This is the series spun out of Point Blank (which itself is spun out of Alan Moore’s run on Wildcats, but no matter), brought to you by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, the same creative team behind Criminal and Incognito. Here’s where the team comes together, in this fantastic story of a superpowered secret agent desperate to be brought in from the cold. I’m hesitant to say much more though, because the twists and turns are so wild I don’t want to spoil anything. Suffice it to say I COULD NOT put this down! Great on so many levels. Do be aware that this is for “mature audiences”, full of language, sex and violence, and a fair degree of superhero hate (which I usually don’t go for, but it’s used wonderfully here).

I just love love love Darwyn Cooke, and he really gets to show off his chops here as a writer as well as an artist. The feature Batman story “Ego” is one of Cooke’s first works in comics, and it’s okay but not great, definitely an early work. The GOLD here though is the longest piece in the book, “Selina’s Big Score”. It’s just a solid heist story featuring Selina Kyle and a character named Stark (clearly based on Lee Marvin in Point Blank), and there’s nary a cape in sight. It reads like a practice run for Cooke’s adaptation of Parker The Hunter (excellent, in case you haven’t heard), and you guys KNOW it’s awesome if I’m recommending it, seeing as I have no great familiarity with the DC Universe and virtually no prior interest in Catwoman as a character. A-1 stuff here.

HeavyInk customer Agrajag has built something pretty awesome: an iPhone app for HeavyInk. He just announced it in our forums. Browse the site, manage your subs, place orders, cancel orders, etc etc etc. Pretty cool!

You can read Agrajag’s blog to get more info, including screenshots and vids.

Link to the free version: itms://itunes.apple.com/us/app/heavyink/id341633748?mt=8

Link to the paid version ($2.99): itms://itunes.apple.com/us/app/heavyink-plus/id331009115?mt=8

Note: HeavyInk didn’t write the app, and we don’t have iPhone’s ourselves (grrrrrr!), so while we’ll make every effort to make everything work smoothly, if you need any help with it it’s probably best to ask Agrajag himself!

Some time ago we decided the front page of our comic site needed an update, so we started testing four or five different versions to see what worked best for our users. Every user was assigned a random front page, and we listened to feedback and looked at how users interacted with each page. We collected a lot of data. We waited. For a really long time. We’ve finally picked the winner:

All of them!

If you surf on over to the main page you’ll see some new buttony looking things across the top of the page. Browse Comics takes you to a slightly updated version of what was our original page. Shipping This Week lets you know what’s shipping, and lets you browse the list by sales rank, author, artist, publisher, etc. Recent Happenings gives you a dashboard to see what’s going on at HeavyInk: what people are subcsribing to, posting in the forum, blogging about, etc etc etc. Finally, Browse Graphic Novels lets you see what’s going on in the world of Graphic Novels.

Do you like one of these more than the others? Scroll to the bottom of the page, and if the page isn’t already set as your default you’ll see a button that says “Make This Your Default View”. Then, every time you go to Heavy Ink’s front page you’ll get your default page.

Oh, and as a lil’ bonus we’ve added a new page that provides a more useful listing of all the comic book publishers we carry.

Thanks for waiting so patiently for the refresh, and please let us know what you think!

A new comics-curmudgeon diving head first into the thousands of back issues on our shelves, grabbing a random comic, writing what I think. Today’s issue:

Comic Book: Tor #4 (2 in stock)

I think this is a new-ish series about a classic character, rather than a re-issue of a classic work. It’s certainly done in a style that’s several decades old. As usual I’ve jumped in right in the middle, and the protagonist starts out below ground trying to escape from a tentacled beastie. The story is the classic “misfits and outcasts surviving in a hostile world”. There’s no dialog, just narrative, but the narration does capture the characters’ perspectives. Different from most of the things I’ve seen recently, nice change of pace.

Diving head first into the thousands of back issues on our shelves, grabbing a random comic, writing what I think. Today’s issue:

Comic Book: Push #5 (2 in stock)

Issue 5 of a 6 issue movie prequel. I haven’t seen the movie. Has anyone seen it? Is it any good?. If the writing is like the writing in this issue, I’d guess it’s ok but not great. Probably has lots of good action and effects but only ok plot, characters and dialogue. Am I right?

Diving head first into the thousands of back issues on our shelves, grabbing a random comic, writing what I think. Today’s issue:

Comic Book: C E Murphys Take A Chance #2 (4 in stock)

This is what I’ve been hoping for when starting this little feature: something I’ve never heard of that turns out to be pretty darn good! The setting is reasonably standard trope: non-super-powered vigilante fights crime in a universe where 8.1% of the population* has super powers. When story with a pretty common plot turns out to be a good read, that usually means the writing’s pretty good. In this case, the characters are well drawn (not talking about the art, though that’s also fine if not groundbreaking), the dialog is convincing, and the action moves along nicely. I’ll be tracking down the rest of these, looks like there’s 5 issues in total. Thumbs up!

• * I did the math, it’s actually slightly tricky! 25% of world population gets a virus, 1/3 die, 1/3 recover normally, and 1/3 get superpowers. So, 7.5% (0.3 * 0.25 = 0.075) of the original population is super. But… 7.5% died, so we’ve got a smaller population… 7.5 / (100.0 – 7.5) = 0.081

Diving head first into the thousands of back issues on our shelves, grabbing a random comic, writing what I think. Today’s issue:

Comic Book: Ninja High School #165 (3 in stock)

Oh my. I don’t know what audience this title is geared to, but it’s certainly not me. OK, I understand it’s issue #165 and there’s a lot of backstory I’m missing, but I found this one to be mostly incoherent. Basically, there’s a fight where random people keep showing up, engage in cliched melodramatic dialog, then get stabbed. At the end it turns out someone is a robot. Oof.

Diving head first into the thousands of back issues on our shelves, grabbing a random comic, writing what I think. Today’s issue:

Comic Book: Ghost Rider #31 (2 in stock)

Gotta appreciate a comic where, jumping in at issue #31, you get a clear summary of where the story’s at along with a crisp, well executed 32 pages. Yeah, it’s bubbling with some of the standard comic book cliches (anti-hero shamed into action, etc) but it’s all well executed, even if it’s not blazing new trails. Maybe the word is “workmanlike”? Merriam Webster defines this as “competent and skillful but not outstanding or original”, and that seems about right. Thumbs up, but not jumping up and down. I’ll save that for later…

Diving head first into the thousands of back issues on our shelves, grabbing a random comic, writing what I think. Today’s issue:

Comic Book: Welcome To Hoxford #4 (7 in stock)

I’m not generally a big fan of the horror genre, though I’ve been reading a decent “Vampires on the Mississippi” book lately (Fevre Dream by George RR Martin), so maybe this comic will appeal…

I do like Ben Templesmith’s art. I’ve seen and appreciated his covers for a while, but this is actually the first time I’ve opened one up. Gorgeous colors. Nicely creepy. He likes to draw beasties with great big curvy tongues.

This is the last issue of a werewolf story, taking place in a mental institution named “Hoxford”, and it looks like it nicely ties up some reasonably straight forward story lines: werewolves vs. werewolves, inmates vs. werewolves, etc. Nice twist to the story, too. Not bad, maybe I’ll hop back to the earlier issues and read the whole thing!

Diving head first into the thousands of back issues on our shelves, grabbing a random comic, writing what I think. Today’s issue:

Comic Book: Everybody’s Dead #4 (4 in stock)

Zombies and frat boys. Zombies get hacked up, non-zombies get ‘et. Characters, dialog, story and art: all kinda flat, but there are some amusing bits here and there. Didn’t really hold my interest, shrug.

Diving head first into the thousands of back issues on our shelves, grabbing a random comic, writing what I think. Today’s issue:

Comic Book: Guardians Of The Galaxy #9 (8 in stock)

Our description mentions pencils by “Bong Dazo”, but sadly when I look inside no mention of Bong. I don’t actually know anything about Bong, but I wanted to see his art. Oh well.

For jumping in at an issue #9 this is actually pretty comprehensible. Prisoners in a Negative Zone prison are under siege by ugly baddies, someone named Space-Lord Star-Lord shows up, naked, and offers help from “The Guardians of the Galaxy”, some of the prisoners are skeptical (“The Guardians of the Galaxy? You just made that name up!”), people get beat up, a message gets sent, a cosmonaut dog beams the team in, and… end of episode.

So stuff happens, some of it even made sense to me, and there’s some funny bits. Decent, semi-thumbs up.

We have over 6,000 different comic issues in stock, from all across the past year-plus we’ve been in business. I’m going to experiment with a new idea: roll some (virtual) dice and pick a random comic from our old-stock shelves, flip through it, and write a mini first-impressions-only review. Fair warning, I’m a bit of a comics curmudgeon, and likely won’t like most of the stuff I flip through… plus I’ll be jumping in right in the middle of stuff more often than not, and won’t have a clue.

What the heck, here’s the first installment:

Comic Book: Ambush Bug Year None #4 (9 in stock)

OK, looks like some meta-DC-universe thing. I like meta. Breaking the fourth wall. Got it, don’t always need that pesky extra wall. Lots of DC inside jokes. Don’t really follow DC, don’t get the jokes. Seems to be just DC inside jokes, no coherent story. Not my cuppa. Oh well.

A Robotika promotional image takes shape (click for larger versions)

Work in progress for a new hardcover volume (click for larger versions)

The 4 pre-restructuring covers of Robotika: For a Few Rubles More, as they were originally intended to be published (click for larger versions)

Some non-Robotika personal work (click for larger versions)

Alex has made a preview of first 32 pages of the new 64-page Robotika: For a Few Rubles More #1 available here. If you like it, you can susbscribe to the series or buy the first issue:

Robotika: For A Few Rubles More

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Robotika: For A Few Rubles More #1

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A new hardcover printing of the collected first Robotika series is available again, so folks new to the series can go back and read that as well:

Robotika Vol. 1

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Alex’s blog, Moonstruck, is here, and his home on HeavyInk is here.

We have a new feature on our website that lists the top 10 graphic novels as decided by the buying habits of our customers:

http://heavyink.com/graphic_novels

Right now we’re listing the Top 10 Instock Graphic Novels, Top 10 Upcoming Graphic Novels, and Top 10 Overall Graphic Novels. All data is for the last 3 months, and it’s updated in realtime. Check it out!

From the Heavy Ink inbox, 3/5/09, posted here with the kind permission of the sender:

HI,

Just dropping a line to tell you what a hell of a job you guys are doing. I specifically want to commend you on the quality of your packaging.

I’m in Iraq. I initially set up my shipping to remain in the states but when I noticed you ship to APOs, I couldn’t resist waiting for my comics and I opted to have a large shipment sent over. I started to regret it though, wondering soon after it shipped if the box would survive the abuse military mail typically gets these days as it is ferried through the front lines. Well I received the package and was astonished by two things: the simplicity of the packaging, and the quality of the packaging. None of the floppies were worse for the wear. Not a dent or ding.

Conversely, I placed a back-issue order around the same time through an esteemed competitor of yours. You know, the one with supposedly “bomb-proof” shipping (no pun intended). Well I opened the box and unwrapped gobs of paper, shrink wrapping and cardboard supports only to find that my beloved comics, even though individually bagged and boarded, suffered a crippling blow to the bottom left corner. Every last one of them. Not even the hardcovers were spared. That’s war for ya.

I’m not one to obsess over the condition of my comics – I read them, I don’t frame them. But it’s nice to receive a book in generally good shape, especially if I want to turn it over for a meager sum at some point. Let’s face it, comics ain’t too cheap. I really appreciate you guys taking the time and effort to see that they are packaged in such a solid manner, arriving on my “doorstep” as if they were fresh off the press. Heavy ink, indeed.

Best Regards,

NAME WITHHELD, SSgt, USAF

Postscript: I subsequently changed my HI shipping address back to the states; not that I was worried about any future shipments, but because I’M ALMOST OUTTA HERE!

We’re delighted to hear that we have satisfied customers in the military. Thanks for your service!

A few weeks ago we announced that we’re making some changes to shipping. We’re replacing free shipping with “cheap shipping” (only 99 cents per shipment) and we’re replacing the expensive UPS option with the less expensive Priority Mail option (only $2.99 per shipment).

We got lots of feedback, and the biggest question was “Can I have the option to schedule my comics to ship less frequently?”. We’ve been spending the last few weeks implementing that feature, along with some other goodies. This week will be the first week with our shipping changes, and we’ve released our new features today so you have some time to make adjustments before we ship on Wednesday. Here’s how it works:

If you visit your shipping preference page

http://heavyink.com/shipping

you’ll see options to change your shipping preferences, including options to schedule your shipments. Once you’ve picked the schedule you’d like, you can check out your personal shipping calendar

http://heavyink.com/me/account/calendar

to see what will ship when. The calendar uses release dates to provide shipping estimates, and we know that comics don’t always ship on time, but we’ll try to keep the calendar as accurate as we can.

Sometimes you’ll notice that there are comics in the calendar that could ship right away, but we’re holding them until your next scheduled shipment. If you want these comics sooner, you can click the “Ship Stuff Sooner” button. If you do that, we’ll ship you everything on your list that’s in stock the next time we ship. We’ll go back to your regular schedule after that one shipment.

That’s it! These are new features, so we want to hear from you if you see any problems or bugs. Our goal is to make your comics experience sweet and simple, we hope we’re on the right track.

Sincerely, The HeavyInk Team

Travis, Pete, Dan, Susan, and Andy

We’re working on a new feature: a custom shipping calendar for every customer that shows when we expect to ship stuff. This is sometimes hard to get right, because comics often run late. We did a little digging into how late by comparing the actual shipping date of every issue we’ve mailed to a customer in the last year or so against the original planned release date. This is data from thousands of issues. It’s kinda interesting… here’s the breakdown:

• 5 weeks early: 0.4%
• 4 weeks early: 1.0%
• 3 weeks early: 2.0%
• 2 weeks early: 2.5%
• 1 week early: 3.6%
• Right on time: 44.4%
• 1 week late: 10.5%
• 2 weeks late: 6.2%
• 3 weeks late: 4.8%
• 4 weeks late: 3.4%
• 5 weeks late: 2.8%
• 6 weeks late: 2.3%
• 7 weeks late: 2.2%
• 8 weeks late: 1.4%
• 9 weeks late: 1.2%
• 10 weeks late: 1.3%
• More than 10 weeks late: 10.0%

So, about 54% of the issues we ship are released on time or a bit early (hurray for early!). That’s more than half, which would be good if we were shooting a basketball. The average comic is delayed 3.2 weeks. The median comic does actually ship on time!

If we just look at all the comics that are released late, we can see how late they get released:

• 1 week late: 22.9%
• 2 weeks late: 13.6%
• 3 weeks late: 10.4%
• 4 weeks late: 7.3%
• 5 weeks late: 6.2%
• 6 weeks late: 5.1%
• 7 weeks late: 4.8%
• 8 weeks late: 3.0%
• 9 weeks late: 2.7%
• 10 weeks late: 2.8%
• More than 10 weeks late: 21.2%

The average late comic runs 7.5 weeks late. The median late comic runs 4 weeks late. So, if it’s running late, there’s a better than even chance it’ll be a few weeks late, not just one week late. Probably not very surprising to anyone who’s been reading comics for a while!

After listening to your feedback about our upcoming shipping changes, we sent all our customers this followup email:

About a week ago we announced that we’d be making some changes to our shipping prices. Here’s a quick recap: free shipping is being replaced with “cheap shipping” - only 99 cents per shipment - and we’re replacing the expensive UPS option with the less expensive Priority Mail option - only $2.99 per shipment.

Our customers (that’s you) replied via email and in the forum. Nearly everyone who responded asked for one basic feature: “Can I have the option to schedule my comics to ship less frequently?”

Yes, absolutely! We think this is a really reasonable request, so we’re going to implement it along with the planned changes to shipping prices.

There were a lot of good ideas on how this feature should work, and some requests for additional features to make it work even better. So, after some thought, here’s what we’re planning on:

You’ll be able to choose from the current “ship my subscriptions weekly” option as well as two new options: “ship every two weeks” and “ship every month”.

If you care more about how many comics come in a shipment instead of how often we ship, you’ll also be able to ask us to wait to ship stuff until 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 items are ready to go. Because we have limited space on our shipping floor we’ll automatically ship stuff every two months, even if you haven’t reached your chosen threshold.

So that you can keep track of what’s ready and waiting to ship, we’ll be providing you with a personalized “shipping calendar”, showing what’s already in stock, what’s coming soon, and when we expect to send your next shipment.

Because sometimes it might be worth paying a little extra for that one issue you’ve really been waiting for, the calendar page will have a “ship my stuff sooner” button if you want to forget about the schedule now and then.

That’s it! We hope you’ll like these new features.

Finally, we’d like to thank everyone for the response to the previous email. We announced a pretty drastic change to our shipping policies, and we got lots of understanding, positive feedback, and great feature suggestions. Even people who are leaving because of the change responded with grace and civility. That’s not always common these days, and we appreciate it.

Sincerely, The HeavyInk Team Travis, Pete, Dan, Andrew, Susan, and Andy

This email was sent out to all our customers about a week ago:

It’s hard to believe we’ve been in business for over a year! Over that time we’ve grown a lot and learned a lot, and the world has changed a bit around us. When we first started we were able to offer free shipping to everyone and still make ends meet. Since then there have been postage increases, higher packaging costs, rent increases, and so on. So, we need to make some small changes. We’ll be rolling these changes out in a few weeks, and we wanted to give you some notice ahead of time.

First, instead of free shipping, we’re going to offer cheap shipping. Only 99 cents a shipment, no matter how large or small. That’s still a lot less than we actually pay to ship you your comics, but this small change will help us a lot.

Also, we love our Canadian customers too, but shipping to Canada costs a bundle. We still plan to charge a lot less than we actually pay: only $2.49 per shipment. We know that’s a bigger jump than for shipping to the US, we hope you’ll understand why we need to do it.

Finally, we’ve listened to your feedback, and we realize that our current UPS shipping option isn’t exactly what people want as a premium shipping option. At $3.99, it winds up a bit too expensive for most people to use. So, we’re planning to replace our UPS shipping option with a new Priority Mail option, at only $2.99. It’s less expensive, and should arrive at your doors even faster than UPS does. Win!

We’ll be rolling out these changes in a few weeks, so if you want to take advantage of our free shipping while it’s still available, you’ve got some time.

Thanks for reading, and for shopping at HeavyInk. We know there are a lot of places to buy comics, thanks for helping HeavyInk succeed!

Sincerely, The HeavyInk Team Travis, Pete, Dan, Andrew, Susan, and Andy

In another big, direction altering move, DC Comics will be reviving Adventure Comics starring the Legion of Super-Heroes come February 2009. And although it will relaunch with a new #1, Adventure Comics’ original number count (starred in 1935 and running through 1983) had it behind only Action Comics, Superman, Detective Comics, and Batman for DC’s longest running title.

This revival has been rumored for some time, as well as DC giving fans some heavy handed hints by renaming the Guardian special (Part 3 of New Krypton) to Adventure Comics Special: featuring the Guardian, along with the recent cancellation of the current Legion of Super-Heroes on-going, and having Geoff Johns handle everything currently starring the Legion. There has just been a lot of pieces falling perfectly into place. So if anyone is still wondering about the state of the Legion post Final Crisis: Legion of 3 World, wonder no longer. They will still be around, and very much vital to the DCU.

The official announcement about Adventure Comics dropped during a sit down interview conducted by the LA Times with Dan Didio, DC Comics Editor-in-Chief. It was then reaffirmed a day later in DC’s February solicitations. In fact, February will see a #0 issue of Adventure Comics which will reprint the Legion’s first appearance, #247, to familiarize readers with the characters. But unfortunately, a reprint means the writer/ artist duo taking over the title at issue #1 is still under lock and key at DC. But if you ask any religious fan of DC Comics, they will instantly point their finger at Geoff Johns, teamed with artist extraordinaire Gary Frank. These two already did an arc involving Supes and the Legion during their run on Action Comics, and Johns has been the figurehead of the Legion property the last two plus years, carrying his epic Legion opus through three different titles.

Also, in more surprising Superman news, Didio confirmed in that same LA Times interview that Superman would be leaving Action Comics (giving up the starring role for only the second time, the first being his death). Instead, that book will be replaced by a number of unknown stars; my guess being the supporting cast James Robinson has been building for Metropolis over in Superman.

Plus, the Superman title will follow Kal-El’s adventures in space. Most likely stemming from the anti-Kryptonian sentiment the Earth inhabitants possess post “New Krypton.”

Whew.

So let’s get all this straight in our heads, because this is a lot to take in. Superman will be leaving Action Comics, replaced by different, yet-to-be-revealed stars, instead migrating to Adventure Comics to take part in adventures with his childhood buddies, the Legion, sure to be handled by Geoff Johns (I hope). Well if Action Comics is going to begin starring Metropolis’ supporting cast, the same group James Robinson has spent valuable time building up in Superman and his Jimmy Olsen centric specials, it only makes sense he would take over the title (the solicits do have February’s Action Comics #874 credited to James Robinson), thus leaving Superman up in the air.

So this is where fanboy speculation begins, so let’s do this! Well, DC’s major event next year is “Blackest Night,” which is sure to be space centric. There is also a lantern Corps forming following the motto of “hope.” And there isn’t a better candidate for the position than Superman. And while this would be a complete 180 from the current direction of the Super-books (focusing more on the human side of Superman), I can’t help but squeal like a sissy little girl at the thought of Superman wearing a blue power ring and becoming directly involved with the “War of Light” and the “Blackest Night” prophecy. And would it be too much to ask for Geoff Johns to handle this title as well? Giving him two Super books (Adventure and Superman) and making this fan cry tears of joy.

Also, where does Supergirl fit into all this? Because before “New Krypton” kicked off, Supergirl was suppose to become a staple of the Superman franchise, but now it seems to be left out in the cold with this status quo altering announcement.

It’s only going to be a matter of time before some concrete details arrive at our doorstep and make us really happy about this direction, or really pissed off. If things go the way I just speculated, I would be ecstatic. How about everyone else?

Adventure Comics

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OIF Vet, comic author and self-publisher SGT. Richard C. Meyer kindly took time from his military duties in Afghanistan to answer HeavyInk founder TJIC’s questions about No Enemy But Peace.

HeavyInk: When did you enlist?

Richard C. Meyer: I have to type fast because people are in line and my fingers are frozen since the heat went out in my tent. I enlisted in the Marines in 2000 and was stationed in Camp Pendleton. I was a machinegunner in Golf 2/5, the most decorated infantry battalion in the Marine Corps. We were the first grund unit to cross the border into Iraq the first night of the war.

HI: What were your reasons for joining?

RCM: I came from a military family and always wanted to serve. I was working at Dell Computers, bored out of my mind and I read “Black Hawk Down.” That was pretty much the inciting incident.

HI: Why the Marines, and not one of the other services?

RCM: True story. I never knew a Marine in my life, even though I had family in every other military branch. I tried to enlist in the Army, but they didn’t like that I had gotten arrested for getting in a street fight the previous year. I crossed the parking lot to the Marine recruiter and told them that story. They only cared that I didn’t lose the fight. I was at the Marine Corps recruit Depot in San Diego a few weeks later.

HI: What was your background reading comics as a kid?

RCM: Huge G.I. Joe fan. I didn’t get into other comics until I was a teenager.

HI: How many of your team-mates in Iraq and Afghanistan read comics?

RCM: In Iraq, a good deal of them read comics and many more got into comics for the first time in Iraq. Comics are perfect reading for a war zone when you never know how much time you will have. When we crossed into Iraq I had a G.I Joe comic, Danger Girl comic and Garth Ennis war comic secreted inside my pack.

HI: When did you first think that you might be interested in writing a comic book?

RCM: I always wanted to write superhero comics, but never quite made a go out of it. Immediately after the battle shown in this comic, I knew I had to write this story down. The heroics I saw from my fellow Marines were nothing short of amazing.

HI: How much of “No Enemy but Peace” is true?

RCM: 100%. Everything in the comic was either witnessed by me or recounted to me by several different witnesses.

HI: How did you make the tradeoffs between telling the tale exactly as events happened, versus making it a better story?

RCM: Excellent question. Simply put, I left out the boring parts.

HI: The comic is published by Machine Gun Bob – I’ve never heard of them. Did you form that publishing company yourself? How did that happen?

RCM: Yep, I had an offer to publish from an indy publisher, but I was basically working for peanuts. I figured that for a little extra effort, I could start my own company with my buddy and former Marine, Carlos Silva.

HI: How did you hook up with artist Martin Montiel Luna ?

RCM: I put an ad on craigslist.

HI: Having read the first five pages of previews at HeavyInk, I’m excited for the comic to arrive… but that may not be enough for me! Is there any chance of more issues? If so, what can you tell us about the story?

RCM: I’m glad you asked. “No Enemy, But Peace” is a preview of sorts for a graphic novel entitled “The Bridge.” I have 44 more pages of story about my fellow Marines in Iraq. NEBP focuses on just one of them, Sgt. Marco Martinez.

HI: What else do you want to write? More military comics? Super hero stuff? Other?

RCM: My partner and I broke into the comics industry this summer with a story in the “popgun 2” anthology from Image comics. The main character in that story, an overweight karate master named Albert Yonchi, will be the star of our next comic book, approriately titled “Yonchi.” Summer 2009.

No Enemy But Peace One Shot

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The Penguins are playing the Red Wings as I sit down to write this raving complaint of Morrison’s opus, Final Crisis. Yea, it’s in between the first and second period and I find myself enthused with that extra bit of crankiness that make this kind of scathing article that much easier to write. The Pens are down by one after getting absolutely steam rolled by those undeniably communist Red Wing jerks. So, I’m going to crank this out while the rage still burns deep. It’s like my most recent interest Spider Jerusalem* says, “You’re miserable, edgy and tired. You’re in the perfect mood for Journalism.”

Final Crisis. I’m not here to dissuade anyone from getting the series. By all means, if you contain within yourself an Encyclopedia Britannica’s worth of knowledge concerning the DC Universe then boy-oh-boy you’re probably having the time of your life. I’m not here to deny the depth and majesty (yes, I said ‘majesty’) of Morrison’s abilities as a writer. When the pen is in that man’s hand, you can almost guarantee that all walls within 5-feet of your head will be covered in nothing but your own brains. That’s science, and math… mostly math.

Look, my point is… Final Crisis is probably a good read. Really, it’s probably this great series that is throwing all of your favorite heroes into one of the direst situations they’ve ever been flung into in their fictional lives. But it’s just not clicking with me. Why would Morrison want to spin a tale with absolutely no character development? Why would he want to merely take heroes and toss them into the folds of an evil plot? It really does nothing for me when all of the development and morality of these characters is not contained within the pages of the story which I am reading. Yes, it really pisses me off when I’m enamored with nothing but names; names that I have to jam into the Wikipedia search box in order to understand. Johns did it to me in Infinite Crisis and Morrison is doing it to me now.

It doesn’t help that J. G. Jones is (mostly) on board with the project. Don’t get me wrong about this, Jones’ art is visually stunning and his lineup in 52 will definitely be remembered as some of the best stuff to grace the world of comic covers; and with good reason. That man is capable of drawing the most intricate panels in comics today. I’m not talking Fables intricate (mad props out to Mark Buckingham), no, I’m talking to sort of intricacy that drives me blind with frustration. I’m the type of person that needs to know exactly what I’m reading, and when a panel is crammed with heroes I don’t even recognize I get all funny on the inside. It’s like my drive for knowledge starts punching me in the stomach, and I just can’t deal with that sort of feeling while I’m reading a damn comic… for pleasure.

Which brings me to my next point. Because of all this personal need to get everything that’s happening on the page and the speed of Morrison’s transitions and dialogue, when I read Final Crisis I’m left with a sense of exhaustion. It’s a hard read for me, something that seems like it should be paced perfectly is broken up by moments of ‘What the hell?!?’ and sheer confusion. This book is a chore, really, and I’m certain I’ve got a flock of sympathizers out there, somewhere, maybe.

But why I really hate Final Crisis, truth be told, is its sheer size. This thing is damn big. Final Crisis is so big that it could be used as a blunt murder weapon. I mean, really, I’m standing in my local shopping and staring at a wall of DC titles cluttered with the Final Crisis banner and borders. Over eight total months, that started with May of ‘08, we’ve seen (or will see) 14 tie-in titles in addition to the main line of issues. It comes out to 25 tie-in books and seven main line issues. That’s right, there are going to be as many issues released during this event as there are weeks. This, of course, doesn’t even count the horrible, weekly shit-show that was Countdown to Final Crisis. I’ll leave that alone.

Why does its sheer size have me so cranky? Well, its magnitude now dictates its fallout later. So, while I can just as easily ignore the title for now as it graces my shop’s shelves every week, when this whole shebang comes to a conclusion I’m almost certainly going to have to deal with the storyline’s ramifications in my favorite books. My wonderful stories are going to be interrupted by an event that I have no interest in. Oh, and for the record, I don’t like Secret Invasion either… it just so happens that I pick up more DC books than Marvel books so I don’t really feel the need to bitch about Marvel’s ridiculous event as much as I do about DC’s.

I hate Final Crisis. But hey, listen; don’t take my word on this. Morrison is known as a good writer for a reason. Final Crisis will probably garner a massive love amongst the DC faithful. And it will certainly go down as one of the better events when its biggest competition right now is Secret Invasion… Correct, I hate all events. The only event I remotely enjoyed was Annihilation, and that stems out of my boyhood crush on Norin Radd and everything that is Silver Surfer.

Please ignore my awesome Luke Skywalker Thumb Drive. I may or may not have left that in the frame to show off…

Oh, and as of now, it’s 4-2 Red Wings over the Pens at the end of the second. I’m crying.

*Spider Jerusalem, for those that do not know, is the main character in Transmetropolitan. Transmet is a fantastic Vertigo series that ran around 10 full trades in length. It’s by Warren Ellis and is straight up glorious. Definitely mature reading, so buyers beware.

Transmetropolitan Vol. 1

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By Erik Norris

As I enjoyed Election Day off from my futile day job, getting the crap scared out of me by Dead Space, and eating some delicious Hot & Spicy Cheez-its, I came across some news that rocked my Batman loving world. Not just one piece of news, two to be precise.

I accidentally stumbled on the first bit while cruising the DC Comics’ forums. In a thread titled “Robin QnA” fans where asking Fabian Nicieza (current writer of Robin) what to expect from his run on the title. It was there that Nicieza spilled the beans on who would be writing the “Battle for the Cowl” limited series; DC’s post RIP storyline whose title explains everything about the project. The answer: Judd Winnick. Now I don’t know about you, but Judd Winnick is one of the few writers I would do anything in order to keep him away from the books I love. That’s a pretty harsh statement, but he is the one responsible for officially bringing back Jason Todd with the now infamous Superboy Prime “continuity punch” after all. You could explain Winnick’s writing with such words as boring, bland, run-of-the-mill, or just plain awful. Pick your poison.

So after a buddy and I brooded over this news that instantly cooled down our excitement for the post RIP Batman world, we were able to calm ourselves. Worst case scenario: I could just skip “Battle for the Cowl,” which was sure to deliver something extremely mediocre, and jump back in with Morrison’s second go-around. However, little did I know that Newsarama would soon be running another shocking story in regards to the Batman-verse; every Bat-title (Nightwing, Robin, and Birds of Prey) would see their last issue in February. Now it’s obvious these cancellations are storyline based, driven by whatever outcome RIP steers towards, but it’s the fact that this news came on the same day I found out “Hurricane Winnick” would be storming through one of my favorite universes that had me in the dumps. I mean, I was finally enjoying Nightwing as a well written superhero comic. He’s always been one of my favorite characters, but his series never had the weight I felt it deserved, until now. And now it’s over.

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I also feel Robin is having the wind removed from its sails rather abruptly. Since Fabian Nicieza took over writing duties on the title, he’s successfully brought Tim Drake to the forefront of the Batman-verse. By starting with a story-arc involving the disappearance of Batman (surely editorial mandated to coincide with RIP), Nicieza displayed just how resourceful, smart, and powerful Tim Drake was. And most importantly, he proved Robin can exist without a Batman. Robin, under Fabian Nicieza, wasn’t a book I read for the inevitable Batman cameo, it was a book I read because I actually loved the character. But once again, gone come February.

It’s now pretty obvious a major mix-up is going down in the Batman-verse at DC. Odds are we’ll still see plenty of Robin, Nightwing, and the rest of the Bat-family in Batman and Detective Comics, it’s just weird that their respective titles are ending after so many years of being published. But there is nothing we can do now, it’s already official, so the best we can do is rant about it on the internet.

So how does everyone else feel about these announcements? Drop a line to weigh in.

UPDATE: Didio reveals that Tony Daniel (the current artist on Batman) will be both writing AND drawing the “Battle for the Cowl” mini-series spinning out of RIP!

By: Joey Davidson

One email and we were off! G. Willow Wilson agreed to spend some time corresponding with me over Cairo and, her most recent, Air. What came out was a solid explanation for inspiration behind the series and even some of the developmental processes that have brought us the first three issues.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with Wilson’s work, here’s a little synopsis.  The writing is snappy, heartfelt and intelligent.  Cairo was a story about mythology, intersecting paths and even growing up.  I read through the entire graphic novel in one sitting, something I don’t normally do.  Air is about a flight attendant mixed up in a battle for the domination of the sky-ways.  It’s been hinted that our main character has some sort of ability that will change flying forever.  It’s these sort of ambiguities that make the series that much more attractive.

Wilson’s presence on the page is large and powerful.  With Air, because it’s a serialized comic, Wilson has been given much more wiggle room.  She can flesh out characters, create more dynamic motivations and build up to an epic climax.  Her playground has become larger and, thus, so have her ideas. 

Add Wilson’s partner in crime, M.K. Perker, into the mix and you’ve got something beautiful.  Perker’s art works wonders in the two stories.  The team was together in Cairo and stuck together in Air, the only change being the addition of color.  The art is toony, yet realistic, and it’s simple enough to fall easily on the page while being complex enough to render multiple stares as entirely probable.  This is good stuff, for any fan of alternative comics.  I recommend Air for it’s large feel, and for the fact that it draws upon so many cultural myths and practices.  Wilson’s work is like that, it pulls from a much larger body of knowledge in order to deliver a fantastically real story.

Sit tight and read our conversation. Wilson draws inspiration from writers you know and love, and aside from being an intellect she still loves Aquaman… weird. Thanks to Wilson for speaking with me.

HeavyInk: You’ve written intellectual essays published by major magazines, have even managed to be the first Westerner to interview the Grand Mufti of Egypt, what drew you to engaging in the comic medium?

G. Willow Wilson: It’s funny that people think of me as a journalist first and a comic book writer second. I’ve been working in comics in some capacity since I was nineteen. (I started out as an intern for Komikwerks, an online comics publisher founded by Shannon Denton, who is now an editor at Wildstorm.) I started writing CAIRO before I got my first real journalism gig. Comics are in my blood—I’m just better at faking literary respectability than most geeks. Joan Hilty calls me ‘fangirl’. There, that’s my dark secret.

HI: Okay then!  Who’s your favorite man or woman in tights?  Alternative comics like stuff under the Vertigo umbrella; what do you like?  Who are some of the writers that you lean on for inspiration and influence?

GWW: Where tights are concerned, I’ve got love for Aquaman. He cries out for a comic that is actually funny. I don’t understand why he’s always portrayed so ultra-seriously, it just undermines his genius. My husband once asked me what his powers are—this was when I was working on that Aquaman-Metamorpho one-shot. I told him Aquaman can breathe underwater, and also on land for ten minutes or so at a time. My husband paused and said “Aren’t there catfish that can do that?” I died. Aquaman is great.

Where alternative comics are concerned, my all-time favorite series is Peter Milligan’s Shade: The Changing Man. It might even outrank Sandman in my book. I draw a lot of inspiration from Gaiman, Milligan and Morrison, in that order. I like Steve Ditko too, metaphysically. I’m not sure what their direct influence is on my work, if any, but I admire theirs.

HI: AIR’s serialized. How do you like writing for that type of release schedule as opposed to the straight-up graphic novel approach?

GWW: It’s a really different skill to write for serialization. Monthlies have their own unique challenges. What I like best is being able to spend such a long time with the same characters. With CAIRO both MK and I went through a little separation anxiety. Which is why we started working on AIR, like, forty five minutes after CAIRO wrapped.

HI: What are some of the things that you and MK are taking away from your experiences with CAIRO in order to make a better AIR?

GWW: I think we have a much better appreciation for all the stages a book goes through before it’s ready to print. We’re both more savvy about the technical aspects of making a comic. He and I were used to work-for-hire at magazines and newspapers, and this is a much different ballgame.

HI: Here comes a fan question… I’m loving AIR, it’s listed as an ongoing, how many years do you plan on spending with the series?

GWW: Let’s put it this way: as long as you keep buyin em’, I’ll keep writing ‘em. I don’t want to jinx anything by making any predictions.

HI: Let’s talk about Blythe… you’ve managed to present a strong character in a woman that plays the ‘damsel in distress’ role just fine during the first issue, but one that also shows moments of strong resolve and independence (more so towards the second and third issues); as the series continues, will Blythe’s strength and independence grow? Do you draw inspiration from yourself or those around you to develop Blythe?

GWW: I didn’t want Blythe to be the classic comic heroine—ie, a porn star with gravity-defying kung fu skills. She really starts out as a girl’s girl. In that sense, I do draw on my own experiences. I tried to think of what I would do if I was confronted by some maniac in an airport terminal, and what I would do is kick him in the nuts and run. So that’s what she does. Blythe has to draw on resources she doesn’t know she has. She doesn’t start out a hero. She becomes a hero.

HI: According to solicits and previews, Blythe possesses some sort of gift that will revolutionize the technology of flight. Will this gift be rooted in historical myth like most things from Cairo? Or is it a mystical surfboard gifted to her by a devourer of worlds?

GWW: Man, now I wish it was a mystical surfboard gifted to her by a devourer of worlds. No, this is something internal. It’s an inborn ability.

HI: It was obvious that you put a lot of time into studying and learning myths and cultural facets of Egypt for CAIRO; some would say that the mythical themes are what they liked most about the novel.  Did you do any of that for AIR?  If so, what types of things did you look in to?

GWW: Well with CAIRO I cheated a little bit—I was living in Egypt and soaking up its mythology on a daily basis. I didn’t actually have to do much independent research. For AIR, though, I had to do tons of research in very different fields. I knew nothing about the lives of flight attendants. Who does, really, except flight attendants? I learned about scheduling and protocol and how many hours per week it’s safe to fly. And air marshalls. Security. That kind of stuff. I wanted AIR to be a more global comic than CAIRO, so I also studied the mythology of a very different part of the world than the Middle East. I won’t talk too much about that because not much of it’s been revealed yet in the series.

HI: A lot of AIR so far has been about who draws the maps and the concept of containing people to an assigned square on a piece of paper.  The loss of the Narimari is a tragedy that comes out of these ideas.  Where did this come from for you?  Why include it in the plot of this comic?

GWW: For me, talking about this topic is very cathartic. I feel placeless and identityless a lot of the time. I’m a little too Muslim to be totally American and a little too American to be totally Muslim. I write nonfiction and commentary so I’m not a ‘legit’ comics writer, but because I write comics I’m not a ‘legit’ literary writer. Both creatively and actually, I deal a lot with the ups and downs of the permanent outsider. AIR reflects that.

HI: What the hell is a ‘hyperpract’? Any way to summarize your essay, ‘Eco Next: The Mechanics of Hyperpraxis’? For those that don’t remember, one of the characters in AIR labels Blythe with the term. I may, of course, be jumping to far ahead in the plot for you.

GWW: You read it! Hyperpraxis is going to become important in upcoming issues. It’s essentially about symbol-manipulation. It’s rooted in the idea that symbols exist independently of their meanings—that they have their own lives. So yes, for anyone who’s interested, reading that essay might give you a philosophical jump on things. If you can stand to wade through it. It’s a little abstract.

HI: So far, each issue has opened up with a dream that has come to deliver meaning throughout that issue’s plot. Blythe has also come to realize that most things bring with them much more meaning than they would normally appear to have. Is the eventual goal of AIR to have a series teeming with building and weaving plot threads? Will readers be able to look back at the first issue one year from now and realize that you’ve been working on a punch line since the beginning?

GWW: In a word, yes.

HI: I’ve been to StandardAttrition.com. Can you tell the HeavyInk.com readers about the collaborative site? Where’d it come from? How do you like it?

GWW: Brian Wood, who in a bizarre way is indirectly responsible for my entire career, came to me on Jason Aaron’s behalf and asked if I was interested in joining a Vertigo group-site. It was Jason’s brainchild—he’s given up his own personal website to create it. Anyway, they didn’t have to ask me twice. It’s been amazing to share digital real estate with Wood and Azz and Jason and David Lapham and all the rest of the guys. I feel like I learn something from them every time I’m on the site. And it’s nice to be able to connect directly with fans.

HI: Let’s end this with your concept of AIRlifting… tell me about it. How’s it done and where’d you get the idea?

GWW: Operation AIRlift is a guerilla marketing campaign I came up with. I’m convinced that the only reason people don’t read comics is because they’re never exposed to them. For most people, Iron Man is a movie. So I figure, put the comics where they can’t be avoided – cafes, office waiting rooms, subways – and see what happens. The way you AIRlift is this: buy an issue of AIR. Any issue. On the first page or the inside of the cover, write something clever (like, I don’t know, “Curious? This series available from your local comics shop.” Only more clever than that). Then, write the name and address of your local comics retailer. Leave the issue somewhere other people will find it. Take a picture of your handiwork and send it to me at info at gwillowilson dot com. I’ll send you a signed issue to replace the one you AIRlifted.

I’m not sure how I came up with the idea. It must have been an epiphany. Anyway, I’ve been posting the pictures sent to me by AIRlifters at Standard Attrition, so you can see all the different places people have left copies of AIR. I’d be very interested to hear from people who’ve seen these AIRlifted issues, and find out whether they were actually inspired to walk into a comics shop. That would be a really good sign.

Air

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(Here’s another from Erik – Dan)

By Erik Norris

This might seem like a weird introduction, but stick with me. If you’re anything like me, the mere mention of “My Chemical Romance” should send shivers down your spine. It might be a bit harsh, but I kind of see the band as a shiny example of everything bad with today’s current “top 40 monster” music biz. And because he is their front-man, Gerard Way gets a lot of my flack placed squarely on his shoulders. However, I’ve come to discover the man is much more talented, insightful, and creative than his music lead me to believe. A lot more.

So let’s begin by taking your thoughts about My Chemical Romance, Gerard Way, and the music industry, crumble them up, and throw them in your mental trash. That crap doesn’t apply here. When it comes to the comic industry (or as I like to call it “The Jungle”) Gerard Way knows his way around four colors and panels.

I’m going to take a second and rewind the clock to the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con when a panel spotlighting Mr. Way and Grant Morrison took place. I remember seeing this and going, “what the hell could these two have in common?” Now I knew Gerard was getting critical acclaim for his series, Umbrella Academy, but I wasn’t buying it. I mean, how could I when I loath everything he does in the music industry? So the Way / Morrison panel came to pass and the transcribed version hit the internet for everyone not lucky enough to attend the convention and I gave it a read. I figured I would at least get amusement out of Grant’s quirky replies. However, I came away more impressed with Way’s remarks about the comics industry and its influence over him.

The quote that hit me like a punch to the man-purse was this; “I don’t really know what a Grammy means anymore, but I know what an Eisner means,” said Way. It was that simple to him and made it that simple for me to connect with him on a fundamental level. Then to see Way being so buddy-buddy with Grant Morrison (a comic god imo) brought a smile to my face. It was like the excuse / vouching for Gerard Way I needed to get up the courage and buy his series, Umbrella Academy.

And hot damn, I’m happy I did. I don’t want to turn this into a plot synopsis because I urge you to check out the first series, Apocalypse Suite, for yourself. Instead, I will say Umbrella Academy falls into that weird / zany territory Way and Morrison thought the industry needed more of, and I think they were 100% right. A splash of X-Men, a dash of Doom Patrol (Way’s biggest influence is Morrison’s run on the title at Vertigo) all while still feeling very much contemporary, exciting, and, above all, new and fresh.

I also failed to mention the other huge aspect of what makes a comic book, the art. Well this should express my feelings for it: it rules. Gabriel Ba has a pitch-perfect style for this type of story which means it’s just as weird as the writing. But that’s completely a complement because it makes everything gel together to flawlessly.

The only downside to all this is because of Way’s commitment to his band (it’s tough being a rock-star), he is hard pressed for time to do his comic work. But he is definitely committed, and Dark Horse is doing a great job of making sure that his projects are nearly in the can before soliciting them as to not run into any delays. So what we get is on-time, mini-series telling the Umbrella Academy’s saga.

You can now find Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite in a paperback edition that collects the series’ six issues along with some great supplemental material. But the real reason I bring this all up now is because the second mini, Dallas, is launching in mid-November and I want everyone along for the ride. And I guarantee, it’s going to be one hell of a ride. So go out, buy Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite via trade paperback or back issues and find out what won Way an Eisner to begin with.

Umbrella Academy Vol. 1 Apocalypse Suite

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(Erik’s ALSO doing some writing for us, which I’ll ALSO be posting until we get him HI blog access – Dan)

By Erik Norris

Are you reading Green Lantern? If you are, this isn’t directed towards you, if you aren’t, why the hell not?

Currently one of the best super-hero comics hitting shelves, Green Lantern has been nothing but stellar since Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver kick started the title with their Green Lantern: Rebirth, but even with reaffirming Hal Jordan’s spot back in DC proper, these two creators, along with some friends, haven’t let up on the gas to sit back and let the fans flock and drop money just for their favorite character’s return. Oh no, Johns & co. brought more fans in by delivering some huge stories that have built upon each other to make one hell of an epic run on the title.

“The Sinestro Corps War” hit stands like a freight train and delivered an “event” that actually stood up against its own hype. But as we saw in that story’s finale, the fear inducing Sinestro Corps are the least of the Green Lantern Corps’ worries. There are now six other corps entering the fray, one of which are the Red Lanterns who are the focus of Johns’ next big story, giving an introduction to these misfits like we’ve never seen. The “Sinestro Corps War” is behind us, it’s now time to head into “Blackest Night” and this is the train’s first stop.

As I mentioned before, we’ve seen the breadcrumbs begin to fall with the finale of the “Sinestro Corps War” in issue #25 of Green Lantern. There, Ethan Van Sciver gave us a double page spread that will forever be etched into our minds depicting seven corps battling in the stars for control / protection of the universe. While this particular issue didn’t delve deep into the mythology of the Red Lanterns, it gave us enough hints and nudges to show they are not your typical Lantern Corps. Firstly, their rage flows straight from their mouths instead of their rings. Pretty vicious looking I must say. Secondly, as discovered in the “Secret Origin” arc of Green Lantern, is the Red Lantern’s vendetta, lead by Atrocious (more on him in a sec), is directed right at the Guardians of the Universe and Sinestro. This is because to their knowledge, Sinestro is still the guiding light of the Corps since they have been kept out of the information loop since their imprisonment and exile to the planet Ysmault.

See, Atrocious wants blood because the Guardians are responsible for the “massacre of sector 666” where he, along with a bunch of other aliens, lived happily. Back in the day, the Manhunters patrolled the universe under the Guardians leering eyes and kept order without involving emotion. Well, things backfired and the emotionless Manhunters slaughtered anyone in their way without remorse in the name of justice. Long story short, the Guardians had a problem with this and decommissioned the Manhunter to be replaced by sentient beings who are the Green Lanterns we now know and love. Obviously by the title “massacre of sector 666” the Manhunters took this emotionless way of judging to sector 666 and it’s the reason for Atrocious’ angry and his blood boiling for revenge.

Atrocious is also special because as the recent “Secret Origin” story-arc proved, he has ties to Sinestro and Hal Jordan dating back to their first meeting. Call him a prophet, but along with his cronies, they were able to fooled Abin Sur into traveling with a spaceship by pumping fear into his heart, telling him his ring would fail him when he most needed it. So Abin started using a spaceship to travel and in a truly ironic death, his spacecraft fails and kills him. He also had a prisoner onboard and I’m sure you can guess who… wait for it… that’s right, Atrocious. The ship crashes on Earth, Hal gets the ring, Sinestro, who was Abin’s best friend, comes to investigate and it’s the start of a budding relationship between Sinestro and Jordan. However, after inadvertently giving William Hand the power over blackness (not important for Rage of the Red Lanterns….VERY important for Blackest Night down the road), Atrocious was about to plant the seeds of doubt in even the strongest willed Green Lantern, Sinestro. This lead to the eventual dispute of Hal labeling Sinestro a tyrant/ dictator of his planet, Korugar, and getting him expelled from the Corps. So when I say Atrocious is pretty damn important, you better believe me. His back-story stems back to the most vital aspect of the Hal Jordan / Green Lantern mythos. It also goes to show you how intricate and detailed Johns is getting with his Green Lantern work, everything means something and no plot thread is left untouched or ignored. This is grand story-telling on a massive scale, perfectly fitting the epic scope of the property.

So now that I’ve gotten you pumped for Rage of the Red Lanterns, where do you start? Well this might be off-putting for a lot of readers but the first chapter of the story begins with a special titled Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns. Before mass pandemonium takes hold of you, do note that this special has NOTHING to do with Final Crisis. Besides a time stamp on the first page’s introduction stating the events of this book take place between Final Crisis #1 and #2, the trade dress on the cover is simply a marketing ploy by DC. A two fold plan to A) get readers only interested in Final Crisis to try a Green Lantern book by prying on their obsessive nature to collect everything for an event and B) Having a special with that ”#1” tag so readers who might be interested won’t feel out in the cold because they don’t have to read “x” amount of back issues to catch up.

I hope this little hype article / general plot synopsis has been helpful and I urge you to try out Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns whether you’ve been reading Green Lantern books for fifteen years, or have never picked one up in your life. The drums of war are beginning to beat once again and blood will surely spill. You don’t want to be the one standing around the water cooler, when everyone is chatting up Green Lantern (in a perfect world this would happen) with nothing to talk about, do you?

Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns’ Checklist:

Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns #1 Special

Final Crisis Rage Of The Red Lanterns #1

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Green Lantern #36 (Part 2 of RoTRL)

Green Lantern #36

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Green Lantern #37 (Part 3 of RoTRL)

Green Lantern #37

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Green Lantern #38 (Part 4 of RoTRL)

Green Lantern #38

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(Joey’s doing some writing for us, which I’ll be posting until we get him HI blog access – Dan)

By Joey Davidson.

The New Krypton event… well, if you haven’t heard of this bad boy by now allow me to take some time out and lay some facts down for your uninformed self. Three Super titles will be merging into one story line. Action Comics, Superman and Supergirl are joining together for an event helmed by an epic creative team. Geoff Johns on Action, James Robinson on Superman and DC newcomer Sterling Gates is on Supergirl. Each writer is going to take on one part of the New Krypton story within his series, so nearly every week fans are going to be treated with another installment in this event. They’ll also be teaming up on the Superman: New Krypton Special #1 lead-in.

It goes like this, and I’ll keep the spoiling to a nonexistent level here in this little summary, events with Brainiac lead Superman to letting loose an entire city of Kryptonians on the planet Earth. While we haven’t been shown where this is going to head as of yet, one can be certain that there will be those that want only to co-exist with mankind, and those that will seek to rule them. This is a chance for readers to catch a different take on Kryptonian culture and the way Superman, Supergirl and Earth will react to it. It’s something that I’ve been looking forward to for months now.

Intrigued? I bet. Here’s what DC says you’ll need on their checklist:

October

Part 1 – Superman: New Krypton Special #1

Superman New Krypton Special #1

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Part 2 – Superman #681

Superman #681

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November

Part 3 – Adventure Comics Special featuring The Guardian #1

Part 4 – Action Comics #871

Action Comics #871

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Part 5 – Supergirl #35

Supergirl #35

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Part 6 – Superman #682

Superman #682

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December

Part 7 – Action Comics #872

Action Comics #872

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Part 8 – Supergirl #36

Supergirl #36

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Part 9 – Superman #683

Superman #683

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January

Part 10 – Action Comics #873

Action Comics #873

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That’s all they include. But hey, listen, if you’re anything like me then this list just won’t do it. I’m the type of person that wants to sit down, pick up a book and just know everything that’s been going on. I don’t want to come into an event with only a semblance of the knowledge needed to be in on all the little things. Not knowing is a huge part of why I’m not enjoying Final Crisis (more on that in another article entirely). If I’m dropping the cabbage on a story, I want to be in the know. So, DC leaves out a few reads that I’ll label as essential. And the good thing here is that these next few arcs and the one shot I’m about to list are damn good. Some of the best Superman stuff around today; not counting Johns Legion arc in Action.

You’ll need the four part Atlas arc in Robinson’s Superman (#677-680), the five part Brainiac arc in Johns’ Action Comics (#866-870) and the one-shot Superman’s Pal: Jimmy Olson #1. Three stories that lead perfectly into New Krypton. Make sure you read the one about Jimmy Olson last and you’ll be good to go. You’re also going to encounter an exceptional moment with Krypto here, so fans like me can enter the new era of the Kryptonians with a huge smile on our faces.

As of writing this we’ve already been through the first part of the story and I can safely say that this thing is going to be huge. Superman’s past is going to be ripped apart and I’m glad that task has been left to a creative team with Johns on board. Robinson has shown excellent craft in the Superman arc he’s completed, and Gates has managed to win me over to Supergirl with only one issue under his belt. Yes, this is the series that may have you buying Supergirl if you’re one of those that has seen her as unworthy of her own book. If there was going to be a team out there that could make her due for some recognition, this is it.

My hopes are set extremely high for New Krypton, and I’m banking on a smooth delivery. As a Super-nerd, I’m going to recommend this to anyone looking spend time with the man and his red cape. The best thing about all of this is that it is going to be coming out in quick succession. You’ll be reading parts from the story nearly every single week, so the only downside I can see emerging from this is that we’ll all be going into Super-withdrawal when it’s done. Looking forward to that!

Been reading these books already? Sound off about them in the comments below.

Creepy, cooky, mysterious, spooky, altogether ooky—that’s the order of the day as we all eagerly await Halloween.

In the spirit of the scary, here’s a bit more about Carnival Comics’ The Funhouse of Horrors, the kind of book that you might want to curl up with in front of the fireplace…IF YOU DARE.

Jazan Wilds Funhouse Of Horrors

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In 50 words or less, what’s the gist of your project? The Funhouse Of Horrors is a classic tale of fun and adventure mixed in with just the right amount of Vincent Price. The story takes place on a day trip to the countryside. When Jacob and his family stop off at a roadside fruit market for a bite to eat, they get a whole lot more. Jacob discovers a haunted house and the tales of horror that lie inside. Once you step inside this House Of Horrors, you’ll never see the world the same way again.

Who’s your lead character, and what’s his/her take on the world? The lead character is Jacob Stone. He’s a kid who finds a haunted house and is given a book of horrors by the man running it. He chooses to read the book and opens Pandora’s box. All the horror stories and characters in it are unleashed to torment this poor soul. His take on the world is fear. It becomes all he sees and hears. Does he have a choice? You tell me. It’s hard to look for the rainbows when ghosts are nipping on your heels.

How did this concept develop? What was the original germ of the idea? This story was to be the original Gene Simmons House Of Horrors. It was listed in the 2006 Diamond Previews and had quite a bit of buzz surrounding it. But as fate would have it, it did not see the light of day until now. I drew the concept from my own childhood experiences of going to roadside fruit stands with my grandparents while heading to Long Island over the holidays. Also, my brother and my friends would find abandoned houses in Virginia where I grew up while playing in the woods.

What are your major creative influences, both within comics and otherwise? One of my biggest influences would have to be my mother reading Agatha Christie novels to me. She was an English teacher and librarian and her love of books has rubbed off on me. Also Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, and C. S. Lewis.

From a visual perspective, what can readers expect from this project? In your face scary fun. I don’t like blood and guts for the sake of blood and guts. Tim Burton does it best. It should be fun and light. You want real horror, look at the news. The world is better than that. At least the one I see.

Wrap this up with your most hardcore, intense, precise pitch. Why should we buy your comic??? I was very concerned as to whether or not to release this book. Rumor has it that all those who read these tales of horror have been haunted by the wicked stories and some have claimed to have seen the living impaired. So I can not recommend you read this book, I would not wish that fate on anyone. But if you’re feeling brave enough, enter if you dare… into Jazan Wild’s Funhouse Of Horrors!!

It’s getting to be that time of year again…October has arrived, fall is in th air, and that means…CHRISTMAS SEASON!

Naw, just foolin’. Although if you spend any time at big dumb department stores, you probably think it’s about December 24, what with all the holiday crap already flooding the aisles.

Let us not forget that there’s a little something called HALLOWEEN coming before Santa even thinks about hopping on a sleigh. A night for ghouls, goblins, and things that go bump, then stab you through your eye socket repeatedly.

Studio 407 is a new publisher with a slate of horror-tinged books coming out throughout the fall. Night & Fog is just one of them, and we’ll be featuring them all over the next couple months. Here, editor Chad Jones and co-writers Alex Leung and Matt Bradford fill us in on their “monster mash-up.”

Night & Fog

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In 50 words or less, what’s the gist of your project? Linked to a terrible secret from the past, an accident in a government lab turns a nearby village’s inhabitants into creatures that seem impossible to kill. A small group of survivors must hold out for the night until a special rescue team can arrive and save them from these unstoppable monsters that have not only been made real, but also made to perfection.

Who’s your lead character, and what’s his/her take on the world? Lt. Christopher is the lead character, who is a man with a singular mind and driven with “getting the job done” at all costs. He is not the kind of person that subscribes to ideas such as “fate,” and believes people should take responsibility for their actions and the consequences that result from them. Christopher is a single father loyal to two masters: the US military and his children. He’s determined not only to uphold his sworn military duty to protect the base’s deadly secret, but also to save his children, who are stuck in the heart of the spreading terror.

How did this concept develop? What was the original germ of the idea? This developed from wanting to do a story like Aliens that mixed horror and hard core action. The germ of the idea was doing a modern take on the four classic/gothic horror stories: Dracula, Frankenstien, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the Invisibile Man, and doing a monster mash but with only one monster.

More of a “monster mash-up!” Four-in-one. Just as the heroes figure out how to deal with one breed of monster (through some sort of scientific means that reflects the classic means of slaying that creature), their enemy mutates into the next.

What are your major creative influences, both within comics and otherwise? From Alex Leung, co-writer: I have a lot of influnces both comics wise and literary, so it really depends on the particular story or genre I’m working in. For Night and Fog, without a doubt it was the classic Eerie and Creepy comics of the 70’s, Stephen King, Hammer horror films and without a doubt the classic John Carpenter films of the 70’s and 80’s.

From Matt Bradford, co-writer: My biggest influences on Night & Fog were the 60s and 70s Hammer movie incarnations of the classic monsters we’re reinventing. I listened to James Bernard Hammer soundtracks constantly while writing. I loved the idea of blending them into an Aliens brand of modern sci-fi action, but there’s a lot of Jurassic Park in there too. The book is a classic, and the movie stands up so well fifteen years later! That was a big influence both on the tone of the story and on the somewhat believable, pseudo-scientific explanations we came up with for these creatures.

From a visual perspective, what can readers expect from this project? This has a slightly retro-horror look to it, like the classic Bernie Wrigtson horror books, which is why we chose Roberto Castro to work with us. We also specifically went for a 70’s horror feel that you saw in a lot of the classic Marvel horror of the 70’s and the Eerie and Creepy books. Put it together with the JM “the prince of darkness” Ringuet’s atmospheric digital painting, and I think you have a look that successfully blends both past and present styles and fits the story perfectly.

Wrap this up with your most hardcore, intense, precise pitch. Why should we buy your comic??? If you love classic monsters, and want to be terrified anew by them, this is the book for you. The action is intense, the bodycount is high, and horror doesn’t let up. Just as the characters think they know how to slay one breed of creature, it evolves into another more terrifying one. Utter dread sets in as they realize there may be no way to defeat these things…

As most everyone knows by now, there’s no hipper place to hang on ye olde intarwebbes than the HeavyInk forums. Why, just the other day, I stumbled into the bathroom and did a line while discussing Proust with Nelly Furtado. It’s just that cool.

Also the other day, Aaron Thomas Nelson stopped by to tell us a bit about his new book, Marlow. After uploading an awesome preview, it became clear that we needed to talk to this young man who was prepared to foist so much sequential goodness onto the universe.

And so, we did some lines, and we talked. Only half of that statement is true. Guess which one.

Marlow Soul Of Darkness

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Based on the preview I’ve read, I’m getting the sense that Marlow is designed as a good old-fashioned genre mash-up. How do you describe the title?

That’s a really great question. When I was thinking about the storyline, I decided to re-read Thucydides’ “Peloponnesian Wars,” Virgil’s “Aeneid” and Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” in order to find some inspiration as to how to tell the story. Ultimately, I felt like “Heart of Darkness” was most “in-line” with the concerns I wanted to address and the story I wanted to tell. Conrad uses first-person storytelling that I thought would work well in a comic book. I suppose the way I used the first-person storytelling gives the book a noirish flair-along with Mathew’s artwork-that gives it this cool, noirish, action-horror vibe to it. I didn’t approach the book thinking, “horror-plus-noir would be cool,” rather the storyline drove the style.

You seem to know a good bit of detail about the inner workings of espionage and weapons…are there any secrets about your involvement with Iran-Contra we should know about? Or are you just very skilled at making fictional “spy speak” sound legit?

(Laughs) I suppose my healthy diet of pulpy spy stories helped me with the “spy speak.” That and my employment with the CIA. Ahem.

How do you describe Marlow as a character? What’s your personal “hook” that gets you in the mindset of writing him?

Marlow’s this guy who’s been seriously screwed over and is dealing with it. His job is basically blackmail, and if he doesn’t play along, he turns into this horrible creature. From a character standpoint, he’s doing some pretty immoral things in order to survive, but, at the same time is in this “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation, which he’s struggling to find a way out of. Marlow’s a good guy in a bad situation who’s trying to find a way out. That’s what interests me in the character.

Do you have a lot of the backstory worked out, in terms of Marlow’s origin and the company he works for? Is that something we’ll see revealed over the course of this series?

Yeah, the backstory is all worked out and is an integral part of the first Marlow book. The second book (that’s in progress as we speak) expands the backstory a bit more and should give the reader a broader understanding of Marlow.

I’m getting a heavy noir/crime influence from the dialogue and settings. Is that one of your influences, and if so, what are some touchstone works for you in that genre?

Well, I’m not trying to write a noir/crime story-which “Marlow” isn’t. I’d say that the noirish style just seems to fit the overall story. Horror noir it may be, but this is truly an action horror story. With that said, I suppose from the style of the narration in the story, I couldn’t help but draw on the styles found-ironically-in the Philip Marlowe television series, and Harrison Ford’s narration in “Blade Runner”.

Where did you find Mathew Reynolds? His pencils are amazing; I love the shading effects he uses to create depth of field.

We can all thank Dario Carrasco, Jr. for that. Dario was originally set to pencil the comic, but due to some personal reasons had to back out. Of course, in Dario’s usual professional manner, he didn’t just leave the project hanging, but went out and found Mathew Reynolds who just nailed the artwork. We actually included Dario’s original work in the back of the comic, and if you want to understand how artwork affects storytelling in comics, read Dario’s and compare it to Mathew’s. They both work extremely well, but the styles create a different impact on the reader. It really blew my mind when I saw the two side-by-side. (Laughs)

What’s the road that led you to comics writing?

It was a dark and stormy night. (Laughs) Seriously, I actually started out writing poetry and essays, and decided that I had some stories I wanted to tell. Comics provided, in my opinion, the best medium for telling those stories, so I started learning how sequential art worked and began writing. I’ve always loved comics, so being able to write them is a labor well loved.

Over in the forums there’s a thread on whether comic books will go digital.

My thought: absolutely they will.

The Amazon Kindle model is quite exciting.

The HeavyInk plan for this is two fold:

(a) try to make a lot of money between now and then

(b) generate lots of data, community, and features that will be useful even in the digital comics age (if you’ve been a loyal Inker for 10 years by the time you start downloading comics into your Kindle 7.0, you’re going to have given HI lots of info on your preferences meaning that we can give you great recommendations, you’re going to have lots of friends here, you’re going to still enjoy buying framed limited edition art, toys, etc.).

So: comics will go digital – long live comics! ( ...and long live the HeavyInk community!)

In case you haven’t seen the news yet, Publishers Weekly has the confirmation that Virgin Comics has for all intents and purposes shuttered its doors.

What does that mean to YOU, oh comics fan of discriminating taste and exceptional hygiene?

It means that if you had any interest in Virgin titles, now may be the time to pick some up. Here’s the listing for Virgin Comics here at HeavyInk; I’d also recommend highly perhaps their highest-profile title from the comics community perspective, the seven-issue Dan Dare miniseries by Garth Ennis and Gary Erskine.

Dan Dare

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HI is out of #1 and #2, and I must’ve bought one of their last copies of #3, but #4-7 seem to be available…I expect some of their more highly regarded efforts to become quite collectible in the weeks to come, so if you’re interested, I suggest you act now.

A new volume of Atomic Robo is about to begin… and it’s looking pretty sweet! I know exactly how sweet, because I’ve got a copy right here in my hands… we just got our shipment of the HeavyInk exclusive variant cover of Atomic Robo Dogs of War Part 1! Want one?

Cool! Because everyone who gets a copy of the regular issue through HeavyInk will get a copy of the variant cover for free. Get yours!

Atomic Robo Dogs Of War #1

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We just rolled out a little feature: on your profile page, you can see a list of other people on the site who have similar taste in subscriptions to yourself. Maybe they’re people you already interact with, maybe not. When I find someone who likes the same stuff I do, I always like to see what they’re reading that I haven’t checked out yet… hopefully you’ll find this useful too!

This is just a little update to your profile page, which hasn’t changed much recently… Tyler and Dan are working on something much, much bigger!

ComicMix has the details on the DVD for this summer’s blockbuster Iron Man flick. Due on September 30, the two-disc set includes not only all the movie-specific googaws you could want, but also a documentary on Iron Man in the comics, entitled The Invincible Iron Man.

For that alone, I cannot wait to get this set. I’ve seen some great DVD documentaries for superhero films and TV series that actually address the comics and their creators—the Space Ghost DVD set has an AMAZING feature-length flick on Alex Toth, the Josie and the Pussycats set has a short doc on Dan DeCarlo, and the Superman: Doomsday set has a feature-length doc on (of all things) the creative process behind the Death of Superman storyline. I’ve heard there are similarly great docs on the FF2 and Daredevil sets, so I always keep my eyes open for those DVDs in the clearance bins (I like these docs, but not enough to pay full price for movies I don’t really need in my collection).

Anyways, save your pennies and dimes for this one. I have high hopes.

Iron Man Extremis

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One of my all-time favorite comics is the classic Giffen/DeMatteis run on Justice League from the late eighties and early nineties. They were great superhero comics, first and foremost, but they also displayed a rare focus on characterization and humor.

Giffen and DeMatteis delivered a fresh take on superheroics for BOOM! Studios with Hero Squared, and they’ve made the first issue of the series available free online. Check it out, along with several other BOOM! first issues.

Hero Squared

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Virgin Comics is giving away the chance to be a REAL COMIC BOOK CHARACTER. Not like those fake ones, your Batmans or Spider-Mans or Zots. No, you will REALLY BE A REAL-LIFE COMIC BOOK CHARACTER IN A REAL LIFE COMIC.

Here’s the PR. Good luck!

Nowhere Man #0

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Have you always aspired for comic book immortality? Well, here is your big break! To celebrate this fall’s debut of the highly anticipated new Virgin Comics series Nowhere Man, from the creative team of Hugh Jackman, Marc Guggenheim and Paul Gulacy, Virgin Comics is giving 5 randomly selected winners a chance to be a real Nowhere Man (or woman) and get drawn into an issue!!

Will you be a government agent? A bad-ass assassin? You’ll have to win to find out. Not only will you appear in an issue, but Hugh Jackman, Marc Guggenheim and Paul Gulacy will all personally autograph the copy of the issue that you appear in!

And if you’re not one of the few lucky winners, don’t worry… you could always be one of the ten runner-ups to receive a copy of Nowhere Man #1 autographed by Hugh Jackman!

Enter now at www.virgincomics.com/nowhereman or send an e-mail to nowhereman@virgincomics.com with DRAW ME as the subject. The contest runs through September 15th, 2008.

Nowhere Man takes place 500 years in the future, when the Earth’s population has been infected with a virus that allows an oppressive government to monitor their thoughts. It’s the Patriot Act gone haywire. But a group of rebels have engineered the ultimate weapon: a genetically altered child, born immune to the virus. He’s the only one on the planet who can bring some semblance of privacy and individuality back to the world. He is the Nowhere Man.

We’ve now built two websites using Ruby on Rails: SmartFlix.com, and some kind of online comic store thing. According to at least one source, both sites are among the 100 most popular sites built with rails:

http://rails100.pbwiki.com/Compete+Rankings

That’s a little surprising, but nice to see… thanks, everyone!

Voting is now open for Top Cow’s Pilot Season competition. Out of a series of one-shots, two will be selected to move on to get their own series.

You’ll recall our interview with Adam Freeman on his book Genius. That’s who I voted for, but I’ve also heard good things about a few of the other books, especially the Jay Faerber title.

You can vote once a day, so have at it!

Pilot Season Genius #1

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Pilot Season Urban Myths #1

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Pilot Season The Core #1

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Pilot Season Twilight Guardian

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Pilot Season Alibi #1

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Pilot Season Lady Pendragon #1

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One of the coolest things about HeavyInk is that our community is growing to the point where it can really make an impact on the titles, publishers, and creators we love. We’ve been able to support indie books like Atomic Robo, Nearly Infamous Zango, and Johnny Hiro in ways that bigger comics retailers can’t always manage.

Now we have the chance to make a tremendous impact on one person’s life: Josh Medors. Josh is a comic book artist recently diagnosed with cancer who is facing a health battle along with the usual medical coverage concerns that independent contractors deal with on an all-too-regular basis.

The good people at BOOM! Studios are releasing a benefit book this fall, Pulp Tales, to help raise funds for Josh and his family. HeavyInk will be donating all our proceeds from sales of the book directly to Josh.

Pulp Tales

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Pulp Tales Prestige

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Check out the talent lineup on this book: Steve Niles and Sarah Wilkinson; B. Clay Moore, Seth Peck, and Chris Samnee; Josh Fialkov and Andy B; Kody Chamberlain; Tony Fleecs; and covers by Ben Templesmith and Josh Medors.

THAT is some good comics right there. Plus, your purchase supports a very worthy cause.

We’ll have some interviews coming up to help promote the book and tell you more about the awesome contents. In the meantime, place an order if you can, and read more about the book over at Comic Book Resources.

One of the more hysterical “webcomics” I’ve come across is Garfield Minus Garfield…and I put “webcomics” in quotes because it’s really more of a print comics satire, but there is a creative motivation involved, and it is on the web. ANYWAY!

It’s exactly what the title says—a daily Garfield strip, minus the titular cat. Instead it becomes, in the words of site creator Dan Walsh:

...a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb.

Anyway, read more at the Garfield Minus Garfield site. You’ll also be able to own Garfield Minus Garfield in handy tree-killing form with this fall’s Garfield Minus Garfield book.

Oh, and my absolute favorite true webcomic, hands-down? ACHEWOOD.

Achewood Vol. 1 The Great Outdoor Fight

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There were many exciting bits of news that emerged from San Diego, but this might be my favorite, the trailer for the new Batman: The Brave and the Bold animated series, coming this fall.

It’s like some trippy mix between the old Batman TV series and Bob Haney’s whacked-out work on the original BatB comic. Plus, that music!

Whatta ya think, HeavyInkers?

Over on the other side of the pond, The Guardian has an article by comics writer, editor, and historian Danny Fingeroth about his top ten graphic novels of all time. Here’s his list; visit the link for his reasoning…

Maus by Art Spiegelman

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

The Quitter by Harvey Pekar and Dean Haspiel

A Contract with God by Will Eisner

It’s a Good Life, if You Don’t Weaken by Seth

Stop Forgetting to Remember by Peter Kuper

Kings in Disguise by James Vance and Dan Burr

Brooklyn Dreams by JM DeMatteis and Glenn Barr

Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot

Why I Hate Saturn by Kyle Baker

So…whaddaya think? What’s missing? I know, I know—Watchmen. But let’s look beyond the men in tights…what’s on your top graphic novels of all time list?

They say it’s an honor to be nominated for a major industry award like an Eisner, and it certainly is. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t seriously rooting for a few pals of HeavyInk in last Friday’s awards at SDCC—Fred Chao, for the fantastic Johnny Hiro; Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener, for the awesome Atomic Robo; and Gerard Duggan, writer on Infinite Horizon, one of my favorite miniseries currently on the stands.

Infinite Horizon

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Unfortunately, none of them won, nor did any of my other favorites, in most cases. I guess if you want an Eisner, it’s best to insure I hate your comic.

Anyway, Infinite Horizon is a gripping retelling of Homer’s Odyssey set in a fictional near-future where regional factions battle in our own country for water and soldiers still spend years on duty in the Middle East. Visually, it’s a treat, and it’s a treat for the mind as well—Duggan’s got a gift for laser-like focus on just the right moments that illustrate his characters and themes, without letting this legendary story carry them both away.

Gerard was good enough to answer a few interview questions, and send over some prizes, which is much appreciated. Read on for details of our giveaway, and for insights on this amazing miniseries…

How does it feel to be the writer of the “Eisner-nominated” Infinite Horizon? Congrats on the nomination…how did you find out?

It was a genuine shock to be nominated. Joe Keatinge from Image called with the news right before the press release went out. I asked him to give Phil the good news because I was sure Noto would not believe me. Both Phil and I are both very honored to be in a category that includes some of our favorite creators. Everyone hopes that your work will connect with an audience, but being recognized was beyond all expectation. Brian Posehn and I presented a couple of awards at last year’s ceremony, but I never thought I would be back again so soon.

Tell me about your “ah-ha” moment on Infinite Horizon. When did you first realize that there was a story to be told in drawing from the Odyssey for a modern story that would bring in some modern politics as well?

When I first have an idea, I stop and write down as much of the idea that can be captured at that moment. If it’s a decent idea, a lot of thoughts can pour out of you at once. The very next thing that I do is try to punch as many holes into the idea as possible. If I don’t, somebody else will.

With this particular story, I wasn’t able to really sink it. Breaking the tale was very exciting. Hours disappeared into a computer, but it felt as though minutes had passed. I knew right away I was going to write it as a comic book. Luckily, Phil said yes right away and we began immediately. I spent sleepless nights either getting out of bed to jot down ideas, or staring at the ceiling wondering if someone was further ahead that I was in telling this story. That was not a good feeling. Getting the first issue into comic shops relieved me of that stress.

How deeply are you drawing from the Odyssey for your story and characters? I see the big parallels, but are you sprinkling in story elements throughout the series, or is it more of a rough template?

We’re finding ways of re-imagining the journey with the Cyclops, the Sirens, the land of the dead, and we’re ripping some elements right from the poem, but leaving other ideas behind. We turned Penelope’s suitors into men that are after fresh water. Her struggle to protect her family and house are the same. Our soldier’s epic journey is more or less intact. Our story is very grounded, and even though the Gods are all over the original work, there’s no divine intervention in the comic. For better, or worse. There are maybe a couple of things in the upcoming fourth issue that hardcore Odyssey geeks will appreciate.

What kind of research was required to create this world? It’s clearly inspired by the landscape of today but with some very specific changes. Can you reveal more background on the politics of Infinite Horizon, and the world in which it takes place?

I believe in the idea that we’re experiencing (or have experienced) “peak oil.” For those not familiar with the premise, it’s basically the idea that we’ve already sucked the most oil that we’re ever going to pull from the Earth, and that ever year oil production will continually decline until it finally runs out.

We’ve not done enough to solve our worsening energy problems, but that’s because until recently, it was cheaper to do things the old way. I see a special opportunity that comes with high energy costs. More money will be spent on alternative energies. Investing in new technologies will finally make financial sense. That’s the good to come out of the current predicament.

However, the world of THE INFINITE HORIZON is full of breakdowns: Failures that have cascade atop one another. What if energy costs skyrocketed? What if banks failed? What if economies collapsed? What if global warming changed ecosystems? What if access to clean water grew more and more scarce? What if China becomes the world’s lone super-power? What if it all happened in a short time? It’s sort of a soft-apocalypse brought about by nature, economics, fate, and our own greed. The nice thing is, even if I’m wrong, and we’re swimming in oil for centuries to come – these ideas make a hell of a setting for a story. Despite all of those ideas the story is fairly simple: A man struggles to return home to his family after years away.

Phil Noto’s using some interesting techniques on the artwork—I noticed some of the red linework in the scenes back with Penelope, for example. From a writing perspective, what are these techniques adding to the story? How are you adapting your work to Phil’s style?

The truth is that I rewrite everything after Phil wraps the art. I print out the art and start a new draft for Ed Dukeshire to lettering. I don’t do this because I love rewrites either – I do it because if I didn’t the book would suck. I complete at least a couple of drafts before Phil sees the script, but even when Phil’s layouts arrive in my inbox exactly as written, there are always wonderful surprises: a color choice, an angle, or something I can’t put my finger on that makes me tweak my writing. I’ve come to find that Phil’s work has a temperature if that makes any sense. It’s damn great, and keeps me on my toes.

Have you heard from any active soldiers who’ve read the book? What were their responses to it?

We haven’t heard from any soldiers. I hope that changes when we get the trade out later this year. I gave some copies to a charity that was sending them to Iraq. Perhaps it’s not the distraction they need at the moment? They’ll be our toughest audience, but I look forward to their thoughts. Maybe I’ll meet some at this year’s Comic Con.

What do you think it is about the Odyssey that has made it such an enduring and adaptable story for many centuries?

War will always keep The Odyssey fresh. This story will resonate as long as men and women are sent away to fight and die. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will ever go out of style. Of course, the Coens crafted the brilliant O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? which was fantastic, and had nothing to do with a war. It still had an epic journey, a bastard cyclops, and at least one suitor. So there will always be surprise takes on the poem. Even though the tone of the book is serious, I hope it comes across how much fun we’re having making THE INFINITE HORIZON. Thanks to everyone that is reading it!

We have five signed sets of issues 1-3 of Infinite Horizon available for giveaway!

All those who place orders on the site (for Infinite Horizon or otherwise) between today and next Wednesday will be placed in a drawing to win a set. Thanks again to Gerard Duggan for his time and good comics.

New to the comics writing world, Jim Hardison launches his first title today from Dark Horse, a four-issue miniseries entitled The Helm with artist Bart Sears. At his “day job,” he’s a marketing expert whose specialty involves creating backstories for characters such as the Pillsbury Dough Boy and Kool-Aid Man. Maybe they can fight in his next project? One can only dream.

We also have a limited supply of Helm posters, signed by Jim, to give away to lucky HeavyInk customers! We’ll pick randomly from subscribers to The Helm sometime early next week, so read the interview, buy the book, and win a free poster! Simple enough.

Helm

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First off, what’s the “elevator pitch” for The Helm?

I pitched the Helm with the question “What if you had a magical superpower and it hated your guts?” That line was what got Dark Horse interested enough to read a treatment of the entire story.

The “reluctant hero” is a pretty classic story device…it sounds more like this story features a “reluctant superpower.” What’s the dynamic between your lead character and his own destiny?

I wanted to create a superhero who had a conflict with the power that made him super. This idea has been done before—usually in the form of a character who can’t control his power and consequently sees it as a curse more than a blessing—so I wanted to try something different. My key thought was to build a character who didn’t appear worthy of his power or appropriate for his role—somebody “un-heroic” so that I could explore what it means to be a hero and mine that exploration for comedic purposes. In terms of “destiny,” I wound up with a character who believes he is destined for greatness, but whom destiny would much rather reject.

What brought you to comics, and what have you found most appealing about writing for this specific artform?

I’m a relative newcomer to comics—not really having read many since I was a kid—but then a friend of mine (Will Vinton) did a graphic novel with Dark Horse (Jack Hightower) and I went to a comic shop to buy it and I was overwhelmed by how much comics had changed since the last time I’d seen them. And really impressed. I’ve been a writer in all kinds of different media and I started thinking about doing a comic.

As to what I’ve found appealing about the art form, there are a couple of things. I love the speed with which stories can flow from idea to finished work. I come from a filmmaking and animation background and those storytelling forms crawl in comparison to comics. In addition, I love the flexibility and freedom I’ve encountered working with Dark Horse. My editor, Dave Land, has been completely open to everything I’ve wanted to try and hugely supportive of the story and the process. Finally, I’ve really enjoyed the collaborative element of bringing the story to life—from my interactions with my editor, to seeing the pencils turn my words into images, to watching them solidify with the inks, bloom with the colors and then seeing all the pieces come together with the text.

What made Bart Sears the ideal choice to pencil this title?

I was going for irony with this story and consequently started thinking about a classic superhero/Conan style of art to serve as a commentary on the poor condition my hero is in. My editor suggested Bart because of his talent and history in comics—he does the “Brutes and Babes” stuff so well. Bart has been tremendous to work with—I love seeing his interpretations as they come in and I’m continually impressed by the level of detail, humor and art that he works into every image.

Your “day job” involves creating stories and characters for marketing, right? Tell me more about that…are we talking the “secret origin” of Kool-Aid Man type stuff?

In my “day job” I have worked on the Kool-Aid man…and Tony the Tiger and the Trix Rabbit and the Pillsbury Doughboy and the Quaker Oats Quaker and the Maytag Repair Men and Mr. Clean and…well, pretty much all the major branded characters. My company is called Character. We also work on characters for entertainment—like Popeye the Sailor, a couple of characters for Discovery Network, PBS, etc.

My work in the marketing world is all about helping brands focus on the principles that underlie great stories and resonant characters. Many people in branding assume that the relevance of a character is dependent almost entirely on how the character looks—we remind them that all great stories and characters are built on conflict and connect to the audience by expressing some fundamental truth about the human condition—even if they’re just animated lumps of dough or anthropomorphic M&M’s.

Our vibrant, manly love for Red 5 Comics and its products is well-documented here.

Today, we have an exclusive interview with Scott Chitwood, one of the founding fathers of Red 5 and a writer for the publisher as well. His Afterburn (co-written with Paul Ens) has recently been optioned for a film by Tobey Maguire for what we understand is roughly seventy six bagazillion dollars.

In spite of his wealth and power, Scott was remarkably down to earth. Read on, effendi.

Afterburn

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Afterburn is written by the two founders of Red 5 Comics. How did the title’s creation evolve? Was this a story you hoped to tell when you founded the imprint, or did it come later after Red 5 had begun?

When Paul and I started Red 5 Comics, we always had the intention of creating some of the titles ourselves. After all, if we were going to build the sandbox, we wanted to play in it. Paul and I brainstormed over a number of story ideas and Afterburn stood out as one of the ideas with a lot of potential. I came up with the initial concept and a first draft of the story, then Paul and I took stabs at revisions after that. It was during that revision process that we started identifying the appealing parts of the story (like the mutant sharks) and expanding on them.

Genre fans are very familiar with the “post-apocalyptic” environment from many movies and comics. How did you approach the idea of “post-apocalyptic” from a fresh direction?

It actually didn’t start as a “post-apocalyptic” story idea. It started as an Indiana Jones idea. Back when I was a kid, I saw a National Geographic painting in an archeology book that showed the U.S. Capitol overgrown by forest and vegetation. I thought it would be interesting if Indiana Jones were raiding modern locations and treasures rather than ancient ruins and temples. The question was how to go about doing that.

One day I was walking through my living room and my wife had a Discovery Channel show on TV about solar flares. They were talking about what could potentially happen if a solar superflare hit the earth. They talked about electronics being wiped out, vegetation dying off, humans being bombarded by radiation, and other fun stuff. As soon as I heard that, I knew we had out apocalypse event for the story. The rest fell into place pretty quickly after that.

What’s your take on this world you’re developing? Are you telling one-off action stories set in this larger universe, or is there an overall larger tapestry you’re creating as well?

We set the story up to be ongoing if we wanted it to be. The initial story arc was 4 issues so that if it tanked we didn’t sink too much money in it. But the story would be set up so the characters could have further adventures if we wanted to go there. That was the beauty in cooking half the world – there are so many places you can have stories and so many treasures Jake and his team can go after. Throw in international politics, rival treasure hunters, and other cool stuff and the story potential is endless.

Visually, what’s influencing the creation of Afterburn? Are there other artists or books that have provided inspiration for the way Afterburn looks?

Since we were telling a cinematic story with a potentially real world approach, we were looking for more realistic artwork over stylized penciling. That’s why Wayne Nichols’ art really stood out. He does beautiful, detailed backgrounds as can be seen in the opening scenes of issue #1. When we first talked to him, we told him we were looking for a “Mad Max” and “Terminator” look to the post-apocalyptic environment. Everything needed to be dirty, worn, and beaten. We wanted to see skeletons and dead bodies on the ground where they dropped when the flare hit. We wanted to see fires and destruction where planes fell out of the skies and wildfires raged. You know, the good stuff.

What was much more difficult to zero in on were the mutants. We wrote the full script without ever really thinking about what they looked like. So when the time came to draw them in concept art, it took quite a bit of time to choose a look. We didn’t want X-Men mutants with powers, but we didn’t want “Total Recall” freaks either. We settled on a look that was still distinctly human, but modified by the effects of radiation. As a reader, the process behind creating a look of a character was something I definitely took for granted. Never again!

What does Matt Busch bring to the table as the cover illustrator? How has he helped develop the book and its following?

Matt Busch has been a friend of ours for a very long time. We’ve known him since the earliest days of running TheForce.Net. So when we started this comic company, we knew we wanted to use him. Afterburn was a natural fit for his talents. As you can see from the covers, his art is stunning. I’ve had the cover art with the shark displayed at conventions and I’ve seen people stop dead in their tracks when they’ve seen it. Kids yell out, “Shark!” There’s no question his artwork has gotten our title a lot of attention. In fact, it’s what caught the eye of our agent that helped get us our movie deal.

Tell me about the process of Afterburn being optioned for a feature film. Was it being shopped around for a while, or did the production company approach you guys?

Several groups were interested in the movie rights to Afterburn after having seen it mentioned on ComingSoon.Net, but the writer’s strike slowed progress on many talks to a complete standstill. Then one day in an LA comic shop, our soon-to-be agent saw a copy of Afterburn #1 on the store counter and checked it out. He saw the potential in the story and contacted us about shopping around the movie rights. When the writers strike stopped, the interest started up again. Ultimately Tobey Maguire, Relativity Media, and Neal Moritz won the bidding war.

So getting it optioned was a combination of having a good story idea, having professional looking artwork, and dumb luck.

Where’s the film’s production at right now? Any status updates?

It’s in pre-production. From our conversations with the production company they’re very excited about the project and moving it forward. They have some great ideas for the movie, and I definitely think it’s in good hands.

HeavyInk is profiled in Mass High Tech:

http://www.masshightech.com/stories/2008/06/23/weekly3-Heavyink.com-hopes-to-digitize-comic-book-sales.html

Heavyink.com hopes to digitize comic book sales By Christopher Calnan

An Arlington company has launched an online store for comic book fans that includes a social networking feature and software for collectors.

Technical Video Rental Inc., which has offered rental arts-and-crafts DVDs and how-to DVDs since 2004, is expanding its business to comic book sales after an eight-month beta test of its HeavyInk.com website.

HeavyInk.com sells comic books and hosts a social networking feature that next week will include the ability for comic book enthusiasts to preview a digital version of the first four pages of new comics, founder Travis Corcoran said.

During the fourth quarter, HeavyInk plans to release a free, on-demand collection-management software product for users to track details such as author and artist names and comic asking prices, he said. More than 1,100 users have joined HeavyInk’s network since November 2007, Corcoran said.

Robert Scott, founder of the Comic Book Industry Alliance, a 10-year-old California-based organization with 800 members, said other Internet-based businesses have tried and failed to replace comic book stores. “It’s going to be difficult to supplant,” Scott said. “People want a place to browse their books — they also want them now.”

The self-funded Technical Video launched SmartFlix.com in 2004 and now stocks nearly 6,000 DVDs about topics such as metalworking, knitting and guitar making. The 13-person firm generates more than $1 million a year, Corcoran said.

He expects comics to boost HeavyInk.com’s top line because comics’ subscription model provides recurring revenue.

Comic subscriptions generate revenue of $500 million to $600 million annually in the United States and Canada, said Corcoran, citing figures from Maryland’s Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. He expects HeavyInk to generate $2 million to $3 million in sales in 2009.

“We want to be a one-stop shop for all sorts of thing,” Corcoran said. “We have everything in one place.”

For quite some time we’ve had an odd glitch with our graphic novel listings: fairly recent items would become unavailable, about a month after they were first listed on our site. This happened because we try to be very good about only listing items as available if we’re pretty confident about their actual availability, and we didn’t have a good information on that. Now… we do! You’ll find a bunch of fairly recent stuff available again, like

Bone Color Edition Vol. 8 Treasure Hunters

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Annihilation: Conquest Vol. 2 Hardcover

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Flight Vol. 5

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Runaways Digest Vol. 8 Dead End Kids

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Astro City The Dark Age Vol. 1

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At the risk of kicking up too much of a kerfuffle, I think Friend of HI and Hero By Night creator DJ Coffman could use some moral support right about now, if not a good lawyer to do some pro bono creator rights work on his behalf…

A long story short, I had emailed the folks at Platinum to inquire if there had been any movement about the rights issue so that I could possibly get moving and publishing at least the webcomic on my own before the audience that we built for 2 years completely dropped off. I pretty much got this form letter sounding reply that included this statement:

Please be advised that due to the controversy stirred up as a result of your recent blogging and interviews, all discussions between us regarding any potential licensing back to you of limited rights to Hero By Night are on hold. At this time, we cannot say when those discussions might be resurrected. – Brian Altounian

To summarize, “we were gonna, but you talked, and now we’ve changed our minds.” Fantastic!

Read more about it at DJ’s blog.

Here’s hoping Platinum comes to their senses and starts treating their talent with the decency they deserve—they have no reason I can see to withhold publishing rights from DJ, other than being bastards, especially since any work he does to continue to promote and produce the work will only help any efforts Platinum may undertake to sell the property in Hollywood.

The Grand Wizard of Comics himself, interviewed in two parts.

The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 1

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Tom Strong Vol. 1

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We got our biggest delivery of comics ever – the pile of Diamond boxes was almost as tall as our shipping person!

The UPS guy demanded help, because the boxes of Atomic Robo graphic novels were tipping the scales at over 70 lbs each.

Anyway, there’s an all-hands project going on right now (well, maybe not all hands…I’m exercising my managerial perogative and sitting on my butt!), as folks unpack comics and then repack them again.

We’ll get a fair number of comics out today, but – as always – we don’t promise that everything ships out on Wednesday. Some items will be boxed up tomorrow, etc.

As our volume continues to grow (we’ve been increasing the number of comics shipped per month by 30% each month so far, but we’re expecting a slight slowdown to 20% / month starting in July), we’ll ramp up our shipping staff, of course.

We’re also negotiating with our landlord for an office suite about three times larger elsewhere on the floor. Keep your fingers crossed on that one, please.

And, have pity on our local USPS employees…I’m told that we are apparently the largest single chunk of mail volume in the entire town!

Writers Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman have previously written the original graphic novel Monster Attack Network for AiT/Planetlar and the five-issue Highwaymen miniseries for Wildstorm (more on that later). They’re also a senior editor for Entertainment Weekly and a producer on Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels, respectively.

Now they’re throwing their hats into the ring to take on Top Cow’s Pilot Season, in which several comics enter, one comic leaves. Not quite as catchy to chant as the bit from Thunderdome, but there it is.

Adam made some time in his schedule to tell us more about Genius and what happens when the world’s greatest military genius is born in South Central.

Pilot Season Genius #1

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Let’s start with the genesis of the project. How did these two ideas—the world’s greatest military genius, and a war in one of LA’s worst neighborhoods, weave their way together?

It was really the combination of two separate ideas. One was a documentary about these extreme right wing militias in middle America preparing for what they feel is the inevitable race war. The second idea was a general fascination with savant-like prodigies and how they are born with a gift not necessarily of their choosing. We combined the two into this concept that every generation is given a great military mind – Hannibal, Napoleon, Washington, Patton, etc. Who says our generation’s greatest warrior has to go to West Point and be a trained killer in the traditional sense? What if someone surrounded by violence their whole life discovered they had this gift and chose to do something with it?

You seem to be trying to take a pretty realisitic view of life in an inner city. What kind of background do you have with that part of the world, and did you undertake any research to make your depiction more accurate?

Growing up on the tough streets of Long Island, Marc and I have exactly zero background growing up in that world but we did research into gang culture and military tactics and that’s what being a writer is. A lot of that research will, readers willing, show up in future books as the Battle of Los Angeles escalates into a full scale conflict. We have some really, really cool stuff planned that obviously wouldn’t fit all into one book.

Obviously, Destiny’s chief character trait in the first issue is her tactical brilliance. What else can you tell us about the character?

She is a person that has watched the game be played her whole life and has figured out a way to run it. She is a street hardened politician in a sense, in that she knows how to speak to all types of people, knows how to motivate them, and manipulate them. She is strong, incredibly bright and driven to make a difference. It is up to the reader to decide whether she is justified or misguided. She really is a very fascinating, complex character.

Take us through this story a bit as it might evolve over possible upcoming issues. What’s your long-term vision for the book?

Man oh man. The battle will become larger than anyone thought possible. Detective Grey’s role will definitely grow as his “Suspect Zero” theory is proven legitimate. There will also be a lot of backstory as to how Destiny became the woman she is, how she has been planning this for quite some time and how she intentionally stayed off the grid and kept her existence and motives a secret until the time was right. There is also a shared experience Destiny and Det. Grey have that neither of them knows about. Marc and I have this story all structured out and a great arc planned and we really hope we get the chance to tell it. We had to really pick and chose what to put in the first issue to tell the story, establish characters and convince readers that this is a story that they will want to hear more of.

What do you need to make happen in order to see Genius take the Pilot Season crown? What’s the most important thing fans can do to help?

Come August the voting will open on Top Cow websites and a few other comic book sites, I believe. You can vote once per day for the entire month. Please, if Genius piques your interest and you want to see more, vote every day and encourage others to do the same. This is a chance for all the fans that crave something different out there to make it happen. All of us that can see the ever-widening scope of what comics can do – this is our chance to put something different out there and take steps towards redefining the medium. I am a huge fan of superheroes, but I want more options as well.

Monster Attack Network Gn

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You wrote Genius with your collaborator on The Highwaymen, Marc Bernardin. How does the division of labor work between the two of you as writers?

It is totally 50/50. It’s actually very funny – Marc and have been friends since 5th grade; we grew up blocks from each other. We have been writing film and TV specs for years and then I got an offer to move to LA that I could not pass up. Since I have moved our productivity has increased ten fold. We are such good friends that our work sessions in the same room always turned into massive Halo sessions or watching movies for inspiration – basically anything else that would side track us. We got work done but not nearly in proportion to how much time we were putting in. Once I moved to LA we began to work over the phone, e-mail, IM, etc. and our output has skyrocketed. We are both so busy (he with EW, me running Gene Simmons Family Jewels) that we really hyper focus on the task at hand. A story usually starts with a one line idea from one of us, “What if…” Then we flesh it out together and do an outline and then we pass Final Draft documents back and forth. I write 5 pages, he tweaks, adds five more and sends it back, I tweak, etc. So in the end all aspects of the book – the idea down to the layout and the dialogue – are both of ours. It’s working so far.

I thought The Highwaymen was a fun miniseries that deserved a bigger audience, and yet it seemed to become some kind of case study for the ways in which smaller books get the short end of the stick in an event-driven marketplace. Why do you think that happened, and what did you learn from the experience?

It was a huge learning experience, both good and bad. First off, we are proud that we put out what we feel is a quality book. I don’t think it would have become the “case study” and internet water cooler talk it did if it was crap. I think. It was exactly what we set out to do and, as a bonus, was really well received by the critics and the 12 people that bought it. 13 if you count my mom.

I think it is important to point out that it was not cancelled. I say that not out of ego, but fairness to Jim Lee, Scott Peterson and all the folks at DC/WildStorm. We made a deal for 5 issues and we did 5 issues. Of course the hope was that sales would demand more and then we and WildStorm, collectively, would have discussed continuing the Highwaymen in some form. Unfortunately the sales didn’t warrant that conversation.

I think it is too easy to “Monday morning quarterback” and say what went wrong. We all knew from the beginning that we had an uphill battle in the marketplace: unknown characters, no costumes, no capes, two unknown writers and a mostly unknown (but awesome) artist. When you think about it, the stars really had to align for it to be a runaway hit. Am I disappointed? You bet your ass, but I understand. I don’t take it personally. Who knows, maybe if Marc and I are lucky enough to become the next Fraction, Bendis or Vaughn, the math will add up and it will become feasible for WildStorm to do another.

I will say this, if you like something – support it – because you are directly affecting how long it will be around. Don’t automatically think, “Looks great, but I’ll wait for the trade” because if everyone does the same there will be no trade. If you like something, grab it now and show your support.

Highwaymen

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What else do you and Marc have on your plate, in terms of upcoming projects?

A lot actually. A bunch of anthology work: A Grunt tpb from Arcana, Outlaw Nation from Image, Postcards II, resurrecting the Sphinx in a pulp collection coming out. We also have a bunch of bigger projects I can’t talk about right now but hope to soon.

One of my favorite comics, The Last Call (by the extremely talented Vasilis Lolos), is making the jump from page to screen:

Universal has bought the Oni Press graphic novel series “The Last Call” and set it up with Barry Josephson to produce through his eponymous banner.

“The Last Call,” written and illustrated by Vasilis Lolos, centers on two teens on a joyride who get hit by a train – an interdimensional soul carrier – and find themselves on a quest to solve a mystery that will allow them to return to their regular lives.

Congrats, (UPDATE: Harvey Award Nominee) Vasilis!

For the interested, there’s a 38 page preview of TLC #1 here , and if it’s your cup of tea, it can be yours with a bit of clicking:

Last Call Vol. 1

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Issue 2 is due out August 30th:

Last Call Vol. 2

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If you’re looking for me before then, I’ll be where I’ve been since #1 came out – on the edge of my seat.

UPDATE: a software bug is breaking urls with “&” in them. Until we get it fixed, here’s the url for the preview: http://www.onipress.com/preview.php?bid=268&pid=141

A nice profile from New York magazine on Dash Shaw and his Bottomless Belly Button, already an early frontrunner for graphic novel of the year, if the buzz is any indication.

Bottomless Belly Button

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I love Frank Miller. Really, I do.

And I have faith in his ability to create a really kickass movie version of The Spirit that honors the original work and also reflects his personal artistic vision.

But still…

I think io9’s got it right—it looks VERY Sin City.

Am I right, or am I nuts?!

It’s Friday. Do you wanna work? Me neither.

Let’s read comics instead.

This week, why not spend a few hours visiting Image’s Online Comics page, featuring complete first issues of Fell, Casanova, Dynamo 5, Phonogram, and many, many more.

Then of course, click back here to HeavyInk to buy all the cool new stuff you’ve discovered! It’s always payday somewhere, right?

Okay, so I won’t post the video here since I don’t want to spoil it for anyone (and I guess if you don’t wanna be spoiled, stay away from the comments, cause I’m guessing us spoiler junkies will wanna yak about this), but there’s at least one very exciting special guest lined up for this weekend’s Incredible Hulk.

Way, way cool.

We should talk favorite Hulk stories, too. Here’s mine.

Hulk Planet Hulk

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I heart Greg Pak.

As he did for 52, comics critic Douglas Wolk is offering his own annotations to Final Crisis. It’s a nice mix of incisive analysis and abject geekery.

Interesting conversation over at ICv2, the comics analysis/trend-tracking site.

First, Steve Bennett writes about underperforming titles from a retailer perspective, essentially suggesting that shop owners “just say no” to low-selling books:

And what we can do is stop ordering certain comics. I know we’ve been down this road before but if you haven’t already, take a look at the ICv2 Top 300 Actual Comics list for April, in particular the bottom. I knew comic books sales were down but, man, when a color superhero comic book from Marvel or DC sells 15,000 copies or under you really have to wonder what the breakeven point is for the publishers. I know this may sound crazy, but maybe if they published fewer comics the circulation of the comics they did publish would actually go up.

Then, graphic novel reviewer and library consultant Katharine Kan chimes in with her own perspective, which is, “Hey, waitaminit—low-selling titles are often GOOD!”

Those low-selling titles may be selling at lower numbers, but it doesn’t mean they’re not worthwhile. Retailers should instead encourage their customers to set up pull lists for those titles. I have never depended on a shop carrying what I want to buy for 12 years.

Obviously, many of you highly enlightened readers bypass the direct market and order your books from HeavyInk, but still:

What’s your take on this? Do low-selling books need to be crushed beneath the bootheel of the top sellers in order to strengthen the marketplace? Or are the low-selling titles often the under-the-radar classics that make comics collecting fun?

(And can you tell which side of the argument I’m on?)

You asked, and he answered.

The (Nearly) Infamous Zango, star of Nearly Infamous Zango, has filed his responses to your advice column questions with Zango writer-artist Rob Osborne, and we present them to you here now.

We also have a winner in our Ask Zango contest: HI user Robert! We’ll be in touch shortly to coordinate delivery of your MEGAKEWL prize package.

All Hail Zango! And because he stars in a great comic, All Buy Zango!

Nearly Infamous Zango

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Dear Mr. (Nearly) Infamous Zango,

How would you describe your working relationship with your handler Rob Osborne? Is he always making you do things you don’t want to do, like go to book signings or being a guest speaker at a villain convention, when you would rather just sit at home watching TV? Or is it the opposite, where he’s there to hold you back from all of your wild and crazy antics?

And are there any problems with having an attack-gorilla that you didn’t know about before you decided to have one? Bad odor? Expensive to feed?

Swearing my Undying Fealty,

Robert

Who do you think you’re talking to, Robert?! I am Lord Zango! No one handles Zango! Not even Zango!

Osborne is just a worthless wretch! He thinks that because he knows how to hold a pencil he is qualified to tell the stories of Zango! But it is I who allow this inept moron to tell my tales. It is I who command him to spread the word of my brilliance. And I demand that he makes me look good!

When you read The Nearly Infamous Zango, you should come away trembling with fear! You will know that my intellect has no equal! My power is expansive! My will is like steel!

If Osborne does his job properly, then soon all the world will shiver at the mention of my name. Then, all will submit to me. And if not, Osborne and the rest of you doddering dolts will be crushed beneath my bunny slippers!

In regards to your inquiry about the attack-gorilla, it is abundantly clear that Deacon Dread is losing his edge. Perhaps he has dementia. Because that overgrown monkey was as useless as a pogo stick. I don’t want cutesie toys. I want results!

Dear Mr. (Nearly) Infamous Zango,

Every night some hooligans in my neighborhood throw rocks at cars. I’ve had two windows broken already! If it weren’t for the fact that I drive an ‘82 Rabbit, I fear my car would be ransacked as well. What would you do to stop this rash of absurdity?

Also, they ring my door bell at 2am. Make it stop!

Sincerely,

Borderline Psychotic in Boston

A 1982 Volkswagen Rabbit? This is what you drive?! It’s no wonder you’re on the receiving end of abuse. You’re a loathsome fool without a proper understanding of how the world works! You drive a car that no self-respecting 16-year-old girl would accept as a birthday gift!

We live in a world governed by force! The aggressor enjoys the spoils. Consider the wild, where the tiger pounces on a zebra. The tiger gets dinner, and the zebra complains about—What? Doorbells and rocks?! How unfair life is?

No! The zebra is dead meat!

Stop being a wuss, Boston boy! Release this psychotic behavior you so-nearly indulge in, and take your anger out on the hooligans that torment you and your neighbors!

No one is coming to your rescue. It’s time you took things into your own hands. Inflict some pain! And make sure everyone in your neighborhood knows it was you who caused those troublemakers to suffer. That’s how you get respect!

Dear Mr. (Nearly) Infamous Zango,

My husband and I have been married for 15 years, but lately it seems like we hardly even know each other anymore. He’s been spending a lot more time than usual in his secret laboratory, and recently he genetically engineered a new assistant, a super-intelligent chimpanzee who he calls JoJo. He says she’s just his helper, but he keeps coming home later and later, and yesterday I could smell her perfume on him, and his hair was messier than usual (almost as if someone had been “grooming” him). Am I crazy for thinking there’s something going on here? How can I confront him about this without driving him away further?

—Feeling Jealous in Metrotown

Sounds like your husband may be into some monkey business. Which disgusts me to no end.

If you fear conflict, then you’re too soft and weak to get what you want. Always initiate conflict! Always demand what you want! Always give outrageous ultimatums!

If this doesn’t yield the results you desire, then be prepared to make your husband miserable. Hopefully, your spine proves sturdy enough to stand up for yourself, oh Jealous One.

Zango rocks.

He reminds me of “The Monarch” from The Venture Brothers.

Did you crib from TVB? Did they crib from you?

...or was this a case of totally awesome parallel inspiration?

- TJIC

Zango does rock! I am the Great Lord of Metrotown! I am to be loved and loathed! I am to be revered and despised! But you’re a fool, TJIC! Second-rate wannabe super-hacks like the Venture Brothers are constantly imitating Zango!

Besides, isn’t that a cartoon? Lord Zango is real. I inflict real agony.

There is only one Lord Alfred Zango, Jr! Your lives are meaningless without me! All the imposters will kneel before my greatness!

Dear Mr. Nilifamus Zango,

Van Freako found big rabbit for nice playing. Rabbit not soft and cuddly. Rabbit made of metal and glass. Rabbit fun! Van Freako play rock game with rabbit! Me not want to hurt rabbit, but Van Freako break glass. Van Freako afraid to tell Dread. What should Van Freako do?

-Van Freako

ps Van Freako like Zango bunny slippers. Me can play with Zango bunny slippers?

Van Freako, you half-witted troglodyte! Keep pestering me with your incessant whining and I’ll have Deacon Dread put you to sleep! And I’m not talking about a nap! I mean the long, rotting kind.

And stay away from my slippers, Van Freaks-a-lot, or I’ll give you a zap.

Dear Mr. (Nearly) Infamous Zango,

What T.V. show satiates a mind such as yours? Are there any that could even hope to hold your attention?

- Chris

Chris, is your life so barren of meaning that you wish to know the viewing habits of Lord Zango?

Maybe I enjoyed the recent episode of Oprah, where she shared her “favorite things” with the audience. Perhaps I relish the political blood-letting that is on the cable news networks every night. Surely you’ll find it fascinating that I watched the finale of American Idol. And yes, I’m glad that Archuleta was sent home crying to his mother!

But there’s nothing on television that sates me. My grey matter requires greater stimulation than Hell’s Kitchen and The Office can provide. The NBA playoffs are more sleep-inducing than Ambien.

Soon, your high-def television will be dominated by my handsome and dangerous face. Then you’ll experience the rich, terrifying potential of television.

I, LT COLONEL JUSTICE, have a question for you!

Your evil must end! The reign of terror you have brought to this fair city is intolerable, and you must be stopped! With the aid of my trusty teenaged sidekick, PERCY, I will defeat your android army! My question to you, Iron Ox, is…

Iron Ox?! I’m not the Iron Ox! I am ZANGO!

What do you mean this isn’t Iron Ox? Zango? (Nearly) Infamous Zango…

Zango…I KNOW I’ve heard that name from somewhere…Zango…AHA!

You’re the one with the lisp, aren’t you?

Justice, you inept mongrel! With a single Zango Zap, I’ll turn you to a heap of smoking ashes! Never mention that pontificating puke’s name again! I hate the Iron Ox! And I shall ram those robots of his into a dark and uncomfortable place!

Dear (Nearly) Infamous Zango:

Your daughter is HOT! Is she single?

- Sidekick Percy

Percy! Don’t you dare speak of my daughter! She’s off limits! You’ll rue the day that I cross paths with you and your doofus mentor!

Dear Mr. (Nearly) Infamous Zango,

What are your fondest memories from the height of your villany? Was there a certain do-gooder that got under your skin? What was your favorite way to get them to wish they had never been born?

- Robert

The height of my villainy? Robert, your head is full of Play-Doh if you think that I’ve fallen from my Machiavellian pinnacle!

I am still the greatest, most formidable supervillain alive. None shall surpass me. Especially that self-absorbed loudmouth Iron Ox.

Do I have fond memories of terrorizing Metrotown? Yes. Do I long to bring the entire population to its knees once again? Of course. Will that happen again soon? Most definitely. Provided that Dread doesn’t disappoint me again. As soon as my army of killer fruit is ready, I shall break this city.

That’s right. Killer fruit. Run for your lives.

Dear Mr. (Nearly) Infamous Zango,

Do you feel that, as a villain, you get more chicks than the goodie-two-shoes of the world? Cause I’d kill to get some action.

Signed,

Desperate in Atlanta

Desperate, are you hoping to get some hot Zango action? Well get in line, sweetheart! I’ve got a bevy of fawning fans clamoring to spend time with me.

But you’ll be waiting forever, because your desperation reeks of, well, desperation! You must change your ways! Don’t grovel. Don’t sulk. Don’t place stuffed animals on the dashboard of your car. Don’t get lots of cats and become the “Cat Lady.”

You said, “I’d kill to get some action.” That’s hot. Demand action! Just not from me.

(Nearly) Infamous Zango, I beseech thee!

How can you tell if a one-eyed man is winking or blinking?

Yours in eternal serf-itude,

- Matt C.

Such nonsensical quandaries are beneath me! My cerebral powers aren’t to be trifled with, Matt C.

Coincidentally, Deacon Dread has only one eye now. I can promise you, he won’t be winking at me. He’s never been a winker. And he knows that coyness is intolerable!

Now, all of you, heed my words! Make yourselves useful! I am Lord Zango, and all shall submit to me or suffer my wrath! Spread the word to your so-called friends and colleagues…

I am Lord Zango! Love me! Loathe me! Serve me!

For more information about The Nearly Infamous Zango, please visit AbsoluteTyrant.com. And to learn more about writer-artist Rob Osborne, visit RobOsborne.net.

Newsarama musta caught wind of our boffo blog launch, cause sure enough, they’ve launched their own major redesign.

...I’m excited!

I’ve been ready to crank up a blog at HeavyInk ever since Jebediah Q. Corcoran, great-grandfather of current HI president Travis Corocoran, first opened “The Heavy Inkke Pictogrammatical Emporium” in a tiny horse stall in 1842.

Now it’s here!

I’ll be trying to pump this here machine full of links, commentary, interviews (Oh! the interviews!) and whatever else I can dig up on the interwebs.

AND as Pete mentioned, this will be the place to go for updates from Travis, Pete, Tyler, and the whole HI gang on the latest and greatest features and products that HeavyInk has to offer.

For now, make sure you subscribe to our HIBlog RSS feed, so you never miss a SINGLE WORD OF GENIUS THAT POURS FROM OUR MOUTHS.

Or the poop jokes. Those will be DELIGHTFUL.

We decided we needed an obvious place to make announcements and otherwise shout at the world. ‘til now, we’ve been using the forums and our individual blogs, but sometimes things just get lost in the noise. So, welcome to a new one-stop shop for HeavyInk news.

We have a nice community of people who love comics, and we have lots of web pages dedicated to comics, and one of our goals it to tie these together in useful ways. As a tiny step in that direction, on any page dedicated to a comic title you can now see the people who are subscribed to that comic who have elected to make their profile and subscription list public. Just playing around and testing it, it’s been a nice way to find people who’re reading the stuff I also read.