ERIC'S "COULD IT BE LOVE I'M FEELING... OR NAUSEA?"
NEWSLETTER VOL. 8 #2 - February 2006

INTRODUCTION
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Ahhhh... nothing quite like Valentine's Day. Taking the capitalist ideals that gave us such great national holidays as Christmas and Easter that at least had a basis on something bigger, the powers that be bring us Valentine's Day — a celebration of love — and increased sales of jewelry and candy. In an attempt to jump on the bandwagon, you'll notice that a few of the comic book publishers have tried to release comic books that capitalize on the concept of love (Marvel... I'm talking about you. No, don't you look away! You know what I'm talking about!). At any rate, it's that happy time of the year where pink is the new blue and everyone's in love with love... or sugar.

IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE
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This month, I'd have to say that my pick is the Saga of Squadron Supreme. J. Michael Straczynski needs to be considered as one of the comic industry's biggest advocates of late, taking a fairly generic (and, to be quite frank, ripoff stories) of the Marvel Universe and transforming it into a fascinating series took some serious writing skills and the S-man has got them in spades. The Saga of Squadron Supreme recaps everything that's happened up until this point for those of us who weren't paying attention.

DEC051991 Saga of Squadron Supreme $3.99 retail
** 50%-OFF AT WWW.COMICSNOW.COM **

HUGE DISCOUNTS AT WWW.COMICSNOW.COM
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Aside from always offering 35% off the cover price of monthly comics with no minimum to buy, each month Comics NOW offers incredible deals on some of the newest titles out there. Just point your browser to http://www.comicsnow.com to order any of these titles below at huge discounts or any other comic at least 35% off the cover price.

Here are this month's deals:
DEC050315 AMERICAN WAY #1 50% OFF $2.99
DEC050223 BATMAN YEAR ONE HUNDRED #1 50% OFF $5.99
DEC050326 THUNDERBOLT JAXON #1 50% OFF $2.99
DEC050281 WARLORD #1 50% OFF $2.99
DEC050226 BATMAN WAR CRIMES TP 40% OFF $12.99
DEC050265 JLA GREATEST STORIES TP 40% OFF $19.99
DEC050280 TEEN TITANS OUTSIDERS TP 40% OFF $14.99
DEC051991 SAGA OF SQUADRON SUPREME 50% OFF $3.99
DEC052045 STORM #1 50% OFF $2.99
DEC052035 UNDERWORLD #1 50% OFF $2.99
DEC052053 X-MEN APOCALYPSE DRACULA #1 50% OFF $2.99
DEC052082 AVENGERS GALACTIC STORM TP 40% OFF $29.99
DEC052071 HOUSE OF M TP 40% OFF $24.99
DEC052064 SECRET WAR HC 40% OFF $29.99

THE BIZ
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SKY HIGH COMES TO DVD

I know a lot of people probably ignored Sky High (starring Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston) when it was in the theaters because it looks like a really cheesy Disney movie, but I rented the movie last week (with much worry about the content) and was very, very impressed. In it, Russel and Preston play superheroes whose son is going to a High School for superkids and hasn't developed any powers yet. Linda Carter and Bruce Campbell both have pretty funny cameos and I must say that the script does an excellent job of attacking the material in a way that's campy without being cheesy. Very funny... very entertaining, and a good piece of popcorn film for any superhero fan. Nicely done... I'm impressed.

FANTASTIC FOUR 2: THE SEQUEL

God help us. Marvel Studios and 20th Century Fox have announced the release date for the sequel to the Fantastic Four movie as July 4, 2007. Oddly, this is the same day that Dreamworks and Paramount are launching "Transformers." Which one do you think I'm rooting for?

BLADE FOR TV

Nope, it's not some weird reality show, Blade, the vampire-hunter, is actually being made into a television show with its first two-hour premiere scheduled for June 2006. I'm terrified. With the Flash TV series coming out on DVD in February, I'm thinking we're in for it again with Blade.

TOP-10 and TOP-100
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Check out Comics NOW! Inc.'s Top-100 on IRX Productions.
Download the January 2006 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. (1) Infinite Crisis
2. (2) All-Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder
3. (4) New Avengers
4. (9) Supergirl
5. (7) Amazing Spider-Man
6. (-) Ultimates 2
7. (10) Green Lantern
8. (-) Teen Titans
9. (8) Ultimate Spider-Man
10. (-) Batman

TOP 10 INDEPENDENT COMICS
1. (-) Transformers Infiltration
2. (1) Fallen Angel
3. (-) Soulfire
4. (2) Red Sonja
5. (-) Strangers in Paradise
6. (5) Soulfire Dying of the Light
7. (4) GI Joe America's Elite
8. (6) Simpsons Comics
9. (7) Army of Darkness
10. (10) Red Sonja vs. Thulsa Doom

THE GOOD STUFF
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DC COMICS

BATMAN: YEAR ONE HUNDRED #1 of 4

Errr... it's 2039. Detective Gordon is the grandson of Commissioner Gordon when a Federal agent is murdered by a man that shouldn't exist... the Batman.
By Paul Pope.
48 pages. 4-issue mini-series. $5.99 retail.

WARLORD #1

The continent of Skartaris with the land of Shamballah and the tyrant Brouis are brought back to life. The question is: do you know who or what any of these things are? If the answer is "yes," then this comic may be for you. Otherwise, if you're not into half-naked men running around with bones for armor, you should probably look elsewhere for entertainment.
By Bruce Jones and Bart Sears.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

THE AMERICAN WAY #1 of 8

It's the 1960s. "Yeah, baby!" So, C.D.C. Marketing Director Wesley Catham is looking to finish the plan started in the 1940s for the American government to create a group of super-heroes that would be called the Civil Defense Corps. (e.g., the CDC). Catham discovers that the C.D.C. is far from being complete and works to change that.
By John Ridley, Georges Jeanty, and Karl Story.
32 pages. 8-issue maxi-series. $2.99 retail.

THUNDERBOLT JAXON #1 of 5

The rebirth of British superhero Thunderbolt Jaxon happens when a group of three annoying kids find a Norse relic from the 4th century buried in the middle of some ruins. The relic, well, it wreaks some havoc and resurrects Thunderbolt.
By Dave Gibbons and John Higgins.
32 pages. 5-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

IMAGE COMICS

BOMB QUEEN #1 of 4

New Port City is ruled by a ruthless super-villain by the not-so-creative name of Bomb Queen. The citizens have been under her rule so long that they are familiar with the methods to her madness and would prefer that to a new style of leadership. All that changes when a hero comes to town that changes everything and he must die... strange, eh?
By Jimmie Robinson.
32 pages. 4-issue mini-series. $3.50 retail.

THE PORTENT #1

Milo (yes, the main character's name is seriously Milo) is a skilled swordsman with infinite potential who chooses to lead a very selfish life (can you blame him? His name's Milo!!!) His life is about to lead to a crossroads where he can either choose to continue being selfish, or he can become a hero.
By Peter Bergting.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

MARVEL COMICS

PUNISHER: BLOODY VALENTINE

Funny how now that the Punisher is popular again, Marvel has retreated back into releasing one-shot specials starring everyone's favorite assassin for every holiday. This time, Frank Castle runs into Suspiria, another assassin, and she intends to charm him. Go, Frank, go!
By Jimmy Palmiotti, Paul Gulacy, and Justin Gray.
48 pages. One-shot. $3.99 retail.

FURY: PEACEMAKER #1 of 6

It's another flashback for Nick Fury, however this one's written by Garth Ennis so it may be worth reading (no offense to any of the myriad of other World War 2, Korean War, Vietnam War Nick Fury stories that have been released over the years, of course).
By Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson and Jimmy Palmiotti.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $3.50 retail.

SAGA OF SQUADRON SUPREME

If you haven't been paying attention to J. Michael Straczynski's retelling of Supreme Power, then you've been seriously missing out. This comic is your chance to catch up and not be such a big loser! Err... or something like that. It sums up the storyline up to this point so you can see what's been going on.
Wraparound cover by Gary Frank.
48 pages. Oneshot special. $3.99 retail.

I "HEART" MARVEL COMICS

Including Web of Romance, Outlaw Love, Marvel AI, and My Mutant Heart, Marvel is trying to squeeze as much "love" (e.g. money) out of their customers as possible this Valentine's Day. These comics are supposedly a throwback to the old romance comics of days long past by Marvel. I call them a money gimmick, but, to each his own, right?
By Various.
32 pages each. One-shot specials. $2.99 retail each.

GIANT-SIZE MS. MARVEL #1

Ms. Marvel's earliest adventures are rewritten in this massive one-shot special thingy. If you've ever wanted to read about Ms. Marvel and missed out on her storylines, here ya go.
By Brian Reed, Rob De La Torre, and more.
96 pages. One-shot. $4.99 retail.

UNDERWORLD #1 of 5

Jackie Dio is some convict who was just let out of jail and finds out the scene in New York has changed dramatically since his time in jail. Now, he thinks he may have to make friends with "The Consultant" in order to survive.
By Frank Tieri, Staz Johnson, and Sean Scoffield.
32 pages. 5-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

STORM #1 of 6

The origins of the Black Panther and Storm are told and, err, apparently the love story that no one knew they had. Of course, in light of Hotel Rwanda and the other hip let's-act-like-we're-paying-attention-to-what's-been-going-on-in-Africa-for-decades movies and TV shows out there, it's no wonder that someone at Marvel would want to trot out their token black characters for some "Look how open-minded and considerate we are" action. Sorry, I'm just a little bitter.
By Eric Jerome Dickey, David Yardin, and Mike Mayhew.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE/DRACULA #1 of 4

So, you've got Apocalypse -- big bad-guy from the Marvel Universe and you've got Dracula -- perhaps one of the baddest bad guys of all time. It was just a matter of time until there'd be a storyline that included them both, right?
By Frank Tieri, Clayton Henry, and Jae Lee.
32 pages. 4-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

FINAL NOTES
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Valentine's Day is a day to be remembered for all of those times in elementary school where you sat alone and watched as all the popular kids received valentine's day cards and no one seemed to acknowledge that you even existed. Wait. Maybe that was just me. Well, at least this year we've got all of those Love Marvel comics to keep us company, right?

And, remember, if the comic sucks so bad that you don't want to read it, you can always light it on fire and warm your heart that way! And, as always, thank you for your business!

Eric Jacobson