ERIC'S "WHEN IN DOUBT... SUE!" COMICS NOW! NEWSLETTER VOL. 7 #3 - March 2005

INTRODUCTION
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Ah, yes, the glories of the American judicial system. Whenever someone else is making money and you can figure out a way to claim that they're violating your copyrights, it is always in your best interests to sue the living hell out of them. That way, at the very least, the people you're suing have to spend a lot of money on defense lawyers. Anyway, enough of my whining because you'll be able to read more on that later. Let's get on with it now, shall we?

IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE
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Simply said, this month's pick has got to be DC's COUNTDOWN #1. 80 pages of comic goodness for $1.00. Really, what else has to be said?

Still not sold on it? Well, how about if I tell you that the biggest and brightest writers and artists are coming together to tell stories that involve each and every one of the major characters in the DC Universe as we countdown to... no one knows yet? Sure, it might be kind of a tired marketing ploy, but you can't beat the deal. It's an amazing amount of comic goodness for a price that's simply unheard of. I'm checking it out just because I want to see what marketing ploy DC will come up with next!

JAN050296 DC COUNTDOWN #1 $1.00

THE BIZ
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MARVEL SUES NCSOFT OF CITY OF HEROES

It had to happen and the question everyone was asking was: "Which comic book company will sue the makers of the MMORPG City of Heroes first?" Well, the first stone has been thrown and it's from Marvel, the "House of Ideas and Underworked Lawyers." Marvel is claiming that City of Heroes violates a number of their copyrights. Intriguingly, since each person who plays City of Heroes designs their own characters from a million possibilities, NCSoft can't be held responsible for an individual wants to recreate a hero they saw in a comic book. Will Marvel win the lawsuit or is this just a nuisance suit? Only time will tell!

TOP-10 and TOP-100
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Check out Comics NOW! Inc.'s Top-100 on IRX Productions. Download the February 2005 Top-100 PDF file (it's 8KB!) at: http://www.irxproductions.com/comics/feb05top100.pdf

It's Comics NOW!'s very own Top-10 and Top-100 lists. This list is based on the internal sales quantities of the titles with Premiere being the big guns who pay the extra bucks to be listed first in the ordering system: Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics, and Marvel Comics. The Independent list is everyone else, all those pea-shooters who no one really pays attention to... or do they?

Here's an example of how to read the format:

1. (3) The Amazing Eric Comic #500

"1." - the place of the title in the list this month

"(3)" - where the title was LAST month ("-" if it wasn't)

the title - this one should be pretty obvious

"#500" - the issue number that made the Top-10

TOP 10 PREMIERE COMICS

1. (1) Ultimate Fantastic Four

2. (2) Ultimates

3. (3) Superman Batman

4. (4) Astonishing X-Men

5. (5) Superman

6. (6) New Avengers

7. (7) Amazing Spider-Man

8. (8) Ultimate Spider-Man

9. (9) Ultimate X-Men

10. (10) Green Lantern Rebirth

TOP 10 INDEPENDENT COMICS

1. (1) Transformers G1 Vol 3

2. (2) Transformers War Within Vol 3

3. (3) Transformers Beast Wars

4. (4) Transformers Energon

5. (5) Soulfire

6. (6) Pat Lees Transformers GI Joe

7. (7) GI Joe

8. (9) GI Joe Reloaded

9. (10) 30 Days of Bloodsuckers Tales

10. (-) Garth Ennis 303

THE GOOD STUFF
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DC COMICS

LEX LUTHOR: MAN OF STEEL #1 of 5

Superman is always regarded as the superhero of choice while Lex Luthor is always the arch-nemesis bad-guy. This mini-series asks the question we've all been wanting to know the answer to since the very beginning: what is it that makes Luthor think Superman is such a bad guy? Luthor believes he needs to save humanity from Superman and this series will tell us why.
By Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo.
32 pages. 5-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

BLOOD OF THE DEMON #1

Periodically, DC tries to bring back Jason Blood, a man who is possessed by Etrigan the Demon. The purpose of this ongoing series is to investigate the blood bond between the Demon and Jason and figure out exactly what makes the two tick. Personally, I think the reason these comics always fail is because Etrigan speaks in rhyme. Never a good way to attract serious comic readers...
By John Byrne, Will Pfeifer, and Bud LaRosa.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.50 retail.

DC COUNTDOWN #1

As if IDENTITY CRISIS wasn't enough, we're headed for yet another maxi-series investigating the myriad of characters in the DC Universe. Countdown seeks to investigate each and every one of the major characters operating in the DC Universe by introducing a mystery that involves them all. What makes this the perfect comic to jump on-board with is that the first issue is only $1.00 and is 80 pages! You can't knock that. I haven't seen comics that cheap since... well... never. When I started collecting, 32-page comics were $0.75. Go figure!
By Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, Judd Winick, Rags Morales, Ed Benes, Phil Jimenez, Ivan Reis, Jesus Saiz, and various.
80 pages. Maxi-series. $1.00 retail.

THE HUMAN RACE #1 of 7

I kind of think of this one as a X-Men meets DC Universe kind of thing. When you think of it, mutants really aren't so much in the DCU; they're Marvel territory. The Human Race investigates a kid with super-powers who's literally just graduated high school and is trying to get away from his hometown when it's invaded by an alien force intending to mutate the entire planet. Sounds... well... a little tired, really, but it might work.
By Ben Raab, Justiniano, and Walden Wong.
32 pages. 7-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

SEVEN SOLIDERS: GUARDIAN #1 of 4
SEVEN SOLIDERS: SHINING KNIGHT #1 of 4

Grant Morrison is trying something really big -- so big, in fact, that some overly-excited critics are calling it "The Lord of the Rings meets The O.C." Doesn't sound really exciting, does it? At any rate, Morrison is introducing seven new characters into the DCU and giving them a quest and some FOX-style drama to round the series out. The problem with series like this is that the characters end up feeling a little thrown together because the whole thing is all intended to be temporary. Let's see if Morrison can actually pull it off or if it's just another flop, eh?
By Grant Morrison, Cameron Stewart, and Simone Bianchi.
32 pages. Two 4-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail each.

THE RAZOR'S EDGE: REDBIRD #1 of 5

It's another of those ex-secret-agent-escapes-hospital-and-tries-to-lead-normal-life-but-can't-because-she's-being-hunted-by-the-people-she-used-to-work-for comics. Man, have these stories been told a million times. This time, the Black Ops member's name is Nataly Lakota (a.k.a. RedBird) and she's escaped a government hospital to become a "mild-mannered apartment manager in Inglewood, California." Of course, she's not able to do that because the team she used to work for was slaughtered and she wasn't supposed to survive so the government has to wipe her out. Sigh. One day, creativity will come back to the comic industry. Probably not today, probably not tomorrow, but one day. Maybe when sales start dropping again...
By Jason Pearson and Ed Brubaker.
32 pages. 5-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

OTHERWORLD #1 of 12

Boy, oh boy. The repeated stories will not end. In this case, it's a planet "at war with itself" where "mythological beings ... battle endlessly with a nation-state made of pure technology." In this story, Siobhan Moynihan (you try and pronounce that name) is a college student aspiring to be a singer who's told that she is the savior of Otherword or will destroy it forever. Man, these stories are so tired that I'm yawning just writing about them.
By Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning.
40 pages. 12-issue maxi-series. $2.99 retail.

IMAGE COMICS

ARMOR X #1

Possibly written in very poor taste, Carson Deeds is a 17-year-old who has a loaded shotgun under his bed and a list of fellow students he'd like to take out at school. Uh... that's not so tasteful. Out of the middle of nowhere, a super-powered suit of high-tech armor falls into his hands and now he must choose whether to become a superhero or a supervillain as the suit will allow him to do or kill anything or anyone he wants to. Yay. Let's get the comic book industry in even hotter water for a storyline no one really wants to read, shall we?
By Keith Champagne and Andy Smith.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.95 retail.

DEADWORLD #1

Deadworld's back with all new stories. This comic was around a while ago and actually had a run of over 50 separate issues. The concept is that a plague was unleashed on the world and everyone is, well, pretty much dead. Science and technology are no longer allies to the small pockets of civiliazation that still exist and they must try to use their powers of reasoning to survive in a world where zombies walk among us.
By Gary Reed and Vince Locke.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $3.50 retail.

MARVEL COMICS

ULTIMATE IRON-MAN #1 of 6

It was only a matter of time. Iron-Man has been running around with The Ultimates since the beginning of the "Ultimate" Everything kick that Marvel's been on. Now, this comic investigates the beginnings of Iron Man in the Ultimate Universe. Could be neato.
By Orson Scott Card, Andy Kubert, and Bryan Hitch.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

SPELLBINDERS #1 of 6

Actually a kind of original storyline. Kim Velsco is a 15-year-old who moves to Salem, MA (Salem Witch Trials, anyone?) where the local high school is divided up into two factions: witches and non-witches. Both sides want Velsco to join up with them but, in the meantime, there's some mysterious force that's trying to kill her. What's a 15-year-old to do?
By Mike Carey and Mike Perkins.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

X-MEN: AGE OF APOCALYPSE #1-5 of 6

Ever get that Deja Vu feeling like you've been through this before and now it's all coming back again? I'm feeling it in spades over this one. I mean, back in the 90's with Marvel having Clone Wars in Spider-Man and Professor X being killed in the past by his own son and transforming the X-Universe as we know it, you'd think that Marvel would learn. Oh, no. Here we go again -- it's yet ANOTHER Age of Apocalypse mini-series investigating what would happen if Apocalypse was killed and Sinister unleashed a massive, unseen (of course), force that is unrivaled and unbeatable.
By Akira Yoshida and Chris Bachalo.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail each.

X-MEN: AGE OF APOCALYPSE ONE-SHOT

Ah-ha! What'd I tell you? Here it is, the 10th-anniversary issue of one of the most notorious storylines in Marvel history. Yikes. All of the original convicted criminals responsible for the first time this horrible storyarc descended on us all (solely responsible for yours truly ceasing to collect any X-title for over 5 years) are back to beat us to death again with the mighty storyarc-of-doom. It's time to visit AoA's world yet again... if you dare.
By All-The-Schmucks-Responsible-For-The-Original-Story.
48 pages. One-shot special. $3.99 retail.

ULTIMATE SECRET #1 of 4

Said to shake up the Ultimate Marvel universe for the next two years, this is the second mini-series in a trilogy that started with Ultimate Nightmare slated to change everything we know. Captain Mahr Vehl, or Marvel, is responsible for a huge amount of power and may be able to stop a nefarious plan, if he can figure out what it is. Frighteningly enough, Captain Marvel is not involved in this for humor purposes, which might be a scarier fact than the entire trilogy ever intended.
By Warren Ellis and Steve McNiven.
32 pages. 4-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

WOLVERINE: SOULTAKER #1 & 2 of 5

Wolverine + Ninjas + Zombies = Cheesy Mini-Series released solely for sales! Well, maybe it's good. Wolverine goes back to Japan and gets caught in the middle of war between gods and demons. Man, what's a claw-wielding-mutant to do when all he really wanted to do was get a good spicy tuna roll? Damn those god-demon wars!
By Akira Yoshida, Shin Nagasawa, and Katsuya Terada.
32 pages. 5-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail each.

X-MEN: THE END - HEROES AND MARTYRS #1 of 6

Here we go, again and again and again. Even X-Men: The End doesn't ever end as the second book in the end of the X-Men investigates what happens when a brutal sneak attack reduces the X-Mansion to a giant crater. Cyclops must get the survivors together to see what the heck happened.
By Chris Claremont, Sean Chen, and Greg Land.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

FINAL NOTES
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Yet another month has passed us by with lots of great new comic goodness coming out. Yay! We love the great new comic goodness!

As always, remember, if you can't come up with a creative new idea or see someone who has a better idea than you have, sue them into submission!

And, as always, thank you for your business!

Eric Jacobson