ERIC'S "MINIS? TV? WII, WII, WII ALL THE WAY HOME!!!" COMICS NOW! NEWSLETTER VOL. 8 #11 - November 2006

INTRODUCTION
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Mini-series madness! New TV abounds! iPhones and iMovies and Wii!?! I can barely contain myself. So much stuff is happening in September and then there's plenty of great new comics coming out in November?! Well, heck, color me happy. And to think that Thanksgiving used to be about eating turkey and stealing the natives' land. Now, I've actually got stuff to be thankful for!

IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE
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I'm a huge fan of all things nostalgic, so when I heard that Superman Confidential would be a revisiting of many of the historical pivot points of Superman's past, I couldn't help but get excited. Also, seeing as how there are almost no new ongoing series worth really mentioning this month, I realized that the pick-of-the-month would have to be a mini-series. What better mini-series could there be then getting excellent background information on everyone's favorite boy-in-blue?

SEP060206 Superman Confidential #1 $2.99 retail
** 50%-OFF AT WWW.COMICSNOW.COM **

HOLY COMIC PODCASTS, BATMAN!!!
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One of our partners has discovered the joys of technology (I still hand-write this newsletter by candle-light with a quill pen and whale ink blotter) and is releasing regular comic-book podcasts! Totally awesome, I
believe. Check out the podcast online at http://www.globalcomics.net/podcast. There are MP3s of all previous podcasts as well as XML feed links if you'd like to subscribe!

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:

50%-OFF COMIC DEALS:
SEP060229 Connor Hawke Dragon's Blood #1 $2.99
SEP060279 Midnighter #1 $2.99
SEP060274 Red Menace #1 $2.99
SEP060276 Stormwatch PHD #1 $2.99
SEP060206 Superman Confidential #1 $2.99
SEP062095 Avengers II #1 $3.99
SEP062099 Bullet Points #1 $2.99
SEP062109 Fantastic Four The End #1 $2.99
SEP062117 Immortal Iron Fist #1 $2.99
SEP062129 Onslaught Reborn #1 $2.99

40%-OFF TRADE PAPERBACK DEALS:
SEP060290 Albion TP $19.99
SEP060220 Blue Beetle Shellshocked TP $12.99
SEP060313 Fables Vol 8 Wolves TP $17.99
SEP060247 Sachs and Violens TP $14.99
SEP062174 Heroes Reborn Captain America TP $29.99
SEP062175 Heroes Reborn Iron Man TP $29.99
SEP062162 Powers Vol 10 Cosmic TP $19.95
SEP062183 Punisher Vol 6 Barracuda TP $15.99

THE BIZ
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HEROES ON NBC

Yeah, yeah, we've had 2 1/2 seasons of The 4400 on USA Network so why should I be getting so excited about this new show, Heroes, on NBC? Because it looks bleedingly awesome, that's why! By this point, unless you haven't watched TV or seen a movie in the past six months, you most likely have seen a preview for this new show. Well, I'm here with the launch information -- the premiere is Monday, September 25 at 9 p.m. EST.

STUDIO 60 ON NBC

... and since we're talking TV, you also need to check out Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Starring Matthew Perry (Friends) and Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) and written by Aaron Sorkin (even Brian Michael Bendis has called this guy a god of television writing for his first four seasons of The West Wing), Studio 60 investigates the life of televised comedy by investigating what goes on behind the scenes. I'm so excited about this show that I can barely spell correctly. Its premiere is Monday, September 18 at 10 p.m. EST which means Mondays will become a hot night for TV on NBC. Die, Grey's Anatomy, die!

OH GOOD GOD! SEND IN THE CLONES!

Ultimate Spider-Man, if you've been reading, has just started going into the all-new Clone Saga. For those of you that didn't know, the Clone Saga of the Spider-Man series in the early-to-mid 1990s virtually destroyed the character, all of the developed continuity up to that point, and everything. The concept was that the Spider-Man we had been following since 1975 (yes, 20 years) was actually a CLONE of the real Peter Parker. The storyline was so convulted and so poorly executed that I stopped collecting Spider-Man altogether until the late 1990s. Well, now they're doing it again, only this time with Ultimate Spider-Man. Recent interviews in Wizard point to this being a good storyline; however, we're talking a razor-thin high-wire act here. I guess we'll see...

NINTENDO AND APPLE, TWO GREAT TASTES THAT TASTE GREAT TOGETHER

Both Nintendo and Apple will most likely have made announcements by the time you read this. Next week (Sept. 10-16), Apple is supposed to launch some new "product" with all rumors pointing to the ability to download movies from iTunes and the new iPhone (a cell-phone compatible with most carriers) while Nintendo is supposed to officially release the launch date and price of the new Wii... prompting me to call next week Wii-Wiik (yay, puns!). At any rate, lots of new techno-gadgets for all of you out there who are like me, not just into comics but into the techno-geekdom as well!

TOP-10 and TOP-100
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Check out Comics NOW! Inc.'s Top-100 on IRX Productions. Download the October 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. (2) Batman
2. (3) Justice League of America
3. (6) New Avengers
4. (5) Amazing Spider-Man
5. (1) Civil War
6. (-) All-Star Batman & Robin
7. (-) Superman Batman Annual
8. (8) Astonishing X-Men
9. (-) Justice
10. (9) Detective Comics

TOP 10 INDEPENDENT COMICS

1. (-) Transformers Spotlight
2. (1) Transformers Stormbringer
3. (-) Transformers Movie Adaptation
4. (5) Battlestar Galactica
5. (6) Red Sonja
6. (7) GI Joe America's Elite
7. (8) Transformers Generations
8. (9) Fallen Angel IDW
9. (10) Classic Battlestar Galactica
10. (-) GI Joe Declassified

THE GOOD STUFF
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DC COMICS

BATMAN/THE SPIRIT

Ever notice how there were tons of superheroes in the first half of the 20th century whose costumes were suits with hats and a mask? A little lame, maybe? Not that wearing your underwear on the outside of your clothes is that much cooler, but c'mon -- "Honey, I just got off work, throw me my mask so I may go fight a little crime before dinner!" Anyway, Will Eisner's hero, the Spirit, returns in this one-shot for a meeting with the Dark Knight.
By Jeph Loeb, Darwyn Cooke, and J. Bone.
48 pages. One-shot. $4.99 retail.

SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL #1 of 6

Darwyn Cooke writes a re-telling of various stories from key moments in the history of Superman. It seems like it should be a pretty darn cool concept to me.
By Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

GUY GARDNER: COLLATERAL DAMAGE #1 of 2

Boy, if there was one character in the entire DCU practically designed so we could love to hate him, it would have to be former/current Green Lantern Guy Gardner. It's the middle of the Rann-Thanagar War and G'Nort of the Corps needs to find someone who can arbitrate peace. For some incredibly strange reason, we picks Guy Gardner. Weird, huh?
By Howard Chaykin.
48 pages. 2-issue mini-series. $5.99 retail.

CONNOR HAWKE: DRAGON'S BLOOD #1 of 6

As with every major storyline in the Green Arrow family, this one starts with an archery contest in the middle of... the Far East? Who knows? At any rate, Connor jumps at the opportunity and, naturally, "a much darker game is afoot, and Connor's life will never be the same!" Nothing like a little melodramaticism to improve a comic's plotline, I always say.
By Michael Wright.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

RED MENACE #1 of 6

So, it's 1953 in the middle of the McCarthy attacks on all things communist. His next target? L.A.'s greatest and most patriotic hero, the Eagle? Really? Would McCarthy really target a guy who wears the American shield on the chest of his costume? And, more importantly, does anyone in 2006 America actually give a crap about the McCarthy era anymore?
By Danny Bilson, Paul DiMeo, Adam Brody, Jerry Ordway and Al Vey.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

STORMWATCH: PHD #1

It may be taking Wildstorm a few months, but they are certainly rolling out all the old favorites from their glory days. Stormwatch was originally a UN task-force but budget cuts have reduced its budget to shoestring dimensions. Still, the mission and methodology for the old group is to apprehend superpowered individuals and contain them. Tricky with virtually no money, I'd imagine.
By Christos N. Gage and Doug Mahnke.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

MIDNIGHTER #1

Midnighter (from the Authority) just returns from yet another superpowered mission in Afghanistan (or some other distant third-world country that the writer can use because the majority of readers either know nothing about what is going on over there or simply don't care). At any rate, Midnighter returns from his mission and is jumped on his way into The Carrier (creative name, gotta say) and is teleported to a strange location where he is given the choice to either kill a mass murderer or die. I'm thinking this would be one of the easier choices I've ever made in my life, but apparently it gives the Midnighter some grief. Go figure!
By Garth Ennis, Chris Sprouse and Karl Story.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE #1

Okay, so last month it was A Nightmare on Elm Street and this month it's Texas. We'll just bring 'em all back. And, you know what? Unfortunately, these two titles have me so confused about the state of affairs in the slasher-horror community that I'm going to have to start reading them just to figure out if they translate into the comic medium at all.
By Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Wesley Craig.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

CROSSING MIDNIGHT #1

Strangely, there are two twins (Toshi and Kai) in Japan who are "opposite sides of midnight." Can't really tell you what that means because I have no earthly idea, however it does mean that they're in tons of trouble with big samurai-looking guys who seemingly have the power to control floating knives with their minds. Hey, it's Japan. It could happen!
By Mike Carey, Jim Fern, and Rob Hunter.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

IMAGE COMICS

DRAIN #1

Man, sometimes a comic just sounds so much like an Image comic that it just needs to be made and released by Image. Chinatsu is a superhot female ninja whose entire clan was killed by crazed vampires. Really. She has nothing left to live for except revenge and so she's now taken to the leader of the vampires and his undead minions who are rising up against her. No kidding. Diamond really picked this as a gem of the month.
By C.B. Cebulski and Sana Takeda.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

THE NIGHTLY NEWS #1 of 6

The premise behind this mini-series is actually good -- a cult has formed from the people who have erroneous things written or broadcast about them through the various forms of news media. These errors and retractions have ruined people's lives and they're simply not going to take it anymore. A complete revolution of the news is at hand. To me, it sounds absolutely awesome. The news media has certainly gotten out of control in the last few decades and it would be fascinating to read a story that presents an upheaval.
By Jonathan Hickman.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

RUSSIAN SUNSET #1 of 5

It's a crime and espionage mix where Nik is a soldier for the Russian mob. There's tons of dirty stuff going on and he ends up going back to Russia where he encounters a huge plot that leads to a stolen nuclear bomb. I just hate those nuclear bombs, dammit.
By Ron Marz and Mirko Colak.
32 pages. 5-issue mini-series. $3.99 retail.

MARVEL COMICS

AVENGERS NEXT #1 & 2 of 5

Okay, so if the Young Avengers wasn't enough, Marvel's trying to milk the Avengers cow (it's a large cow now that Bendis has fed it steroids) of every possible storyline you can imagine. This is NOT the same team as Young Avengers. It's a whole new team with all-different characters, but before they can go out on missions, they need to fight zombie versions of themselves and look for Thunderstrike.
By Tom Defalco, Ron Lim, and Mike Wieringo.
32 pages. 5-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail (each).

AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES II #1 & 2 of 8

Yet another flashback title into the history of the Avengers. This maxi-series presents the Avengers team made up of Goliath, Wasp, Hawkeye, Black Panther, and Vision in their attempts to re-create the historic team.
By Joe Casey and Will Rosado.
32 pages. 8-issue maxi-series. $3.99 retail (each).

FANTASTIC FOUR: THE END #1 & 2 of 6

Every one of the Marvel characters has to die or end sometime, right? Marvel just figured out a way to cash in on that kind of storyline before it had to happen by releasing "The End" storylines. Now, almost every one of Marvel's titles has had an "End" storyline except for the Fantastic Four. Obviously, it's now their time to shine.
By Alan Davis.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail (each).

ONSLAUGHT REBORN #1

Okay, so there was this character not too long ago that was supposed to be a combination of the worst parts of Magneto & Professor X's psyches who tried to kill the entire planet except that Mr. Fantastic's son went into another dimension and pulled out copies of Marvel superheroes to save the day. Alright, so it turns out that Onslaught might not have been dead and is now back to wreak havoc on the world. Here we go again, eh?
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST #1

Danny Rand is the Iron Fist. Wearing this weird martial arts costume gives him phenomenal karate powers. Okay, maybe not phenomenal, but they're not half-bad karate powers. They help him fight. And kick small amounts of butt. He's a perfectly reasonable super-hero... really. And now he gets his own comic book. You should read it. Or not. Whatever you'd like to do, really.
By Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction with David Aja.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

WISDOM #1 of 6

No joke. Fairies are attacking England and it's up to Pete Wisdom to stop them. Tiny, cute, little fairies. They're everywhere. Really. And Wisdom has to kill them. Oddly, this comic carries a certain appeal for some reason.
By Paul Cornell and Trevor Hairsine.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $3.99 retail.

FINAL NOTES
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There you have it again! Now, I know that the newsletter seemed to branch out into a little more than comics this month, but rest assured that after nearly 9 straight years of monthly newsletters, I'm still focused dead-set on the comic book industry. Could there be a better location to focus my attention? And, always remember, mini-series are just like ongoing series, except they don't usually lose their sense of direction and devolve into a Clone War Saga.

And, as always, thank you for your business!

Eric Jacobson