Sorry, I've been lazy... But let me just do a little catch up work.

Batman. I like having Dick Grayson as Batman, and think it's a natural progression. Damien Wayne... Interesting as Robin, and it's great having Tim Drake as Red Robin to stand out on his own. It's just too bad we had to wade through Battle of the Cowl. Too much crammed together without any true resolution, and an ending that even Stevie Wonder saw coming.


Captain America Issue 600 came out on a Monday, and was not worth it. The back stories were great, and the first story by Ed Brubaker was great too... But it wasn't worth putting out on a Monday. In fact, the only reason I went on Monday to get it was so I could go online and not have anything spoiled. I also think it's too soon to bring back Steve, but because Norman is in such power... It will be interesting to see him and Steve go head to head.

Final Crisis is now out in Hardcover and reads so much better in one sitting (not that it was bad before) and it's cool that Superman Beyond is in it (minus being in 3D) as well as Resist.

$3.99 comics in August/September, Marvel is raising prices on more comics to the $3.99 and it's getting me ready to not read them. I'm not doing the new Ultimate Spider-Man title coming out because of the price and the artwork not being to my liking. At least with DC Comics we get an extra eight pages (including the return of Manhunter). It makes me want to wait for the trades with the mini series. It's hard for me because I feel that Marvel has gone past my threshold.

Justice League of Blackest Night

With Blackest Night coming up we know that DC heroes and villains will be coming back sporting a black ring. Awesome. We know that Old Superman, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter will be Black Lanterns (it's no secret since Black Lantern Martian Manhunter is in the July solicits for Green Lantern, and the first two are in the in house ads). But it got me wishing. Wouldn't it be great if we had the Justice League International (the stuff Keith Griffen wrote) back as Black Lanterns? Think about it.

Martian Manhunter (as long as he stays with the human look)
Batman (I know his soul is bouncing around and he's not really dead, but humor me. And if you don't believe me look up the Omega Sanction).
Maxwell Lord
Blue Beetle. Think of how fun that would be since Max killed him
Kent Nelson. He was Doctor Fate in the run, and is dead. (of course)
Mister Miracle (he died in the unread Death of New Gods)
Rocket Red 4 (remember, he died in OMAC Project
Fel Ander and Sharon Parker they were the Hawkman and Hawkwoman during the run

There's a few more but you get the idea. It'd be fun, and more original than Teen Titans. You know they're doing something since more Teen Titans die than any other team member. Well... Any team in DC... X-Men still have that award.

DeathCrap

I should have dropped Teen Titans last month. Seriously. The problem though was I bought the Annual which came out the same day as #69 which was the final part of the Pledge Drive storyline. The other thing though, was Sean McKeever was writing the Titans parts too which seemed fine. I really should have known better though when Vigilante was part of the storyline. Why? I mean Titans and Teen Titans makes perfect sense and is great with just one writer. Marv Wolfman being thrown in the mix is still ok, but only because he was one of the writers.

So, going in here is a few problems. I read Teen Titans only and the annual is a giant lead in with Jericho possessing Cyborg and attacking the Teen Titans. Other shit though was going down in Titans and Vigilante that I missed out on because I wasn't reading those series. Another major problem is Jericho. When Geoff Johns was writing Teen Titans it ended with Jericho a good guy. Then with that shitty four part series that Judd was writing, Jericho is bad, with a shitty explanation as to why. So shitty that I still don't quite understand it. Something about him jumping from body to body breaking down his mind... And having Deathstroke as his dad too. It's so shitty. In fact, even in the first two parts I just don't get shit. Like how one moment Jericho is in the (assumed) apartment building manager and then in someone else attacking Vigilante. Or how the Teen Titans ship turned from a normal ship in Teen Titans and Titans into a giant T. or why Beast Boy is a colossus dick.

Seriously, this is worse than when Marvel had their annuals tied together to tell a four part story like Lifeform, The System Bytes, or The Von Strucker Gambit. That's how bad this shit is. I'd rather read The Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul than this garbage.

Expensive shit

So I'm looking at advanced solicitations for DC comics coming out in July and saw this.

WEDNESDAY COMICS #1-4
In July, DC Comics gives a fresh twist to a grand comics tradition with WEDNESDAY COMICS, a new, weekly 12-issue series by some of the greatest names in comics today!
WEDNESDAY COMICS is unique in modern comics history: Reinventing the classic weekly newspaper comics section, it is a 16-page weekly that unfolds to a sprawling 28” x 20” tabloid-sized reading experience bursting with mind-blowing color, action and excitement, with each feature on its own 14” x 20” page.
Spearheaded by DCU Editorial Art Director Mark Chiarello, whose past editing credits include BATMAN BLACK & WHITE, DC: THE NEW FRONTIER and SOLO, each page of WEDNESDAY COMICS spotlights the continuing adventures of DC heroes, including:
• BATMAN, WEDNESDAY COMICS’ weekly cover feature, by the Eisner Award-winning 100 BULLETS team of writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso
• ADAM STRANGE, by writer/artist Paul Pope (BATMAN: YEAR 100)
• METAMORPHO, written by New York Times best-selling writer Neil Gaiman with art by Eisner Award-winner Michael Allred (Madman)
• THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN, written by Walter Simonson (Thor, MANHUNTER) with art by famed DC cover artist Brian Stelfreeze
• DEADMAN, written by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck, art by Dave Bullock
• KAMANDI, written by Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN, GREEN LANTERN CORPS) with art by Ryan Sook (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, ARKHAM ASYLUM: LIVING HELL)
• SUPERMAN, written by John Arcudi (The Mask) with art by Lee Bermejo (JOKER)
• WONDER WOMAN, written and illustrated by Ben Caldwell (Dare Detectives)
• GREEN LANTERN, written by Kurt Busiek (TRINITY, ASTRO CITY) with art by Joe Quiñones (TEEN TITANS GO!)
• TEEN TITANS, written by Eddie Berganza with art by Sean Galloway
• SUPERGIRL, written by Jimmy Palmiotti (JONAH HEX) with art by Amanda Conner (POWER GIRL)
• HAWKMAN, written and illustrated by Kyle Baker (PLASTIC MAN, Special Forces)
• SGT. ROCK, written by Adam Kubert (SUPERMAN: LAST SON), ilustrated by legendary comics artist Joe Kubert
• THE FLASH, written by Karl Kerschl (TEEN TITANS YEAR ONE, THE FLASH: THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE) and Brenden Fletcher, illustrated by Karl Kerschl
• METAL MEN, written by Dan DiDio with art by Ian Churchill (SUPERGIRL)
WEDNESDAY COMICS will arrive in stores folded twice to 7” x 10”, with the first issue set to reach stores on July 8.
Issue #1 on sale July 8; Issue #2 on sale July 15; Issue #3 on sale July 22; Issue #4 on sale July 29 • 1-4 of 12 • 7” x 10”, 16 pg, FC, $3.99 US

What is wrong this this picture. Here's what. When 52 came out, it was reasonably priced at $2.50. So that was ten dollars spent a month. Then when Countdown and Trinity came out the price jumped to $2.99 a month. This though? 16 pages at $3.99 an issue and it's weekly? Let's compare.

$2.50 an issue is $10.00 a month. In twelve weeks you'd have spent $30.00
$2.99 an issue is $11.96 a month. In twelve weeks you'd have spent $35.88
$3.99 an issue is $15.96 a month. In twelve weeks you'd have spent $47.88

In other words, 20 issues of 52 was the same price as 12 issues of Wednesday Comics.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about Paul Pope doing Adam Stranger, Neil Gaiman and Mike Allred teaming up, Kurt Busiek doing Green Lantern, and father and son Kuberts doing Sgt Rock. But not enough to spend that much money on. And while I love 100 Bullets, I did not like that team doing Detective Comics. LAME!!!

HAWKEYE vs MAGIK

When I bought the Marvel Premier Classics of Magik, I was a bit pissed off. The hardcover was $19.99 and only contained the four part mini series of Storm & Illyana, as well as Magik's entry in the Marvel Universe Handbook, and one promotional picture. That's it. $19.99 for that. I mean, all the other Marvel Premier Classics were the same with more issues and special features. So, I signed up for the Hawkeye one hesitantly and I was pleasantly surprised. The sucker cost me $24.99 and contained the first Hawkeye mini series... But it also has Tales of Suspense #57 (first Hawkeye), Marvel Super Action #1 (first Bobbi Morse), Avengers #189 (where Hawkeye fought Deathbird), and Marvel Team-Up #95 (first apperance of Bobbi as Mockingbird). But that's not all. You get the original cover to the Hawkeye mini series TPB, Hawkeye's entry from the Marvel Handbook (which is four pages long), Mockingbird's entry in the Marvel Handbook, and a few pages of sketchs. See, that's how it's done. Giving the customer their money's worth. The sad thing is that both books are from the same publisher. So kudos on the Hawkeye, for shame on the Magik.

AMBUSH BUG

If you get the chance, go out and buy Showcase Presents Ambush Bug. Seriously, it's going to be the best $16.99 you'll spend in a while. It comes with:

DC Comics Presents #52 (First appearance), #59,
Supergirl #16,
Action Comics #560, #563, #565,
DC Comics Presents #81
Ambush Bug #1- #4
Ambush Bug Stocking Stuffer
Son of Ambush Bug #1 - #6
Secret Origins #48
Ambush Bug Nothing Special

That's right, 476 pages of black and white, fourth wall busting, everything with the kitchen sink fun. When you break it down... That's like four cents a page. If you like comics that are fun to read and pure entertainment on a goofy level, you have to pick it up. It's a good way to kill time while waiting for Ambush Bug Year Zero #6. God damn it, Keith Giffen needs to finish Fallout 3 so he can get it out.
Yeah,

Make it so... And collect more collections

So, over the years I've seen trade paperbacks and hardcovers of things I've wanted collected. Some being Peter David's first run on X-Factor, Excalibur, and Aztek. But there are still more collections I want.

Excalibur #42 - #50) It's the return of Alan Davis to Excalibur and ties up so many loose ends from when Chris Claremont was writing. There might have to be an Excalibur vol 6 to collect #35 - #41 which I would not buy.

Chase Yeah, one of the supporting cast members of Manhunter (now canceled for the third time). It's nine issues and smart.

Solo Avengers Just do an Essential Solo Avengers. That's the easiest way to do it. They've already collected the mini series.

Spectacular Spider-Man #107 - Spectacular Spider-Man #110 It's the Death of Jan DeWolff storyline that should be collected in a Marvel Premiere Classic.


Hourman The series written by Tom Peyer. It's some good shit full of funny and clever ideas.

Eltingville Comic-Book, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Role-Playing Club It would collect all of their appearances and be done like the Milk and Cheese collection

Dark Horse Presents An Omnibus collection of the issues.

Hard Time #7 - #12 and Hard Time vol 2 #1 - #7 This is one of the best things Steve Gerber has done, and they've already collected #1-6.

H.E.R.O. #7 - #22 They've already collected #1 - #6 of this brilliant series.

Planetary #19 - #26 Ummm, I have no idea why this hasn't been done yet. Unless DC is still waiting for the supposed unsolicited special.