Flashback Universe Blog

Extending The Break

2011-11-27T11:42:00.001-05:00

For various reasons, some professional and some personal, I will have to extend my Thanksgiving Break for an indefinite amount of time.

Thank you,

- Jim

Thanksgiving Break

2011-11-20T17:43:00.001-05:00

With deadlines looming and this being a short work week, I'm going to take a week off from posting to get caught up on projects and try to enjoy the holidays.

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

- Jim

Pierre reviews The DC Universe Online

2011-11-17T05:43:00.001-05:00

Sometimes Pierre is hard at work on an animation project for a Canadian studio. Sometimes he is working on artwork for people like the recent horror story he worked on. Then sometimes, he is just playing games to relax. Today, Pierre tells us what he thinks about the DC Universe Online which he recently just started playing.

When DC Universe Online was first released, all the signs were pointing towards that it would be free to play before long. Heck even BEFORE it was released. For a MMORPG, there is no way that it had enough content for people to pay $15 a month. Also, the options to customize your character was limited at best. As more details about the game leaked out, it soon became obvious that only extreme DC fans would pay $15 a month to play this game.

I know a few full time gamers (I used to say professional gamers, but their lack of skill made me realise that although they were playing 80 hours a week, most of them weren’t very good), and for full time gamers, they would go through DCUO’s content with multiple characters in 2 weeks, maybe 3 weeks at most. Even casual gamers would take about one month to go through DCUO’s content. So how could Sony/DC expect people to pay $15 a month for DCUO??

If they had released new content on a regular basis, maybe people would have stuck around, but their first new content (War of the Light) was just released not that long ago. There is no way that people would pay if there was just that little content added.

So since November 1st, DCUO has been free to play. And like many, I was curious about it. So I did download it to try it out. I downloaded both the PS3 and the PC version of the game. But I mostly played the PS3 version so far. Why both?? I prefer to play on PS3 nowadays, but none of my PS3 friends are playing DCUO, and I have a few friends who play or will play on the PC.

No, I did not download it November 1st, I waited 2 weeks. I did not really have the time to try it out. And I expected that a LOT of people would try it out that first week, and I was pretty sure that Sony would never be prepared for the rise in traffic that DCUO would get. And even more when two weeks later, they still have a tough time adjusting themselves to all the new players that they have now. From what I read, it seems that they had 1 000 000 new players the first week they went free to play alone. I wonder how many more they got since then? And now, I am one of them new players. I don’t have much time to play, so I only played a few hours to get a feel of how the game works.

What I mostly did so far was play around with the character creator. In my book, the more options you have to customize your character, the better. DCUO is lacking a little in that department. It is somewhat limited and is missing some key elements.

I wanted to play as Batman, or Batman from Earth 53 or something, but that was not really an option. It seems that they went out of their way to try and prevent people to make their own Batman or Superman characters. But I will get back to that.

So I created the next best thing, Le Fantome (The Phantom in French).
And I made something that looks pretty close to the character.

Then I played around with the character creator and created Spider-man (either the 616 or the Ultimate version), Cyclops (his original costume and his “all new all different” one), Angel (at least 3 versions of his early costumes), the Punisher, Moon Knight, Colossus, Hawkeye, Storm Shadow, the Spectre, Invincible, and I have seen many Deadpool, Hulk, Iron-Man in the game, and despite DC’s best efforts I have seen many Nightwing, Robin, Green Arrow, and Superman, and others that I fail to mention. Somehow, it seems easier to make Marvel or other non-DC characters.

So after playing with the character creator, I tried the game itself, and it was fun. It is a game of button smashing, so if you guys expect a game with lots of strategy or with a deep story, you will be disappointed. But so far, it is a fun action game. But I only played a few hours, so maybe later in the game things are different. We will see.

The GOOD
It is fun to visit Gotham or Metropolis and see Superman, or to get a call from Oracle. If you are like me and miss the DCU already, you will get a kick of seeing them characters once more. And it is fun to fight the DCU villains like Brainiac, although early on what you see are actually his drones, but still you know that Brainiac is in there somewhere. ;)

The environments look nice, and it is fun to climb building or to jump from building to building. If you make yourself a Spider-man character, you will have lots of fun.

Lots of action! Sometimes, it is overwhelming when you get caught into a crowd of henchmen. But you will not run out of bad guys to fight.

The BAD
Not being able to play as Batman or Superman or any other DCU characters (unless you manage to create yourself a Nightwing645 with the character creator).

When I first heard about DCUO, not being able to play as a DCU character made NO SENSE. Why play DCUO then??? If you are going to play a generic character, why not play Champions or City of Heroes instead?? Why bother with DCUO then??

The argument is that it would be silly to have a 1000 Batman running around.
Really?? As opposed to Batman Inc?? Heck early on they go out of their way to introduce players to the multiverse and that there are infinite Earths. Why not allow players to play Batman from Earth 666 or something?? And if DC were worried that there would be too little diversity, you already see a LOT of the same characters over and over. So you might as well see a lot of Batmen.
Although now they have added the Green Lantern, Red Lantern, and the Sinestro Corps that you can be a member of as far as I understand. So that is a step in the right direction.

How about adding other DCU factions that you could be a member of??
How about being able to play as a member of Checkmate?? Or the Darkstars??
Heck you could have a thousand of those and it would not matter.
Also, there are only 2 cities, Gotham and Metropolis.

Did they really expect hardcore players to have enough of them 2 cities?? Even for a casual gamer that is not that much. You have to wonder what they were thinking. If they were adding one new city every month, Maybe that would make sense, but it took what, 6 months?? More??? For them to release their Green Lantern add-on. Ouch! (And I don’t even think that it adds a new city. Or does it add Coast City?? I could not find any info about this.)

The UGLY
Sometimes you have to wait 10 minutes, 20 minutes, as much as 45 minutes to play. It is not a problem at 3 AM, But between 5 PM to 10 PM, the waiting time can be long.

On the PS3 there are sound glitches - A lot. Too often, I lose the sound completely, or sometimes only a few sounds remain. It is not game breaker, but it can get annoying. Especially if Oracle gives you a call to explain to you your next mission and you can’t hear her. I hope they fix that soon.

Getting stuck in doorways - Sometimes, characters remain standing still right in the middle of a doorway blocking the way for everyone else. That can be annoying. There even was a time when one character was blocking one doorway, and two others blocked the other doorway trapping tree of us. Not fun when that happens. I hope they manage to find a way to fix that soon too. And as far as I can tell, there is NO Daily Planet in Metropolis. I have no idea why this was omitted, but that seems, odd to me. Although maybe it is there and I just did not see it yet??

So overall, it is a fun action game that will allow you to do a lot of button smashing on the PS3 or a lot of mouse clicking on PC. I might pay $10 for the Green Lantern add0on at some point. I would love to play a member of the Sinestro Corp.

So if you pass by Gotham and see Le Fantome prowling on a rooftop, come by and say “Hi”. ;)

Until next time.
- Pierre

The Dubious Return of The Twelve

2011-11-13T17:55:00.001-05:00

So, last week it was announced that Marvel were planning to finish The Twelve the J. Michael Straczynski grim and gritty Golden Age revival book which he abandoned in mid story so that he could go to DC and revitalize Superman and Wonder Woman (which he also abandoned.)

For those of you new to this blog, I have a love/hate relationship with Straczynski's writing. He seems determined to match every good idea he has with a worn out *shocking* idea from the 80's. If you have ever seen the final episode of M.A.S.H., that's pretty much how every JMS comic runs - hoary TV tropes served up with a dash of 60's pop psychology, but without the charm or humor of M.A.S.H.

A friend gave me the first Twelve graphic novel, which again, had some good ideas about it, but the scene with Rockman was one of those camel/straw moments, so I won't be picking up the new issues.

And thinking about it, I wonder about the wisdom of continuing this series anyway. Check out these numbers on from when the series was coming out regularly and JMS still had the glow of Spider-man and Thor about him...

92. TWELVE
12/07 Twelve #0 of 12 - 20,218
01/08 Twelve #1 of 12 - 40,199 (+98.8%)
02/08 Twelve #2 of 12 - 32,403 (-19.4%)
03/08 Twelve #3 of 12 - 32,729 ( +1.0%)
04/08 Twelve #4 of 12 - 29,729 ( -9.2%)
05/08 Twelve #5 of 12 - 29,876 ( +0.5%)
06/08 Twelve #6 of 12 - 29,303 ( -1.9%)
07/08 ---
08/08 Twelve #7 of 12 - 27,585 ( -5.9%)

Here is the sales numbers on The Twelve Spearhead

12 Spearhead 13540

Spearhead was a single issue spin off that came out May 2010. It was written by Twelve artist Chris Weston, whose artwork on the series has been great the entire time and proved to be an excellent writer on this one shot.

If you average out the last issue of The Twelve and Spearhead, you get 20K - which some people are calling Marvel's new cancellation point. Are retailers going to do that math? Or will they go check back on their old orders of the series to see how many they sold 4 years ago? Probably not. It's just a very different marketplace now. Today, The Twelve has to deal with readers that are a little bit disenchanted with JMS and a lotta bit more interested in the DC 52. Still, for some reason, Marvel felt like revisiting the Twelve was a better bet than continuing Alpha Flight. Go figure.

Anway, with all that said, today I'm revisiting another team up tale from the Golden Age: Prize Comics 24 which features the Prize heroes (Yank and Doodle, Green Lama, Doctor Frost and the Black Owl) vs Frankenstein.

[ Prize Comics 24 ]

- Enjoy!

10 Things About: Giant-Size Spider-Man 2

2011-11-11T07:42:00.001-05:00

You gotta love those Giant-Size Marvel comics! Check out the first time Spider-man teamed up with Shang - Chi, Master of Kung Fu!

1. Hello Karate Kraze! Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting back in the 70’s weren’t they? That was a special time when martial arts still had this cool factor about them. During the 80’s and 90’s, with the overuse of Ninjas in every comic, martial arts became less of a neat character attribute and more of clichéd afterthought.

2. Ross Andru – we miss you! One of Marvel’s workhorses, I don’t think Ross Andru has really gotten the recognition for his work on Spider-man in the 70’s. Check out how well the action and storytelling unfolds on this page.

3. Bronze Age Fu Manchu While I’ve always liked the idea of Fu Manchu in the Marvel universe, he never seemed to be as much of a mover and shaker as Dr. Doom or The Mandarin. He was more on the level of Kingpin in that his appearances were usually confined to the pages of Master of Kung Fu. Still, it's cool to see him here.

4. Shang – Chi’s costume When using characters with martial arts skills, artists have the challenge of having to find a way to make the classic Gi interesting on a comic book page. Sometimes, you end up with less than interesting costumes (like Karate Kid’s first uniform.) Not so with Shang-Chi’s costume. The use of red and yellow make it stand out while still keeping it from looking too much like a superhero costume.

5. Chapter Two – Cross and Double Cross Remember when comics used to have chapters in them? That was great because dividing a story into chapters forces the writer to have something happen in each chapter. You can bet a comics not going to be a slow decompressed multi-issue snoozer when it’s divided into 3 chapters in one issue.

6. Shang Chi vs Spider-Man Starting on page 15 till page 20 we get 5 pages of awesomely choreographed superhero fight scenes as only the bronze age could do it! Both Len Wein and Ross Andru outdid themselves here with this fight scene. And for those of you keeping track, this is the THIRD fight scene we’ve had in this comic so far! Imagine THAT in today’s slow moving, talking head comics. Even when modern comics do have a lot of fight scenes they have devolved to using generic ninjas and robots most of the time.

7. Chapter 3 – The Deadly FEET of Kung Fu Observe out the fancy footwork on this page. Of course our heroes realize they need to team up to defeat Fu Manchu. Together they storm his inner sanctum which leads us to our 4th fight scene in the comic.

8. The Imposing Figure of Black Jack Tarr! This is a guy who is really needs his own mini-series!

Wikipedia has a full rundown on him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Jack_Tarr but he’s essentially a sort of Dum Dum Dugan for Denis Nayland Smith’s Nick Fury. Smith is straight from the Fu Manchu series but Tarr was created for the Marvel series to provide a colorful supporting character. He apparently appeared recently in something called Ultimate Human by Warren Ellis, but since my eyes bleed dark ooze anytime I read anything written by Warren Ellis of late, I avoided it.

9. Falling Down! More evidence that Ross Andru was the man. Notice the interesting use of perspective in the side panel.

10. Fu Man Who? Something intrinsic to the Bronze Age is that moment when characters sort of get shook up by some revelation that what they thought was a fictional world or character is indeed a real one (Dracula, The Frankenstein Monster, Captain Marvel) Here Spider-Man deals with is post-modern existential dilemma when he discovers he shares the same universe (for now at least) as Fu Manchu.

And so ends another great Bronze Age classic!
Have a great weekend!

- Jim

What's Pierre Been Up To Lately?

2011-11-09T06:21:00.002-05:00

I asked Pierre what he's been up to while I've been busy on other projects and this is what he said:

A couple of weeks ago, we had a screening where we saw on the big screen a few scenes of an animated 3D movie with them 3D glasses that I worked on last spring. Although I fail to see the appeal of seeing movies in 3D, the movie should look nice visually, and I really liked the music. But there is still a lot of animation and post production work to do. So we will have to wait and see for the final look of the film.

This will be my second feature film. Hopefully, it will have more success than the first film I worked on (Heavy Metal 2000). ;)

Sadly, I can’t really talk about it yet. I don’t know when the film will be in theatres yet. It will be in theatres very late 2012 at the earliest, but odds are that it will be released in 2013.

But one project that I can talk about, is some comic book work that I did recently. It’s a short story for some horror anthology that was released around the time of the All Hallow’s Eve. ;)

But it is in an arcane language, so sadly for most of our Flashback Universe readers, you guys may have a tough time reading it. ;)

You can see the cover here;

http://lafabriquedeshorreurs.com/

And if you click on the cover, you will see 3 pages from the story that I drew. It is a nice short story that has some fun moments.

I always find it strange, because when I think of my style, the last thing I think of is “horror”. But this is the second time I get asked to work on some horror comic, so maybe there is something that I don’t see??? ;)

There should be a second issue in December. I will give you guys more info when I can. I also did a Commander X pin-up that you should be able to see also in December.

Commander X is the type of project fans of the Flashback Universe will enjoy! You can get more info here:

http://jaypiscopo.blogspot.com/2010/12/commander-x-mas-is-on-way.html

Being asked to make the Commander X pin-up made more sense to me since it had a very retro feel/flavour to it. Although Jay Piscopo does some nice work on his own, . So I fail to see why he needed me.

But what can I say, I never say no when people offer me money. ;)

But seriously, it was a fun pin-up to make. Can’t wait for you guys to get the chance to see it.

And to end this blog on a Halloween related note, for Halloween this year, I decided to try out the movie Twilight, to see what all that “Twilight” phenomenon/craze is all about.

And that picture that I saw on Facebook pretty much sums up my thoughts on the film;

Hope you guys had a fun Halloween. ;)

Until next time. ;)

-Pierre

The New King of Comic Sales

2011-11-07T05:59:00.000-05:00

What a difference a few days makes. Last Monday, I was talking about Marvel's Day and Date Digital announcement. I thought that news would keep Marvel in the spotlight of the comics blogoverse for a while, but Friday DC stole Marvel's thunder when Bleeding Cool revealed DC outsold Marvel for October.

And for the most part, the comments (over a hundred so far) are very positive and congratulatory to DC. It seems that most readers are glad to see DC succeeding with the relaunch.

Some naysayers are talking about how things will return to normal (ie: Marvel going back to the top sales spot) in a few months, but I wouldn't count on that.

For one thing there are quite a number of new DC projects coming up in the 2nd wave of the relaunch including these titles:

A new JSA book
A new Captain Marvel book (spinning out of the Justice League back up series)
Watchmen 2
Grant Morrison's Multiversity
Batman Inc. (Which I was really enjoying until the hiatus)
World's Finest (or some Batman/Superman team up book)

With those titles on the horizon and the current line doing so well, I think Marvel will have a hard time dethroning the new king of the charts. Marvel's usual strategy of countering with new versions of Avengers, Spider-man and X-men have all been played out. This current overturning actually takes place in a month when Marvel released their new Wolverine and the X-men 1, which came in behind Incredible Hulk 1 (which just goes to show how much clout that franchise has lost due to overexposure.)

Here is a chart of the top ten for October. Looking at it, the number of $3.99 comics is a little dismaying. Also, if you know someone who paid $4.99 for Fear Itself 7, please give them my sympathy. :D I've heard nothing but disappointment about that series. It appears to have been a Toy Pitch gone bad.

1	JUSTICE LEAGUE #2	$3.99	DC
2	BATMAN #2	$2.99	DC
3	ACTION COMICS #2	$3.99	DC
4	GREEN LANTERN #2	$2.99	DC
5	FLASH #2	$2.99	DC
6	DETECTIVE COMICS #2 [*]	$2.99	DC
7	INCREDIBLE HULK #1	$3.99	MAR
8	WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #1	$3.99	MAR
9	FEAR ITSELF #7	$4.99	MAR
10	SUPERMAN #2 [*]	$2.99	DC

With that, I present today's Free Comic, featuring another sort of King. The Boy King! from Clue Comics 5

- Enjoy!

Comments on Marvel Going Digital Day & Date

2011-11-04T06:11:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Gizmodo (a tech blog I follow in my google feeds) had an exclusive article that broke the news that by April, Marvel will make all of their published superhero titles available digitally on the same day as they hit the retail shops.

Now, to be honest, I suspect this move doesn't surprise anyone who is a regular reader of this blog. Once DC did it, we all sort of knew it would only be a matter of time (months) before Marvel followed step.

What I've found the most interesting are some of the comments from comic fans on the news. For the most part readers seem to be very happy with this news (as expected) and the usual Greek chorus of people screaming they will never read digital comics seems no where in sight. There are a few people who have posted some interesting thoughts:

From the iFanboy comments:

WeaklyRoll says:

[ What's next? A ] digital only series...?

gobo says:

Now hopefully Marvel will start doing a wait one 1 month/$1 off price drop

Jdudley says:

Marvel really needs to pull the “drop prices after 4 weeks” move. As of now, it’s completely unclear when the digital price of marvel’s books will go down to 1.99.

I have to imagine it’s a man-hour issue. Going full-line day and date requires quite a few new employees and/or shifting job descriptions. I’d wager that the recent staff layoffs at marvel have something to do with this momentum shift. Still, this is a good milestone for digital. I think that the digital marketplace will HAVE to ultimately force marvel to smaller price points, but that won’t necessarily happen immediately. Once the company is settled into digital releases and slightly less reliance on the sales of increasingly expensive printing… the prices really SHOULD come down.

Nerd_Raaage says:

“…now Marvel have crunched the numbers, and protection of the direct market has given way to desire for more revenue.”

It’s not Marvels responsibility to protect the direct market. Nor do I believe that it was ever their intent. Their responsibility is to maintain their existence and profitability. The best way for them to do that is to maintain their customer base by providing a quality product, at a reasonable price, in the manor that best meets the needs of the customer.

I fully support small businesses…when the relationship is mutually beneficial. The closest ‘local’ comic shop is a two hour drive for me. There is no benefit for me in making that drive to purchase comics or to pay extra and wait a few days on a delivery service.

My thoughts are, yeah, the next step will be a Digital Only comic much like how Marvel had three Direct Sales titles back in the 80's (Micronauts, Moon-Knight and Ka-Zar.)

I also think that we will some eventual price competition between both companies in the digital realm. Eventually, someone is going to figure out how to keep track of the stats of how things are selling on Comixology - or Comixology will offer up the stats themselves.

Finally, I keep seeing people saying it's silly that digital versions are the same price as the paper versions, and while I too doubt the economics involved in production in both areas could result in similar pricing, I don't think $2.99 is too much to pay for a digital version. For one thing, you don't spend any gas getting it. Also, I'm paying a little bit to avoid the disappointment of going to my comic shop and discovering they didn't order enough copies so I wasted a trip.

Have a great weekend!

- Jim

Pierre Speaks About Thor Books

2011-11-02T06:00:00.002-04:00

Today, Pierre gives us his thoughts on two recent collections of Thor comics

I had fun watching the Thor film when it first came out in theatre. The film was far from perfect, but it had some fun moments. Whenever I watch it again, I still get Goosebumps when Odin whispers to the hammer “Whoever holds this hammer, . If he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor”. That or Loki calling Thor “The Mighty Thor” with all the disdain and venom in his tone that only Loki could manage. Those have to be my favourite moments in the Thor film.

So while I had a good time watching that film, I can’t say that I am a big Thor fan. I enjoyed his appearances in the Avengers comics, I liked the character well enough, but I rarely bought the Thor comic itself. So I pretty much ignored the Ultimate Thor comic when it first was released.

Not being one to usually buy a Thor comic, and not much of an Ultimate fan, I saw little reason to even check this comic out when it was first released. But then some time ago, I saw the Ultimate Thor HC for $12.99 CAN. So I figured, “What the heck, at worse I will have some Pacheco artwork to look at”.

I usually am a fan of Pacheco’s artwork, but was not too thrilled since he has been back at Marvel on the Ultimates. But I kind of like some of Hickman’s work as well, so I was curious to check out how well they worked together.

And I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised.

Despite knowing where the story leads to, there were a few nice twists and turns that I did not expect. There were a few nice surprises in this tale that I enjoyed. And I liked Pacheco’s artwork despite his attempt to be Bryan Hitch sometimes. I prefer by far the approach he had when he was drawing Avengers Forever.

But overall, it was worth it. I would never have paid its original cover price of $19.99 US/$22.50 CAN. But at $12.99 CAN?? It was worth it. To me, the Ultimate Thor HAS to be the one we find in The Mighty Thor Omnibus by Walter Simonson and Sal Buscema.

Yes there were some great Thor comics by Kirby, by John Buscema/Tom Palmer, or by DeFalco and Frenz/Breeding, but the Omnibus by Simonson and Sal Buscema HAS to be the ultimate tale with the character.

No, not the ultimate tale, that is wrong somehow, the Ultimate SAGA with the character. Heck they even did a pretty kick-ass job recoloring the comics for the Omnibus itself.

I wonder why that omnibus was recolored and not the Wolverine Omnibus or the Secret Wars Omnibus or the upcoming John Byrne FF Omnibus?? Although they have recolored the upcoming X-Men Omnibus by Claremont and Jim Lee.

So will Marvel start to recolor all of their Omnibuses?? Or will it be a once in a while occasion??

When Simonson started his Thor run many winters ago, I was not too crazy about it. I thought his work looked weird, especially compared to some John Buscema/Tom Palmer Thor comics that came before that. It took me some years to get used to Simonson’s work. Heck it’s only when I first saw some black and white artwork by him in various publications that I started to appreciate the graphic approach that he had in his work.

The same thing happened with Mignola. I had to see some black and white artwork by him before I was charmed by his work and could start to appreciate it.

So I pretty much missed Simonson’s Thor run initially and would only later start to get some TPBs of his work. And only once I got the Balder the Brave Marvel Premiere HC would I realise that Sal Buscema had worked with Walt on this run.

So once the Thor Omnibus by Simonson was announced, you can be sure that no force on Earth would keep me from getting my hands on it. ;) As you guys probably know by now, I am a HUGE Sal Buscema fan. So it is a special treat whenever I find some tales by him that I never saw/read before.

But this Omnibus is a wonderful book not only because I was able to read more stories drawn by Sal, but for many other reasons as well. The new more modern coloring fits well with the artwork from past decades. So each page is beautifully drawn and recolored to have the best of both eras. It includes the first appearance of Beta Ray Thor and the Balder the Brave mini-series.

And there are some nice extras at the end. Some nice character sketches, some promotional artwork, and some pin-ups. It is truly a great book. And it is HUGE!! It is like 100 000 pages thick, okay, okay, it is more like almost 1200 pages, but that still is a lot of Thor pages. I can tell you, you will give yourself a tendonitis lifting the darn thing.

So the ONE drawback is that you will need to read this at home on some sort of table. There is no way you can carry this around and read it on the bus, or read it in the bathroom while doing your business. You will need some proper support to comfortably read it. But each pages, each panel will be 100% worth it.

It is a Mighty book that any Thor fan, any Marvel fan or, heck, any comic fan should own. So if you want to be pleasantly surprised by a recent comic, give a try to the Ultimate Thor. You probably can get the TPB for fairly cheap by now.

But if you want to read a Mighty SAGA of EPIC proportions, then you MUST read what is truly the Ultimate Thor SAGA in The Mighty Thor Omnibus by Simonson and Sal Buscema. You will not regret it. I guarantee it.

Have a good day.

Paper Comics Walking DeadWatch

2011-10-31T06:09:00.000-04:00

This weekend I was shocked as my Sister-in-law, who has not set foot in a comics shop in over 25 years, explained to me how the Comixology website works! Here's what the deal was:

She's been watching Walking Dead on TV
Gina (my wife) loaned her the first Walking Dead Graphic novel.
A friend on facebook (someone from her high school days who still reads comics) told her how to get more issues on Comixology

Since then she's bought over 80 issues of the series from the website and is currently caught up on the entire run.

AND because she was buying her comics from the site, she found out about the DC Relaunch and is now buying Aquaman, Justice League, Animal Man, Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps.
She asked me to recommend some other titles, so I suggested Y, The Last Man and the new Wonder Woman.

I mention all this because whenever I post one of my sidewalk rants about how paper comics are going to practically disappear soon, my critics always like to counter by suggesting that the process will be a slow, steady decline which might take decades. What those naysayers always forget is that sometimes things happen, like a Walking Dead television show, that causes a huge tidal wave of interest in digital comics. These unexpected (by my critics at least) paradigm shifts in turn cause other jumps in the process (like DC making a Y, the Last Man movie) which perpetuates the accelerated decline.

That may seem like an awful lot to extrapolate from the random buying habits of my Sister-in-law, but as card games go, Marvel/Disney have yet to make a grand play, so let's keep watching.

With that, I present today's Halloween themed Free Comic:

Weird Terror!

- Enjoy!

High Rez Review | Daredevil

2011-10-29T13:24:00.000-04:00

Today, Caine brings us another Hi Rez Review. This time of the first story arc of the newly relaunched Daredevil.

The man without fear (Daredevil) is bringing fun back.

Let me just get this out there: I wasn't a fan of the Bendis/Maleev 4 year run on Daredevil and I'm happy to say that Mark Waid and Paolo Rivera's run hits the ground running 180 degrees in the opposite direction story wise.

Mark Waid has done an excellent job of taking everything that's happened to Matt over the last six or eight years: quantified it; keeps what he likes; and respectfully leaves everything else alone like a sleeping junk yard dog. Those story elements haven't been thrown away or removed from cannon they are just no longer the focus of the book and are clearly in Matt's (and the supporting characters) history.

The first issue opens up MacGyver style where Daredevil ends one mission and starts another as Matt Murdock in Matt's own corner of hell's kitchen: the court room. He takes on the legal defense of an innocent man that only Matt believes to be innocent but he'll need more than Foggy Nelson and a good honest judge to prove it. Don't forget the world still feels as if there may be some truth to the rumors that Matt Murdoc is Daredevil - who recently went insane and might be responsible for several deaths in the Shadowland incident.

Matt's powers and abilities as well as Matt's personality under the Daredevil mask, are put to good use in the story. Mark Waid has re-established Matt as as solid individual dedicated to a mission. Mark has captured a Matt Murdock that's not been seen for a decade or more, he's shed a lot of Matt's darker pshycological aspects (I don't want to label them as I've not read DD in a few years because of them). There's a lot more dare than devil in DD these days.

While Mark has shed plenty of what's been done to Matt as of late, it's not been forgotten or dissapeared completely. That would be cheating (like a reboot or relaunch of sorts huh DC?) so Mark embraces it and those elements serves to enhance the story.

The second issue (as well as the third) is structured very similarly to the first with Daredevil having to answer for his crimes of the past via a unique pop quiz delivered to him by another superhero and only once he's passed it (sort of) can he be allowed to move forward and continue with the legal case that consumes his mission for justice. Let me just say that Mark Waid is the master of the one page character introduction and he uses the technique in all three issues.

While Daredevil is slightly put off guard at the start of the test he's not helpless and it doesn't take him long to figure out who's testing him. It's a man in the Marvel Universe "with a heart beat like none other in the world". ~Mark Waid

Mark is able to use the test to share new aspects of both the characters and instantly remind us the reader that Daredevil has a large history of doing good in the Marvel Universe and is interconnected to several of the heroes of the even though he's never been a mainstay of any particular team book.

As the issue rounds out to the end Mark again finds a way to keep Daredevil of guard in a very unique fashion, if this keeps up I imagine it to being similar to Ron Marz's promise to never have Green Lantern craft the same thing twice while ring slinging.

This is an awesome scene, easily one of my favorites.

Once again as issue three opens the single page intro (or recap - or both) is used really well here. Mark infuses a single page with enough dialogue to remind us of who Daredevil is, why hes currently in the perdicament he's in, how much history he has with the Marvel Universe, and how much lighter his outlook on life is now a days.

The true villain is finally revealed, and we the readers see how this villain's actions effect both the street crime Daredevil is dealing with as well as the court battle tangling up Matt and DD's lifes on all sides.

This issue has a lot more action in it. The court room/ street battle ratio is flipped with issue three in that the street battle is favored and it's moved to the front of the book so that the court room can be in the back. Like an ending of sorts. A happy ending? We'll you'll have to read it to find out.

I can't recommend this book enough. It's a light read, but one not done in five minutes (I always hate that). It's a fun read that will leave yo laughing. It's an action packed adventure captured very effectively in 2d and not surprising it's just damn good.

~Caine

Kickstarting Comics

2011-10-26T06:22:00.001-04:00

I am continually intrigued with Kickstarter, that site where people post details about an upcoming project (comic, movie, book, etc...) and implore strangers to contribute to the costs of the project in return for some a perk (your name in the credits, original artwork, ect...)

It sounds almost too good to be true. If you make your goal, you get your money. So, after months of begging your facebook friends to contribute, if you asked for $5000, and you end up with $8000, you're golden. Like the project by Travis Hanson who is working on a graphic novel called Travis the Bean which looks like the sort of thing I would really enjoy:

The flipside is if you don't meet your goal, the people who pledge don't get billed and you end up getting nothing. For contributors, it's sort of a no lose situation and I've contributed to quite a few projects myself. Still, there are plenty of projects that don't meet their goal. Like this one Pierre sent me via email. This guy was was trying to get a set of Bronze Age homage called Magnet Comics funded.

He was asking for about $20K and only got $637 (which because it was short, means he didn't get anything.)

I think the key is to set a low goal, but then if your goal is too low, how do you publish the project?
Anyone out there have any personal experience with Kickstarter? Either as a creator or a contributor?

Also, I'm not really interested in making paper comics or graphic novels, so I wonder if people contribute to digital comic projects? I'll have to search the site some more and see if I can't get some meaningful statistics.

- Jim

Marvel - All Winners or All Losers?

2011-10-24T05:59:00.000-04:00

So...in case you haven't been following the comics news-a-net lately, Marvel seems to be showing signs of what I like to call, Ef Upedness lately. It's that point in a company's lifespan when you start to see the writing on the wall that indicates you need to get the hell out of there because it might not be around for long.

First, they have been laying off an alarming amount of staffers even after reporting a profit for this quarter.

Second, among the layoffs were employees in the Digital division? (Yeah, that's a smart place to trim, cuz that whole digital comic thing is just a fad.)

Third, and less harrowing, but still telling, they cancelled the All-Winners Band of Brothers mini-series in mid run

Over at Blog@Newsarama.com, this commenter summed up my feelings pretty well:

Hawk_Fan Says:
October 22nd, 2011 at 10:03 am
I am annoyed by any of these titles being cancelled, but it doesn’t surprise me. The one that REALLY gets my goat though is ALL-WINNERS SQUAD: BAND OF HEROES There are 7000+ people that are reading that mini And enjoying it) with more waiting for the trade.

If Marvel cannot complete a commitment to the fans (they comitted to a mini-series, its not like anyone expected an on-going!) by producing just 8 issues then they should not be in business. I understand low sales causing an on-going (or what was thought to be up-graded to an on-going) to be cancelled but to canceo a mini-series is both lazy and un-professional.

As noted, there are 7000+ fans who want to see the story completed asnd, for a mini-series the sales figures have not been bad!

Now, I'll be honest, I wasn't buying All-Winners Squad because, well, y'know (Modern Comics Suxors) but I have to agree with Hawk_Fan. There is something particularly suspcious about Marvel pulling the rug out from under a mini-series that only had 3 more issues to go.

I've gone on record on the net several times about having my doubts with this whole Disney/Marvel thing. Disney just doesn't strike me as a company that see the value in owning a comic book company. Disney comics sell very well all across the world but even then, Disney just liscenses out the characters to other publishers. When I was a kid, I read Disney stories published in Gold Key Digests

More recently, Disney comics have been published by Gemstone and Boom! My daughter read the Fairies of Pixie Hollow published by PaperCutz

I know a creator who works on Disney comics who has told me face to face that Disney has no interest in the comic book business. And why should they? Disney makes more money off of Movies, Toys and Theme Parks than Marvel could ever imagine. A comic that sells 100K is a big deal to the comic world, but to Disney, that's not worth getting out of bed for.

So, at the end of the day, when Ike Perlmutter has to explain to his new bosses how Marvel missed their quarterly expectations, I can see how he might end the explanation with..."But we are looking for ways to trim costs..."

Perhaps I should start a Marvel Comics Deathwatch?

Anway, as far as All Winners Squad goes, none of the old Golden Age comics are in Public Domain, so for today's Free Comic, I present All Good Comics 04.

- Jim

DC Retroactive Sales

2011-10-21T06:46:00.001-04:00

Because the internet issues, I have to post with my phone today, so this ain't gonna be pretty.

Last week Pierre sent me this email:

Hi Jim,

I just saw the sales on the Retroactive comics from DC at the Beat.

Guess DC won't publish any more of those. :(

DC RETROACTIVE: THE 70S 07/2011: Batman -- 14,340 07/2011:
The Flash -- 12,098 07/2011:
Wonder Woman -- 11,462 07/2011: Green Lantern -- 13,587 07/2011:
JLA -- 12,582 07/2011:
Superman -- 12,264

171/180/185/193/198/202 - DC RETROACTIVE: THE 80S 08/2011: Batman -- 12,534 08/2011:
The Flash -- 10,446 08/2011:
Wonder Woman -- 10,079 08/2011: Green Lantern -- 11,398 08/2011:
JLA -- 10,583 08/2011:
Superman -- 11,072

179/183/195/208/210/214 - DC RETROACTIVE: THE 90S 08/2011: Batman -- 11,609 08/2011:
The Flash -- 9,512 08/2011:
Wonder Woman -- 9,290 08/2011: Green Lantern -- 10,527 08/2011:
JLA -- 11,205 08/2011:
Superman -- 9,443

My Thoughts: This makes me a little sad, because I really enjoyed the Retroactive books, but looking at the sales, I don't think DC is gonna try something like this in a while.

Which begs the question why didn't you do well? Was it retailers? Lack of marketing? Apathy from comic buyers? An unfortunate combination of all three?

I am going to place the bulk of the blame on retailers, because in my local comic shop most of these comics sold out. Marketing seems less guilty as generally the comics got a good bit written about them on the internet before they came out and then more buzz about them as they were reviewed by bloggers and podcasters. To me, this feels really feels like a case of retailers not gauging the audience very well.

As further proof, I would present the amount of reorders on the DC 52 which were all returnable. The fact that so many of those sold out multiple times shows retailers are just not paying attention.

Have a great weekend!

- Jim

Games: The Last of the DC Universe

2011-10-19T06:01:00.004-04:00

Today Pierre gives his review of the New Teen Titans Graphic Novel: Games

As the NEW DCnU started, I came to realise that we had not seen the LAST of the DCU yet. That there was still ONE DCU comic left. The NEW Teen Titans: Games Original Graphic Novel.

It was one of those happy accidents that are not really planned as such, but somehow that is how it happened. Games ended up being the very LAST comic set in the DCU (before Flashpoint).

I first became a fan of the New Teen Titans in 1984 when I bought the first issue of the series. It seems that the series in French was about 4 years behind the American version of the series. And I LOVED every seconds spent reading that first issue. Actually it was the first 2 issues since in French, the series was bi-monthly and we had 2 stories per issue.

Damn how that was good.

I loved all of the Titans characters. Other than Robin and Kid Flash, all the characters were new to me, but all of them were strong characters. There was no weak character in the bunch. So no wonder it was such a hit. Everything about that book was very strong. Although later I was not crazy about Wonder Girl becoming Troia, or the addition of Jericho or Danny Chase, it did not change the fact that the first 50 issues of the New Teen titans were one of the strongest run in DC history.

So like many others, I was thrilled to learn that there was still one hidden gem by Wolfman and Perez that we had not seen before. And although it got a few false starts, The NEW Teen Titans; Games OGN is finally here. And it is all kinds of AWESOME!!!

Heck even seeing Troia, Jericho and Danny Chase once more was fun, despite the fact that I never really cared for them. So can you imagine how FUN!!! It was to see the characters that I loved like Nightwing, Starfire, Cyborg, Changeling, Raven and Donna Troy (yes I count her separately then Troia)??

It is difficult to describe the joy I felt to see those characters once more. It was not unlike when I read Formerly Known as Justice League, or more recently the Retroactive Justice League of America. It was like seeing old, dear friends that I had not seen for years.

It was so good, so sweet that words fail me (what can I say, I am not a word guy, that’s Jim’s job. ;) ).

“Sweet” might be the wrong word, “Bittersweet” is actually more like it since as you read the tale in Games, you cannot help but think that this is IT! This is the last time that you not only read about those characters, but this is the very LAST time that you read a tale set in the DCU. This IS the end of the DCU. So even small moments like seeing Roy Harper as Speedy or Wally West as the Flash were charged with emotions that was not originally intended when this tale was first conceived.

Was this book perfect?? No. Not even close.

The story was a bit of a mess. Heck I thought I had a copy where the pages were out of order since the story is all over the place. And once you read the behind the scene stuff, you quickly realise why. Wolfman and Perez did not have a clear idea themselves where they were going when they first started that tale. Perez started drawing the book when they did not even have finalised every point of their tale

And they later tried to fix the story multiple times, while trying to use as much of the artwork that George had already done. So it did create some confusion that is obvious while reading the story.

And the villains are pretty forgettable. And again, once you read the tale, you realise why. They needed villains that would appear in that story only. What you could call “one shot” villains, or disposable villains if you wish. So they created a bunch of villains that they needed to tell their story that we never saw before, and that would be dead by the end of the story. So they did not waste too much time creating the most awesome villains of the universe. They just created villains that would serve the story they wanted to tell.

And I am sure that many will poke fun at Nightwing with his “disco” collar (although I like that design myself).

And despite all those flaws, that comic stand above pretty much any comic on the stand right now. The artwork by Perez alone is worth the price of admission, but even with its flaws, the story is a fun and intriguing story.

And somehow, There seems to be little buzz online for that comic. I barely saw a few reviews, and did not see any reviews from some of the comic sites like ComicsBulletin or Newsarama. Heck even the DC message boards barely has a few comments for this comic.

Did it get lost/ignored amidst all that 52 craziness?? It breaks my little heart. If you are a Titan fan, or if you are a fan of good comics with strong storytelling, you must get yourself a copy of this comic. So unless DC decided to publish any more of their Retroactive comics, this is IT. This is the last DCU comics EVER.

Farewell DCU, We will miss you. :(

- Pierre

The Curse of Shazam

2011-10-17T09:15:00.002-04:00

It was announced this weekend at New York Comic Con that Geoff Johns will be writing a backup in the new Justice League omniously called The Curse of Shazam. which promises to reluanch the Golden Age Captain Marvel into the newly revamped DC Universe.

My initial reaction was a bit like this:

..but the more I thought about it, the more I'm convincing myself it might work.

Johns did a great job with the Billy Batson character in JSA. The scenes with Billy and Stargirl was some of the nicest teenage romance writing I've seen in DC comics in the last decade.

And while it is typical of fans of the Golden Age Captain Marvel Character to decry any take on the hero that doesn't smack of the lighthearted whimy from the bygone days (myself included) but in Alter Ego 75, noted Fawcett Historian PC Hamerlinck makes an impressive case for updating the character.

One of the accursed judgment calls from the early planning stages of the revival was that, instead of going with their initial gut instinct to develop an updated Captain Marvel for the modern 1970s audience— one that would fit snugly next to a Curt Swan Superman (“Make Way For Captain Thunder!” in Superman #276, June ’74, reveals that such an approach would have stood a good chance of succeeding)—DC chose instead to travel down memory lane. The nostalgia crowd was going to pull this book … so they thought … and hopefully grab new readers along the way with a funny, light derivative of the Captain. (The majority of readers at that time—small children to college students—had no idea what Shazam! meant or stood for.) The decision not to mature Cap after all those lost years, but rather to keep him as a throwback from another era, waiting to be plucked out of “suspended animation,” ultimately became the foundation that cemented a curse for
future generations.

The entire article is fantastic, so feel free to wander over to the Twomorrows website to pick up a copy (either in paper or in pdf format)

So, even if the mention of Geoff Johns' name does make me think of comics with people exsploding everywhere, I'm willing to give his new take a try. Even it if can't match the magic of the original Golden Age versions, it may be enjoyable.

With that, I present today's Free Comic - Marvel Family 45!

Enjoy!

- Jim

The Relaunch of Paper Comic Deathwatch?

2011-10-13T06:08:00.001-04:00

Some of you who started following this blog in the last year may not be aware of a series of articles had called Paper Comic Deathwatch. The idea was that on a semi weekly basis, Caine and I would examine trends in comics and computers/phones that we felt were leading to paper comics practically disappearing. At its peak, the series was one of our most popular, never failing to get links from other places. We even got a bitching logo for the series from Friend of Flashback Sean Kleefeld!

As a series, we had some predictions about the future of Digital Comics many of which have come true (most notably, the wild success of the iPad a year before it was even announced.) And the Decade Comics Went Digital Post has been used as a resource in several college classes I've been told (via email)

But we stopped using the Paper Comic Deathwatch moniker around January of 2010. Partly because I saw a lot of people not only jumping on the band wagon with similar themed articles, but because as the digital doomsday of comics began to creep closer and closer, what had started out as a fun, tongue in cheek series meant to goad companies into embracing digital distribution was becoming more and more like slowing down to view a car accident on the highway.

It's one thing to suggest that all books and comics will one day go digital without worrying about the implications of that reality. It's another to see struggling retailers and book dealers in a life or death struggle against juggernauts like Apple and Amazon.

Case in point: Borders has now joined Barnes and Nobles in pulling 100 of DC's Most popular graphic novels from its shelves.

This is all due to Amazon cutting an exclusive content deal to distribute with DC for the exclusive rights to certain graphic novels in digital format.

Let's evaluate that - the two largest book chains are concerned not because DC is exclusively selling all paper books through Amazon, but digital books. And to protest the point, both companies (who aren't doing great sales wise or in the stock market) are going to stop selling said books in a medium that is completely different!

That strikes me as very foolish. My heart goes out to people working for both booksellers. I don't think your proprietors are using best judgement in a time when they should be stepping carefully.

Have a great weekend.

- Jim

Flashback Five on The Aquaman Relaunch

2011-10-12T05:56:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to FB5! Last time Matt broke away from the usual "flashback" part of FB5 to bring you a review of The Flash no. 1 from the nu 52 line-up. Now we're going to dive right in to part 2 with a look at Aquaman no. 1!

You know, while I never considered Aquaman to be the coolest of superheroes, I never thought he was this ultimate example lame that everybody seems to really get off on making him out to be. Nor did he really need a lot things to compensate for that in order to make him more "bad ass". Honestly, I prefer him to a jerk like Namor and when Aquaman dropped a whale on the head of "Imprerius Rex", I laughed out loud. If Aquaman had been in his classic costume when it happened, it would have been a perfect moment. Anyway, let's dive into 5 things I liked about Aquaman no.1!

1. The opening sequence.

Aquaman flipping a truck with crooks making a get-away over his head using his trident is an idea for an action moment so simple yet so cool I really have to wonder why nobody else on an Aquaman book ever attempted it.

2. Ivan Reis. You know, I think Reis might be a better fit for Aquaman than Green Lantern. Something about Reis's style just really brings out the character and his costume. Speaking of his costume out all the pop-collar brigade I think Aquaman is the only hero it really even works for.

Perhaps because aside from the pop-collar no other elements of his look have been screwed with. Just continuing the gold scales up to his neck actually kind of works.

3. The restaurant scene.

I usually do not enjoy a lot of aggressive "meta" going on in comics. One of the many reasons that doesn't appeal to me at all is because it leads to characters in the story world reacting to the fantastic things they encounter like fans sitting around talking on a message board about comics instead of people who are living these events. However, in the instance of this issue I can forgive it because I actually found myself enjoying how it directly tackles all the various pre-conceived notions about Aquaman and lets the character himself answer them. I even liked the biology babble explanation of how the whole "talking to fish" thing actually works. (Hint: Fish can't talk.)

4. The good Geoff Johns is in attendance. The bad Geoff Johns isn't...yet. I'm not a fan of Johns and the reason why is that I've often felt there are two Geoff Johns. One who is a sincere DC superhero fan that has a lot of genuine love for those characters. Then there's this other Geoff Johns who seems like a 14 year-old hyperactive horror movie fan that has decided he wants everything to be blood and gore like a Hellraiser movie regardless of genre or context. Sometimes you get one or the other, or you get both even within the span of a single issue. This time out though, it seems like the good Geoff sent bad Geoff to go get coffee while he wrote the script for the issue. My only quibble is Aquaman having angst about being king and not wanting to go back to Atlantis but I have to wonder if that has something to do with events that will be revealed later on that would have it make a bit more sense.

The issue ends with a shot of an evil humanoid shark creature emerging out of the water and the more skeptical part of me has the sneaking feel that issue 2 is where bad Geoff will show up and the opening page will be an on-camera spread of the creature gnawing on entrails or something.

5. Cover logo.

Okay, it's just a logo. But We were talking in the comments to another article about how bland a lot of the new 52 logos looked, but I thought this was one of the better ones. Not as good as Aquaman's classic title logo I like that this still has his A symbol and it's not just letters floating sideways looking like they are being sucked up by the top right hand corner of the book.

I think the thing that really strikes me about both of this and The Flash no.1 is that neither of them are making apologies for the character and I can't help but feel so many other books in the 52 line-up basically are on one level or another. Both of these books without gratuity or gimmicks are doing their best to showcase why these characters are cool, making them look good in process with some really appealing superhero artwork. I really wish more of this relaunch was akin to these two issues.

- Matt

The Return (Again) of the MLJ Heroes

2011-10-11T06:05:00.000-04:00

Sunday at The New York Times broke the news that Archie Comics is going to return to publishing their own Superhero.

From the NY Times:

In spring, the company will bring back its line of superhero characters in a subscription model that will offer an original six-page story and access to an archive of past adventures....

...Besides the possibility of reaching an audience beyond the comic book stores, there was a second advantage to this digital model. “Financially, it makes sense,” Mr. Goldwater [the co-chief executive of Archie Comics Publications] said. “We are not going to have any print costs. To be a slave to printing prices when you’re starting a new venture is a tremendous concern.”

For those of you new to old comics, this would be the a lot of the old MLJ heroes (Black Hood, The Shield, The Hangman) as well as some of the characters introduced by MLJ in the Silver Age (The Fly, Jaguar, etc..)

While I have some fond memories of reading Jack Kirby's Fly in the old Archie Digests I used to pick up as a kid, I don't have high hopes for this forthcoming incarnation. Mostly because this group of characters has been relaunched several times recently - most notably with the !mpact line at DC in the 90's

and just a year ago at DC

I have to think the dismal sales on this last relaunch is part of the reason that Archie is going with a Digital Subscription sales strategy with this new effort. Not sure how that subscription thing will work out for them, but it does sound like it might be a cheaper way to get access to a huge library of old comics. The only caveat is comic fans tend to like to own what they read.

Archie’s latest digital initiative will be similar to Netflix, Mr. Goldwater said. “It will be a nominal monthly charge with access to new comics and thousands and thousands of pages from the archive.”

What I think is interesting is that more and more, we are reading about small publishers who are going ONLY with digital sales. (Slave Labor Graphics just made the same switch.)

Which begs the question - which of the Front of Previews crowd (Boom, Dark Horse, Dynamite, DC, IDW or Marvel) would you pick as the first to also quit with the Paper Comics?)

Anyway, since this news is a bit of a repeat, I'm going to repeat today's Free Comic with this reposting of Pep Comics 1

Enjoy!

- Jim

Monday's Post will be late

2011-10-10T05:51:00.001-04:00

There comes that time when you realize you ain't gonna make your post deadline.
For me, that time is today.

I'll have a full post up tomorrow.

- Jim

High Rez Review | Teen Titans #1

2011-10-07T06:39:00.000-04:00

Today, Caine brings us another Hi Rez Review. This time of the newly relaunched Teen Titans.

Written by: Scott Lobdell
Pencils/Cover by: Brett Booth
Inks by: Norm Rapmund
Colors by: Andrew Dalhouse

TEEN TITANS
Tim Drake, Batman's former sidekick, is back in action when an international organization seeks to capture, kill or co-opt super-powered teenagers.

As Red Robin, he's going to have to team up with the mysterious and belligerent powerhouse thief known as Wonder Girl and the hyperactive speedster calling himself Kid Flash to stand any chance at all against a living, breathing weapon with roots in another world! They – along with a few other tortured teen heroes – will be the Teen Titans

With Lobdell, Booth, and Rapmund on this book together you might think you'd been transported back to the nineties and were reading a WildStorm book (scary for some, as that decade represents a period of time where many stopped reading comics all together - that is also the last decade that the "definitive" Titans book/run was published) and I loved every single panel of it! This book is definitely going on my "alert list" (what people used to call "pull lists" before iPads) so I'm sure not to miss an issue!

IT SUFFERS
I'm saddened to report that the book does suffer from the obvious editorial mandate to use the first issue to introduce the most prominent characters via narrative text boxes. It gives the book a very generic feel as if we really haven't delved into the story much at all.

Also, this means that we have yet to be introduced to any of the new and unique characters that will be on the team yet which is a shame. Finally it suffers from how they introduce the boy of steel. I don't want to give anything away but let's just say they aren't doing the character justice with his cloned introduction.

IT SHINES
I'm happy to report that this book does shine. This is clearly Tim Drakes book. DC had stated that all of the "Robins" (though they clearly didn't include Stephanie) will have a prominent role in a comic book series and TEEN TITANS was really late on their press release style list of books announced (they were announcing a couple books a week in the beginning) in the DCnU. Current Tim Drake fans were up in arms for weeks but they should all be fine now.

The artwork is very well situated to the storytelling and the colors chosen for the characters really do well to keep them separate and easily identified. Each character's look has been updated, and not just for style purposes either but utilitarian purposes have been taken into account with the designs.

Tim is the strong leader (or will be). Bart is the impulsive one (or at least I assume it's Bart). Cassie is strong yet unsure and Conner is very young, the member with the most power and the least experience. All of the pieces are there for great stories for titans fans of (hopefully every era).

APP THAT
DC recently redesigned it's iPad app from the ground up. The different sections have been broadened and restructured to be much more user friendly. If you've been debating going digital there's never been a better time.

Have a great weekend!
~Caine

Flasback Five on the Relaunched Flash

2011-10-05T06:00:00.000-04:00

Today Matt gives his thoughts on why he likes the relaunched Flash!

Anyone who knows my writing on the blog has a pretty good idea that I do not have a lot of love left for what currently passes for DC Comics, which I usually refer to as Didio Comics. For all the hype and praises of the relaunch I have remained unimpressed. However, now I'm actually glad to say that I have found at least two notable exceptions to what has so far seemed to be for the most part little more than yet another round of eye-rolling attempts at being "edgy". These comics have stood out to me because these first issues did NOT do that. What I feel they did instead was to present a cool superhero character doing awesome things with some good looking art held together with a solid story to make you curious what happens next issue. Unlike so many others in the line they feel more like superhero comics. Not horror movies. Not thinly veiled porn. Not "reality" TV. Not a storyboard pitch for the movie.

So I'm breaking the actual "flashback" part of FB5 just this once to give you five things I liked about The Flash no.1!

I have to admit that when it comes to the Flash I'm more of a Wally West guy. But that is not at the expense of Barry Allen or any kind of real disdain for him. But I did enjoy that he got to die a hero in an ultimate heroic act and that we were following a character who was inheriting that mantle from him, both living the promise and shouldering the burden of what it meant to bear the name. But I think I can say that with the new Flash no.1 even if you don't consider yourself a Barry Allen fan this is just might be a good time to give the guy another chance even if you miss Wally.

1. Francis Manapul. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Manapul might be one of the best artists to fit the character since the late Mike Weringo.

That might seem like an odd choice given the watercolor look to his art but there's an energy to his pages that I feel captures the feel of speed and draws you into the Flash's world. I think he even manages to make the Jim Lee redesign of the costume work. Granted the bulk of the changes are basically the requisite gratuitous seams, raised emblem, and chinder-wear (you MST3K fans know what I mean by that). Kind of makes me wonder how the rest of the heroes would have looked if the changes had been reeled in to just touch ups and tweaks. I do like that Manapul makes the seams glow and become one with the speed effects coming off his lighting bolt and trim.

2. The title page. There's a cool retro vibe to this that I really love.

The Flash's running pose is awesome and I love how the text and images are bursting out around him. A really nice piece of graphic design that kicks the issue off well. I think it would make a great poster!
3. The suiting-up page. You know, I've never actually enjoyed the whole thing of the Flash costume coming out of a ring.

Having it be a ring just played a little too close to Green Lantern for me plus I just kind of thought the wrinkly suit wobbling out of it looked a bit too silly. However, one of the things that I love in superheroes is the idea of transformation. Whether it's something as simple as Clark Kent's shirt-rip or the awesome henshin effects of Japanese superheroes like Kamen Rider, I love those moments where the seemingly ordinary person summons, puts-on, or reveals their extraordinary form. Their hero form. The series of panels where Barry suits-up is that kind of moment and it rocks!

4. The story. While the story is not the Earth-shattering event of the century I thought it was a solid start that does a great job of establishing who Barry Allen is without even losing the pace of the book. You're brought into Barry's everyday life and then he's thrown in into his latest case all the while the issue showcases The Flash in action and ending on a cliffhanger that makes you want to find out what happens next but at the same time the issue is a solid unit unto itself. It doesn't feel like the first ten minutes of a movie that you're being told you have to come back next month to see the next 10 minutes of.

5. The colors. One of the many things that puts me off a lot of current books is the constant use of muted color schemes. Whether it's toning the costume colors way down or having the story exist in this endless sea of greys and browns, or every daytime scene feeling like it's happening at sunset. In other words, I like seeing superhero comic books that aren't ashamed of vibrant colors. I feel the coloring for this issue conveyed the intent of the story being told while still having enough pop to them to fit a superhero comic.

Next Time: Grab your scuba gear because we're diving into the second part of this 52 review: Aquaman no.1!

- Matt

A Study in Scarlet

2011-10-02T14:31:00.003-04:00

From Bleeding Cool comes the news that Marvel is going to introduce a new Scarlet Spider character in a story that dares readers to guess his true identity!

Y'know, as much as I love me some mystery stories, sometime Flashback contributor Trey Causey and I were wondering why is it that comics seem to only tell the same type of mystery?

Who is this mystery character?

I can understand wrestling using that worn out plot device because there ain't a lot of time to spend on narrative in wrestling, but comics should be different, right?

Still, more and more, we are treated to a new spin of the Who is Ronin!? type of storyline. Say what you will about Identity Crisis, but at least Brad Metzer took a different tack with his mystery. (Albeit, his resolution was utterly ridiculous.)

What's sad is that the original Scarlet Spider/Ben Reily storyline had a lot of real mystery to it back in the nineties other than who the character was. (At the time, we all knew it was the clone from Spider-man 149)

The reasons the original return to the Clone Saga storyline overstayed its welcome have been WELL documented at http://lifeofreillyarchives.blogspot.com/. Still, that saga still has its fans and this return to the well may draw some of them in to see if Ben Reilly is returning to Marvel continuity. I just have to wonder if in a comic universe where there are now multiple Spider-girls, Ultimate Spider-men and Spider-women, will a Scarlet Spider story be just more noise on the wire?

I think the real mystery here is going to be what is Marvel going to do next to try and pull readers in when a mystery character in a hoodie doesn't work?

With that, enjoy today's appropriate Free Comic: Sherlock Holmes from Charlton Comics.
[ Sherlock Holmes 1 ]

Enjoy!

- Jim

Batman: Under The Red Hood

2011-09-30T06:10:00.000-04:00

Today Pierre gives us a review of the Batman Under the Red Hood animated movie.

I can’t say that I am a fan of Judd Winick. I don’t hate him either; I just did not read much of what he wrote. I read part of his Green Arrow run, an issue or two of his Outsiders, and probably a couple of other comics that I can’t recall right now. And I did NOT read his Batman comics where he brought back Jason Todd. But as I mentioned in a previous Blog, I am a sucker for them direct to DVD movies that DC has been producing.

So when I saw the Batman: Under the Red Hood Blu-Ray, I figured that I would give it a chance. And it was not bad, but it was not very memorable either. Heck I had to watch it 3 times before writing this review because each time I could barely remember what was happening in this film.

Nothing really stands out; nothing is really memorable about this. The most memorable scenes have to be the scenes with young Robin/Jason Todd. The scenes themselves were fun. It was fun to see the light-hearted version of the character. And the battle vs Amazo was a fun scene as well.

It was a fun action sequence that also gave Nightwing/Dick Grayson some screen time. On a side note… as for the return of Jason Todd, I can’t help but feel that DC dropped the ball big time on that one. Once they gave us the “fake” return of Jason Todd in Hush, It pretty much took away any impact that this “real” return could ever possibly have. If it had been done in Hush as planned, It would have been a cool return. But this time it felt like, “We chickened out the first time, let’s try again.” And it was not cool.

But back to the film - The design work usually was okay… although whatever bad design I thought there was… it was more a matter of personal preference then actually bad design. I was not too crazy for the Joker design, but it has more to do with the fact that the definitive Joker to me is the Jim Aparo version of the character.

And the Joker in this film is too far from that to really work for me. It felt to me like they had cast Arnold Schwarzenegger in the role of the Joker as opposed to Heath Ledger. It felt like the wrong casting in my book.

The animation was competent. Nothing bad really stood out, but nothing to marvel at either. The worst part probably was the integration of 3D/CGI elements in the 2D film. It did not clash as badly as the 3D in the Batman: Sub-Zero film, But it was not integrated as well as it should have been. So whenever there are some 3D elements like cars in a scene… I could not help but find it distracting, because it did not really match with the rest of the film. That is probably just me being picky. I would not be surprised if most people did not even notice this.

In the extra section… you get a few documentaries about Robin/the Death of Jason Todd that I always find fun to watch. I always get a kick of seeing the likes of Denny O’Neil, Len Wein, Dan Didio, etc, even if I don’t always agree with what they are saying.

The Jonah Hex short was fun to watch. I did not find it as strong as the Spectre one, but to be honest… none of the shorts made by DC so far come even close to matching with what they did in the Spectre short. Although if all you want is to watch the Jonah Hex short, Get the Superman/Shazam DVD instead.

So is this worth buying?? If you are a fan of Jason Todd, I would say, Yes. But if you are NOT a fan of Jason Todd, especially if you are one of the thousands who called and paid 50 cents to get him killed in the first place, I doubt you will find much that will please you in this movie.

Until next time.

-Pierre

Flashback Five on Brave and the Bold 158

2011-09-28T05:47:00.000-04:00

Matt brings us a new Flashback Five to show us five cool things about Brave and the Bold 158

Today's FB5 is itself is not a particularly Earth-shattering chapter for either the characters or for the Brave and The Bold series but it is an old favorite from my childhood. Much to my surprise looking back Wonder Woman was a rather frequent guest-star in the original Brave and The Bold. This particular issue would mark her last appearance in the series before it was eventually canceled in 1983. This issue stood out to me when going through the Brave and the Bold series for two reasons. One it was actually one of the earliest appearances of Wonder Woman I ever saw with the other one being an earlier issue of her own series where she fought Angle Man and the tabloid sized Superman vs. Wonder Woman special. Up to that point I mostly knew her from the Lynda Carter TV series. This issue was also the first time I ever saw artwork by the legendary Jim Aparo. So here we go with 5 things I liked about The Brave and The Bold #158 starring Batman and Wonder Woman!

1 - The cover. This cover really struck me as a kid. The expressions are great, and the overall effect leaves you wondering what could so inspire fear in our heroes.

Now in comics it is so common to have the cover simply be a somber pose or a painted pin-up but I think the strength of this cover is a case-in-point about why your cover should be reflective of the story inside. What are they afraid of? The cover makes you want to pick it up to find out. That's a covers job! Ideally and with few exceptions, every cover should be telling the reader why they should give enough of a damn to spend their money on it!

2 - Hero interaction. Bruce and Diana really feel like old friends with a genuine affection for each other.

It's subtle enough your mind could take it the romantic route or you can just take as two veteran heroes who have been through a lot of battles together who are friends and respect each other greatly. Going back to it now, it is such a nice change of pace from the constant stream of clashing egos and pre-teen level snark between heroes in modern comics. Batman is as much of a creature of the night as he needs to be without being required to be a miserable grimdark jerk.

3 - Jim Aparo artwork If Neal Adams defined (or perhaps refined) the most iconic look for Batman, Jim Aparo set it in stone.

Aparo's art is easily the strongest thing about the issue. Batman and Wonder Woman look excellent as does his take on them as Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince. His panel composition moves the story along well and his action scenes are packed with dynamic energy. Plus I just like the look of his figures in this. Aparo's Bruce Wayne is handsome but he has a certain angular quality to his features that makes him look readily distinct from Clark Kent despite being a square-jawed fellow with black hair.

4 - Flashback or Deja-Vu (oddly he seems to be referred to by both names in the comic) is a lame villain BUT at least he had an interesting weapon.

I don't mind having one shot or d-list villains around because they help contrast your Lex Luthors and Jokers to show why they are the heroes greatest adversaries. Plus think about a police officer. Not every criminal they encounter is a master criminal, gun wielding psycho, or even a capable thief. If every super villain that shows up is an all powerful bruiser or shadowy master manipulator it has less impact. However, given his basic gimmick I really have to wonder why they didn't just have Scarecrow be the villain of the issue or perhaps even having Johnathan Crane being Deja-Vu's supplier.

5 - James Bond vibe. I enjoy it when there are adventures for Batman that takes him out of his usual Gotham City environment so long as it's not happening all the time.

A vehicle like the Brave the Bold series is actually quite perfect that as is Batman being in the Justice League or having to battle Ras Al Ghul. Also given the level of wealth and influence Bruce Wayne has it makes sense that he would be involved in the kind of scenario depicted in the comics involving a co-operation between U.S. and French business interests.

The issue has some other problems. For example Deja Vu being able to sneak up on Batman and Wonder Woman *in a helicopter*.

Also as much as I enjoy Aparo's art on the book there doesn't seem to be a lot of thought actually put in to the design of Deja Vu. I think at the very least they could have gotten a decent low tier villain out of him was just a touch more work. As is though I still the think it was a fun read with some outstanding artwork and proof that you really don't need a big bloated multi-part crossover event or an excuse to get two heroes to be at each other's throats in order to make it feel to the reader like these characters exist together in the same world.

Have a great day!

- Matt