Comics Alliance: An AOL Comic Book Community

From the vivid mind of Jenna Jameson and Witchblade co-creator Christina Z comes Shadow Hunter, the sexiest and deadliest demon slayer ... ever!! A young, orphaned woman, living a humdrum life in the big city, has her world turned upside down when she realizes her family is from hell ... literally. Ignited visions of a demonic past, dark passions, and a strangely dangerous power all surface along with revelations of her true lineage. As she struggles to come to terms with her new role, she must find her place in this world, and ends up saving humanity one demon at a time as the sexy, sultry and badass Shadow Hunter. Read the preview now for free.

Hey! It's Friday. This week that means new comics. Is that a surprise? I'm mildly surprised. Also, this week, Greg McElhatton returns with some new manga for the kids! The kids love the manga! Here he goes!

I was very much looking forward to reading my pal Tom Beland's latest one-shot classic for Marvel -- Fantastic Four: Isla de la Muerta -- and getting a first-hand look at the work of his artistic collaborator, Juan Doe. Evidently, so were a lot of other media folks, from the New York Times to Washington Post, only for different reasons than my own.

Seems Marvel's simultaneous publication of Isla de la Muerta in English and Spanish, in which the 4 battle the legendary blood-sucking Chupacabras (the Spanish word means goat sucker), is only the first from a comics publisher to date. Considering EIC Joe Quesada told the NYT, "Hispanics don't only mark the fastest-growing segment of the population but also one of our fastest-rising readership segments," you'd think publishers would've jumped on this market segment a long time ago.

I'm very well familiar with American GNs translated for foreign editions, but this pamphlet publication is a different animal indeed, and, evidently, one whose time is long overdue. My LCS of record sold out of the Spanish language edition on the very first day Isla de la Muerta was released, testimony to me this struck a nerve.

Check out both Spanish and English sample pages of Tom's latest Marvel book -- chock full of the playful banter among characters that's makes his auto-bio True Story Swear to God so special (one of the few pamphlet comics I buy, in addition to the trades) -- and be impressed...

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.

Enjoy this sneak peek straight from Neil Gaiman.com of the animated adaptation of the Sandman muse's non-quite-a-children's-book Coraline by Laika Entertainment and director Henry Selick who directed Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Great thanks to Neatorama for the link to this Fast Company story about the Portland, Ore., production company that's making Coraline and its direct connection to Nike.

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.

Welcome to the land where comic books roam like wild buffalo. Where Green Lanterns fight Yellow Lanterns and Cable is somehow almost cool again. And Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

GREEN LANTERN #25
This issue of GREEN LANTERN, the SINESTRO CORPS WAR finale, is easily filled with more "holy crap" moments than any other comic this week. Saying anything about anything that happens in this issue would just ruin it for you so just read it as soon as possible. It is absolutely epic and is probably the best non-Grant-Morrison-penned superhero comic of the year. Even the two-page preview of the next big GL event was more incredible than most whole comics!


X-FACTOR #26
How is it that there are, like, three good big crossovers going on right now? Of course there's the aforementioned SINESTRO CORPS WAR...kick-ass, obviously. You've got the Ra's al-Ghul thing going on in BATMAN. Pretty good, if you ask me. (It doesn't hurt to have Morrison, Dini and Milligan writing the thing!) But lastly, and to me, most surprisingly, there's the MESSIAH COMPLEX storyline running through the X-books. This13-part (!) crossover about the first mutant birth since the end of HOUSE OF M is more readable and consistent than any X-story in a long time and so far, the X-FACTOR have been the best of the lot.

TALES OF THE TMNT ORIGINAL SERIES VOL 1 TP
Featuring the first appearance of the Rat King! This is a collection of the old TALES OF THE TMNT series. I couldn't find a picture of the cover, so here's a picture of the super-rad looking new Leonardo figure that I found on Mirage Comics' homepage. It's awesomeness knows no bounds.

Clink on the link to see more awesomeness, some of it may also know no bounds.

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.

Can't wait another two weeks for the debut of the featurette/prologue of The Dark Knight before I Am Legend on IMAX screens across the U.S.? Hopefully, this groovy image of Heath Ledger as The Joker from the January 2008 cover of the UK-based film magazine Empire -- along with a short interview -- will whet your appetite in the short term.

So, how will Ledger play the Clown Prince of Crime? "I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath - someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts. He's just an absolute sociopath, a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown, and Chris has given me free rein. Which is fun, because there are no real boundaries to what The Joker would say or do. Nothing intimidates him, and everything is a big joke," Ledger told Empire.

Don't know about you, but I'm looking for a copy of the new Empire today!

A-ha! There are comics out today. I have solved the mystery of the "what comes out today".

ACTION COMICS #859
The first issue of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's ACTION COMICS was awesome, so here's hoping they can keep it up. Word is John's run continues to kick the ass. Witness the Legion of Superheroes! They are only in 17 comics this month.











GOON CHINATOWN HC
Eric Powell, creator of THE GOON, has been working on this graphic novel since 1882. THE GOON is always a violent good time and Powell's first original graphic novel looks great. Learn about the Goon's past. If you don't he may punch your head off.





HALO UPRISING #2
Weren't the four issues of the HALO comic supposed to come out before HALO 3? Now HALO's been out for almost two months and we're on the second issue of this in-betweener series that's meant to connect HALO 2 and HALO 3. Blurg. Oh well. At least it's good. I assume it's good. I got the information from the only reviewer I trust.



Many more comics will also arrive today. Click through for the list, yo.

TALES OF WIT & WONDER, ILLUSTRATED!

Eureka Productions is pleased to announce the publication of the revised second edition of the long-out-of-print GRAPHIC CLASSICS: MARK TWAIN, the eighth volume in the GRAPHIC CLASSICS series of comics adaptations of great literature.

This edition contains 38 pages of new material, including a never-done-before comics presentation of "Tom Sawyer Abroad," Mark Twain's little-known sequel to "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," with adaptation by Tom Pomplun and George Sellas. Returning from the first edition are "The Mysterious Stranger" by Rick Geary, "A Dog's Tale" by Lance Tooks, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog" by Kevin Atkinson, and "The Carnival of Crime in Connecticut" by Antonella Caputo and Nick Miller. Also "Is He Living or Is He Dead?" "A Curious Pleasure Excursion," and eight women artists interpret Mark Twain's "Advice to Little Girls." With a dramatic cover painting by George Sellas.

GRAPHIC CLASSICS: MARK TWAIN is available in bookstores, comics shops, or direct from the publisher at http://www.graphicclassics.com.

______________________

GRAPHIC CLASSICS: MARK TWAIN
(Second Edition)
Edited by Tom Pomplun
Published December 2007, Eureka Productions
Distributed by Diamond Book Distributors
(ISBN 978-0-9787919-2-6)
144 pgs, 7 x 10", paperback, b&w, 4c cover, $11.95

There are a ridiculous number of awesome comics coming out this week. I have to go read them now. Here is a list of one percent of them.

LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN THE BLACK DOSSIER HC
Not quite Volume Three (which will be coming out from our friends over at Top Shelf in 2009) THE BLACK DOSSIER is something of a LOEG 2.5. It's full of maps, text, 3-D stuff and (thankfully) some comics, too. It also has the distinguished honor of (probably) being the last thing Moore does with DC, as all of his new comics are (as far as I can tell) being published by Top Shelf.
Just buy the thing! It's a new book by Alan Moore! Is there anything else you need to know?





SCOTT PILGRIM VOL 4
If you've read SCOTT PILGRIM, you are very excited about this book. If you have not read SCOTT PILGRIM...GO READ SCOTT PILGRIM!! This story of a Canadian guy who has to fight his new girlfriend's seven evil ex-boyfriends has everything that I could ask for a in a comic. The rock music (in the form of Scott's band, The Sex Bob-Bombs), the videogames (the SUPER MARIO BROS 3 ad for volume 3 was amazing), cute chicks and even some Dragonball Z-style throwdowns!





SALVATION RUN #1
What happens if you put a bunch of supervillains on a semi-inhabited planet and leave them to fend for themselves? My guess is some kind of Thunderdome, but DC has come up with a seven-issue theory called SALVATION RUN, and it looks pretty bad-ass. Written by Fables-scribe Bill Willingham with art by Sean Chen. Word.






WORLD WAR HULK #5
Is there no end to the Hulk's smashing?!? Oh....I guess this is the end. Word is, someone gets punched in this issue. It's just a rumor, though. It is completely unconfirmed and I refuse to leak my source.................






BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS #1
Batman gets a new team and the OUTSIDERS gets a well-needed jump-start. Expect a lot of action in this book if this first issue is any indication. Also, expect Batman to get unintentionally creepy, because, quite frankly, that's how Batman has chosen to live his life.

There's so much more stuff coming out this week. I refuse to type everything that I'm reading because it will cut into my time to read it! Fend for yourselves. The list is after the jump.

One of the first things I learned about writing screenplays back in the day: Nailing down the concept in as few words as possible -- 25 or less -- was the ticket to Hollywood. It didn't take me long to learn and practice the concept on the thousands of movies I'd seen in my relatively short life. (I could never quite master that same skill when it came to boiling down my own screenplays into salable, simple stories, however.) All the moneymakers have a hook that grabs your attention and won't let go until you're compelled to see it (and buy way too many DVDs too).

After reading the short Variety news item late last month about Matt Ogens' directoral debut, Confessions of a Superhero, concerning the further "adventures" of real people completely convinced that dressing up as superheroes eking out a meager existence posing for pictures with tourists along Hollywood Boulevard was their ticket to "fame and fortune," I had to see this film.

It's one thing to wear your favorite superhero costume at the five-day "Geek Vegas" party known as Comic-Con International: San Diego. It's quite another to count on it to survive without superpowers or billions of dollars of weaponry. Besides, what kind of person is really capable of doing such a thing in the real world?

Seems Ogens, a veteran of episodic TV and commercials, had been thinking precisely about the same thing traveling around Hollyweird...

Comics Alliance: How did you come up with the wonderful concept for this film?

Matt: Like everyone else in Los Angeles, I drove past these characters many times and was passively curious. As fate would have it, I was directing a commercial on Hollywood Boulevard right where the characters work for tips. In between shots, I spent every minute talking to Christopher (Superman) Dennis. It was like we were two animals curious about each other. Two weeks later, we started production.

CA: Obviously, you had many costumed "characters" from which to choose on Hollywood Boulevard. Aside from Christopher Dennis -- truly a natural and almost a dead ringer for Christopher Reeve -- how did you come to find this more interesting version of Fantastic Four for your film?

Matt: Superheroes are timeless and iconic. They are recognized everywhere. And I wanted a consistency in the type of character I chose – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and The Hulk.

I just realized that if I put exclamation points after everything, my weekly New Releases column will have all of the excitement of a Jack Kirby comic! See what I mean! This is great!
Now...behold! What lurks beneath the opening paragraph?! A list peppered with pictures of unequaled proportions! It's.....THE LIST!!!

HEROES HC
A big hardcover collection of the online HEROES comic. The main reason to get this is that it's packed with Tim Sale art from the show. Also, when the writer's strike is still going on and there are no more new HEROES episodes, you can read it and pretend you're watching TV!


UNCANNY X-MEN #492
The second part of the giant mutant crossover, MESSIAH COMPLEX. Should I expect big things from an X-Book crossover? Nope! Do I still get my hopes up for some epic multi-book goodness? Of course! It doesn't hurt that this thing is written by the always awesome Ed Brubaker and drawn by the recently awesome-ified Billy Tan.








ROBIN #168
Guess what? Ra's al Ghul is back! Who saw that coming?! The guy with a pit made for resurrection makes a "surprise" comeback in the first part of a 7-issue crossover between the Bat-titles. I'd suggest reading last week's Batman first, though, as this issue makes absolutely no sense without it. Or maybe that's just because it's a Peter Milligan comic!




There's a ton of other great stuff coming out this week as well.
Y THE LAST MAN #59
The penultimate issue of one of the best series around.
BIG QUESTIONS #10
In this one, two groups of birds converge at the site of a downed airplane. Much trouble ensues.
OMEGA THE UNKNOWN #2
A satisfying issue that begins the series' departure from the original.
HOWARD THE DUCK #2
Howard the Duck and M.O.D.O.K.!
HANNAH MONTANA CINEMANGA VOLS 3-4
This is just for Seacord. He doesn't have time to find things on the internet, what with being incarcerated all the time.

Don't take my word for it, though! Check out the complete list on the next page.