Thursday, August 20, 2009

More proof Sideshow Collectible's order process needs an overhaul

Ah Sideshow...what will it take before you realize the way you offer your products up for sale is woefully overdue for review at least and an overhaul at best. I guess getting screwed over by collectors on your site that never intend to follow through on pre-ordered purchases is a good start. Each newsletter that Sideshow ships out weekly is a laugh riot with tales of previously sold out items that are magically available for sale. Even despite the fact that there are potential buyers lined up on an item's wait list.

This week the San Diego Comic-con Star Wars exclusive Luke & Han as Stormtroopers 1/6th scale two pack is once again available for sale. First come, first served. Another "SOLD OUT" Sideshow wonder that is really not sold out after all. And in truth, never was.

This scenario happens again and again with just about everything Sideshow throws up for sale. Especially within the last year as the economy went south. A new offering sells out the day it's released and despite even filling a wait list, these items are almost always available suddenly months later. Not only that but Sideshow practically begs collectors to buy the newly discovered inventory and asks the affiliate websites to continually get the word out for them.

Look Sideshow, you clearly have a problem with too many wannabe collectors ordering on your site whose eyes are bigger than their bank accounts. At the same time, you have a significantly less legitimate collector pool committed to buy your wares. You need to create a new process to weed these deadbeats out of the pre-order process and allow the real paying customer to place an order without all the B.S. Personally, I'd be happy if you just fully charged us out of the gate for any pre-order. I get that purchase done and out of the way and I don't have to worry about getting blind-sided by you in the fourth quarter when you decide to ship a year's worth of pre-orders on top of each other. But I understand the liability issues of charging someone for an item that won't show up for probably two years.

The other answer is just as simple. Create some sort of elite level of membership on your site. Charge a nominal yearly fee but this status allows guaranteed access to pre-order your new products. You charge the fee to weed out deadbeats and pay for the technical tweak to tie an account to the elite status. Charge $40 or $50 but to make everyone feel good about it and reduce online bitching, you could then offer those paid accounts discounts later on. Maybe it's a discount on specific merchandise like only your SDCC exclusives or a refund of sorts at the end of a paid year or even $10 coupons quarterly.

Just do SOMETHING new for god's sake. Honestly, as a business aren't you tired of dealing with that deadbeat run around while also pissing off your best clients that can't be at their computer every hour of the day to place an order before it "Sells Out"?

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

No SNL in new Marvel Essential TPB

By far the new trade release of the week is volume three of Marvel Comics ESSENTIAL MARVEL TEAM-UP. Reprinting issues 52 through 75 along with Annual #1. This volume is maybe the best collection of issues in this series featuring Spider-Man team-up stories from the late '70s.

What you will find: The classic creator partnership of Chris Claremont and John Byrne on several issues in this volume. Chris and John's MTU stories were produced right around the time both creators historic work on the Uncanny X-Men was just taking off. This is when Claremont could tell a fast paced, dramatic and cohesive story in just a couple issues and when Byrne's pencils were raw and organic. Classic comic gold. There is a mulit issue story arc by these two in here that remains one of my very favorite comic storylines to date. It starts in issue 59 and wraps in issue 62 where Spidey teams with the likes of Yellow Jacket & the Wasp, The Human Torch and Ms Marvel. In turn the heroes take on a new villian named Equinox and the Super Skrull. Here you will find some of the best John Byrne art of the day. And we love his '70 sideburns on Power Man in issue 75. Dig it!

What you won't find: Issue 74 in the series is missing. The reprints in the volume skip right over it from 73 to 75. The reason? Issue 74 was a crazy cross promotion featuring Spider-Man teaming up with...the '70s cast of Saturday Night Live.

That's right. Marvel Comics partnered with the NBC late night TV sketch comedy because...uh, we have no idea why. Most likely it was a deal done between certain individuals in a noisy disco in NY and under the influence of recreational drugs and alcohol. Regaurdless, all these decades later, Marvel either didn't want to pay the fees to NBC or perhaps the red tape to secure rights to each performer's likeness was too much trouble so they just decided to omit the reprint.

We won't loose any sleep over it. This is still a gem of an Essential collection. Highest recommendation for fanboys everywhere.

Review: Comics Journal #299


Today is new comic book day and I budget my time to include little work so I can enjoy the week’s releases. Typically I return from the local store with my purchases and tear into my favorite titles, but this week I started with the Comics Journal #299, the centerpiece of which is a long piece about an ambitious comic book project from the 70’s that started life as a 20 page Rolling Stone supplement then ballooned into a 500+ page international omnibus that was subsequently shelved when a publisher couldn’t be found.

Called "The Someday Funnies", the list of artists that would’ve been included therein reads like a who’s who of top comic talents of the day (Wood, Adams, Eisner, Kirby, Barry Smith, etc) but also encompasses high profile outsiders like Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones and William Burroughs. The story recounts failed attempts to engage Dali, Dylan, Lennon and Steinam, among others.

It’s a well-written and engaging article that was written with a great deal of support from the man behind the book, Michel Choquette, a Canadian who was an early contributor to the National Lampoon (a favorite subject of mine).

The story is incredible, although somewhat one-sided. Choquette appears a well-meaning, sensitive fellow with a completion anxiety that rivals my own. He seems to have really believed in the project, but let it get out of control. Reading between the lines, this seems to have ultimately derailed the publication.

The article is must-read stuff for any comics fan with an appreciation of history and lost work, much of which is reprinted here, albeit in very small scale.

The author mentions that googling the book only produces one result, which is crazy considering the list of contributors and the multi-year ordeal involved in assembling the work. Here’s hoping the book is finally published as a result of this story.

That said, the rest of the issue has some solid stuff, but this is clearly the centerpiece. A large section reprinting pages and pages of early animator Myron Waldman’s “Eve” drawings ought to have been published as its own book, as the pages just seem jammed in here, and take up a lot of space as well.

Sadly, the Journal continues it’s tradition of overwrought and overwritten articles that provide more fuel for its detractors. This issue has an article called “World, Soul, Psychetypes, Psychoecology – A New Logic of the Psyche. 3 – The Secret Language of Ineffable Self”. Seriously, fuck off.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

DC Classics Wal-Mart Exclusive Box Set is out

At last! Mattel finally ships something of the DC Universe Classics line to retail. Wal-Mart stores are currently re-setting their toy aisles for fall and some new items are showing up. Today I came across the new Wal-Mart exclusive Gotham City 5 boxed set of DCU figures.

This set was first shown recently by Mattel during the San Diego Comic-con. At first glance I didn't think much of this offering because it appeared packed with so many re-decoed figures previously released. But up close the set proves to be a must have for collectors of the line.

The best and completely new figure in the set is '70s look Lex Luthor. Lex sporting his most familiar outfit best known as worn often in the old Super Friends animated series. The Superman sculpt in this set has been used several times by now but this is the first time we get a basic and classic Superman figure to display. The previous releases included the lame Super-Mullet hair style and a two-pack version were Supes' eyes were painted solid red to simulate the use of heat vision. It's amazing it took this long to finally get a basic Superman in this line.

The other figures in the set are re-tooled or decoed Bat-Universe characters. Like with Superman in this set, we finally also get a basic and modern Batman in the black and grey. The head and cape are new sculpts, different from the previous blue and grey incarnation of the character in the line. The mask's ears are taller and the cape forms around his neck instead of hooked onto his shoulders. Again, a most welcome and long overdue version. The Catwoman figure is simply a purple paint job over the previous release of the character in the older Mattel DC Super-Heroes line that pre-dates this current DC line. For me the look is out of place with his outfit but I know a lot of collectors have been begging for a Catwoman and had a hard time finding the previous version years ago so I understand Mattel's choice here.

The lamest figure in this set is Two-Face. This figure is a hack job. Mattel is using a Clark Kent body (again previously found in the DC Super-Heroes line) and sculpted a new head and left hand. The new head just sucks. Even to a blind person, the head is too small for the body and has limited pose range. It cannot pivot up or down. Besides the shitty head, the biggest miss on this character is absence of a coin in one of his hands. Seriously Mattel, if you are going to go through the trouble of sculpting up a new, scarred left hand, at least have it posed holding a coin, Two-Faces' signature accessory and trademark. How much could a detail like that have possibly impacted this set? A lazy oversight.

The set retails for just under $55. Not a terrible deal. Single figures average $12.00 at retail these days and Mattel confirms that price will likely be rising by end of the year. It's a set worth picking up for Luthor and better versions of Superman and Batman alone. You can place this Catwoman and Two-Face in the back of your DCU display on your shelves.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Review: Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited

While attending the San Diego Comic-con in July, I signed up for Marvel Comics ‘Digital Comics Unlimited’ online membership. Marvel had an exclusive trial membership offer available only during the event that was too good to pass up. With a paid three month subscription, you also received an exclusive Hasbro Nick Fury action figure and an exclusive variant edition of Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth issue 1. So I signed up, came back from the show, sold the two premiums off for a substantial profit beyond the cost of the subscription fee and after playing around with the service online for the past month I have to say…it’s totally worth any comic fan’s money and time.

It’s a very straightforward service. You are paying for access to Marvel Comics digital library online, anytime you wish. I was really surprised at how deep the catalog is at this stage. You can select to read comics books as far back as the golden-age (‘40s, ‘50s), just about all the favorite classics from the silver-age (‘60s), then onto each decade since up to just a few months ago. Every comic book cover and page available is reproduced in beautiful high quality resolution. Even the titles from the golden-age have been re-colored and look even better than they did originally published. Basically any series of older titles that have been reprinted in the Marvel Masterworks series of hardcovers, can be found in here. The online service is a great way for the publisher to re-use the digital files they already had to produce in order to print up any volume of the Masterworks series…why not offer them to fans for a fee online as well?

Once you log in you have many library browsing options available to you.


You can search by new releases.







You may search by series.







You could choose to search by a creator’s name. This includes the writer, artist, inker or even colorist.








More search options than you’d need really.





Once you select an issue to read, simply click to open it and a new screen will open. This is the patented Marvel Digital Comics Reader.

Once the digital reader is open you will find several viewing options. You may view the book as a two page or single page spread with the added features of magnification, moving the open page up and down or (my favorite) viewing via ‘Smart Panel’. This feature allows for single panels at a time to open nice and big in the viewer and eliminates the need for magnification.

With a click of the mouse anywhere on the screen, the next panel of the book slides into view. It’s very cool but there is a slight drawback to this mode. When in ‘Smart Panel’, the viewer can get confused on the really oddly laid out pages with panels that are very large or cut up and down vertically on one side of the page or the other. When this happens, some of those more odd shaped panels will get cut off or in a few cases for me even skipped as the viewer just moves onto the next page. A minor issue only found in some cases.

One of the best advantages of viewing any Marvel Comics online even compared to holding the actual printed publication is the elimination of the center crease and staples of the comic’s binding that hinder the impact of a great two page spread!

I think Marvel is really ahead of the game here with this service. Especially ahead of DC Comics which offers nothing close to similar in a service to date. Instead of watching TV reruns this summer, it’s been a blast to take my laptop out onto the patio on select nights and re-read how Spider-Man first tangled with the Hulk back in the ‘60s or discover how Thor has been revamped in recent years.

You won't find every single comic book Marvel has ever printed in this online timecapsule. But there are thousands of issues here already with more added nearly every day of the week.

Worth a trial for any comic book fan old or new.

Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents to return from DC. yay.


I missed it at San Diego (as did most everyone else, based on the covergae) T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS are returning to print integrated into the DCU. In much the same way the Milestone and Red Circle characters have been integrated into regular DCU continuity, so will the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS. That’s pretty much the worst thing that could've happened to these great characters.

The recently deceased owner of the THUNDER Agents, John Carbonarro, had previously set up a deal for the property at DC, but after creative conflicts the project was abandoned. The designs by artist J.G. Jones you see here are from that attempt, of which two issues were reportedly in process or maybe even finished before the project was bagged. It seems likely that DC has cut a deal with the heirs to publish the previously done work, which will no doubt crash and burn just like DC's horriffic re-launch of the Red Circle properties.

No news as to how the "creative team" at DC plans to roll the characters out, except that they'll appear in a flagship DC book before their own book launches. It might not be as bad as Rob Liefield's planned launch in the 90's, but considering the state of DC's current editorial, I can't say that with any certainty....

New DVD Releases for August 18th, 2009


Again, it's largely TV that will get any potential buyers to the store this week. You can get Dexter Season 3, Gossip Girl Season 2, the Hannah Montana movie, Sons of Anarchy and the week's highlight: the Simpson's Season 12 box set in deluxe Jeff Albertson packaging.

New movie releases are the (supposedly great) documentary on Mike Tyson and the (supposedly fucking terrible) Last House On The Left remake.

Catalog highlights are Last Starfighter Deluxe edition and a 3 disc set of Versus, the best Ninja Vs Zombies filtered through the Matrix film ever made.

BEAST-Complete First Season

BRIDGE TO NOWHERE

DEXTER-3rd Season (Blu-ray)

DEXTER-3rd Season

GOLDEN BOYS

GOSSIP GIRL-Season 2

HANNAH MONTANA-The Movie

HANNAH MONTANA-The Movie (2 DVD)

ICONS OF SCI-FI-Toho Collection

LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT-Rated/Unrated Edition

LAST STARFIGHTER-25th Anniversary

OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW-Live At The Orange Peel

PARIS 36

PETE'S DRAGON-High Flying Edition

SIMPSONS-Season 12 (Comic Book Guy Packaging)

SIMPSONS-Season 12 (Regular Packaging)

SONS OF ANARCHY-Season 1

TOTAL DRAMA ISLAND-Complete Series

TYSON

VERSUS-(Special Edition)

ZOMBIE PACK 2-Triple Feature

New Music Releases for August 18th, 2009


Wow - another godawaful week for new releases. Here are the "highlights".

New releases: it's a great week if you love marginally talented one-hit wonders from the late 90's as both Third Eye Blind and Sister Hazel are dropping a deuce in your local record store this week. The 3EB album is already released (today, for some reason) so you can maybe listen to that today and it might kill your desire to buy more washed up loser rock tomorrow.

Marginally talented one-hit wonder from the 80's Colin Hay (the cockeyed guy from Men At Work) returns with a new one as well.

Otep's new album is getting a big push and looks like a hit in the world of extremely personal metal. Two versions come out tomorrow on Victory records.

The other new releases worth mentioning are a new Brendan Benson solo album (Benson is a compadre of the White Stripes Jack White in the Raconteurs). Previous albums have been pleasant, if slight, power pop exercises. Hopefully this one will have more balls.

Two Dark Horses this week. The first is a new Joe Henry album - he's a talented singer-songwriter whose best work (Short Man's Room, with the Jayhawks backing him) is long out of print. Sadly for him, he married Madonna's sister, so he's better know for banging old ropey-arms relatives than his music, which is a shame.

Dark Horse #2 is the soundtrack to Inglorious Basterds - Tarnatino's soundtracks are always worth a listen.

Catalog: the Cult's beloved "Love" album gets a deluxe 2 CD release this week, which may be good if it doesn't expose what a crappy band they actually are. Don't get me wrong, they made some good records with talented producers (and this is one of them) but they always sucked live and without a heavy hand in the studio they have failed to make worthwhile records for decades now.

The Accused re-release a long-lost thrash classic this week, way too late to capitalize on any interest there was in the late 90's and early part of this decade.

Gov't Mule release more archival stuff. The Rolling Stones re-release the worst of their compilations to the sound of crickets. Who cares?

More people will buy the Stones comp than the most ill-concieved Tribute album of all time - to 80's has-beens Love & Rockets. What is the track list going to be, ten versions of "So Alive" and "No New Tale To Tell" by unknown indie bands? Yes.

Here's your reason to not go to the store tomorrow:

ACCUSED-Curse Of Martha Splatterhead

ALPERT, HERB/HALL, LANI-Anything Goes

AS TALL AS LIONS-You Can't Take It With You

AS TALL AS LIONS-You Can't Take It With You (Deluxe Edition)

ASPHYX-Death The Brutal Way

BENSON, BRENDAN-My Old Familiar Friend

BETTS, DICKEY -Offical Bootleg (2 CD)

BLUE FLOYD-Begins (2 CD)

BREATHE CAROLINA-Hello Fascination

BROADWAY CALLS-Good Views, Bad News

BURNT BY THE SUN-Heart Of Darkness

CABLE-Failed Convict

CASCADA-Evacuate The Dancefloor

CHOIR OF YOUNG BELIEVERS-This Is For The White In Your Eyes/ Burn The Flag

CRAIG, JONNY -Dream Is A Question You Don't Know How To Answer

CULT-Love (Deluxe Edition/2 CD)

DEPEDRO (JAIRO ZAVALA/CALEXICO)-Depedro

EMMURE-Felony

GIANT SQUID-Ichthyologist

GOV'T MULE-Deep End Vol. 1 & 2 (2 CD)

GWAR-Lust In Space

HAY, COLIN-American Sunshine

HENRY, JOE-Blood From Stars

INWARD EYE-Throwing Bricks Instead Of Kisses

KIDS LIKE US-Game

K'NAAN-Dusty Foot On The Road

MAXWELL, NATHEN (FLOGGING MOLLY)-White Rabbit

MCCLINTON, DELBERT-Acquired Taste (CD/DVD version)

MCCLINTON, DELBERT-Acquired Taste

MCENTIRE, REBA-Keep On Loving You

MUTE MATH-Armistice

O'RILEY, CHRISTOPHER-Out Of My Hands

OTEP-Smash The Control Machine

OTEP-Smash The Control (Deluxe Edition)

PAUL, SEAN-Imperial Blaze

PISSED JEANS-King Of Jeans

RAVAGE-End Of Tomorrow

REATARD, JAY-Watch Me Fall

ROLLING STONES-Jump Back: The Best Of Rolling Stones

SISTER HAZEL-Release

SOUNDTRACK-INGLORIOUS BASTERDS

STICKY FINGAZ-A Day In The Life Soundtrack

THIRD EYE BLIND-Ursa Major

THOMPSON, RICHARD-Walking On A Wire: '68-'09

TROWER, ROBIN-Rt@ro.08 (2 CD)

UMPHREY'S MCGEE-Mantis (2 CD)

VARIOUS ARTISTS-MONSTER BALLADS-The Ultimate Set

VARIOUS ARTISTS-TRIBUTE TO LOVE AND ROCKETS-New Tales To Tell

VARIOUS ARTISTS-ULTRA TRANCE ANTHEMS

3A Toys Latest Release TONIGHT! (in USA)


Large Martin will be deployed this evening at 7PM EST. The massive toy will ship in three colorways (painted but un-decaled in the pics), two standard and one "chase" that will be a dirty white. The cost is $250 each shipped and the chase version cannot be ordered individually, it's purely luck if you get one!

Kick-Ass Movie Picked Up by Lionsgate for 2010 Release


Just breaking news; Lionsgate has picked up the independently produced "Kick-ass" movie, based on the Mark Millar & John Romita Jr comic book (which is still being released, S L O W L Y). Hopefully this production route indicates that the film will be more simpatico to the source material than the Wanted film was, and that Millar will go this route for more of his comic to film work. No word yet on Rest Of World release. Matthew Vaughn directed. Vaughn has comic ties from his adaptation of Gaiman's "Stardust" film, which was a mixed bag at best.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Best - Aquaman - Cover - Ever


For a DC Comics character whos' been on the receiving end of the shaft in the past couple of decades, this cover to Blackest Night issue 2 proves he's cooler dead than when he was swimming the oceans alive. Man! Dramatic, powerful, eye-catching. Can't tell who the artist of the cover is but he deserves a lot more work at DC.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

There is a God - Spider-man will NOT Sing!

The proposed Spider-man Broadway Musical, directed by the woman who created the Lion King (on Broadway) and with music by U2, was shut down last week, at which point it appeared the shutdown might only be temporary. According to the NY Post, the shutdown is now permanent, as no new investors could be lured to the 45 million dollar project, which was set to run at a 1700 seat theater in Manhatten where it was projected it would have taken 5 sold-out years to recoup. In other words, it was fucked from the start.

Thankfully, fanboys will now be spared what no doubt would have been a severe blow to the character's appeal and backstory. We prefer that he remains the blacked out drunk that hooks up with his roomate as depicted in last week's issue of Amazing.

Wednesday Comics: Noble Experiment or Another 52?


Obviously DC Comics is a business; they release product that they hope will make money. Why they fail to market it is beyond me, and why they think some of the trash they release will generate a dime is a mystery as well, but I digress....

So despite the arty/retro facade of DC’s tabloid sized weekly, this is clearly expected to be a money-maker, and at 3.99 for what is the equivalent of your local Sunday paper’s comics section, it most certainly must be.

I’ve just finished working my way through the first five issues, and, while some of it was quite a pleasure, much of it was a chore. Although many of the features share the same faults, it’s probably best to address each individually.

BATMAN: This is the only strip in the entire book that works every week. Azzarello, who I sometimes find an awkward superhero writer (see his Superman story with Jim Lee), gets the right mix of atmosphere, character and plot advancement in each page, and Risso’s black-heavy art works great on this (slightly upgraded) newsprint pulp. Nearly everyone else on this book should be looking at this work and reflecting on their own output.

KAMANDI: While it’s great to have the character back in an anthology that will support it, Gibbons’ script is a mess – with the result that issues 2-5 have seemed like a re-telling of the same events. The creators seem to be after a Prince Valiant vibe, and by following the stylistic trappings of Valiant they have managed to slow the action to a crawl. This brings up a larger issue that infects much of the work in Wednesday Comics, which is the creator’s attempts to overlay someone else’s style over their own, in order to make the format work or to pay homage to classic strips. There’s a certain economy of writing and a sense of momentum that needs to be used in single page installments and it’s missing here. I daresay that Gibbons would not include these five pages in sequence in a standard format book, so let’s hope he addresses this as the story continues. Sook’s art is great, and well-suited for Kamandi.

SUPERMAN: This is just boring. Bermejo’s art is nice, and Arcudi’s writing is servicable, but the story is dull as dishwater and we’ve seen it a million times before. A waste.

DEADMAN: Nicely done, but again, the outside artistic influence – in this case, Darwyn Cooke – is overwhelming the strip. The writing is acceptable, but the storyline is conservative, resulting in warmed-over Deadman 101.

GREEN LANTERN: Although not as immediately obvious in the art, Darwyn Cooke’s considerable shadow looms over this strip as well, particularly his New Frontier take on Hal Jordan/GL. It’s so obvious as to be embarrassing and adds nothing to the content of the strip or the New Frontier mythology.

HAWKMAN: Kyle Baker is doing great work here – although he, too, is utilizing conventions of old comic strips. The story is solid and he seems to understand better than most involved how to move a single page story forward week after week. There are some nice subtle touches here, too, but the art is suffering in the reproduction in that Baker’s fine line work seems to be filling in as the ink soaks into the more absorbent newsprint. Oddly, this doesn’t seem to be the case elsewhere in the book, so maybe it’s a deliberate effect generated by Baker in homage to the newspaper comic strips. If this is the case, he should drop it – it’s not doing his art any favors.

METAMORPHO: I think we all expect more from Gaiman and Allred. Both are sleepwalking through this and it shows. There is nothing on the printed page that shows me either of these idiosyncratic creators had a hand in this except the masthead (unless you count the annoying sub-strip at the bottom of the page, which seems like the best example of the worst of Allred’s indulgences). This is also the slowest moving strip in the book, which is really saying something.

TEEN TITANS: Pedestrian story & script saved by Sean Galloway’s art. To be fair, the art suffers in this format – everything prints too pastel, which is like adding a layer of dullness over the whole thing. After Superman, the least interesting thing in the book.
STRANGE ADVENTURES: DC made a point of showing this strip when they were hyping the book. Good thinking as it’s one of the top strips, and a perfect pairing of creator and character. Pope is really getting the tone and pacing right, and his art, as always, rules.
SUPERGIRL: As a whole, this will be a delightful trifle and perhaps the perfect intro to superhero comics for a pre-teen girl. In this context, however, it feels like nothing. Each installment is cute and well-crafted, but at a page a week, it fails to get any traction. The Aquaman stuff in week 5 is priceless, though.

METAL MEN: I hate to give DiDio credit for anything good at DC (luckily for me, he makes that easy) but this is a fun strip to read, with great art from Garcia-Lopez and a goofy, well-paced story that serves the characters well. It’s a perfect example of the kind of strip that should thrive in this format – beloved second string characters in a thoughtfully executed revival - in other words, a property that wouldn’t garner the necessary sales to thrive in a stand-alone book.

WONDER WOMAN: Although a nice idea that’s executed by a clearly talented artist, this is the epic fail of Wednesday Comics. Just because you have a large page, there’s no reason to overcrowd it with tiny, overwritten panels. The strict use of a pastel color palette only serves to mush it all together in a hard to follow and headache-inducing mess.

SGT ROCK: Joe Kubert on Sgt. Rock? I’m happy to see it in any circumstance, and the WC format really allows Kubert’s art room to pop. The story could pick up the pace a bit, but even so, this is a delight to behold.

THE FLASH: The rare case where playing off old newspaper strip conventions is utilized to try something new. The Flash page is split into two strips, with the main Flash strip is joined by an Iris West or Gorilla Grodd strip that informs the Flash content. It’s hit and miss overall, but kudos to the creators turning conventions of the newspaper strip around.

DEMON/CATWOMAN: Walt Simonson has a nice premise going here and Stelfreeze is doing fine work, but after a promising start it’s feeling stagnant.

This underlines the problem with the book and indeed, any criticism of it. The series is scheduled to run for a finite number of issues and as far as I know, all the strips will be in every issue, so the creators are bound by constrictions – different than a standard comic book, which some creators seem to find freeing, but not given the full freedom that a daily or weekly newspaper strip artist has in allowing a story to find its natural length.

If the book survives to be an ongoing, it stands to reason that creators could find that kind of freedom with features rotating out when stories are completed. Anchor features (like Batman or Superman) could rotate creators and this could take the place of the old “Tales of the Dark Knight” concept, where top creators have an unconventional format in which to tell that one Batman story they’ve been dying to tell.

If that can happen, Wednesday Comics might become something more than a mixed bag of features that are bound together by format.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

DEAR MATTEL

Where the FUCK are the new waves of the DC Universe Classics line?

There have not been new waves at mass retail consistantly since the early part of this year. How long do you think the bigger retailers will tolerate the restock of old inventory over new merchandise that will actually move off of the pegs?



The dork who heads up this line at Mattel and calls himself 'TOY GURU' out there on the collector websites that suck up to him, is fucking this up terribly. He loves to show off all the sculpts but can't ship to save his ass.

Oh hell YES!

The adaptation of Image Comics WALKING DEAD series by Robert Kirkman is coming to the small screen care of AMC with Frank Darabont onboard no less. Dunno about you but it makes my day.

VARIETY breaks the story so read all about it here.

Wanna own some Hasbro/Marvel toy art?

Looks like veteran comic book illustrator Bob Layton was commissioned by Hasbro Toys to create the package art for the current line of the Marvel Universe action figures. Specifically, the box art for the SECRET WARS based series of the line.

Bob is selling the original line art. You can find the gallery and pricing here.

I think Layton also contributed designs or package artwork to the original Mattel SECRET WARS toy line in the '80s. Likely why Hasbro involved him.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Better than the GI Joe Moive!

Infinitely superior!

NEW MUSIC FOR August 11th, 2009

A better looking week than we've seen in a while, as the summer winds down and the labels start launching records they hope will still be selling at the holidays. Most will not be, of course.

CATALOG:

Lots of weak Hybrid Jazz CDs at budget prices - I assume this is just cleaning house as the Hybrid format was an epic fail.

A bunch of Sony Super Hits Budget collections from second rate artists makes me think they are trying to turn the tide of iTunes DL's of the one track these artists recorded that anyone can remember by adding nine more songs for $3 more, but I doubt it'll work.

Deluxe Reissues of mediocre metal albums that no one was asking for at high prices which'll assure they don't sell where metal fans buy music. Oops.

The big catalog item of the week is the most complete Woodstock collection ever. Still no Band, but it sounds like this is the rest of it. Not sure anyone cares, despite attempts to make a bonafide big deal about the 40th anniversary. 40 years ago? Most of those people are dead and/or stopped buying CDs a long time ago.

And speaking of dead people, an import-only box set of Michael Jackson's Sony albums that was originally intended to be released in conjunctions with the London concert dates that killed him is getting a wider release in the US. The albums are packaged in mini-sleeves and there's a booklet, too.

NEW RELEASES:

Slightly more interesting stuff here including likely to do quite well albums from Cobra Starship and new young country star Jessie James, both of which should be available to you at under $7 each if you live near major retailers.

Interesting to see another album from the Bottlerockets, who I had assumed dead by alcohol poisoning. Curious to see if they still have it.

Some poor sucker is trying again to break Billy Connolly in the States. Despite being the most popular english-speaking stand-up in the world, the USA will never care.

Robert Pollard is cranking out another album this week. Apparently he put some effort into this one, but I'll believe it when I hear it.

Rush are releasing a live re-recording of their "overlooked" Grace Under Pressure album for old fogies and that poof Andrew Wolf is digging his career hole a little deeper this week, too.

ALEXANDER, MONTY
-My America (Hybrid)
ARCH ENEMY-Stigmata (Deluxe)
ARCH ENEMY-Burning Bridges (Deluxe)
AUGURY-Fragmentary Evidence
BALL, TOM-Guitar Music
BEHEMOTH-Evangelion
BOTTLEROCKETS-Lean Forward
CASTRO, TOMMY -Hard Believer
CAVO-Bright Night, Dark Days
COBRA STARSHIP-Hot Mess
CONNOLLY, BILLY-Big Yin: In Concert
CONNOLLY, BILLY-Solo Concert
CRAY, ROBERT-This Time
DANIELS, CHARLIE-Super Hits
DARK TRANQUILLITY-Haven (Deluxe/Reissue)
DARK TRANQUILLITY-Projector (Deluxe/Reissue)
DARK TRANQUILLITY-Yesterworlds
DEAD SWANS-Sleepwalkers
EARTH WIND & FIRE-Super Hits
FORD, ROBBEN -Soul On Ten
FOREST STREAM-Crown Of Winter
GREENHILL, MITCH-Shepherd Of The City
INTRUDERS-Super Hits (Remaster)
JACKSON, ALAN-Lot About Livin'
JACKSON, MICHAEL-Collection (5 CD)
JAMES, JESSE-Jessie James
JONES, GEORGE-Super Hits
LISA LISA & CULT JAM-Super Hits
MAHOGANY, KEVIN-Pride And Joy (Hybrid)
MANTOOTH, FRANK-Ladies Sing For Lovers
MARIE, TEENA-Super Hits (Remaster)
MERAUDER -God Is I
MULVEY, PETER-Songs From A Flying Machine
NELSON, WILLIE-Lost Highway
NIGHTMARE OF YOU-Infomaniac
OZOMATLI-Don't Mess With The Dragon
PASS, JOE-Blues For Fred
PETERSON, OSCAR-Skol (Hybrid)
PIECES OF A DREAM-No Assembly Required (Hybrid)
POLLARD, ROBERT-Elephant Jokes
PRIDE, CHARLEY-There's A Little Bit Of Hank In Me
REIGNING SOUND-Love And Curses
RUSH-Grace Under Pressure: Live
SLAUGHTERHOUSE-Slaughterhouse
SMITH, MINDY-Stupid Love
SPYRO GYRA-Deep End
STERN, MIKE-Big Neighborhood
SWASHBUCKLE-Back To The Noose
VANDELLAS/MARVELETTE-Winning Combinations
VARIOUS ARTISTS-Woodstock: 40 Years - Back To Yasgur's Farm
WILLIAMS, HANK -I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
WILSON, STEVEN-Nsrgnts Rmxs
WINDS OF PLAGUE-Great Stone War
WOLF, PATRICK-Bachelor

NEW DVD RELEASES August 11th, 2009

Not as sucktacular as last week, although the mere presence of 17 Again on the list makes this the gayest posting we've ever done. Here's hoping that "I Love You man" has secret charms that I missed in the theatrical release.

17 AGAIN

90210-First Season
EAGLES OVER LONDON
GOZU- Takashi Miike
I LOVE YOU MAN
LAST RESORT
LIE TO ME-Season 1
LIFE & TIMES OF VIVIENNE VYLE
LONELY STREET (Jay Mohr committing another act of violence against his career)
ROAD TRIP: BEER PONG-Unrated Edition
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA-Film Collection

Comic Reviews: August 5th Releases

Another week, another mixed bag. Marvel's Dark Reign storyline is a great idea, but so many of the books involved are treading water as events unfold that I'm suffering DR Fatigue. If regular crossover events are going to be sales drivers, the big two need to be careful to prevent this. Of course, since DC's big events are so badly marketed and executed, they probably won't feel any difference - unless DC Zombies, whoops, I mean Blackest Night starts to go south.

Here's the rundown:

DC
The Mighty #7
There are too many of these "real-world" rogue superhero books going right now (see my reviews of two more in the indie section), and few of them have the impact of the obvious inspiration, Miracleman. This is one of the better ones, and after catching up on the previous few issues, I'm eagerly anticipating more. The Johnson covers help, too.

Jonah Hex #46
The best book DC is publishing, IMO. Palmiotti is doing great work on the title, although this, the 3rd part of a rare multipart Hex story, is let down a bit by the artist's storytelling skills, which makes the plot seem more convoluted than it really is. The whole thing will probably read better in a trade.

Justice League: Cry For Justice #2
Much online griping about this book, primarily the supposedly "out of character" portrayals of the top DC icons. My view is that the core books are the ones that dropped the ball and that this is closer in spirit to who these people are (ie, not the whining pussies they have morphed into in the monthlies). The art is nice, the story is going somewhere and you don't need a copy of "Who's Who in the DC Universe" at the ready when you read it, three things you can't say about most of DC's lackluster output.

The Hangman #1
DC is obviously trying to re-launch the Red Circle heroes with some real juice, employing fan-fave Straczynski as writer and Bill Sienkiewicz as inker, but sadly, this is an epic fail. Highly reminiscent of a plethora of origins that have come before it, the best thing I can say is that it is a serviceable comic that does not bode well for the Red Circle relaunch, especially as lesser talents are creating the rest.

Dead Romeo #5
If someone can tell me why I'm still reading this, let me know. Once I realized this revenge story of a reanimated hair metal band frontman wasn't Jesse "Blaze" Snider (son of Twisted Sister frontman Dee) working out his daddy issues, I lost interest. Only one issue to go before it grinds to a boring conclusion.

MARVEL
Amazing Spider-man #601
Cute and well illustrated issue featuring two short stories, one by Waid and another by Bendis. The Waid piece is a typical "that goofy Peter"story, with the slight twist that Parker bangs his room-mate after a drunken party, and has apparently blacked out so he can't remember where he promised to meet MJ, who showed up in #600. What a hero! The Bendis story is nothing more than a set-up for Jessica Jones' return to costumed adventuring. Well done, but overall this feels like it's moving pretty slowly.

Hulk #13
Tom Palmer should never, ever ink Ed McGuinness. As usual, barely anything happens. Norman Osbourne almost in last panel.

Ghost Rider: Heaven's On Fire
I really enjoyed the last GR run, which ended with the devil taking over heaven, which seems to me like a bigger story than Norman Osbourne taking over SHEILD, but what do I know? This picks up where that left off, and is another solid effort, including the return of Son Of Satan. NOTE: I would be happier to pay $2.99 instead of $3.99 and not get the umpteenth reprint of old Ploog GR stories that are looking to be the regular back up feature of this book!

Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth #2
No one is happier than I to see multiple Deadpool books on the shelves, although I am not feeling them all. The main book is great and I'm happy to say this one is a close second. Top mayhem and carnage with old skool Marvel humor, largely provided by the Zombie Deadpool head.

Captain America Reborn #2
I like all the talent involved here, but this is hardly a testament to their talents. Again, don't bore us, get to the chorus! Norman Osbourne in last panel.

Destroyer #5
Great mini-series from Kirkman wraps up in style, neatly sidestepping an ending that had been telegraphed since issue 1. Kirkman is at his best here, writing a refreshing take on the trad superhero story. It's a skill much needed in more writers, and the proof is that the most popular writers are able to do it well. Kirkman beats Bendis at his own game here.

Zodiac #2
Artist Nathan Fox apparently thinks he is Paul Pope and that Paul Pope's style is appropriate for a superhero/crime book. He is wrong.

War Machine #8
I really enjoy this gritty take on Iron Man's loose cannon counterpart, and this issue is no exception. Great pacing, art and storytelling, and an interesting take on WM. Although I'm troubled by the appearance of Norman O in the last panel, which is apparently how you cliffhang a Marvel book this week.

THE REST
Astro City: The Dark Age Book Three #4
I typically enjoy an Astro City story, but this one has gotten away from Kurt & Brent. Looking forward to this mini ending and the re-launch of the regular monthly series. Hopefully we won't find that Busiek is burnt out, as this used to be one of the most enjoyable books published in the genre.

Irredeemable #5
Feels like the wheels have come off this book, which started as another take on the "good guy turned bad" theme. I initially had high hopes, thinking Waid's formidable background working on mainstream books would inform some new twists. It now feels hackneyed and stereotypical, and I'm not confident there are better days ahead, especially as this issue is touted as a "great jumping-on point", which it really isn't.

Absolution #1
Yet another "good guy turns bad" story, this time from writer Christos Gage. I find Gage's work elsewhere fairly pedestrian, so I was curious to see if he would cut loose here. The reality is less than I hoped, but this is still a promising start, with subtler overtones than the other books mining the same ground. Looking forward to issue two.

Chew #3
You should be reading this book, it's a gas. Not a huge fan of Guillory's art, but the package works and every issue so far has felt fresh - maybe not such a big deal considering this is issue three, but considering how many books blow their load in issue one, this is cause for celebration.

Comic Reviews: Week of 8/

Comic Reviews: Week of 8/

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Disney goes UP your ass for their money

Disney announced details of the release of their Blu Ray and DVD set of Pixar's fabulous UP! While we won't see the set until November 10th, start saving because the Mouse is bending us all over for this one.

The SRP will be $45.99 for this FOUR disk set. A screw job if ever we saw one. Disney forces the Blu Ray fan also purchase a DVD copy and digital copy that are typically included in these sets. I know revenues have been hard on Disney this past year but taking it out on the family who wants to own your little films is not the way to recoup losses. At least give us the choice of a package without these extras most of us don't need. If I'm buying it on Blu Ray, I have no interest in watching it on DVD now do I? That's like adding a VHS tape to every DVD set sold back in the early days of the DVD revolution.

And the Limited Edition Set? Only $199.99 SRP. Comes with the overpriced Blu Ray set and a replica of the Pixar mascot, Luxo Jr. Really? a $155 extra for a lamp that likely won't even work?

Oww, Oooo, EEEEE, Owch, my ASS! Disney, Pixar, stop! Why would you do this to your loyal fans?


Friday, August 7, 2009

GI Joe: The Rise of Corba...The Fall of Sommers...and a toy line



"Wait! Time for Flashback!"






GI JOE: The Rise of Cobra is nothing more than vehicle to sell toys for Hasbro and a great time waster as a summer film. Hasbro and Paramount thought lightning could easily strike twice and if the Transformers franchise works in Hollywood then certainly the Joes would as well.

Nope. I would not be holding out any hopes that this is the launch of great new film franchise and that any sequel will be rushed into production soon. While I would not categorize the film as unwatchable, it’s certainly forgettable. If you grew up as a fan of the GI Joe franchise since the ‘80s, you will find the characters or motivations bear little resemblance to anyone in the original animated series or toy lines. The only exception being the popular good-guy and elite ninja, Snake Eyes.

This film is a mess and looks and feels like it was edited and re-edited over and over by a lot of different people before the final version was settled upon. Flashback sequences are cut up and sprinkled nearly every ten minutes throughout the course of the story. There are different flashbacks for multiple characters and it interrupts the flow of the film constantly. Not that the main plot is that engrossing but seriously, as an example, how often do we need to be reminded that Duke and the Baroness had a history? Hey! Another flashback of Duke kissing a blonde Baroness! Later…Hey! A Baroness flashback of her kissing Duke! I guess they meant something to each other at one point. Hmmm.

Yes, this is primarily a film that is meant to drive every 10 year old boy straight into a toy aisle. There are lots of ‘splosions, ninja fights, crazy cool high tech gadgets and vehicles. But most of the action sequences have been lifted off a history of popular action or sci-fi films. The entire last big battle sequence is practically stolen shot for shot from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi for God’s sake. Apparently the writers really liked that film. Check it out, you’ll see I’m not kidding…The Rebel fleet assault on the Death Star/Main bad guy base: a desperate sword fight inside between good and evil; a good guy crack team struggles to take out a big weapon that is firing on the fleet outside; a vehicle chase in a narrow cavern that ends with a huge fire ball hurling through this cavern and our heroes making it out just in time! It’s amazing these filmmakers got away with that much stolen material.

A few of the actors actually seem to be trying in this film so it’s easy to feel bad for them. Especially the two lead actresses, Sienna Miller as the Baroness and Rachel Nichols as Scarlett. Both hot, both trying to give their limited characters depth and emotion. Even a few of the background characters are better than the main ones. Said Taghmaoui as Breaker for example was way more interesting than either Duke or Ripcord. But there are also the total worthless lumps like the awful dull Channing Tatum as Duke. Poor Dennis Quaid tries as General Hawk but I have a feeling between the crappy writing and messy editing, he got the short shrift.

With the additional marketing tossed at this film by Paramount in the past several weeks, the reported cost of the film has reached the 300 million mark. I’d be very surprised to see this little project will come anywhere close to that number even with the worldwide tally added in. Hell, not even with any DVD sales added in. Which is why it’s not hard to predict that even though the film ends with a definitive opening for a sequel, don’t hold your breath for it anytime soon.

The director Stephen Sommers now cements himself firmly in hack status in Hollywood. Can’t afford a talented action director for your film? Call Sommers! He’ll be happy to crap it out for you. He’s seen Star Wars films too after all.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Pathetic DVD & Blue Ray New Releases for August 4th, 2009

Yikes! This pathetic mish-mosh of weak titles is only a preview of weeks to come, I'm afraid as the studio gear up their onslaught of last season's TV show releases. This week the unfunny and gawd awful "Flight Of The Conchords" will sadly be one of the better sellers, followed by "Race From, oops, I mean To Witch Mountain". It's too hot or rainy to go outside and there is NOTHING at the theaters, and this is all the Home Video boys can deliver. This week's schedule makes the home video release of Heroes Season 3 look appetizing. Hold on till September, everybody.

CRAVINGS

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS-Season 2 (2 DVD)
FRAGMENTS
HARVARD BEATS YALE 29-29
HARVARD BEATS YALE 29-29 (Blu-ray)
MACHINE GIRL 1.5
MUTANT CHRONICLES (2 DVD)
OBSESSED
RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN-(2 DVD)
RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN-(Blu-ray)
RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN-(1 DVD)
SOLOIST
TIGGER MOVIE-10th Anniversary
TIM & ERIC AWESOME SHOW GREAT JOB!-3rd Season
WOLFHOUND

Pathetic Music Releases for August 4th, 2009

Wow! Since we started posting upcoming releases here there have been some pretty dire weeks for releases, but this is EASILY the ugliest yet. Lots of side projects this week, the most interesting of which is the pathetically named "Yim Yames" George Harrison covers EP.

Lots of rank post-90's rawk and scraping bottom of the barrel comps (I'm looking at you, Kool Keith) with a slim selection of true new releases makes this a week to go to the beach instead of the rekkid stow. And the DVDs aren't much better!

ANCHOR & BRAILLE
(ANBERLIN)-Felt
ANJULIE-Anjulie
ASSJACK-Assjack
BENSON, DOUG-Unbalanced Load
BLANK, AMANDA-I Love You
CHARLES, RAY-Great Ray Charles (3 CD)
CURTIS, CATIE-Hello Stranger
DUKE & THE KING -Nothing Gold Can Stay
FRUIT BATS-Ruminant Band
GLORIANA-Gloriana
GREY MACHINE-Disconnected
IRON AGE-Sleeping Eye
JAPANDROIDS-Post-Nothing
JOKAMAN-In The Fast Lane
KOOL KEITH-Lost Masters Collection
MARMOSET-Tea Tornado
MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD -Radiolarians III
MODEST MOUSE-No One's First, And You're Next
MONK, THELONIOUS-Great Thelonious Monk
NIGHTRAGE-Wearing A Martyr's Crown
OCEAN (GERMANY)-Fluxion
PLENTI, JULIAN (INTERPOL)-Julian Plenty Is... Skyscraper
POISON PEN-Money Shot
REED, JIMMY-Bossman: Best & Rarest Of Jimmy Reed
SUICIDE CITY -Frenzy
TANTRIC-Mind Control
THROW ME THE STATUE-Creaturesque
TROUT, WALTER-Unspoiled By Progress: 20 Years Of Harcore Blues
VARIOUS ARTISTS-BOSTON GETS A GRIP-Tribute To Aerosmith
WATERMELON SLIM-Escape From The Chicken Coop
YACHT-See Mystery Lights
YAMES, YIM (MY MOURNING JACKET)-Tribute To George Harrison
YPPAH-They Know What Ghost Know

Saturday, August 1, 2009

New Comics for August 5th 2009

Here are some of the items that should be arriving at your LCS this week. Note that Diamond is telling retailers the Hot Toys Batmobile / Tumbler is due to arrive this week, but I'm skeptical myself. It is just out in HK, but most HT stuff has taken months to reach DC Direct, so this seems unlikely at best, but if you ordered one - get your wallet ready just in case!

ABSOLUTION #1 (OF 6)
AGENTS OF ATLAS #9
AGENTS OF ATLAS #9 70TH FRAME VARIANT
ALL WINNERS COMICS #1 70TH ANNIV SPECIAL
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #601
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #601 70TH FRAME VARIANT
ANGEL #24
ANGEL AFTER THE FALL TP VOL 01
ASTRO CITY THE DARK AGE BOOK THREE #4 (OF 4)
AUTHORITY #13
BARACK OBAMA #2 THE FIRST 100 DAYS
BATMAN #608 POSTER
BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #32
BETTY #181
BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #173
BEYOND WONDERLAND COVER GALLERY
BLACK PANTHER 2 #7
BOOSTER GOLD REALITY LOST TP
BOYS #33
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #27
CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN #2 (OF 5)
CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN #2 (OF 5) CASSADAY VARIANT
CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN #2 (OF 5) TIM SALE VARIANT
CHEW #1 3RD PTG
CHEW #2 2ND PTG
CHEW #3
COMIC SHOP NEWS
COMICS REVUE #280
DARK REIGN ZODIAC #2 (OF 3)
DC LIBRARY FLASH OF TWO WORLDS HC
DEAD ROMEO #5 (OF 6)
DEADPOOL MERC WITH A MOUTH #2
DEADPOOL MERC WITH A MOUTH #2 70TH FRAME VARIANT
DEATH OF THE NEW GODS TP
DESTROYER #5 (OF 5)
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP #2
DOCTOR WHO CLASSICS SERIES 2 #9
DOOM PATROL #1
DOOM PATROL #1 VARIANT
DYNAMO 5 #23
EXILES #5
EXILES #5 70TH FRAME VARIANT
FALLEN ANGEL REBORN #2
FANGORIA #286
FEMALE FORCE #5 PRINCESS DIANA
FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH RUN #4 (OF 6)
FINAL CRISIS REVELATIONS HC
FINDING NEMO REEF RESCUE #2 (OF 4)
G FAN 2010 CALENDAR
GHOST RIDERS HEAVENS ON FIRE #1 (OF 6)
GHOSTBUSTERS STAY PUFT MARSHMALLOW MAN BANK
GIRL GENIUS TP VOL 08
GREEK STREET #2
HACK SLASH SERIES #24
HEAVY METAL SEPT 2009
HEROES REBORN THE RETURN TP
HOT TOYS DARK KNIGHT 1/6 SCALE BATMOBILE
HOUSE OF M MASTERS OF EVIL #1 (OF 4)
HOUSE OF MYSTERY #16
HULK #13 70TH FRAME GOLDEN VARIANT
HULK #13
HULK #13 VARIANT
INCARNATE #1 (OF 3)
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #16 70TH FRAME VARIANT
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #16
IRON MAN ARMOR WARS #1 (OF 4)
IRREDEEMABLE #5
IRREDEEMABLE TP VOL 01
JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #53
JAMES BOND TP GIRL MACHINE
JERSEY GODS #6
JONAH HEX #46
JUSTICE LEAGUE CRY FOR JUSTICE #2 (OF 7)
KADE RISING SUN #4 (OF 4)
LOCKE & KEY TP VOL 01 WELCOME TO LOVECRAFT
LOVE AND CAPES #11
LUKE CAGE NOIR #1 (OF 4)
MAGE AWAKENING TAROT DECK
MIGHTY #7
MMW GOLDEN AGE YOUNG ALLIES HC VOL 01
MMW GOLDEN AGE YOUNG ALLIES HC VOL 01 VAR ED 121
MMW SUB-MARINER HC VOL 03
MMW SUB-MARINER HC VOL 03 VAR ED 120
MUPPET ROBIN HOOD #3
NEWTYPE
NORTH 40 #2 (OF 6)
OFFICIAL INDEX TO MARVEL UNIVERSE #8
PAX ROMANA TP VOL 01
PHANTOM GHOST WHO WALKS #4
POLITICAL POWER #1 COLIN POWELL
RED CIRCLE THE HANGMAN #1
ROSARIO VAMPIRE GN VOL 08
ROSE GN GRAPHIX ED
SAGA SOLOMON KANE TP
SAVAGE DRAGON #151
SCOOBY DOO #147
SECRET SIX #12
SOLOMON GRUNDY #6 (OF 7)
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG ARCHIVES TP VOL 11
SPIDER-MAN CRIME AND PUNISHER TP
SPIDER-MAN FAMILY TIES TP
SPIRIT #32
STAR TREK ALIEN SPOTLIGHT Q
STAR WARS DARK TIMES BLUE HARVEST #0
STAR WARS INVASION #2 (OF 5)
STRANGE ADVENTURES #6 (OF 8)
STREET FIGHTER IV #3 (OF 4)
SUPERMAN #204 POSTER
SUPERMAN WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #6 (OF 12)
TALES FROM RIVERDALE DIGEST #34
TALES FROM THE CRYPT GN VOL 07
TALES OF TMNT #60
TERRY MOORES ECHO #14
THE GOOD THE BAD & THE UGLY #2
TMNT COLLECTED BOOK TP VOL 01
TORCHWOOD BAY OF THE DEAD HC
TORCHWOOD INTO THE SILENCE HC
TORCHWOOD THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT HC
TRANSMETROPOLITAN TP VOL 03
TROJAN WAR #4 (OF 5)
TYRESE GIBSONS MAYHEM #1 (OF 3)
ULTIMATUM FANTASTIC FOUR REQUIEM #1
ULTIMATUM X-MEN REQUIEM #1
UMBRELLA ACADEMY BUTTON PACK #2
UNKNOWN SOLDIER #10
VEIL #2
WAR MACHINE #8
WAR OF KINGS #6 (OF 6)
WAR OF KINGS WARRIORS #2 (OF 2)
WARLORD #5
WARREN ELLIS FRANKENSTEINS WOMB
WEDNESDAY COMICS #5
WILLIAM SHATNER PRESENTS TEK WAR #2
WITCHFINDER IN THE SERVICE OF ANGELS #2 (OF 5)
WOMEN OF THE DCU SERIES 2 SUPERGIRL BUST
X-MEN ORIGINAL SIN TP
YOUNG LOVECRAFT GN