Well, I went to my LCS just like I said I would and I bought pretty much everything I had on my list from a couple of days ago. I haven't had a chance to read either the AUTHORITY LOBO SPRING BREAK MASSACRE or JLA CLASSIFIED #8 (I left #9 there for next time) but they're both by Giffen so it's pretty much a given that I'll enjoy them on some level.
PLANETARY #23 was beautiful to look at and nice to see the origin of Drummer but it's getting to the point where these issues are coming out so far apart from each other, and are such small snippets of the bigger story, that I don't know what's happening anymore. I read the first 16 issues in one sitting, and have read the next 7 of them over the course of many, many months. Guess it's time to go back and reread some of those older issues.
SOLO #5 with Darwyn Cooke looks like a true gem. I haven't picked up any SOLO issues up 'til this point, but I pretty much always knew that #5 would be the one, no matter what happened. This was an issue I was not going to miss. I am thinking of going back and picking up the Paul Pope SOLO, but we'll see. Now that I think about it, I still have a very long and very good interview with Darwyn from just before CATWOMAN #1 came out that never saw publication. I should get on that, don't you think?
ANGEL THE CURSE #1 was a recap issue. The art was decent and the dialogue (or rather monologue) by Jeff Mariotte was pretty spot on Angel. I managed to get the Kordey cover like I had hoped, which is also good news. I'm looking forward to seeing where this mini goes. Cheers to IDW for doing what DHC could not.
SHAUN OF THE DEAD #1 I looked at and decided to skip. I saw the movie, I own the movie...don't need the comic book. Maybe if they do the proposed comic book sequel of SHAUN...then, yeah.
ZOMBIE TALES #1 I tossed in my file. I was not anticipating a squarebound book and didn't really budget for it. Still, looks pretty decent and, hey, Giffen again. I can't go wrong with Keith.
The X-FILES VOL 1 TP was a huge disappointment. Checker did a really lousy job with this trade. Not only did they shoot it from the comics itself and not the original film (which I understand is not always possible) but they managed to break up two-page spreads. Not a very professionally put together product, I'm sorry to say.
I also picked up HELLBOY: THE ISLAND #1 which I am in the middle of, B.P.R.D. THE DEAD #'s 4 and 5 to finish off that series and the HELLBOY Director's Cut DVD just like I planned, so I've got quite a Hellboy fix awaiting me. I've already poured through many of the DVD's features and the comics will be next, I assure you.
TEEN TITANS GO! #20 and JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #10 were both fun reads with JLU topping the list for Johnny DC titles. Creeper helps the JL and Batman track down the Madmen who have a nuke at their disposal.
I haven't read ARMY OF DARKNESS SHOP TILL YOU DROP #3 which took about a year to come out and looks like it may not have been worth the wait, but DESOLATION JONES #1 was a pleasant surprise. The first story didn't grab me by the short and curlies, but I feel like I'm on the ground floor of something TRANSPETROPLITAN-esque.
X-MEN #170 was a bit of a letdown. Milligan is capable of better than this. Larocca's artwork is stellar, to say the least, and will probably keep me buying this title as long as I have the extra $3.25 to spend on it, but Milligan's first attempt fell very short of achieving much of anything. Not badly written, per se, but there was so little plot and the bickering between the characters seemed forced. I dunno, if you read 'em you know what I'm talking about.
Still missing THE STARDUST KID #1 and FLAMING CARROT #3 but they'll sit tight until I get out to the shop again.
I also grabbed a couple of cheap-o back issues that I couldn't refuse. Robert Loren Fleming's THRILLER #1 from 1983 and Seagle and Sale's THE AMAZON #1 from '88, I think. THRILLER didn't really thrill me, which I hoped it would since it's one of Keith Giffen's favourite comic books of all time, but THE AMAZON was a pleasant surprise. Nicely done little mini-series from Comico a few years back with nice writing and art by a pre-Vertigo Steve Seagle and a pre-Jeph Loeb Tim Sale.
Hmmm, I think that's it for my LCS run this week. I hope I didn't miss anything. Oh, and a belated Happy Canada Day to all you fellow Canucks out there!
mike
7 comments:
Well, someone mentions Thriller, and here I am!
Its one of my all time fave series, yaknow. It was a failed masterpiece if ever there was one, and one of the first mainstream comics to have a down-to-earth, mature if you will, feel. It was definitely ahead of its time, which is why it inspired such mixed reactions back then.
The first issue was notoriously incomplete, like the entire series, actually, but if you can find them I'd at least get the first seven, give 'em a read, and decide.
or, you can get synposes of every issue, including the last four DuBay/Nino issues, plus character bios, by visiting my world-famous Thriller web page!
I invoked the name of Bowie a bit ago (or at least that of 'Hunky Dory') and you were suspiciously absent, but I figured you'd come outta the woodwork with the THRILLER mention.
I've always meant to check out the book since Keith listed it as one of his all-time favourites. I'm in the middle of #2 right now and it's definitely in a class all its own. Not sure if I like it, but it's different. Moves a little fast, I think. I plan to keep it up at least until the Fleming run is done, anyway.
And I've seen the site, JB. I was a bit surprised that anyone would have dedicated the time and energy you did into putting it together but it's a cool resource. I should maybe link to it off the Giffen pages.
Any words of wisdom or things to watch for, feel free to fill me in. ;)
Thirller was one series that meant a lot to me on a personal level, and its web profile was next to nothing, so I simply had to do it. What I regret is losing all my working files in a computer snafu a couple of years ago...which means I can't update it, unless I go back and rebuild it from scratch.
Still, everybody that's seen it has been very positive, and best of all it's led to getting to know both Fleming and Von Eeden, which has been a blast, and getting a page of original art from the series, a longtime goal of mine.
As far as words of wisdom, I don't really have any, but I can tell you that RLF wishes he'd spent a bit more time explaining early on as well. It was his first regular series, and only his second published work, so it's amazing that it turned out as well as it did.
I wondered why you haven't updated the site in a while, although it's not like there's been much, if any, THRILLER news to speak of. It's a nicely put together site and I particularly like the commentaries, although I was sure you had an interview or two posted on the site as well. Maybe I'm imagining things.
It's really unfortunate that we lost Flem a couple of years ago. In the current climate of independent publishers revisiting old properties, who knows what might have happened with THRILLER - not to mention how much I would have loved to pick his brain on AMBUSH BUG and the like.
I hope you mean "lost" as in "he hasn't done any comics work for a few years" rather than "lost" as in "died", 'cause he's very much alive and living out west!
There was that rumour that went around a while back thanks to Giffen having some fun...
If I could ever get around to redoing the site, I could post some interviews and so on, even though I don't have anything in writing from Fleming. I did work some of his comments into many of the issue descriptions. I'm sitting on a ton of stuff from Von Eeden, who was extremely generous in providing me with material...he wrote, now get this, a 24-page letter (12 sheets, written in tiny handwriting on both sides) with his memories and critiques of each issue in the series that he worked on, along with some background on his mindset at the time and his side of all the events at DC and with Fleming. It's an amazing thing!
Part of me wishes that the book could come back somehow, but I'm afraid it would be a monkey's paw scenario, with DC giving it to Judd Winick and Rags Morales or something like that. If Fleming and Von Eeden could somehow be persuaded to work together again, then I'd love to see a trade collecting the first eight issues, then perhaps a mini-or-maxi-series or GN that continues the story, perhaps to a conclusion of some sort. I'm not holding my breath!
I totally thought that Fleming had passed away in, like, 2003. That's good to hear. I should track him down sometime.
That stuff from Von Eeden sounds pretty sweet. Giffen once tried to send me a care package of stuff he was going to throw out but it went to the wrong address, was returned to sender and he tossed it anyway. I'm still pulling my hair out over that one. Giffen once said that he would never draw the Bug again unless Fleming was writing it. Now there's a reunion I'd like to see but never will.
By the way, does DC actually own THRILLER? I thought it was a creator owned schtick and that the rights had probably reverted back to Fleming and Von Eeden like HECKLER did for the Bierbaums and Keith. Granted, it predated HECKLER by a few years and the contracts might have been totally different then.
One last bit of curiosity that I couldn't find the answer to on your site - what was the actual cause of the two creators leaving the book? I've always wondered that and creative differences, while valid, is often a cop-out.
I'm pretty sure the rights belong to DC- it was work-for-hire, and it was Fleming's first regular title and original pitch, which makes it unlikely that he could negotiate such a thing- especially in 1983. And I did ask him if he had pursued getting the rights to publish it with another company, and he said that he didn't think that was possible since DC didn't want anyone to take one of their properties and have success with it somewhere else. Shame.
I think I addressed the demise of the Fleming/Von Eeden team somewhere on the site, but there's a ton of text to wade through so I can see how it would get overlooked! Here's the way I understand it: essentially, RLF and TVE had no communication with each other after planning out the first couple of issues, which made collaborating difficult at best. TVE also had some personal problems not long after starting the project, which led to disallusionment with the direction of the book and caused him to often be incommunicado. Not that TVE wasn't still committed, he just had a lot of things on his plate. RLF mentioned just missing him at the offices sometimes after he dropped pages off, and basically had to work through the editor. Another problem was that Dick Giordano stepped down as editor, and turned it over to Alan Gold, who was a rookie editor and nowhere near as sympathetic to Fleming's work as his predecessor. Tired of being unable to talk to Trevor, and tired of Gold making things difficult, he delivered an ultimatum: either things change with the working arrangements, or he would walk. Gold called his bluff, and RLF walked. Von Eeden, for his part, had no idea this had happened and went ahead and illustrated #8, thinking perhaps Bill Dubay was filling in. When he was told that RLF had bailed, he asked off the book too. Both parties told me that there was no falling out or ill will between them, it was just a situation which went fubar in a hurry and since sales weren't great DC decided not to intervene, letting the book die after 12 issues.
In fact, the two creators hadn't spoken in almost 20 years until I managed to contact RLF and talk to him while preparing the website. I told him I was still trying to get in touch with TVE, and he said if I ever did to have him call him sometime, and give him his number. Which I eventually did, and they both called me to let me know that they had had a long, friendly conversation. But.
Apparently TVE had sent a letter to RLF, similar to mine, (or maybe another phone call, I forget) in which he expressed several of his opinions on the book- and RLF didn't care for a lot of what he said and, unfortunately, chose not to communicate with him anymore after letting him know that he didn't appreciate some of TVE's views. So that's where it stands right now- all I could do was tell them both that I hate that it came to this and express the hope that they could move past this, but that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon. And I kinda feel responsible, because I was the one that put them back in touch! Yikes!
Anyway, that's the story so far! If you're acquainted with Giffen, I'm sure Fleming wouldn't mind hearing from you- I could drop him an email and let him know. I had just emailed him on Sunday, to point him to a positive mention of his Valor comic at the Snark Free Comics Blog, which seemed to tickle him because he said he had never had any positive feedback whatsoever on that title. He did inform me that his father had brain cancer, and had 6-12 months to live, so they were dealing with that. Or perhaps you have your own channels to contact him, just let me know!
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