Comics Alliance: An AOL Comic Book Community

How many of you went to the comic book store on Wednesday to buy new comics? Oh!! The humanity! The humiliation! It is an unfortunate situation, but thankfully, it's all over now, because new comics came out yesterday! Behold the power of the aforementioned comics!!

ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY #18
Chris Ware returns with another issue of ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY, this time collecting his previously published (in fancy-pants magazines) "Building Stories". If you ever like your comics without capes, you are probably already going to buy this, but guess what! I'm going to write about it anyway! Umm.....it's good.

PAX ROMANA #1
Did you read NIGHTLY NEWS? If you did, you're pretty excited about PAX ROMANA. It's by that guy Jonathan Hickman who wrote and drew NIGHTLY NEWS, but it's about time traveling modern soldiers in Ancient Rome!
Now for some grammar fun! Should I have capitalized the word "ancient"? Discuss!

HULK VS FIN FANG FOOM
You know how sometimes you get a comic and it's, like, This Guy vs That Guy but it ends up being, like "Oh! This Guy and That Guy thought they wanted to fight, but now they're friends!". This is not that comic. Hulk punches Fin Fang Foom through a roof! I generally like comics where people get punched through roofs and I think you will, too! Plus, the whole issue is drawn kinda like Jack Kirby! (Especially the reprint, which is drawn BY Jack Kirby.)

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #545
So, this guy Nick just asked me if I was writing about AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #545. I told him no, but it was a lie. This last part of the "One More Day" storyline is likely to make you very angry. Like, Norman Osborn makes babies with Gwen Stacy angry. If you don't believe me, just look at the picture of Nick reading it!

If you want to find out what other comics came out this week that will make Nick make dumb faces, click the link below.

It's time for the last new release Wednesday of the year! Sure, we get comics next week, but that'll be on a Friday, and during the holiday season I'm prone to sentimentality. So, good bye New Release Wednesdays of 2007. I'm sorry you're dead but am quite happy that time continues to move in a normal fashion. To the comics!!

WHAT IF? CIVIL WAR
I'm sure I'm not the only person that was hoping for a Captain America-inflicted ass kicking of Iron Man in Marvel's CIVIL WAR mini-series. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that everybody I've ever met in my entire life hates Iron Man and his stupid Superhero Registration Act. Well, bring on WHAT IF? CIVIL WAR, where everyone gets what they want and Cap is ultimately victorious and everything goes great!............OR DOES IT?!?!
Not to be confused with WHAT THE?! CIVIL WAR, in which Tony Stork still wins the CIVIL WAR and Ghost Writer fights Goose Rider!





SPECIAL FORCES #2
Wow. I thought the first issue of SPECIAL FORCES was pretty controversial, but ZOMG! check out the cover to issue two! I'm curious to see where this goes with all but two characters dying in the first issue.

MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL
Not only is this thing full of holiday cheer, it's full of delicious cake as well! Last year's MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL was great and with Mike Carey and Fred Hembeck at the helm, the (not quite a) streak looks to be intact.

"What about the full list of comics?", you ask. "Click the link below!", I say.

Oops! I'm a total slacker and I forgot to do my new releases post this morning. Don't fret, though! If you're reading this it means that I've now remembered. On to the comic books that have released today and are new!

SWORD #3
This makes the top of my list because I was reading it when I remembered to write this. I was like "What an awesome New Release and/or Recommendation!" and then I was like "Oh crap!". SWORD #3 is the best of the series so far, with even more crazy violence than the first issue. (Which is quite a feat if you read the first issue.)

NORTHLANDERS #1
Brian Wood writes a comic book about Vikings. I've been saying for a while now that Vikings are the new ninjas and/or pirates. So jump on the Viking train! You can then laugh at the kids with their Pirate-y and/or Ninja-y t-shirts that they got at Target!

THE ESCAPISTS HC
Ah, Brain K. Vaughan. You write things and they are good. That's what we love about you. Although it seems that BKV gets no love from Dark Horse, because the only thing it says on the front of this book is "Introduction by Michael Chabon". Well, that and "THE ESCAPISTS". Oh well, it's still a great book about a kid who buys the writes to the Escapist and publishes a new Escapist comic. Very meta!

If my three comic list is not a big enough list for you, there is another, more complete list if you click on the link below to get the list.

Press Release

You know how much I admire Frank Espinosa, the talented cartoonist behind the wonderful adventure series Rocketo -- unfortunately on hiatus until next year -- and his recent work on the awesome Image mini-series Killing Girl. From time to time, I drop in on Espinosa's Image forum to see if he's posted any juicy art tidbits for the next Rocketo mini, Journey to the New World, but have found precious little worth posting lately, except for this link to some cool images posted in mid-September.

Visit FrankEspinosa.com, however, and you'll find some remnants of beautiful promotional poster art from Rocketo's pre-Image days at Speakeasy, but even that's not the main attraction here. The real finds here, however, are a trio of concise and interesting Quick Time videos allowing Espinosa to show and explain the creative backbone behind Rocketo from the perspective of an artist -- specifically the relatively quick transition from rough pencils to a finished inked panel -- and a gifted storyteller weaving myth and history to great effect.

Kevin and Seacord touched on the WANTED trailer in the Explosion a couple of weeks ago, but after another viewing, I'm thinking this trailer merits a spotlight of its own:



Since we already had a pretty good idea that costumes were out for the movie, I've gotta say this looks every bit as sweet as I could've hoped. "The sheep or the wolf?" This sucker sure looks "big and bad" to me.

What do you think?

(Missed our exclusive interview with WANTED co-creator J.G. Jones? Find it here!)

Just as I was about to lose all hope Tom Beland, nee of the auto-bio romance True Story, Swear To God, had any interest in updating his bare-bones Web site, apparently, my forever fanatical 49ers friend has put some of his recent down time away from his wonderful book to good use. And it shows in his newly remodeled site, full of sketches.

Perhaps, it's all the new attention, considering True Story moved to Image last year... or maybe those awesome Spidey one-shots (Web of Romance) or the upcoming Isla De La Muerta, featuring the Fantastic Four in -- surprise, surprise -- Puerto Rico.

My only complaint about Tom's Marvel work: He's been the writer/scripter only on these one-shots, so we haven't seen him rendering Spidey or the FF under the Marvel logo. However, if you've been following True Story lately (find a copy of Tom's latest trade collecting the first six Image issues), Tom made the first of many trips to New York with his lady love, finally getting the chance to put his mark on the "universe."

If you grew up reading comics as a defense against the cruelties of the real world as I did in the mid 60s -- I owe my sanity to Jack Kirby, Doug Wildey, Steve Ditko, Joe Kubert, Neal Adams, Stan Lee, Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson, Joe Sinnott, Bob Haney, Gray Morrow, Gil Kane, John Broome, Pat Boyette, Gardner Fox, Dick Dillin, Mike Sekowsky, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, Dick Ayers, Jim Aparo and Alex Toth (only a short list) -- New York was a strange and wonderful place where costumed men and women danced around skyscrapers to protect the public from evildoers. It was certainly a universe away from my flat, humid and often boring (except for the occasional rattlesnake or flood) southeastern Texas home.

With that in mind, you'll appreciate why I loved this sequence from True Story #5 so much, I offered to buy the page (actually pull out of Tom's cold, dead fingers)... After a few e-mails back and forth about it ,then meeting up in San Diego, Tom decided to let his baby go, because he knew I appreciated how much love he left on the page for New York, Spidey and his family. Been there, felt that too.

Enjoy...

Just in case, you've been wondering whatever happened to Gary Spencer Millidge, the MIA creator of, arguably, one of the best indy comics ever published -- the very British mystery series Strangehaven -- you'll be glad to know he's still alive, and intends to finish his masterwork some day...

That's little consolation for friends and fans of this wonderful series, a unique blend of textures that summon up visions of David Lynch's classic soap serial Twin Peaks mixed with a bit of Brigadoon.

The big picture story: A Londoner named Alex running away from a bad marriage, crashes his car in the English Midlands. He's taken to a town called Strangehaven to heal, both body and soul. The residents of this quintessential little town take a shine to Alex, and the feelings are mutual (even more so for one young Janey). Oh, and by the way, the town just a lost a teacher, and guess what Alex does for a living...

Only one problem: Every time Alex tries to leave Strangehaven for any reason, he can never quite get out of town. Throw in the Freemasons, UFOs, adultery, World War II, Shamanism and talking animals who love Tom and Jerry cartoons for good measure and you've got one intriguing mystery.

Greg McElhatton is back to school us all on indy comics again this week. I will stick up for the lowly superheroes. It's an easy task this week on both sides, with solid choices all around. Let the games begin!

Here's what I'm checking out for sure:

BOOSTER GOLD #2
Oh, man. The first issue of BOOSTER GOLD was so good. Jam-packed with story, full of time-traveling and replete with self-deprecation, BOOSTER GOLD kicks ass. Well, the first issue did, at least. I've got faith. You can do it, BOOSTER GOLD!



NEW AVENGERS #34
Who can the New Avengers trust? Who's a Skrull? Is it Luke Cage? Is it Spider-Man? Is it you?! I'm assuming it's not you. Seriously, as long as it's not Iron Man. That would not be cool.



SPIDER-MAN FAIRY TALES #4
This is all about Spider-Man with a sword drawn by Nick Dragotta and Mike Allred. My Spider-Man/Madman nerdiness allows for that to be enough. Is it enough for you? If you are me, the answer to that question is yes.




My brevity is a show of confidence in the fantastic selection of superhero books this week. Let's see what McElhatton has up the sleeve of his Pac-Man shirt:

AGE OF BRONZE #26

In a perfect world, when people are going to teach people the story of the Iliad (aka the Trojan War), they'll just hand people copies of Eric Shanower's Age of Bronze. Shanower isn't afraid to show this story in all its glory, with backstabbing, deceit, massacres, treachery, sex, love, lust, tactics, armies, and everything else you can possibly think of. People who think of the Trojan War as a sterile, boring story have no idea just what they're missing. Add in that Shanower's art is nothing short of exquisite (it's netted him several Eisner nominations and awards) and, well, this is probably the best book that you're not reading.

MAINTENANCE #5

Remember that old movie Fantastic Voyage where they shrink scientists and put them inside a person to save that guy's life? Well, in Jim Massey and Robbi Rodriguez's Maintenance, the sage of two janitors working for an evil mastermind think-tank, our two hapless heroes get shrunken and put into one of the scientists because he's having some... um... plumbing issues. Yeah, that kind of plumbing. The kind that could've been solved with more fiber. Poop jokes and evil geniuses, what more can you ask for?

What more can I ask for?! Click "more" and find out!

I was as surprised as anyone to learn of Mike Wieringo's untimely death at the age of 44 last month due to a sudden heart attack brought on by a congenital, hereditary problem with his aorta. Having never had the pleasure of meeting the artist, whose work I've long admired, it seemed a no-brainer to attend the tribute being held in his honor at the Baltimore Comic-Con today by some of his closest friends in the industry to publicly celebrate Ringo's life and work. Speaking on the artist's behalf were his friends Todd DeZuniga, Cully Hamner, Mark Waid, and Scott Kurtz, along with a late-in-the-game guest appearance by Tom Brevoort.

Call it what you will, a tribute, a remembrance, a memorial ... this was truly a special event, and I'd like to salute all of the gentlemen who took the stage to celebrate their absent friend. For the stories they related, the hearts they wore on their sleeves, the laughter they generated (I haven't laughed this hard since Kevin Smith's panel at Comic-Con) and, yes, the tears they shed ... all of this was brave and generous and true, and Mike Wieringo was clearly well served in having these men as friends (as, just as clearly, these men were honored to be numbered as Wieringo's friends).

I took several pages of notes during the almost two-hour panel, but I think I'm going to simply let the above stand, absent any pull quotes and similarly absent any telling tales out of school regarding specific anecdotes related during the panel (I hate to resort to cliché, but truly, you had to be there, friends). Suffice to say, Mike Wieringo left his (giant) footprint on the world of comics, touching the hearts of thousands (if not millions) with his wonderful artwork and, even more importantly, touching the hearts and improving the lives of all those who knew and loved him.

I first met Dean Haspiel on a memorable flight from Baltimore to San Jose for APE some ten years ago. Also along for that Southwest redeye flight (which, if memory serves, only held the four of us) were Greg Bennett (friend and fellow Alliance blogger) and Chris Oarr (friend and, as Dino affectionately dubbed him on that trip, "the Alex P. Keaton of comics"), and I learned quickly that hanging out with Dino can be hazardous to one's health ... because you may well bust a gut from all the laughter that ensues.

Given the Baltimore connection, I suppose it's only fitting that the first time I've seen a spotlight panel on Dino was this afternoon at the Baltimore Comic-Con. Also fitting, given the timing of the con, was the fact that Dino today launched part two of his latest Billy Dogma story, "Fear, My Dear," on ACT-I-VATE, the free Webcomic collective he created. For those unfamiliar with Billy Dogma, whose acquaintance I first made on that same fateful trip to San Jose years ago, Dino described the character today as "an avatar for me ... he's Dean Haspiel to the second power ... a big, romantic bruiser." Dino went on to describe Billy Dogma as being a project wherein he "plays with genre ... including Jack Kirby who, to me, is a genre."

Dino has worked with Harvey Pekar, most notably on the Vertigo OGN, The Quitter, and is currently hard at work illustrating Jonathan Ames' comics debut with the Vertigo OGN, The Alcoholic, due out in the fall of 2008. The Billy Dogma stories are what Dino does to flex his creative muscles, differentiated from the work for which he's being paid, as he's offering them for free via ACT-I-VATE. It's worth noting, however, that Image will publish part one of the current Billy Dogma trilogy, "The Immortal," as a three-issue split mini-series with Michael Fiffe's Panorama under the title Brawl, beginning October 10. Why give the "beta" version away for free? In addition to the creative room to breathe that the Webcomic medium provides, Dino explained that since "we're artists, we're egotistical," the immediacy of Web distribution combined with the immediacy of the reader response that it allows, "feeds the narcissism."

If you haven't yet made Dino's acquaintance (on the page or in the flesh), go ahead and feed the narcissism by checking out part one of the current Billy Dogma tale, and see for yourself why Warren Ellis has referred to Dino as the "heir to Kirby."

If you read the comic books, you know what happens on the Wednesday. Bow down before the power of the Wednesday!




COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE #1
Soooo.... we're already counting down to FINAL CRISIS with COUNTDOWN, but now we have to count down to adventure as well?! Just give me my adventure up front! Actually, this is a comic about the space-faring characters from 52 with a back-up story featuring newcomer Forerunner. Forerunner?! DC is all about the anticipation.









MICE TEMPLAR #1
A lot of people are unfairly comparing this book to MOUSE GUARD. They're all, like, "Oooh! It's about mice with swords! I'm so cool and I know everything!", but really it's...oh...wait. I'm hearing from my team of blogging assistants that it IS about mice with swords. But I'm seeing a bow and arrow as well. Completely different! Oh well, at least it's not COUNTDOWN TO MICE WITH SWORDS. Plus, it still looks pretty awesome.






MEAN GN
Steven Weissman is rad. His comic, YIKES, is a crazy look at youth as lived by little monster people. The new collection, MEAN, collects some of the early comics which have been compared favorably to the likes of PEANUTS and LITTLE LULU. WITNESS! Pull Apart Boy pull himself apart! BEHOLD! as Lil' Bloody kills time. SEE! Chubby Cheek...in general. Poor "Sweet" Chubby Cheeks. All he wants is a butter and jelly sandwich.



Man, a butter and jelly sandwich sounds pretty good. But first! Click on more to see the rest of the stuff coming out this week.