ERIC'S "HOW MANY TIMES CAN YOU DO INFINITE?" COMICS NOW! NEWSLETTER VOL. 7 #10 - October 2005

INTRODUCTION
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It's a new month full of new comics. Constantine came out on DVD and for those of you that avoided it in the theaters because of Reeves, let me tell you -- it's a decent flick. It stays decently true to the Hellblazer character that it's inspired by and the story's far from being as bad as Blade 2 & 3. I'm not sure if I would've liked it so much had I seen it in the theater, but I definitely enjoyed it on DVD. Yay, redeeming comic movies from DC. Impressive.

So, as for comics this month... well... it's that time of the decade again. DC Comics is gearing up to release its new infinite series, this time simply called "Infinite Crisis." Plus, there's plenty of other stuff coming out this month that will make October an interesting time to read.

IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE
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Infinite Crisis. Ohhhmmmm. Everyone bow down to the maxi-series from DC Comics with the word "infinite" in the title. As much as I mock DC Comics for their melodramatic overuse of the word "infinite," even I must admit that every time they release one of these series, lots and lots of changes hit the DCU all at the same time and force a little new creativity into the biz. I really can't knock it. And because of that, Infinite Crisis #1 is my pick of the month.

AUG050205 Infinite Crisis #1 $3.99 retail
** 50%-OFF AT WWW.COMICSNOW.COM **

THE BIZ
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X-MEN 3 (THE MOVIE) ON TRACK

After losing yet another director (Matthew Vaughn dropped out to spend more time with his family after replacing Bryan Singer who left to do Superman), the X-Men 3 movie is back on track with Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, Red Dragon, etc). Phoenix is coming. Wolverine loves Storm. Mutants die. Angel's on the scene. Frasier is playing the Beast. Gambit will be there. Kitty Pryde has a bigger role. Juggernaut's wandering around. Pyro's gone to Magneto. Due date of Memorial Day 2006. It's coming...

TRANSFORMERS MOVIE ON TRACK... SORT OF...

DreamWorks and Hasbro are both out advertising their new Transformers movie in the works in a hope to attract new licensees. Oddly, they still don't have a director for the movie yet but they're looking at Michael Bay ("The Island").

BATMAN CONTINUES

Naturally, bringing Batman Begins to the big screen was a big deal. Now that the movie's done so well, they're, of course, looking at making a sequel (or ten). Rumor has it that Katie Holmes will NOT be invited back but Christopher Nolan is seriously considering directing the sequel, too. Lots of contenders up to play The Joker including Sean Penn, Paul Bettany, Crispin Glover, and Lachy Hulme. I'm hoping for Crispin Glover because he's a scrawny, creepy dude who could pull it off just perfectly.

TOP-10 and TOP-100
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Check out Comics NOW! Inc.'s Top-100 on IRX Productions. Download the September 2005 Top-100 PDF file (it's 8KB!).

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

"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

TOP 10 PREMIERE COMICS

1. (-) All-Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder

2. (1) Superman Batman

3. (-) Ultimates 2

4. (7) New Avengers

5. (5) Ultimate Spider-Man

6. (6) Amazing Spider-Man

7. (4) Green Lantern

8. (8) House of M

9. (10) Batman

10. (-) Ultimate Fantastic Four

TOP 10 INDEPENDENT COMICS

1. (1) Soulfire

2. (2) Army of Darkness

3. (-) Red Sonja

4. (5) Soulfire Dying of the Light

5. (6) GI Joe America's Elite

6. (7) Simpsons Comics

7. (-) Strangers in Paradise

8. (-) Donald Duck and Friends

9. (8) GI Joe Snake-Eyes Declassified

10. (-) Mickey Mouse and Friends

THE GOOD STUFF
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DC COMICS

BATMAN: GOTHAM COUNTY LINE #1 of 3

Commissioner Gordon discovers a series of strange and disturbing murders taking place in the suburbs of Gotham City and has no choice but to turn to Batman for help. Though Batty never leaves the city usually, he's willing to respond. How will Batman deal with suburbia? Will the townies be too much?
By Steve Niles and Scott Hampton.
48 pages. 3-issue mini-series. $5.99 retail.

INFINITE CRISIS #1 of 7

It's here. Again. Sort of. Much like Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis promises to dramatically shake up the DCU yet again. Of course, having already killed off Blue Beetle, brought back Green Lantern and Green Arrow, and just generally messed around with everyone's memories in the JLA, what is really left to be done? We shall see.
By Geoff Johns, Phil Jimenez, And Lanning, and Jim Lee.
40 pages. 7-issue maxi-series. $3.99 retail.

CAPTAIN ATOM: ARMAGEDDON #1 of 9

From the pages of the DCU to the pages of Wildstorm, Captain Atom has made his way over to the Wildstorm Universe where his mere presence may put into effect a chain of events that could result in complete armageddon for the Wildstorm Universe. And there was much rejoicing... yay! (just kidding)
By Will Pfeifer, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Sandra Hope.
32 pages. 9-issue maxi-series. $2.99 retail.

LOVELESS #1

It's the wild, wild west, except with a more adult and mature twist than some of the previou ones we've seen. Wes Cutter is running from the horrors of the Civil War and looking for peace, but he ain't gettin' it, 'pardner. Man, writing western-speak just doesn't work for me. Anyway, it might be neat.
By Brian Azzarello and Marcelo Frusin.
40 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

IMAGE COMICS

FEAR AGENT #1

So... erm... fear agents are these guys that have been fighting to prevent the invasion of 3 different alien races on Earth for years... except we don't need 'em anymore. The only one who's left is Heath Huston and he's a drunk. Go figure.
By Rick Remender, Tony Moore, Sean Parsons, and Lee Loughridge.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

SEASON OF THE WITCH #1 of 4

Jessica Suddreth was just a normal girl (familiar?) before being transported to the fairytale world of Asamondo. Once she gets there, she trains to be a Spell Sword (basically, witch-with-sword), and has all the problems of being 14 years old in a fantasy world that doesn't really exist.
By Jai Nitz and Kevin Sharpe.
32 pages. 4-issue mini-series. $3.50 retail.

V.I.C.E. #1

The Violent Incident Control Enforcement branch of the FBI is composed of very bad men who are sent on very bad missions to do very bad things. From the writer of Crossing Jordan (it's a TV show with a hot girl in it but not much else), this could either be a very interesting crime drama or a cheesy Hunter-Killer knockoff... only time will tell.
By Aron Coleite and Tyler Kirkham.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

MARVEL COMICS

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #1 of 12

We never get tired of beating the ever-living crap out of Peter Parker. It's just one of those small enjoyments that we get out of life. Now, there's an entire series dedicated to the ever-deteriorating life of everyone's favorite underdog superhero. Life-changing events will happen in this maxi-series that will permanently alter the Spider-Man universe for good. Or, at least untl the next time Marvel needs a buck and pulls something like this.
By Peter David and Mike Wieringo.
32 pages. 12-issue maxi-series. $2.99 retail.

SHE-HULK 2 #1

Everyone loves a girl who looks good in green, right? She-Hulk continues to do what she does best -- be a green lawyer. By working the Marvel's legal system in some of the most bizarre legal problems of the Marvel Universe, She-Hulk tries her best to keep the world a safer place...by BEING A LAWYER!!!
By Dan Slott, Juan Bobillo, and Greg Horn.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

NICK FURY'S HOWLING COMMANDOS #1

Maybe this should be Nick FURRY'S Howling Commandos. The Warwolf, Living Mummy, Frankenstein, the Zombie, and the Vampire By Knight make up Nick Fury's new covert squad of... well... movie monsters. Strange? I have a feeling we ain't seen nothin' yet.
By Keith Giffen and Edu Francisco.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

FINAL NOTES
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Whew. October's going to be a big month with tons of good (and not-so-good) stuff hitting the shelves each and every week. Join us next month when we have our huge Turkey Spectacular in celebration of all the Thanksgiving-based comics coming out...errr.... right.

As always, remember, if "infinite" doesn't work into the title of your comic, you can also use absolute, boundless, bottomless, everlasting, immense, inestimable, measureless, never-ending, stupendous, supreme, total, or unbounded (thank you Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus).

And, as always, thank you for your business!

Eric Jacobson