling idiot for a while I think.

Schatz: I believe this is Price’s first published comic book work. Apparently, he and Isaacs met after Isaacs left her Devil’s Due work (because they stopped paying their freelancers properly) and pitched some things out together. And also, started dating. But I don’t really think that’s neither here nor there. They pitched the book, and it got accepted, and here it is. Not bad for a writer’s first gig, I think.

And yeah, I think we’re on the same page as terms of plot? But I got high hopes, just like that song, Tik Tok, by Ke$ha.

Reade: Well, that’s one way to go about it. It is hard enough for an aspiring writer to get a reliable artist to collaborate with them – if you ask me, Jon Price has the right idea!

You are absolutely right. This is incredibly strong, even for a new writer’s first effort. Plot is solid – actually, I think this is a fantastic example of what a deliberate pace is supposed to be. The overall flow of the story is carefully creeping forward, but there is still stuff going on – pieces moving, slowly building… what this book has is what is missing from all of those other so-called “deliberately paced” books I complain about are missing. This isn’t a story that is stretched out – the overall plot is carefully advancing, while the mini-plots are streaming along quickly enough to keep your interest. 12 Gauge definitely has something to be proud of here.

Schatz: What I think a lot of 12 issue story arcs need? Not so much a shortening, but they need to build things like some of the better TV shows build their seasons. Tell your story, but build other ones inside, that pay off and build as you go. John Rogers (a TV writer) did this the best on Blue Beetle – pretty much every issue was a one-and-done, but it built to an amazing finale. I definitely get that feeling here.

Schatz: Not so much in the “mini-stories” kind of way, but just in the general, overall technique.

—

Uncanny X-Force #5, $3.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 02/16/11 ON TIME
Written by Rick Remender, Pencils by Esao Ribic, Color by Matt Wilson, Ink by John Lucas

We get a brief into to Weapon Infinity through the eyes of Fantomex, and an even briefer look at The World. Wolverine bitches about being in too many books, Deadpool is feeling guilty about Apokolips getting whacked, and wants a group therapy session. After an argument, we learn that Deadpool’s motivations aren’t as mercenary as everyone else thought. Fantomex goes home and has a chitchat with his Mom, but is attacked by Deathlok’s Avengers, who are after The World.

Schatz: This issue is another good use of some Morrison ideas – one that I loved (Fantomex) and one that, uh… I don’t quite think worked, the first time around (The World). I always thought the shape of that idea was nice, but the story arc he wrote in New X-Men didn’t quite latch. Here, I think it does. And man, that’s a pretty awesome hiding place.

Fun fact: this story is actually a sequel, in a way, to Jason Aaron’s Deathlok story in Wolverine Weapon X (which we dumped). Thus far? Interesting.

Reade: Well, the story is a bit interesting, though I really thought the introduction killed the mood of this book. A stumble – one they recovered from, but I was quickly losing interest. I still despise the art on this book (more specifically the color – yes Matt Wilson, IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT), and I think the story tries to be a little smarter than it needs to be sometimes. But – I’m willing to keep reading it.

Until we have to make a choice, anyway…

Schatz: Do’hhhhhhh Craig, always with the specter of doom. Yeah, this month is riddled with some good comics, things might get tough in a little bit when we have to do some cutting, or adding or whatever.

The intro was a little slow, I’ll admit that. Very much a “just in case you don’t know” thing, mixed with the team unpacking some metaphorical baggage from the previous arc. And hey, all of this has the hallmark of the classic, “just when everyone appears to be screwed, Deadpool has a change of heart and returns to save the day with violence” thing, and I want to read that.

The colouring, I can’t get behind you on. The colours appeal to me, and fit this book, and there’s nary a place where I find it distracting me from the more immediate concerns of the book. Normally I’m with you more on the issue of Marvel’s colourists loving a darker palette, but here… I’m not seeing it.

Reade: I don’t know what to say – the parts about this book that aren’t working are the ones where they seem to be trying to be darker and “edgier” than they really need to be. I realize it is totally subjective, but there it is.

On the plus side, It’s nice to be able to enjoy Deadpool again. He’s been pretty seriously mishandled for a while now. Oddly enough, he’s more popular than ever. I’ll never figure it out.

Schatz: I think Marvel has listened a bit to the murmur of Deadpool folk… which is why he’s trickling down to his regular title, and the MAX title (which is just FANTASTICALLY offensive) in terms of books he headlines. But yeah, I have to agree, the way he’s written here is pretty tops.

—

Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man #11, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 02/23/11 ON TIME
Written by Paul Tobin, Art by Matteo Lolli and Terry Pallot, Color by Chris Sotomayor

While in Florida, Spider-Man and his girlfriend Chat stumble across the Lizard! Turns out, Curt Conners was working down south with the help of Chat’s cousin, in order to cure himself. There’s swamp fighting, and it’s grand.

Reade: Swamp fights, chicken armies, red neck posses, and editors pointing speech balloons at the wrong characters! It’s mass hysteria!

Schatz: I didn’t catch that last one anywhere. Normally, that really, really bothers me. This line of books is in a bit of transition between Nate Cosby and Steve Wacker, in terms of editorial, but still. That’s no fun.

Hey, so remember that time I told you that these stories were rad? Paul Tobin has absolutely been killing it on this book – and the companion Superheroes book. And the best thing ever? Last week, Chat appeared in the regular Marvel U Spider-Girl book. And I freaked out, because of how awesome she is here.

Reade: Check the first panel of the very last page of the story, where Chat tells Peter how amazed she was when he summoned all of those animals…

Schatz: Bother. It is right there, isn’t it.

It’s unfortunate when things like that happen – and normally, they pull my concentration out of the comic. That said, despite the small little snafu, this comic really fires on all cylinders. While it didn’t contain it’s over-arcing story (the feud with the Torrinos) it’s always nice to have little break issues. Now, this book doesn’t actually need things like that, because of the way its constructed, but all in all, it was a fun distraction. And man, do I love seeing Aunt May give Pete a hard time about his giiiiiiiiirl friend.

Reade: Oh yeah, plain as day.

I know it was a complete mistake, but something so blatant I kind of have to point out. Remember how we talk about artists lining up to do the work that slow artists won’t do? I’d love to be a Marvel editor… and when I see really blatant things like that, I just cringe.

Anyway, it was a fun issue regardless… though I’m kind of on the side of the fence where it isn’t really “all ages” or “kid friendly” for a parent/guardian to allow a teenage boy to go on vacation with his girlfriend, especially with non-direct parental supervision. That one kind of skirt the line.

And here I am bitching again. That’s the thing about the Marvel Adventures books – they are fun, basic stories. But they can also be generic… which brings out problems much more clearly.

Schatz: Well, here’s the thing about “kids” and “all ages” books – kids don’t really want to read them. Fun fact: prose books about teens are made with the pre-teen market in mind. Books about college people are made with teens in mind. Comics should just be made, not so much with kids or adults in mind – they should just work in general. I mean, obviously, a Vertigo book should remain a Vertigo book, but you get what I mean.

—

LATE AND UNRELEASED ISSUES

Reade: Not unexpectedly, Magus is still late. Issue 2 came out, which is great – but the eventual release of issue #3 is still pending. 12 Gauge posted on their Facebook Page that the issue was going to the printer about a month ago – not sure what that means for an eventual release date.

In other weird news, the solicitation for issue #4 did not have Rebekah Isaacs listed as the artist – but this appears to have been a mistake as well (since confirmed a mistake by Jon Price).

I love Independent books, but this kind of thing seems to be more the rule than the exception. Knowing I will be overly critical about the situation with this title – what’s your take on these bumps?

Schatz: Comics tend to go off to the printer about three-and-a-half weeks in advance, so that they can ship to the printer, to the distributor/publisher, and then to the comic shops. Each place, they got to be processed and sent to the right people. It’s a thing. Anyway, they probably weren’t lying about the printer thing. It looks like it will be at the printer next week – just a month after the last.

And don’t even get me started about Diamond and solicitations. The amount of things we have to change, every week, is stupid.

That said, I’m actually still cool with Magus. While I’d be loathe to get rid of anything else, either, I have to say, I wouldn’t get rid of it for lateness, when it’s shipping a month from its last date.

Reade: Oh no, I’m not prepared to drop it for being late – and since it appears to be a mini, I don’t think it will have time to run afoul of the 2 month late-limit. So I’m good with it.

Schatz: Awesome.

—

THE LIST SO FAR:

Magus #3 (of 5), $3.99, 12 Gauge Comics. Due out 02/16/11 DELAYED – DUE OUT 03/??/11
Heroes for Hire #4, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/02/11
Weird Worlds #3 (of 6), $3.99, DC Comics. Due Out 03/09/11
Batgirl #19, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 03/09/11
Birds of Prey #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 03/09/11
Hack/Slash #2, $3.50, Image Comics. Due Out 03/09/2011
Booster Gold #42, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 03/09/11
Generation Hope #5, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/16/11
Uncanny X-Force #6, $3.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/23/11
Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man #12, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/23/11
Magus #4 (of 5), $3.99, 12 Gauge Comics. Due out 03/23/11
Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine #5, $3.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/23/11

TRADE BANK – $3.00
Current February Budget: $46.48
Value of uncut February List: $44.60

Reade: Once again, we find ourselves in a particularly sticky situation. With just $1.88 left in the budget for next month, we do not have enough room to add any new titles. We also still haven’t added anything to the Trade Bank, and I’d at least like to add $2-3 this month.

Compounding the problem, at least for me – this month Marvel’s starting the CrossGen reimagining, with both Sigil and Ruse, and I’d like to be able to add at least one, if not both of those titles to the list this month.

So how to you propose we resolve this one?

Schatz: I’m excited about the CrossGen books – but I have to admit, the only CrossGen I read, before their fall, was an issue of Meridian, and all the Abadazad’s that shipped. Anyway, I say we do the tough thing, and get rid of a couple of books to add both of these books to the docket.

If I were to pick the bottom four of this pack – which I like all of, it would be Birds of Prey, Booster Gold, Hack/Slash, and… jeeze… uhhhh… Astonishing Spider-Man and Wolverine.

Bother. That hurt.

Reade: I’m with you on Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine… I’d rather have two consistent monthlies than an inconsistent bi-monthly any day.

DROPPED: Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine #5, $3.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/23/11

Reade: This means we can accomplish our objective by dropping one more title. And outside Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine… your bottom four are weird man! If I had to pick 3 among the remaining list, it would be Uncanny X-Force, Heroes for Hire, and Marvel Adventures Spider-Man – the latter only because it is always a title you can walk away from for a while and come back later.

However, if I had to settle for one of your remaining 3 – I’d pick Booster Gold. Painful.

Schatz: I love Uncanny and I definitely think we owe it to ourselves to keep holding onto Heroes until the end. But! I have a proposal for you. How about we knock another one or two off the list and see if we have room for Annihilators. It’s the new DnA cosmic series – this time only four issues, running at $4.99 a pop. Which seems steep, but it’s got DnA’s team of cosmic Avengers and the Rocket Raccoon and Groot feature that was announced last year. That’s two full length books for the price of two – and we’re pretty much guaranteed to both enjoy the series.

And to do this, I’m willing to… buh… willing to drop Uncanny and Heroes, if need be.

Reade: I’ll admit I am excited about that series as well, and quite honestly if we are going to have a DnA book on the list, I would much rather it be that one.

This is how it is shaping up – we need to free up roughly $8.15 on the list to get all three titles – and this is after Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine. So I don’t think there is much choice in the matter – the price for all three is dropping Booster Gold, Uncanny X-Force, and Heroes for Hire. There is no other really acceptable way to work it.

Schatz: I’ll agree to that, as much as it all sort’ve smarts. But the new stuff should be keen.

Reade: OK then – here’s the massive shift!

DROPPED: Heroes for Hire #4, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/02/11
DROPPED: Booster Gold #42, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 03/09/11
DROPPED: Uncanny X-Force #6, $3.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/23/11

ADDED: Annihilators #1, $4.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/02/11
ADDED: Sigil #1, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/09/11
ADDED: Ruse #1, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/16/11

DEPOSIT: To the Trade Bank – $2.50

THE MATH

Magus #3 (of 5), $3.99, 12 Gauge Comics. Due out 02/16/11 DELAYED – DUE OUT 03/??/11
Annihilators #1, $4.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/02/11
Weird Worlds #3 (of 6), $3.99, DC Comics. Due Out 03/09/11
Sigil #1, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/09/11
Batgirl #19, $2.99, DC Comics. Due out 03/09/11
Birds of Prey #10, $2.99, DC Comics. Due Out 03/09/11
Hack/Slash #2, $3.50, Image Comics. Due Out 03/09/2011
Ruse #1, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/16/11
Generation Hope #5, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/16/11
Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man #12, $2.99, Marvel Comics. Due Out 03/23/11
Magus #4 (of 5), $3.99, 12 Gauge Comics. Due out 03/23/11

Trade Bank Value: $5.50

$2.18 (Bank from February) + $40.00 (March Budget) + $4.30 (Magus #3) = $46.48
$46.48 – $2.50 (Trade Bank Deposit) – $38.40 (March Issues) – $2.97 (tax) = $2.61 Banked for March

Reade: Well now, that ought to freshen things up a bit.

Schatz: And man, looking at that list, it’s going to be hard to come up with a cutting plan for next month. Gosh dang.

Reade: Well, the only thing in our favor is that I expect by that time, we will know for sure that Magus #5 will not be out at all in April, giving us one hole. Otherwise, you are right. Unless CrossMarvel sucks, we are going to have a strong month.

Schatz: With Mark Waid writing up some Ruse without Alessi throwing the weird CrossGen bible at him, that should be good. And Mike Carey is usually impressive when left to his own creative devices. I’m really excited.

Reade: As am I. I never actually thought this would happen – and here it is. Next Marvel is going to launch an Abnett & Lanning/ChrisCross Slingers ongoing on me. I might die.

Schatz: DO NOT FREAK ME OUT, CRAIG. I would straight up murder some folks for that book to happen.

Reade: You know what is sad? That book is 12 years old. There are comic readers now who were not alive when Slingers came out.

I guess that goes to show that I am serious about my love of those characters – but it also means I am old.

Schatz: If it helps, a lot of people who were around don’t remember that book either.

Tear.

Reade: Man, way to end the column on a downer.

Schatz: Craig, no one cares about the status of your penis.

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Reviewer: Craig Reade
Quick Rating: Pure retro fun

Jason Paulos makes you go Eeek!

By: Jason Paulos
With contributions From: Darren White and Bodine Amerikah
Cover By: Aly Fell
Editor: Elizabeth J. Musgrave
Publisher: Frank Forte, Asylum Press
ISBN: 1617240109
EeekComic.com

Modern comics are almost certainly dominated by the superhero genre – but over the last decade or so, different genres have had little flashes of resurgence. Even still, the classic genre styles remain as lost in comics as they have in other mediums. Just as Science Fiction has morphed into a style that is more legitimate (but less fun), horror seems to have evolved into one of two things – serious psychological thrillers or gore, gore, gore.

Eeek! is an anthology of a different sort. Rather than put out a bland collection of today’s generic variety of horror, Paulos demonstrated what is old can be new again, and had fun. Eeek! features a collection of classic-style horror shorts, the kinds of things you would read in comics prior to the infamous Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. And these stories are dead ringers for those classic tales. They have everything – eerie narrators introducing you to the delightful fright to come – ghouls, ghosts, zombies, vampires – disembodied heads and beautiful, busty women who you just know are going to be stalked, kidnapped, chased, dismembered, or will ultimately be the monster themselves. And to boot – they are funny. Some punch lines are more morbid than others, but there is almost always some kind of dreary twist that is going to make you chuckle.

The art is something else. Paulos draws each story in one classic style or another, but with the added perk of having modern printing techniques and high quality paper stock. The introduction by Bruce Jones points out Paulos’ incredible range, and I am happy to report that it is indeed remarkable. Each story looks completely different from the next, but equally competent to the point where you could almost swear they were drawn by different artists. This is some real quality work.

Speaking of quality work, I have to mention the cover – it is painted by a young artist from the United Kingdom named Aly Fell. This cover I thought was interesting, but nothing overly spectacular. However, when I was looking at the cover and sketch gallery at the back of this book, a couple of them caught my eye. They were brilliant – stunning even. And all painted by Aly Fell. Do yourself a favor – stick his name in a Google search and look at the images that come up. I don’t know what kind of training he has had, but it looks like he has had some. His work makes the work of those popular but mediocre pin-up cover artists we see at Marvel and DC these days look absolutely amateur.

I have to say I was surprised by Eeek!. I had an absolute blast reading it, and for the first time in a while I was able to sit back and enjoy reading something without the faults lining up and begging for my attention. If this is the new face of modern horror books, sign me up for a subscription. This was a fabulous read.

And yes, for those who are familiar with my review style, those are 5 star ratings below. I enjoyed this book that much.

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Reviewer: Craig Reade
Quick Rating: A mix of classic Card and modern Card

Danny North discovers his great power – and must survive long enough to learn to use it.

Author: Orson Scott Card
Publication Date: January 4th, 2011
Pages: 384
ISBN: 0765326574
Publisher: Tor Books

In this latest effort by Orson Scott Card we are introduced to a young man named Danny – a member of the magical “Great Families.” In this universe, the old gods of Earth were actually mages from the world of the Mithermages – Westil. While there was once a Great Gate that connected Westil to Mittlegard (Earth), these mages are now trapped on Earth. The Great Gate (along with every other gate) was swallowed up by the trickster God Loki, who was actually a powerful gatemage. Loki’s motivations are uncertain, but his actions lead all of the magical families throughout the world to decree that any gatemage should be put to death immediately. Danny, we discover, is one of these gatemages, and the discovery of his abilities forces him to flee into the modern world where he must learn to use his powers on his own while running for his life.

Card has kind of returned to his roots here – and that is a welcome thing. So many of his great stories have involved young protagonists. Whether is is the Ender Saga, the Tales of Alvin Maker, the Homecoming saga – or even one-offs like Wyrms or Songmaster, his best, most captivating protagonists are intelligent and capable young men (or women) who have responsibility beyond their years thrust upon them. I am not saying that I haven’t enjoyed other Card works, but for some reason when one of his stories is told through the eyes of an intelligent child, it is that much more endearing.

In The Lost Gate, Card has developed a very intricate magical system – as evidenced by the decades he has worked on this concept. There are mages of all varieties and power-levels, and as you might expect – political power in the magical world is often tied to the power and practicality of your magic. Through most of his life, Danny was considered the lowest of the low: a drekka – of a magic heritage, with no powers at all. Danny’s an intelligent boy who excels at school, but not much else. Unbeknownst to him, he starts showing signs common to all gatemages, including an affinity for languages and a mischievous “trickster” character. Some members of his family try to conceal this talent, in the hopes that he can live long enough to gain enough power to survive his certain death sentence and to lead their family to dominance against the rest of the world. A visit from a Greek inspection delegation forces Danny into the open – where he has to flee to the world of the drowthers. Drowthers, of course, are the normal humans of this world. Our stories of the mages take the form of myths. All of the ancient pantheons are actually families of gods who interacted with the world.

In his journey, he stumbles upon a group of exiled mages calling themselves Orphans. Outcast, they band together in an effort to protect themselves, and hopefully to discover a gatemage powerful enough to open a new Great Gate to take them back to Westil (their homeworld) and to survive the inevitable attack of the Gate Thief. It turns out Danny is far from the first gatemage to survive since Loki closed the gate, but each one who grew powerful enough to attempt the feat fell prey to the gate thief, who swallowed up most of their power and magical selves, leaving them a shell.

A side plot of this book follows another young man – he is eventually named Wad, and he quickly becomes a servant in a royal house on Westil. His story involves a bit of castle intrigue: he gets thrust in the middle of a political struggle between the supporters of the King and the Queen herself – a foreign noble from a family that recently defeated the King’s family in a war. Like Danny, he displays signs of being a gatemage himself, and his power takes a central role in the court intrigue.

The Lost Gate is a mixed bag. Ultimately Card is an extremely skilled writer, so the story is absolutely enjoyable not matter how you look at it. But comparing this book with some of the other great series starts, it kind of pales in comparison. Danny’s story lacked some of the punch it could have. Once he is thrust into the drowther world, you are told that he is going to be in danger and constantly on the run – but that never really materializes. The reader is reminded of that frequently – but the only time he is ever actively pursued is during the climax. In this confusing scene, he is attacked by his family, who are at the same time rejoicing in his power and asking him to return to restore their power in the world.

As his story progresses, Danny gathers his own little family – and it really felt like the time spent on these characters was wasted. For the most part, these characters are redundant and shallow, and the story could have accomplished what it did using Stone and Hermia alone, leaving a lot more time to really explore the danger Danny was supposed to be in.

Wad’s story, though secondary, was far more captivating. Each character in that story had a purpose – and none of the narrative seemed wasted on him. Though you guess early his true purpose in the story, watching him get to that point was interesting. Of course, his story join’s Danny’s before long, but that confluence was too abrupt and forced. His story abruptly shifts somewhat unresolved (or sloppily resolved), and his story assumes the same half-finished feel that Danny’s had during the entire narrative.

Card describes a bit of the process of creating this novel in an Afterword. He explains that the idea of the universe was first born way back in 1977. As the universe evolves, he collaborates with another writer named Jay A. Parry, with whom he developed the guts of the story that provides the framework for Wad’s tale in The Lost Gate. He further develops the mithermage universe in a novella called Stonefather – which ultimately leads us to The Lost Gate.

Card describes the process of writing The Lost Gate, and talks about how the moment Danny escaped the family compound early in the story, the book “hummed right along to the end.” Strangely enough, this is the exact moment where Danny’s story goes from interesting to phoned in. Card talks about how he struggled to finish the book on airplanes, during writing workshops, and during conventions all to meet a deadline. Sadly, this fact becomes obvious as you read the story.

The elements of this book that Card worked decades on are up to his usual standard. The universe he created is complex and compelling. Wad’s story – largely laid out decades before – hooks the reader in Card’s usual way. But Danny’s exile – the part of the book that is most contemporary – Card seems to spend more time working on a way to include a character named after a friend of his (Victoria Von Roth) than he does providing real depth to the characters he created. By his own admission in the afterword, he was more concerned with completing the book by a deadline, on the road and with distractions, rather than spending the time and effort to craft a complex and compelling story. In a strange way, this novel illustrates the differences between the Card of old and as he is today – it has been some time since I was truly satisfied with a Card novel, and his depiction in the afterword of The Lost Gate clearly explains why. Once upon a time, he was meticulous in his efforts to craft a story – today, he just bangs them out on airplanes to meet a deadline and cash a check. Card is an incredible talent, and even phoning it in he creates something readable and interesting, but I think he did a disservice to this universe he created so many decades ago by just slapping together such a large portion of this book. You can clearly see which parts of this story he worked decades on, and which parts he threw together at the end, and that juxtaposition combined with Card’s afterword really answered a lot of questions I had about his work in recent years.

This book is enjoyable. As I said before – though it is painfully obvious that Card didn’t spend the effort finishing this book that he could have, even his half-efforts produce something worth reading. This looks like it is going to be the start of a series, and I can say that I will probably pick up the second installment when it eventually comes out. Recommended.

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Reviewer: Craig Reade
Quick Rating: Short and eloquent, but lacks punch.

Sarah Palin explains her concept of Commonsense Constitutional Conservatism and her love of country.

Author: Sarah Palin
Publication Date: November 23rd, 2010
Pages: 304
ISBN: 0062010964
Publisher: Harper

If you read Sarah Palin’s last book – Going Rogue, you will notice right off the bat that this book has a slightly different focus. Going Rogue was more of a memoir – outlining her life and experiences – everything that lead up to and culminated in the 2008 campaign with Senator John McCain. America by Heart, on the other hand, shifts focus and talks more about political philosophy.

In my experience, there are three basic approaches to political philosophy books. There is the “low politics” of Ann Coulter and Al Franken – with books like How To Talk to A Liberal (If You Must) and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. This sort of political commentary is largely based on negativity directed at political opponents. These books are rarely factual, and generally appeal to the lowest common denominator. Like sleazy porn, they simply go for the cheap appeal by painting the opposition in the worst possible light, with little regard for accuracy and the truth. Thankfully, America by Heart does not fall into this category.

The second kind is political philosophy from the perspective of the intellectual – the Constitutional scholar attempting to prove that the Founding Fathers had a certain system in mind, and in a scholarly manner explore our current system, explain how we got from there to here (citing legislation and court cases), and fundamentally break down where we are and where we are going. This is the kind of thing you see in Mark Levin’s Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto. America by Heart doesn’t fall into this category either.

Sarah Palin’s latest book falls into the third category – political philosophy on a basic, big-picture basis. America by Heart sets out to explain Palin’s core political ideology. On that note, it does a tremendous job. Palin clearly articulates the core values that has made her such a hit with the Tea Party movement, and effectively describes what motivates that part of the population.

I’ve read some pretty nasty reviews of this book – almost all of them were pretty well word-for-word repeats of the hideous and vacuous criticism she has received since she came on the national stage. Very few of them talked at all about what she had to say, and simply bashed her for “name-dropping Reagan” or worse still – slamming her for using a ghostwriter. I have no idea if there was a ghostwriter on this or not – but there probably was. The most interesting thing about that criticism is that it is so obviously politically motivated that those reviewers should be completely and totally discredited. Politicians using ghostwriters is hardly a new thing. Both Clintons were famous for using ghostwriters – as was our current President Barack Obama, who used a ghostwriter for both of his memoirs. Even Conservative godfather Barry Goldwater used a ghostwriter on his famed Conscience of a Conservative. It would not surprise me in the least if Sarah Palin used a ghostwriter for this book – it’s so common in politics that it should surprise no one. I just find it laughable that the same critics who lavished praise on Dreams From My Father would have the temerity to criticize Palin for using a ghostwriter.

Is it wrong to use a ghostwriter? From my perspective, not really. Not for something like this anyway. Presidents and other politicians have been using paid speechwriters for decades – this isn’t any different from that. The thing about a ghostwritten book like this is: I have never seen a politician have their work received poorly, and then publically blame the ghostwriter. No matter how much of the book the ghostwriter is responsible for, the person whose name is on the cover had better have been extremely specific about what the book contains, how it is said, and ultimately should know the work inside out before it hits the stands, because good or bad, they are ultimately responsible for its contents.

The approach to this book was pretty straightforward – in each chapter, Palin seeks to not only explain her political philosophy, but also explain how love of country is at the heart of what she believes to be right. She covers the gamut – everything from the Constitution to why she supports the military, and the importance of family and faith in the health of our country.

One chapter stands out in the book as the most poignant – her ideas of the role of women in the Tea Party movement, and her general impressions of feminism. It might be a surprise to “traditional” feminists – but she definitely considers herself a feminist, despite the odd idea that has cropped up in the last couple decades that you can’t be a feminist if you don’t agree with abortion or don’t consider yourself a liberal. This is a topic she is uniquely qualified to comment on, and I found this chapter to be the most interesting in the entire book.

Another thing I liked was her approach to faith. She did one thing in this book that a lot of conservative commentator seem to get wrong. She does spend some time talking about the ongoing freedom of/from religion debate, and repeats the oft quoted comments from the Founding Fathers that faith is an integral part of the success of this nation – but she takes the extra step of explaining why. The morality of faith is the reason for this position, and she acknowledges that it isn’t religion that is a requirement – it is a fundamental morality an individual can have without the trappings of religion. On this point she hit the nail on the head – and makes a point that those of us who have been screaming about the dominance of the Christian Right in the GOP have been trying to make for years.

There are a lot of quotes in this book – a lot. This was expected: it was part of the marketing of this book, and she uses most of the quotes to effectively explain her political position. And she quotes everyone – from Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr. to Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. She even quotes a range of unexpected individuals, from Dash (The Incredibles) to Calvin Coolidge. She goes a little overboard with the quoting, but in some respects it works for this book. To often these days, people have no idea what some of these historical figures (Dash being the exception) actually said, and hearing a position explained in a historical perspective can be valuable.

Unfortunately, America by Heart preaches to the choir. If you already agree with Palin, you are going to enjoy this book. If you are curious about what she believes, you will find it informative. But as far as making a case for an ideology, it utterly fails. She comes close a few times – but rarely does she ever step beyond “This is what I believe and here is a quote by a historical figure that makes this point.” The book is largely positive though – and while she invokes President Obama many times, it is never will malicious intent. She just didn’t go far enough in making her case. She explains it – but doesn’t give much incentive for you to change your mind and agree with her.

Rather than parroting the extremist stance that the Democrats “hate America and are trying to destroy it,” she starts with the more likely idea that they do love this country, but have a different vision for it. She expresses a love of American Exceptionalism, but rightly points out that those on the left don’t deny it because they hate the country – rather, they feel that this position is jingoistic and believe we should be more outwardly focused. Naturally she disagrees with this position, but she paints the opposition correctly – which was kind of refreshing in this political environment. She also talks about the Republican establishment in a way that made her something of a party-hero well before she came to the national stage. She challenges the Republican establishment, and rightly points out that while the Democrat Party is moving towards socialism at 100 miles per hour, the Republican party is going the same direction, only slower. She spends time on the idea that both parties are virtually the same, and does talk about how the current Democrat party has morphed over the last several decades from the philosophies of the great Democrat Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy.

I have to seriously gripe about the length of this book. Short books are fine – and this really didn’t need to be much longer to accomplish what she was going for. The trouble is, the publisher packaged this thing greedily. It’s barely 5.5” by 8.5” – a small hardcover by any standard, with only 304 pages (which includes an introduction, afterwards, and acknowledgements). Each page has ridiculously huge margins and line spacing, and the indentation is even bigger for the many quotes. All this for a $25.99 cover price. Bottom line – this book is a rip-off for the price.

If you are on the fence about Sarah Palin (though who really is), this might help you understand her a little better. I strongly recommend this book to anyone with an open mind who honestly wants to know what those in the “Tea Party” believe – instead of insisting that they are a bunch of redneck racist extremists, and stopping there. If you are looking to be convinced – this isn’t going to do the job. She explains the positions extremely well, but she doesn’t do such a good job championing them. Either way, this is an extremely easy read – it uses common language and was short enough that I could read it in a single sitting, so it isn’t a huge time investment. I admit that this is something few beyond her supporters will appreciate and enjoy. You know which camp you belong to – so that should pretty well determine whether or not you will enjoy this book.

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Reviewer: Craig Reade
Quick Rating: Well written and fun.

It’s Logan’s birthday! But will he make it home in time for the surprise party?

Written by: Jason Aaron
Art by: Jefte Palo
Color by: Nathan Fairbairn
Letters by: Cory Petit
Cover by: Paolo Rivera
Editor: Jeanine Schaefer
Publisher: Marvel Comics

In this issue, Wolverine is on his way home to what he thinks will be a quiet evening with his girlfriend Melita. She’s done some digging, and after hearing him mutter something about his real name in his sleep, discovers his birth record and decided to throw him a birthday party. A ton of Avengers and X-Men are in attendance (save Spider-Man, who is seen wondering alone down the halls of the Avengers Mansion), all waiting for the arrival of the guest of honor. However, as so often happens, Wolverine is sidetracked by a pool of blood and some tracks leading into the forest.
The art in this issue is an absolute turn-off. Granted – the layout is outstanding, and there is little doubt that Palo can set a scene. But his characters, good lord – they are horrible. If you were to break his work down, overall it is strong – but since the characters themselves are the focus of the reader, ugly characters turn the reader off before they can see the outstanding detail in the background.

The story is outstanding. Yes it was silly, and some of the party stuff was contrived. But it was fun – and that is what counts. You get your money’s worth in this issue – a strong, single-issue story that is entertaining through and through. As a Marvel.1 story though… I am not sure it completely does the job for the concept. Yes, it is a strong single-issue story that does give you all the information about Wolverine you will ever need (though does Wolverine really need that kind of introduction?). However, this series isn’t even in double-digits yet. Do you really need a “key-issue, jumping on point” when the regular issue #1 was just a couple months ago? Having read a couple of these Marvel.1 books, I am getting the feeling that the “get the reader excited about the upcoming arc” bit isn’t really accurate, since once again I have no idea what is to come in this book.

Still – the concept has produced entertaining single issue reads, and this issue is no exception. If you haven’t followed Wolverine in a while, this is a great issue to pick up. It is an outstanding read with no strings attached.

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Reviewer: Craig Reade
Quick Rating: Makes me think it might be time to look at Teen Titans again.

Red Robin looks for help going after The Calculator

Written by: Fabian Nicieza
Pencils by: Marcus To
Color by: Guy Major
Ink by: Ray McCarthy
Letters by: Sal Cipriano
Cover by: Marcus To, Ray McCarthy, and Brian Buccellato
Editor: Rachel Gluckstern & Sean Ryan
Publisher: DC Comics

This issue begins the two-part crossover with Teen Titans, which will conclude in Teen Titans #92 next month. I personally think this crossover was a great idea. A lot of readers groan about things like this – especially since there hasn’t been a time period where there wasn’t some major event (or build-up to a major event) going on since before Infinite Crisis. Little self-contained crossovers like this one occasionally give you a glipse of another similar book, and in this case it’s appropriate.

Tim’s still working to keep the Unternet down, but that puts him face to face with Catman, who has been hired by Mikalek to help him regain access. Tim confronts Catman, and manages to delay his escape. Catman then uses Tam Fox’s cell phone to breach The Calculator’s security, painting a target on her that forces Tim to go defend her and allowing Catman to escape. Tam’s dorm is destroyed (she wasn’t there) by a Calculator android – a clue that leads Tim to what he believes is a hub of The Calculator’s activities and a perfect place to strike. He can’t do it alone though, so he calls in the Teen Titans to help.

I used to read Teen Titans religiously some time ago, sadly the book has been going through a rough time and I dropped it. A few times I tried it again, and each time it was worse than before. I’ve heard some good things about the new team – but despite that, I never felt compelled to pick the book up again. This crossover gives me an excuse to do so – and this issue makes me optimistic about what I will find when I finally try it out in two weeks.

Nicieza’s work is strong, as always. He get’s Tim Drake, and he definitely gets the Teen Titans that Tim used to mesh so well with. The story seemed a little rocky at the beginning, but the meat of it came fast and everything smoothed out… a little lag in changing gears, nothing more. This was a strong issue with outstanding art – and I am really excited to see where this goes in the next Teen Titans issue. Red Robin has been a strong corner of the DCU for a while now – this issue only continues that trend. Krul is following a tough act… hopefully he impresses. I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes.

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