Author Rating: B+

Celtika (read 12/15/09) recommended

This is the first of Holdstock’s Merlin Codex series. The story covers the period before Arthur. Seven hundred years after Jason’s death, Merlin discovers that Medea had not murdered Jason’s sons but had moved them forward in time. But Jason is not dead, he is still aboard his ship the Argonaut in the bottom of a frozen lake. Merlin rescues him and they set out to find Jason’s sons. It is through this adventure that Merlin first meets Urtha, an ancestor of Arthur, setting the stage for Holdstock’s version of the Arthurian Legend.

I was a bit impatient with the first third of the book but I think that is more my fault than the author’s. I have always found Merlin to be the more interesting character, and Holdstock does a pretty good job of bringing him to life.

If you like Arthur/Merlin stories, I highly recommend Peter David’s series.

Marvel Comics Presents #26

Fixit is on the job!

Another Fixit story by Purves and David.  This little tale follows Fixit as he arrives to collect some money from a guy who owns a Sea World type amusement park called Maritime or something… anyways, the guy doesn’t have the money for Fixit so he offers up the park.  The Hulk asks why he’d want the fish factory and the guy shows Hulk the Whale show.  Suddenly the whale begins to get out of control – coincidentally this is part of the show that Fixit likes  – but when the rogue whale starts to head for the crowd the Hulk springs into action and beats the whale up and sends it back into the sea.  There the Hulk encounters some fish people who had been controlling the whale – I think… it’s been a while since I read it – but hey, I remember it as being one of the best little Fixit stories in the MCP series.  Grade: B+

Who knew Fixit was a Sea World fan?

Hulk - taking care of business!

Ground Zero TPB

Peter David gave us this absolute gem of a storyline. McFarlane helped with his amazing art in this one… and it would turn out to be his swan song for the Hulk. There’s an interesting behind the scenes story that made the rounds about McFarlane and David’s working relationship. The story goes:

TIH #340 - Wolvie vs the Hulk - one of the most famous covers!

When David began writing the Hulk, Marvel asked if he wanted to have McFarlane, a virtually unknown at the time, draw the book. David agreed. McFarlane didn’t take long to catch the public’s attention with his unusual style – and soon he was a superstar. In the middle of this storyline Marvel asked if Todd wanted the reigns on Amazing Spiderman – and he did – he called Peter to tell him about it. When David heard that Todd was leaving the Hulk he asked McFarlane to stay on until #350 – in fact, it is said that David asked McFarlane to stay on because he had a great storyline and there was to be tons of money to be made… and McFarlane got insulted and vowed never to work with Peter David again.

TIH #341 - Man Bull

Now – if you believe it is another story. McFarlane being insulted over someone saying he’ll make a ton of money? I just can’t see that… but let’s get on with this story back when Todd and Peter were making beautiful stories together! This is the first story I bought when I was introduced to the Hulk. See, it’s about this time when the Grey Hulk came back – and he was only transforming at night. Bruce learns about gamma bombs being mass produced and he is determined to see them destroyed.  The issue is… Clay Quatermain and Rick Jones are along for the ride – and while they make progress during the day – they don’t at night because of Bruce’s other self.  In fact, at first the Hulk could care less and tries to get away – but after a famous tussle with Wolverine (and coincidentally another one of the most reprinted Hulk issues ever) - Hulk becomes more agreeable.

TIH #342 - Half Life!

The next issue has the group stopping in a small town that has a little problem with a monstrosity called the Man-Bull – in an issue both eye opening and touching.  In the next issue we meet Half Life – who gives the Hulk a fight to be seen - sent by the Leader, who has a plan of his own for one of those bombs… and has wrench to throw into the works – namely two inventions named The Rock and Redeemer (not the same Redeemer Todd uses later in his Spawn issues) and a pretty lady named Betty.

TIH #343 - The First Hulk Issue I Owned

Betty has a surprise for the Hulk – one that she really doesn’t want to share with him… she is pregnant.  In one of the greatest issues of the Hulk ever - Betty squares off against the Hulk – trying to hold back the news – but when the Hulk won’t cooperate she breaks down and confesses her secret.  She expects the Hulk to lash out – but instead he wraps his arms around her and comforts her.

TIH #344 - One of my favorite covers ever!

The finale is the most surprising, excellent, crushing and ballsy ending in Hulk history.  For those of you who have read Planet Hulk – you think that ending was surprising and upsetting – think about it not knowing what happened to the title character of the book…  you know he isn’t dead – it wasn’t gimmicky or anything Loeb-ish like that – it was startling!  You had no idea what was going to happen with the Hulk – and even worse – the next issue didn’t feature the Hulk at all – but served as an epilogue to the storyline – but McFarlane left before this issue hit the stands – he did the layouts and Larsen did the art.

TIH #345 - Todd knocks this one out of the park!

All in all this is the story I suggest to any person wanting a classic Hulk storyline – a story so good you’ll look for more as soon as you finish.  In this 7 issue storyline we see the kind of stories we were in store for with PD at the helm – we see McFarlane, issue to issue, become a phenomenon.  His unique style takes shape page by page and he shows his worth as an artist.   We also get to see one of the best Hulk foes actually do something devastating and that makes us invest in seeing the Hulk take the Leader down!  But we won’t see that for many, many issues later.  Get the TPB if you can’t afford to get the individual issues – especially since #340 goes for like $40 now.  I got my issue for cover price though – and it’s still BEAUTIFUL!  Grade:  A++

TIH #346 - Todd leaves... Larsen steps in...

Ritorno a parlare di fumetti e risparmio, e ricado nell’argomento sempre a proposito di collane di volumoni da edicola.

Giobatta is not amused

Il volume dedicato a “Wolverine the end” non mi attirava per niente, del resto supponevo quello che sarebbe stato l’esito di quest’acquisto: trovarmi a leggere una cagata pazzesca.
Volete sapere altro? Ci ho già buttato 9 euro e 99, non ci perdo altro tempo, è una cagata pazzesca.

Però in fondo al volume c’erano anche “Hulk, the end” (media-leggibile) e, più che altro, “Punisher – the end”, gran bella storia, come al solito, di Garth Ennis dedicata a Frank Castle.

Dove voglio arrivare?
Se volete leggere una bellissima storia ma pagandola quella cifra e trovandovi in mano anche un bel po’ di pagine che non sarebbero buone manco per accendere un camino, fatelo.
Sennò aspettate che mi venga la voglia di andarlo a vendere a qualche mercante di fumetti usati, in maniera da pagarlo una cifra più che accettabile.
E non penso di essere l’unico che a metà volume valutava già questa opzione.

Oppure se volete leggere una bella storia del Punisher di Ennis in questo periodo dovrebbero ristampare “Una banda d’idioti”, la mia storia preferita della sua gestione del personaggio, in cui Frank Castle umilia Wolverine, l’Uomo ragno e Devil.

Coming out of retirement because this shit just blew my mind. What is the origin of Layla Miller’s power?

Of course! Her future self came back in time to blast her with all her future memories!! DUH!! That explains everything!!

…but wait, that’s not all.

#### THAT.

This is the second volume in the Visionaries series reprinting Peter David’s ten year run on the Incredible Hulk.

The Hulk, for any newbies out there, is Doctor Bruce Banner, who was transformed into a powerful, raging behemoth after being exposed to a gamma radiation from a bomb he was working on.

Incredible Hulk #340 – This issue was probably one of the most requested stories of all time. It features a straight-out slugfest between the Hulk and Wolverine. Wolverine originally debuted in the Incredible Hulk #181, and this is a basically a rematch between the characters in their new incarnations.

Incredible Hulk #341 – The Hulk, Allan Quarterman, and Rick Jones arrive at the farm of Quartermain’s brother, who happens to be a computer whiz. In exchange for hacking into the government’s computer systems (and remember this was five years or so before the internet so it’s not as easy as it sounds) the Hulk agrees to hunt a strange beast that’s been eating the neighbor’s cows. It turns out to be Man-Bull, an old Daredevil villain.

Incredible Hulk #342 – The Hulk finally figures out where the Gamma Bombs are. They’re being stored in an army base in Yuma, Arizona. The Leader, who has his own plans for the Gamma Bombs, sends Half-Life to try to kill the Hulk.

Incredible Hulk #343 – This issue features the return of Betty Banner, who was abducted by the Leader last issue. He’s released her right in the path of the Banner and the gang, in order to slow down their quest to find and destroy the Gamma Bombs that the government has been manufacturing.

Additionally, the Leader has abducted two of the former Hulkbusters, Saunders and Laroquette, and brainwashed them into becoming his super-powered henchman. He fits them out in special armor and dubs them Redeemer and Rock.

Incredible Hulk #344 – Betty and the Hulk have a heart to heart talk about their relationship. Along the way she tells him that she’s pregnant with Banner’s child. Meanwhile, on the action front, the Leader’s new henchmen break into the army base in Yuma and steal a Gamma Bomb.

Incredible Hulk #345 – This is the big conclusion to the first year’s worth of stories. Banner and the gang are alerted by the Leader that he plans to set a Gamma Bomb off in Middleton and kill all the inhabitants. The Hulk races to the town, only to be confronted by Rock & Redeemer. The Hulk defeats them with plenty of time to spare, but the Leader detonates the bomb prematurely.

Why has the Leader gone through so much trouble? Basically he wanted to get rid of the Hulk so his plans for world domination can go forwards without any interference from his old foe. There are only five survivors from the Gamma Bomb explosion, which the Leader abducts to start his new army of super-powered henchmen.

Incredible Hulk #346 – This is basically an aftermath issue. We learn what happens to Betty Banner, Rick Jones, and Alan Quartermain after the Middleton Massacre. No sign of the Hulk in this story, just a lot of flashbacks.

Incredible Hulk #347 – This issue marks the first appearance of the Hulk in is Joe Fixit persona, a Las Vegas legbreaker for the casino mogul Paul Berengetti. It also makes the first appearance of Marlo Chandler, who becomes a supporting cast member for the next 60 issues or so.

A lot of things have changed since last issue. It starts three months after the Middleton Massacre. The Hulk is no longer turning into Banner during the day. Now, the sun burns his skin, so he wears a suit, a hat, and gloves to protect himself from its rays. Basically, he’s created the life he’s always wanted. Of course, things aren’t going to go so smoothly from here on out.

Incredible Hulk #348 – The Detroit mob wants to move in on Las Vegas, and start by trying to strong-arm Berengetti. They hire the Absorbing Man to take on Mr. Fixit.

And that wraps upon another eight issues. David sure packs in a lot of changes over a short amount of time. And he’s definitely not afraid to shake things up. I like the new direction the series is taking; it opens up a lot of new possibilities. But for that, I guess I’ll have to wait and see what the next volume has in store.

Okay so we all know that I have a tendency to go overboard when it comes to books. Whether it’s my library loot, buying binges, or signing up for reading challenges, it always seems to be all or nothing. My current reading pool for the read-a-thon encompasses almost every genre and ranges from a mere 32 pages for many of my picture books to almost 500 pages for Margo Lanagan’s Tender Morsels. Maybe instead of thinking of this stack as just my read-a-thon picks, we should also think of it as my October/November even possibly December reads.

Plays I started reading plays during last year’s read-a-thon. I found so many wonderful playwrights that I’ve started slowly reading as many as I can especially Pulitzer prize-winning plays. Plays are usually no more than a hundred pages long and contain memorable characters and great settings. For the upcoming read-a-thon, here are a few plays I plan on reading that won the Pulitzer for Drama.

I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright. 2004 Pulitzer.
Wit by Margaret Edson. 1999 Pulitzer.
Angels in America by Tony Kushner. 1993 Pulitzer

not shown: August: Osage County by Tracy Letts.

Short Stories The great thing about reading short stories during the read-a-thon is that you can dip in and out of collections and still feel as though you’re accomplishing something.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie.
Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories by Sandra Cisneros. I read this collection years ago and I think it’s really time for a re-read.
Dedicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff.

Graphic Novels

Britten and Brulightly by Hannah Berry.
Amulet 2: The Stonkeeper’s Curse by Kazu Kabuishi.
Maus by Art Spiegelman

Not shown: The Professor’s Daughter by Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guibert

Fantasy

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Tigerheart by Peter David
The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Other Notables

Peter and Max: A Fables Novel by Bill Willingham
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle
A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliot

Books not shown:

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
B.P.R.D. series by Mike Mignola
Sprout by Dale Peck
Uglies by Scott Westerfield
The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
Little Brother by Cory Doctrow

You see how crazy I went? This is why I’m calling this pile my October-November-and-possibly-December pile. I have a ton of books on hold at the library that will be coming in sometime next week. I can’t wait for the read-a-thon to start but I’m not going to wait to start reading some of these great books.

Have you read any of these graet books? Which ones do you think I should save for the read-a-thon? Are there any that you think I should move to the top of the pile? Have you thought about what books you’re going to read for the big event?

First off I have to say that Comics Buyer’s Guide is my choice for the best magazine about comics today.  I still buy Wizard and Previews.  Occasional issues of Alter Ego, Write Now! and even the old Hero Illustrated make their way to me.  But CBG gives me news, reviews, interviews and a price guide.  All for the same or cheaper price than the other magazines.  “But its in black and white!”  Yeah it is, and I love it.  Know what else was in black and white?  Bone.  Blankets.  Its a Wonderful Life.  I Love Lucy.  Cherry Poptart.  Gorgeous George.  Get over your fear of black and white and dive into this amazing magazine.

Going through the issue:

Pictures from San Diego Comic Con!  Yes, I watched G4’s coverage of the event.  And I looked at photos through comic sites and social networking.  But until I make it to the event I can never see enough pictures.  Scott Ian! Emma Frost!  Dollar comics!  Some kid dressed as the Vision!

The Red Circle heroes are back.  Four heroes with history merged into the DC universe.  I didn’t care, but now that I’ve read this article I’m excited.  In theory all of these stories sound great.  Four “new” heroes, the possibility for even more, mixed in with the rich history of DCU.  Hopefully it turns out better than the Milestone deal.

“Val Staples 10 Favorite Covers”.  How cool a name for someone in the comics industry is “Val Staples”.  Its either comics, wrestling or porn with that name.  Either way, this site will cover you.  I have half the covers mentioned already and started tracking down the rest.  Part of a cool cover is to get the reader curious enough to buy the issue.  Well, really that’s the whole point to a cover.  Whether its the “Here Lies He-Man” Masters of the Universe cover, or Spider-Man walking away from Damage Control, any casual fan should grab that and think “what the hell is going on here, now I have to read this.”

If the future of the Red Circle heroes wasn’t enough for you, why not learn about the past?  Mr Silver Age tells us all about the Mighty Crusaders.  I’ve been reading comics almost 25 years and this was all new to me.  No matter how much you think you know about your hobbies, there’s always something new to learn.

Almost 20 pages of reviews!  Yes, it is tough and near impossible to read everything.  I have neither the time nor money to read all of the comics reviewed here.  But I don’t have to.  In 20 pages I’ve found titles I’m glad I skipped, titles I feel I know all I need to based on the review, and titles I never knew about but now I need to make room in the budget for.  (The Doctor Who book with art by Ben Templesmith looks awesome.)

An almost 15 page price guide, with more reviews!  Peter David talking about gay love in comics!   Seriously, you couldn’t cram more information into a magazine this size and price.  I’m glad I don’t have to, but I’d gladly pay double the current price for this magazine if they found a way to give me even more.  I don’t mean color though.  The black and white makes me feel like its a secret.  Just me and CBG talking comics.  Shhh, don’t let the big glossy celebrity filled magazine know.

I originally got interested in the Hulk with Bruce Jones’s landmark run (Incredible Hulk Vol. 2 #34-76) in 2003. While the gray Hulk was popular when I was still a kid, I was much more interested in Spider-Man at that time. But when this new series of TPBs came out I decided to give it a try.

The Hulk, for any newbies out there, is Doctor Bruce Banner, who was transformed into a powerful, raging behemoth after being exposed to a gamma radiation from a bomb he was working on.

This collection starts at the wrap-up of an earlier storyline, so I’ll preface this review with what has gone before (which I gleaned from the introduction by Peter David). Bruce Banner and Betty Ross have just been married, after Banner successfully split off the Hulk from his body. Unfortunately, that transformation didn’t really stick and now he’s changing into a gray Hulk every night and back to Banner during the day (which was how the character started out way back in Incredible Hulk #1). Also, Rick Jones, the Hulk’s sidekick from back in the day, has somehow been irradiated by gamma rays and is now turning into a green, teenaged Hulk.

Whew! Here we go with the breakdown…

Incredible Hulk #331 – This first entry begins a lot of subplots that are eventually resolved in later issues. The Leader, the Hulk’s most deadly nemesis, re-enters the story, but he has been de-powered and is seeking Banner’s help. The Hulkbusters (which where formed by SHIELD with the help of Banner) are on a mission to capture and or kill the Hulk, and now have their sights set on Rick Jones. Betty finds out that Banner previously chose to change into the Hulk, and gets upset at his carelessness. In the midst of all this drama, Betty’s former husband, Ramon, shows up in town after he hears she got remarried.

Incredible Hulk #332 – At the end of last issue, Banner intentionally turned himself into the Hulk in order to save Rick Jones from the Hulkbusters. Of course, once the Hulk finds Rick a battle breaks out between the two behemoths. Eventually the gray Hulk captures Rick. With the help of Banner’s scientific equipment and the Leader’s knowledge, he then drains the gamma radiation from Rick and transfers it to the Leader, whose powers are restored. Unfortunately, the underground lab is destroyed when the machine backfires, almost killing the Hulk and Rick, and giving the Leader the chance to escape.

Incredible Hulk #333 – After the explosion last issue, the Hulk decides to run as far away from Gamma Base (SHIELD’s regional headquarters) as he can get. He winds up in a town just at sunset and comes up with a novel scheme to ensure that Banner doesn’t get back to Gamma Base – he gets Banner so drunk that he is incapacitated for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, the sheriff of this town is a big bully, and starts taunting Banner just before he changes into the Hulk. You can guess what happens next.

This issue also gives a pseudo-scientific reason on why Banner transforms into the Hulk at night. Basically, the radiation from the sun suppresses the Hulk personality. So when the sun goes down the Hulk comes out. And since the moon merely reflects sunlight there’s another added twist. When there’s a new moon, the Hulk personality is at its strongest, and when it’s a full moon Banner’s personality is more in control.

Incredible Hulk #334 – Banner returns to Gamma Base, and tries to hide the fact that he’s changing into the Hulk from everyone. He goes to see Betty, but finds her in a hotel room with Ramon. They get into a big fight, but eventually make up. Unfortunately, Banner turns into the Hulk again and hurts Betty in the process. The Hulk runs into Half-Life, another gamma-irradiated villain that saps his strength. During the fight, Half-Life hints that the U.S. army is mass producing Gamma Bombs somewhere, and the Hulk decides to find out more about it.

Incredible Hulk #335 –The Hulk is on the run from SHIELD once again, and lands in a small town that is being stalked by a serial killer called the Slasher, that targets young teenage girls. This one reads like a fill-in issue, although it is written by David.

Incredible Hulk #336 – This time around the Hulk leaves Banner in an alleyway at sunrise, and his transformation is seen by someone who thinks he’s a mutant. X-Factor (featuring Cyclops, Iceman and Marvel Girl) are called in and arrive on the scene. Unfortunately, they don’t recognize the Hulk because he’s gray now (a trope that will be repeated many more times in later issues as well) and a big fight ensues. After a lot of property damage the Hulk is eventually frozen in a giant ball of ice.

Incredible Hulk #337 – After capturing the Hulk last issue, X-Factor calls in SHIELD to return him to Gamma Base. In the meantime, the leaders of SHIELD have given Clay Quartermain, the base’s commanding officer, orders to kill him. Of course, the Hulk escapes before he can be executed and a big fight breaks out between all the players. After it’s all said and done, Gamma Base is destroyed, and the Hulk, Quartermain, and Rick Jones team up to find out the secret of the Gamma Bombs.

Incredible Hulk #338 – Now we begin the road trip portion of the book. Banner, Quartermain and Rick hit the road in order to find out more about the Gamma Bombs that are being manufactured. Along the way, the Hulk has in a run in with Mercy, a strange alien bent on ending Banner’s suffering.

Incredible Hulk #339 – Our group of ragtag misfits makes their way to Boulder, Colorado, in order to infiltrate a SHIELD base and get more information about where the manufacturing of the Gamma Bombs is taking place. They can’t find the information, but they do get a lead on where Betty is (who has since run out on Ramon). They also meet a little boy that reminds the Hulk of his less-than-happy childhood.

And that wraps up the volume. David has certainly taken the character into a new and interesting direction. He is very adept at probing the psychological aspects of the Hulk, treating him more like a multiple personality disorder rather than simply a modern-day Jekyll & Hyde.

I like the search for the Gamma Bombs scenario David introduced. It really gives the Hulk a long-term goal, while at the same time allowing him to move away from his usual stomping grounds in the American Southwest.

The after-effects of the Utopia crossover continue to be felt in the Marvel Universe, both from the mutant side of things and as other characters have started to look at their own actions during the Dark Reign, along with some long-seated revelations in the X-books. This entry of the Comic Catch-up takes a look at Dark Avengers #9, X-Factor #48 and X-Men: Legacy – Annual #1.

There was an unusual combination of peaceful, character-based moments in Dark Avengers #9, written by Brian Michael Bendis; art by Mike Deodato, as Ares finally realises the part that his son Alex/Phobos has had to play in Nick Fury’s plans with the rest of the Secret Warriors, leading to a surprisingly non-violent confrontation between the two men, along with Ares’ realisation that he’s been on the wrong side during the Dark Reign. But there were also some surprising, and possibly game-changing, events at the Avengers Tower as the very sanity of the Dark Avengers’ most powerful members comes into question and is acted on by one of the most surprising of characters.

Bendis continues to weave an interesting mix of characters and politics into the book, but Deodato’s art is the most impressive within this issue, with some of the biggest scenes lacking in dialogue and depending on the art alone to convey some massive events. That, and Ares looks awesome with his axe and bike as above, proof that the God Of War has just a little bit more style than Thor.

Best Moment #1: Norman Osborn remains behind locked doors, but needs some help.

Best Moment #2: Ares makes an entrance when confronting the Secret Warriors.

Best Moment #3: The Sentry’s wife realises that her husband is crazy, and must be stopped.

X-Factor #48, written by Peter David; art by Valentine De Landro continues to stretch events out a little bit too much for its own good, as X-Factor Investigations continue to do battle with Cortex and, in the future, Madrox investigates the seeming disappearances of members of the Summers’ Rebellion. There were some revelations, like just why Cortex has been trying to kill the gang’s clients and, more importantly, why he looks like a Madrox dupe, but these discoveries have been a little too sparse to hold interest in the series.

The issue’s high-points come with the appearance of an older, senile Dr. Doom helping Madrox in the future and while David continues to fill the book with witty repartee and dialogue, this only serves to distract from the story, holding off for the inevitable climax in the fiftieth issue, even tying back to the origins of this volume with an appearance by Damien Tryp.

Best Moment: Future-Doom gets blasty (yeah, that’s as good as it gets…)

The X-Men are settling into their new home, and Rogue, Gambit and Danger have been welcomed back into the fold in the X-Men: Legacy – Annual, written by Mike Carey; art by Daneil Acuña. While the team settle onto the island nation, formerly Asteroid M, they receive a visit from an old friend in the form of old Generation X villain, Emplate. Rogue’s new position as mentor/teacher to the younger mutants is only mentioned in a conversation between her and Cyclops but the younger X-Men are also first in the firing line for Emplate’s insatiable appetite.

The annual also comes with a back-up story, which proves more interesting than the main story, even though it focuses on Gambit (yes, I don’t like Gambit, so?) On a Cyclops-endorsed mission to take care of Dark Beast’s dastardly machine from the Utopia arc, Gambit is attacked by a telepathic H.A.M.M.E.R. agent who manages to activate a deep-hidden part of his brain, re-awakening Gambit’s powers as a horseman of Apocalypse.

Carey’s run on X-Men: Legacy (and X-Men beforehand) has always been a rich embrace of X-Men history, and even though Apocalypse’s last appearance in the book has passed into notoriety, Carey isn’t one to shy away from acknowledging even the lowest points of X-Men history and making them riveting. And yes, he can do it for Gambit too.

Best Moment #1: Danger finds a purpose amongst the X-Men, to be renamed the Explainatron 2000.

Best Moment #2: After nigh on twenty years, Gambit finally gets just a little bit interesting.

Dragon*Con. Most of this last week was taken up by being in Atlanta, Georgia at Dragon*Con. I had a spectacular time, attending eleven writing panels, getting Peter David and Alan Dean Foster to autograph books, listening to Tom Smith, going to parties… and yes, eating Alkaline. I took with me: almonds, romaine lettuce, snow peas, sesame basil crackers, barely ripe bananas and granny smith apples. For dinners I mostly at at a Japanese food court place that had a Delicious Soba Noodle Salad. Here and there, I had regular salads(Subway and Metro Diner). I was back on my full course(sans Enbrel) of drugs(Prednisone, Plaquenil, Arava, Naproxen) to get things back under control. I came home from the con feeling far better than when I had left, flares all gone and even my pesky cough has dissipated.

Food of the Week: Soba Noodle Salad

Should my purchase of Shadow Complex turn on what I think of Orson Scott Card’s politics?

“Just so you know, we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.” — Natalie Maines, The Dixie Chicks

“While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system.– John Mackey, “The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare”

“However emotionally bonded a pair of homosexual lovers may feel themselves to be, what they are doing is not marriage. Nor does society benefit in any way from treating it as if it were.” — Orson Scott Card, “Homosexual “Marriage” and Civilization”

I never really thought much about Orson Scott Card’s politics. Why should I? Card was the guy who wrote Ender’s Game, a science fiction classic with special relevance to gamers by the nature of its plotline (a genius child is run through a series of games to prepare him to become a military leader fighting off an alien invasion). I mean, I knew he was a devout Mormon — his five book Homecoming Saga was a deliberate sci-fi analogue of the Book of Mormon and it’s not too difficult to discern the Mormon strains in his Tales of Alvin Maker series — but I was OK with that. I loved the Alvin series and never got past the first book in the Homecoming series because I found it boring. In each case I made the decision based on whether Card’s writing entertained me, not on his status as a Mormon. Why should that matter?…

And while you’re here, why not check out the rest of the Angry Bear Columns under the tab at the top of the page?

Last week I had a post about the uncertainty of whether X-Factor would continue or not as a monthly series. Looks like I was worried over nothing after all. Marvel will be restarting the series with the 200th issue which will ship in December. CBR interviewed Peter David today at Toronto’s Fan Expo and here is part of what he said:

“It feels good, I suppose. I think everyone will concur that ‘X-Factor’ is a little different from most of the other X-books and a lot of books that are coming out. Whether that’s good or bad, of course, I think people should form their own opinions. It’s nice that the market has supported it; it’s gratifying to see the enthusiasm of the fanbase and I am very appreciative that both Marvel and the fans have stuck with it.”

To be honest with you guys X-Factor was THE must read comic for me every month. And then Secret Invasion came along and completely killed my interest in the book. Now that David will be starting a new story arc I think it will be a good time for me to jump back on board.

Hit the link down below to read CBR’s entire interview.

J.

Fan Expo: “X-Factor” Turns 200 on CBR

X-Factor Fans können aufatmen. Im aktuellen Cup O’ Joe Interview auf CBR weist Quesada alle Gerüchte um Einstellung der Serie in einem kurzen Satz zurück:

Kiel Phegley: And on another bit of cancelled comics rumor control, CBR forum member Raptor wrote in, “’Exiles’ is being cancelled after a run shorter than ‘New Exiles.’ ‘X-Factor’ has no solicits beyond issue #50. The question I am getting at is will ‘X-Factor’ be cancelled soon? Also, I like many of the characters in both of these books. Namely Blink (‘Exiles’), Siryn, M, and Strong Guy (‘X-Factor’). Are there plans to utilize these characters when/if the books they star in are cancelled?”

Joe Quesada: Don’t worry, Raptor, “X-Factor” is far from cancelled. Stay tuned for an announcement regarding the future of the series at the Toronto Fan Expo. And as for Blink, lets just say that there’s a very good possibility that you’ll see her pop up somewhere down the road.

Blackest Night Superman #1 (of 3). A pretty cool supplemental mini to Darkest Night. It’s Superman and Superboy vs. the undead Earth-2 Superman. Zoinks!

Wednesday Comics #7.  I love everything about this series: the format, the creative teams, and of course, the weekly release schedule. Ever since 52, I’ve thought that just the weekly concept alone was really cool, as long as the stories are good. And here we get good stories, we just get them one page at a time.

X-Factor #47. X-Factor is the best X-Comic in town right now. What more could you want? You got mutants eighty years in the future, having problems. You got Trevor Fitzroy, a crappy time traveling jerk from the Jim Lee days of X-Men jumping in the mix. And you got Multiple Man(s) from two different futures! Who could ask for more? Did I mention that Scott Summers was a Cyborg?

Next week we get knocked out with what is probably the most heavily stacked week in comics for the year. We’ll be here for you though, reviewing the goods. Here’s whats coming up:

Batman and Robin #3.

Detective Comics #856.

Dark Avengers #8.

Fantastic Four #570.

Green Lantern #45.

Last Days of Animal Man #4 (of 6).

New Mutants #4.

Dark Wolverine #77.

Dark X-Men #3 (of 3).

X-Men Forever #6.

Until next week,

Ronald Rosebud.

Wie schon viele Fans bemerkt haben, fehlt X-Factor in den November Solicitations. Nun dauerte es auch nicht lange bis die ersten Gerüchte über die Einstellung der Serie die Runde machten.

Hier einige Auszüge die Peter David dazu in einem Comic Forum gepostet hat:

I’m busting ass on this book and sales still haven’t gone up. What did you think was going to happen?”

I think the book reads better than ever and retailers aren’t ordering more. The book gets national publicity and retailers aren’t ordering more. If the book were to end, well, it just wouldn’t be a surprise since retailers seem to be sending the message that they’re never going to increase orders… Sometimes it’s not what I say; it’s what I don’t say. Or maybe it’s canceled and I just don’t want to admit to it.  I’m a puzzle.

Aber auch auf seiner eigenen Seite zeigt er sich mysteriös:

You know what’s weird? On the one hand I’ve got X-fans who claim that X-Factor doesn’t read like any of the other X-titles and therefore they don’t read it. And on the other hand, I’ve got people who say they don’t read any of the X-titles and therefore don’t read it. And people wonder why we’re struggling in sales.

There’s really nothing to say, except that I assume Marvel will make some official announcement.

Relembrando os memoráveis momentos do antigo Sci-Fi Saturday no USA Network (hoje Universal Channel), todo sábado era dia de Star Trek, nossos adoráveis seriados de Jornada nas Estrelas. Bom, ainda o é aqui em casa, tanto eu quanto meu irmão somos trekkers convictos.

Como forma de trazer aqueles momentos de nostalgia teremos um artigo especial, escrito hoje por Pedro Kebbe sobre como o universo de Star Trek se desenvolveu no mundo dos quadrinhos. Ah sim, nós do Ao Sugo estamos indo onde ninguém jamais esteve…

Victor Hugo 

O ano de 1991 é tratado pelos trekkers como um marco no que diz respeito ao universo de Jornada nas Estrelas. Além de estar comemorando vinte e cinco anos de existência, neste mesmo período era lançado o tão esperado longa-metragem Star Trek VI- A Fronteira Final,  filme que traria a conclusão das aventuras da primeira Enterprise e, portanto, o encerramento das histórias que envolviam a tripulação da NCC-1701A sob comando do Capitão James T. Kirk. Ainda neste ano também falecia aos 70 anos Gene Roddenberry, criador da franquia Star Trek, deixando todo seu legado a Rick Berman que produziria mais três novas séries (Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager e Star Trek Enterprise) e quatro longas (Generations, First Contact, Insurrection e Nemesis).

Notavelmente um ano de alegrias, podemos também marcar 1991 como um ano de tristezas: não apenas o criador da série falecia no meio da produção do bem-sucedido seriado Star Trek The Next Generation, como também o capitão Kirk e toda a rapaziada estavam prestes a se aposentar… Sábias as minhas palavras ao categorizar este ano como marco referencial.

No Brasil – terra da alegria, do carnaval, do futebol e toda essa balela – em clima de comemoração a editora Abril Jovem presentearia ou, porque não, atenuaria o coração dos  trekkers brasileiros em relação às noticia tristes com a publicação de nove edições em quadrinhos acerca de historias que abrangiam, tanto a tripulação da série clássica quanto a da  Nova Geração.

Mesmo superando o número de vendas da Revista Batman, a mais vendida na época, a referentes edições teriam curto período de vida, durando apenas nove meses dentro das bancas de jornal brasileiras, se tornando um raro item da memorabilia trekker. Passados dezoito anos estas edições em quadrinhos se valorizariam, tornando-se, de certo modo, objetos raros dentro do universo de fãs do seriado, proporcionando orgulho para aqueles que as possuem e, por que não, desespero aos trekkers que acabaram de descobrir a existência de tudo isto a algumas linhas atrás.

Tive a sorte de encontrá-las em um sebo aqui na minha cidade vários anos atrás, assim, com o intuito de ajudar aqueles trekkers que neste momento estão arrancando os cabelos, farei alguns comentários sobre tais edições, apresentando, sim, evidentemente, spoilers (que me perdoem, mas estes gibis possuem 18 anos de existência!) e curiosidades de, desculpem-me o chavão, de trekker para trekker.

O Espaço, a fronteira final…

Para os fãs ardorosos de Kirk, Spock e Magro (e muitas vezes até mesmo para os fãs resistentes aos demais seriados da franquia) não há motivo para desespero: mesmo após o encerramento da Série Clássica em 1969 e com 6 filmes na bagagem muito ainda haveria para ser contado… As histórias em quadrinhos aqui com a tripulação da Enterprise A se passariam “Imediatamente após os eventos relatados no filme Jornada Nas Estrelas V…”, como se encontra na contracapa da primeira edição.

Esses caras sabem o que estão fazendo: com o risco de atrapalhar tudo o que já foi dito no universo de Jornada nas Estrelas, tal empreitada exigiria do roteirista e desenhista um cuidado minucioso (além de muito zelo e muito mais carinho ainda). Melhor não poderia ser feito com a escolha de Peter David para desenvolver o roteiro, escritor do famoso Star Trek The Next Generation – Imzadi e criador da série literária de sucesso Star Trek New Frontier. 

Especialista em enredos de ficção e fã incondicional tanto de Star Trek como também da série criada por George Lucas, Star Wars, David seria rapidamente escalado pela DC Comics para contar mais outra aventura da Enterprise A, conduzido, ao meu ver, de maneira brilhante.   Retomando alguns conceitos-chave referentes ao seriado e longas como as interações entre os tripulantes da nave e o aspecto humano da idéia de Roddenberry, retrata com êxito o universo de Star Trek, chegando a antecipar a trama do sexto filme que, até aquele momento estava em produção.

Sendo assim, as histórias presentes nestes quadrinhos passam a ser encaradas como uma introdução ou prólogo para o próximo filme, mesclando fragmentos do seriado com os conflitos dramáticos perpetuados nos filmes anteriores. Ao retomar as tensões existentes entre Kirk e o Império Klingon, David o faz de maneira a impressionar os trekkers de plantão, fazendo-os com que consigam reconhecer os easter-eggs e se entusiasmarem com sua proposta. Podemos dizer o mesmo em relação ao desenho e seu produtor, James W. Fry, que havia trabalhado em Batman. Mesmo com alguns exageros acerca da fisionomia de determinados personagens alienígenas, Fry deixa sua marca ao retratar tanto a tripulação e outros personagens conhecidos quanto as naves e cenas espaciais.

Audaciosamente indo onde nenhum homem jamais esteve

Mais de 70 anos se passaram e cá estamos nós. Ou melhor, eles. O ano é 2364 e a Enterprise já está na sua sexta geração. Após uma longa variação nos designs das naves da  Frota Estelar, chegamos àquela que é até os dias de hoje, considerada pela grande maioria dos trekkers como a mais elegante e feminina das NCC-1701. Conhecida como Enterprise-D, esta nave possuía em sua tripulação nada mais nada menos que o gentleman Capitão Jean Luc Picard, Comandante William Thomas Riker, Tenente Comandante Data, entre outros. Esta nova série, Star Trek The Next Generation, traria de volta a visão de Roddenberry sobre as possibilidades humanas, retomando a missão ambiciosa de seus antecessores. Esta tripulação iria, realmente, onde nenhum homem jamais esteve.

É sob esta perspectiva que o roteirista Michael Jan Friedman conduz o seu argumento em relação às histórias da Nova Geração nestas edições, também um escritor mais que qualificado para o trabalho. Friedman, figura notória dos trekkers escreveu nada menos que 39 livros sobre Jornada, como produziu também vários roteiros para o Universo Expandido de Star Wars, X-Men, entre outros. Ah, sim, é dele o cross-over de Star Trek e X-Men, edição da Editora Sci-Fi aqui no Brasil que se esgotou muito rapidamente…

A história proposta para estas edições está dividida entre o primeiro e segundo volume. Publicada originalmente em 1989, “Volta a Raimon” nos lembra um episódio típico das primeiras temporadas da série em que uma missão diplomática acarreta em problemas de diferenças culturais, ao mesmo tempo em que, na busca para relembrar o universo clássico da franquia, há ainda a exposição de um capitão heróico e cowboy inspirado em Kirk. Como já dizia Spock, fascinante. Mesmo assim, Friedman, consegue abordar o universo da Nova Geração trazendo um enredo e trama inteligente, conseguindo diferenciar a proposta deste novo universo, desta “nova geração”.

Aqueles que tiverem a oportunidade de ler esses quadrinhos constatarão que, quando lidas consecutivamente, as histórias das duas tripulações apresentadas nestas edições possuem certas semelhanças, porém, as resoluções que estas inserem aos problemas apresentados se demonstram de formas bastante distintas. É aí, portanto, que se encontra o êxito de representar todo o universo de Star Trek com suas devidas particularidades de acordo com sua cronologia. Está esperando o quê? 

Pedro Kebbe, trekker, músico e cantor de óperas klingon nas horas vagas

Imagem: Spock e McCoy por Wyna Hiros, no DeviantArt.Com

Quer ler mais sobre Star Trek no Ao Sugo? Sinta-se em casa! –  http://aosugo.wordpress.com/tag/star-trek/

“I’m busting ass on this book and sales still haven’t gone up. What did you think was going to happen?”-Peter David

Over at Bleeding Cool, Rich Johnston has put together an interesting post about the future of X-Factor. Since there has been no official word yet from Marvel on the matter I will be holding off on my opinions until then. Still, it is some troubling news.

Hit this link to read the post.

What do you guys think?

Creator spotlight week brings us to the works of J. Michael Straczynski! The guys discuss the early TV work on cartoons like Masters of the Universe and The Real Ghostbusters, his career-making turn on Babylon 5, and his journey through comics beginning with Rising Stars and Midnight Nation, through Spider-Man and Thor, and his current place reimagining the Red Circle. In the picks this week, Blake choose Justice Society of America #29, Chase brings us Dark Wolverine #76 (plus a retro pick!), and Mike goes with Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1. This week’s graphic novel pick: Hulk Visionaries: Peter David Volume 6. Contact us with comments, suggestions, “Ask Chase Anything” questions, or anything else at Showcase@comixtreme.com!

2 in 1 Showcase Episode 132: Spotlight on J. Michael Straczynski
Inside This Episode:

PLUS! Christmas in August? Disney’s got a new version of A Christmas Carol coming out in a few months, and a nationwide tour is bringing the movie to America via the rail. This week, Blake and his sister Heather checked out the train’s New Orleans stop. Take a listen as they share their thoughts on the tour, whether it’s worth your time, and what they think of the upcoming movie.

Week in Geek #29: A Christmas Carol Train Tour

This is the first edition of Peter David's book which was on sale back in 2006.

Sometime last year I was at Barnes & Noble and a bright yellow book caught my eye in the graphic novels section of the store. Picking it up, I saw that it was a book written by Peter David on writing comics. After skimming through the pages I liked what I saw and  I opted to buy it right on the spot. Having written an unpublished comic book script (that’s right, it was Crime Buster), I was very curious as to how the pros do it. Also, the name Peter David was known to me although I hadn’t read any of his stuff (at least not to my knowledge). Hector knows him well and had said that he was a phenomenal writer, having written several novels, short fiction and comic books (The Incredible Hulk, X-Factor, Supergirl, Spider-man, Fallen Angel, Wolverine, Star Trek, and a whole slew of others, trust me). I just finished this “how-to” book and I must say that it was a very good read. It’s given me a lot of insight.

As someone trying to write a graphic novel/comic, I will tell you that it is not an easy task to do. I have written short stories and essays before but writing for this medium is something that is rather daunting to me. I think of Neil Gaiman, Mike Mignola, Walt Simonson, Alan Moore, Frank Miller and a host of equally gifted writers and I marvel (no pun intended) at how effortlessly crafted their works turned out to be; so much depth, emotion, conflict and very much character-driven. Heck, even Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy, etc) and J. M. Strazynski (Babylon 5 creator/writer) are writing comic books. These artists in their own right have years of experience letting their words flow onto paper and make the inhabitants of these stories come alive and touch the readers in myriad of ways. The accompanying artwork that frame the words is simply icing on the cake.

Enter me, a fledgeling first time writer. Although I should simply concentrate on my own God-given talents and my own ability to pretty adequately put my words and thoughts on paper and spur emotions and thoughts to those who have read my works, I am nevertheless filled with doubts and lots of anxiety as to whether or not I can pull this off.

Several factors are in my corner, giving me some measure of confidence and hope. First and foremost is Hector’s guidance and belief in me. I can’t state how incredibly important this is to me. He is a phenomenal artist (yes you are bud!) who always thinks and sees things in the visual medium. When brainstorming for ideas and characters, he’s able to give me these great visuals that then get my own creative juices flowing in turn. He is honest and constructive in his criticisms about my writing. In effect, he is my editor in this two-man operation. Having worked at Marvel for many years,  he knows exactly how editors think. If my story pitches sound too cerebral or more akin to novels, he’s quick to remind me about how it’s all going to look on a page. “Is this going to be just talking heads? Where’s the action?” he often jokes and reminds me. And when he talks about “action”, it’s not simply brawls and slugfests on a page he wants to see. He’s simply reminding me to keep the story visually appealing as well (no doubt he wants to flex his penciling muscles). He knows what works and doesn’t work for our Crime Buster universe.

Which leads me to the second factor that gives me confidence: no one knows this world better than Hector and I. I know Harry, Dottie, and Mason intimately. I have been in their heads and know what their fears and hopes are. I know what gets Harry up every morning and what drives him to do the things he does.  For more than a decade Harry and the other cast of characters have been floating in and out of my consciousness, in effect making them very real. They have grown and they are continually evolving, making the task of writing about them much easier.

If you want to write well, you read. You read A LOT of books. I happen to read quite a bit of everything. Someone I haven’t spoken to in over 20 years recently reconnected with me and said, “I remember every time I saw you, you were always reading!” Well, nothing much has changed in that front. I read a lot of novels, with R.A. Salvatore being my absolute favorite author (got the opportunity to meet him a few years ago and email him from time to time). I also read Richard Knaak, Eric Nylund, Christopher Golden, Christie Golden and Ed Greenwood. I will have to add Peter David to the mix as well because I like what I’ve been reading from this book. I don’t read comics any more (aside from the occasional graphic novel) but I have been reading Kick-Ass! in anticipation of the soon to be released movie next year. Mark Milar’s writing is superb! I will also be reading DC’s Blackest Night series, written by Geoff Johns. These writers and others like them inspire me and I hope I can write even a fraction of what they do.

Peter David’s book had a lot of good advice on how to write. He cited a lot of his own work as examples on what to do (or not to do) when writing for comics. The book is divided into five main sections: Where Do They Get Those Crazy Ideas?, Characters: What Makes Heroes & Villains Tick?, Conflict & Theme, Plot and Story Structure and finally, Scripting. A lot of what he covered I’ve read elsewhere and even touched upon in college but he makes it relevant to this industry. Every section was spot on and I came away learning something new. In my opinion, the best chapter dealt with scripting. I always wondered how exactly writers wrote for comics. How did it look like? Was it a script or was it entirely something else? I didn’t have a clue. It was all de-mystified when he wrote about the two accepted styles of comic book writing, the “Marvel style” and the full script. After reading about these two styles, I find myself gravitating more towards the full script.

I don’t break my stories down from panel to panel, page to page. I simply tell the story and let Hector do the rest. I use Final Draft (ver. 7) to write my stories. Yeah, it’s strange. It’s the very same software Hollywood writers have been using for years to pen their Academy Award movies and TV shows. I like the program immensely and I find that it helps me think visually when crafting my stories. Incidentally, Final Draft 8 now has templates for graphic novels (including Dark Horse style). I feel tempted to cough up the $79 for the upgrade just to use these templates, but I digress. When a story is written, I have complete confidence that Hector will “direct” the story the right way. I’ll leave it to him to decide the pacing and the actual panel and page layouts. I occasionally include notes in my script as to how I feel he should draw something in particular (and then there’s the countless hours of discussion) but in the end, he’s The Decider.

Writing is not easy. If you’ve ever tried to write a complete story with a beginning, middle and end and then tried to populate it with interesting, believable characters, filled your story with undulating conflicts, twists and turns, and then tried to tie it all to a central, cohesive theme and come out halfway decent and entertaining to the reader, then you’d know it’s no easy task. But I’ll try. Should I fail to write something worthy and interesting, all I can do is learn and try again. Many nights I’ve stared at a blank computer screen with no inspiration in sight (my two feline muses have long since departed this Earth). I walk away and try again another day. I read a book, see a movie, look at Hector’s sketches and various drawings and try to get glimmers of a story, a seed idea, a morsel of a plot, anything.

In the end, I let Harry guide me and lead me down the dark, rain-slicked streets to meet his shadowy associates and contacts, to help him solve his various mysteries and save the day. I hope I can adequately describe for you the ride we’re about to embark upon. I truly hope you stick around for all the twists and turns and give me some feedback as to how I’m doing.

On August 13, 2009 the 2nd edition of Peter David's book hits the shelves. In this edition, he includes a section on graphic novels but it's basically the same book.

I must admit, brave readers of Giant Size Man-Thing, that the world is a little colder and a little darker with the passing of Wednesday Comics. I can only say that Wednesday Comics will always live on in our hearts, and I’ll always treasure the time we had together. Having said that, there are many comics that are awesome in their own right that came out this week:

Green Lantern #46. I think it’s kind of funny that GL, as a supporting title to Blackest Night, is in fact better than the big event that it is attached to. I like Blackest Night, and I think it is probably the best big event since the Sinestro Corps War, also written by wunderkind Geoff Johns a few years ago.  Some people may be annoyed that the best part of this story is going down in a supporting title, but I think that as long as a good story is getting told it doesn’t matter what comic it goes down in. I’m sure things will balance out a bit as this event goes on.

Last Days of Animal Man #5 of 6. Animal Man has lived a charmed existence as far as D-listers go. After Crisis on Infinite Earths, he was revamped by a relatively unknown young author, Grant Morrison. After a respectable run in the Justice League International and more recently in 52, we get this cool near-future story of Buddy dealing with the possible loss of his powers.

Amazing Spider-Man #607. This re-entry of Black Cat into the Spider-Man mythos has been pretty fun. After all, Black Cat is one of the few villainesses to actually bag the hero they go up against, how cool is that? Black Cat knows how to get her kicks, and I respect that. I’m not a fan of Joe Kelly, but  this arc is pretty good.

Spider-Man, Clone Saga #1 of 6. This first issue of this re-imagining of the Clone Saga is pretty much the same as the original storyline. At first I was a little excited about this mini because I’ve been liking X-Men Forever by Chris Claremont so much. As I read this issue however, I realized that the reason I like X-Men Forever is that I like the X-Men from that early nineties era, whereas Clone-Saga Spidey can go leap off the George Washington Bridge for all I care.

X-Factor #49. X-Factor is really, really building up to something cool. Peter David has been weaving an amazing tale here. X-Factor started when Jaime Madrox re-formed the team to investigate M-Day, the day that Scarlett Witch de-powered all but 200 of the mutants of the world. From that basic premise, David has built up an amazingly complex story that involves time travel, death, birth, mysteries galore and of course, a ton of Madrox duplicates. X-Factor has been the best X-book on the comic stands since it started coming out. Peter David may well become as well known for his contribution to the X-universe as he is for his Hulk run.

Next Week:

Criminal: The Sinners part one.

Batman and Robin #5.

Batman Annual #27.

Strange Tales #2 (of3).

X-Men Vs. Agents of Atlas #1 (of 2).

Astonishing X-Men #31.

Next week,

Ronald Rosebud.