ERIC'S "NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT"
COMICS NOW! NEWSLETTER VOL. 9 #8 - August 2007

INTRODUCTION
-----------------------

I went into this month wondering if there could possibly be a way to top last month's newsletter. There were so many comics coming into the industry, I felt like we were almost being overwhelmed (only in a good way). I mean, we covered 19 new ongoing series and mini-series last month! Holy newsprint, Batman! Well, guess what? We're not done there. There are 19 new ongoing and mini-series comics this month, too! So, with that, I leave you to run ragged on yet another issue of Eric's Newsletter...

IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE
-------------------------------------------

Okay, so this month's pick is down to two different mini-series starring two of my favorite killing machine women, Shanna and Red Sonja. I do love a good Shanna story, but the edge goes to Red Sonja because she's teaming up with Spider-Man, and nothing beats a good Spider-Man team-up.

JUN072132 Spider-Man Red Sonja #1 $2.99
*** 50%-OFF AT WWW.COMICSNOW.COM ***

DECONSTRUCTING COMICS
------------------------------------------

It's a constant, consistent, mad demolition of different comics (and they feature my newsletter!) at Deconstructing Comics (http://www.globalcomics.net). Deconstructing Comics always has a wide variety of comics news as well as their awesome podcasts. There are MP3s available of all previous podcasts as well as XML feed links if you'd like to have an ongoing subscription!

HUGE DISCOUNTS AT WWW.COMICSNOW.COM
--------------------------------------------------------------------

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:
JUN070158 52 Aftermath - The Four Horsemen #1 $2.99
JUN070155 All New Booster Gold #1 $2.99
JUN070156 Black Adam The Dark Age #1 $2.99
JUN070208 Metal Men #1 $2.99
JUN070260 Un-Men #1 $2.99
JUN072151 Last Fantastic Four Story #1 $4.99
JUN072183 Shanna Survival of the Fittest #1 $2.99
JUN072132 Spider-Man Red Sonja #1 $2.99
JUN072202 Terror Inc #1 $3.99

40%-OFF TRADE PAPERBACK DEALS:
JUN070186 Checkmate Vol 2 Pawn Breaks TP $14.99
JUN070189 Green Arrow / Canary For Better or Worse TP $14.99
JUN070273 Hellblazer The Gift TP $14.99
JUN070199 Justice Vol 3 HC $19.99
JUN070215 Sword of the Atom TP $19.99
JUN072234 DP 7 Classic Vol 1 TP $24.99
JUN072227 Ghost Rider Vol 2 Life & Death of Johnny TP $13.99
JUN072223 Iron Man Director of Shield TP $14.99
JUN072224 New Avengers Vol 5 Civil War TP $14.99
JUN072221 Ultimate X-Men Ultimate Collection Vol 2 TP $24.99

THE BIZ
-------------

NEW TRANSFORMERS MOVIE TRAILERS!

By the time you read this newsletter, it'll be a sure bet that you've already seen them, however I felt the need to point out that there are finally some new trailers for the live-action Transformers movie coming out on July 4th. For awhile there, I was pretty discouraged by the spindly, sinewy new look of my favorite toy line ever. I was also worried the storyline might be cheesy, the acting poor, or the special-effects terrible. The new movie trailers are instilling a new sense of hope for me. This movie has the makings of a kick-ass blockbuster (of course, I hope that Shia "I-Can't-Stop-Screaming-Like-A-Little-Baby-In-Every-Movie-I'm-In" LaBeouf who plays Spike Witwicky gets killed within the first five minutes but that's simply not going to happen).

SPIDER-MAN 3 COMES OUT AND RULES ALL!

Spider-Man 3 was released in May on the big-screen, the HD screen, and all the teeny-tiny screens. At last count the movie had raked in over $318 million (not too shabby). I was impressed by the movie; it's definitely as good as the first two and may be the best of the trilogy. The games, on the other hand, leave a lot to be desired. The PS3, PS2, and Xbox 360 versions are all mediocre at best. In fact, reviewers seem to agree that the best game based on the movie is actually... wait for it... the Nintendo DS version. Didn't see that coming did ya?

TOP-10 and TOP-100
------------------------------

Check out Comics NOW! Inc.'s Top-100 on IRX Productions. Download the July 2007 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) Justice League of America
2. (1) Batman
3. (4) Amazing Spider-Man
4. (3) New Avengers
5. (5) Superman Batman
6. (-) All-Star Batman & Robin
7. (7) Detective Comics
8. (10) Ultimate Spider-Man
9. (-) Mighty Avengers
10. (-) Superman

TOP 10 INDEPENDENT COMICS
1. (-) Transformers Megatron Origin
2. (1) Transformers Spotlight
3. (1) Transformers Spotlight
4. (-) Transformers Timelines
5. (2) Boys
6. (6) Battlestar Galactica
7. (4) Red Sonja
8. (5) Fallen Angel
9. (7) GI Joe America's Elite
10. (9) GI Joe Storm Shadow

THE GOOD STUFF
--------------------------

DC COMICS

COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE #1 of 8

No good mini-series ever truly ends... it simply spawns more mini-series. Adam Strange, Starfire and Animal Man join forces in this spinoff from 52. They all return home and have to figure out where they want to go from here now that their worlds' have changed on them.
By Adam Beechen, Justin Gray, Eddy Barrows, Fabrizio Fiorentino and Julio Ferreira.
48 pages. 8-issue maxi-series. $3.99 retail.

ALL-NEW BOOSTER GOLD #1

Again... from the pages of 52... Booster Gold returns to his own ongoing series. Booster's supposed to be from the future but ends up just being a giant goofball with a few super-powers. Now, he wants a spot on the Justice League because of the work he performed during 52. Rip Hunter wants to kill the Earth's greatest heroes and, for some reason, Booster's the only one who can stop him. This issue will answer the big questions like "Why Booster?"
By Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz and Dan Jurgens with Norm Rapmund.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

BLACK ADAM: THE DARK AGE #1 of 8

Wait! Wait! We're not done yet with 52... here's another one: Black Adam is the new bad guy in the DCU and has lost all of his powers (the gods stripped them from him or something). He's now on the path to figure out how to get those powers back so he can return to being Black Adam instead of just Teth-Adam (it really makes more sense if you've read about this guy already, trust me).
By Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Norm Rapmund, and Christian Alamy.
32 pages. 8-issue maxi-series. $2.99 retail.

52 AFTERMATH: THE FOUR HORSEMEN

Seriously. I wasn't kidding about not being done with 52, yet. This one-shot investigates the rise of the Four Horsemen -- War, Pestilence, Famine and Death. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman all team up in an effort to put a stop to the Four Horsemen (which, I must add, is an excellent shot to order at a bar if you really don't want to remember an evening).
By Keith Giffen, Pat Olliffe and Drew Geraci.
32 pages. One-shot special. $2.99 retail.

OUTSIDERS: FIVE OF A KIND #1-5
WEEK 1: NIGHTWING/BOOMERANG
WEEK 2: KATANA/SHAZAM
WEEK 3: THUNDER/MARTIAN MANHUNTER
WEEK 4: METAMORPHO/AQUAMAN
WEEK 5: GRACE/WONDER WOMAN

There will be five issues each from a different top creative team with one team-up per week. Batman is once again taking control of The Outsiders superteam. Batman is teaming up the different members to see how they perform so he can decide who will stay on the final team and who will go.
By Various.
32 pages. 5-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail each.

BATMAN/LOBO: DEADLY SERIOUS #1 of 2

For some reason, I always have a soft-spot in my heart for Lobo. Sure, he's crazy. Sure, he's insane. But there's something to the way that he just likes to kill everyone and everything that just fills me with joy and happiness, y'know? This mini-series investigates what happen when Batman is transported to an alien spaceship in order to help find a cure for a plague that's infected the aliens living on it. Lobo finds himself in the same situation (kidnapped, that is, not being depended on for his incredible mind) and, eventually, Batman and Lobo are going to have it out and then team-up (you know it).
By Sam Kieth.
48 pages. 2-issue mini-series. $5.99 retail.

METAL MEN #1 of 8

Guess which mini-series spawned this one? Oh, yeah... 52... again, except this time Superman/Batman lent a hand. Gold, Platina, Mercury, Iron, Lead, Tin and Copper all return for this maxi-series, ready to take on a variety of baddies.
By Duncan Rouleau.
32 pages. 8-issue maxi-series. $2.99 retail.

TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: BY HIMSELF #1 of 2

Ever wonder why Junior Hewitt had a complete psychotic breakdown and trained his family to become sociopathic serial killers? If your answer is no, then you most likely won't be interested in this comic book.
By Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Wes Craig.
32 pages. 2-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

THE UN-MEN #1

The Swamp Thing used to have to contend with the Un-Men all the time. Now, they're getting their own ongoing series that will investigate what it's like to be a member of the Un-Men.
By John Whalen and Mike Hawthorne.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

IMAGE COMICS

SPECIAL FORCES #1 of 6

A humorous look at autism and gays in the military? Errr... that's a heck of a tough sell, but it's what we've got here. Allow me to elaborate with the Previews description: "Special Forces follows a small-town autistic teen from his recruitment, through basic training, and then off to war in Iraq. With violent felons, mental patients, a violent mental hot chick felon and at least one 'Don't ask don't tell,' his unit is composed as the military's last line of defense." Ummm. Yeah.
By Kyle Baker.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

BRIT #1

He's an ancient old British guy who's supposedly retired. Apparently, he kicks ass. Except now, something's happened that's bringing him out of retirement. Sound familiar? Did I mention that Rambo IV is supposed to be in production?
By Bruce Brown and Cliff Rathburn.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

BONDS #1 of 3

I love Image. I really do. Their storylines are so nutty. Take Bonds -- Faith Warner plays the cello. She's good at it. One night, her father is killed by an assassin. She gets mad. She wants revenge. She discovers she has dormant magical powers. Where does the name come from? "She must sever the bonds of her happiness... and sacrifice her future."
By Durwin Talon.
32 pages. 3-issue mini-series. $3.99 retail.

KILLING GIRL #1 of 5

Prostitutes gone assassins. That's the subject of tonight's class, ladies and gentlemen. And the subject in particular is Sara (who doesn't remember her real name). She's decided instead of being a prostitute, she's going to be an assassin for the mafia. Along the way, she pulls a Wolverine and suppressed memories surface that show her what her true family was like.
By Glen Brunswick and Frank Espinosa.
32 pages. 5-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

SORROW #1 of 4

Sorrow, Nevada was a location where the U.S. government performed nuclear test in 1952 and, accidentally, killed all of the inhabitants. This comic follows four travelers who have a car accident there and discover "that not all that is buried is dead."
By Rick Remender, Seth Peck and Francesco Francavilla.
32 pages. 4-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

GHOSTING #1 of 4

With hazing no longer allowed at universities, the Greek system had to come up with something new to do to their pledges -- enter Ghosting, a practice where pledges are scared out of their minds by ingenious pranks. But what happens if the ghosts are real? WhooooooOOOOoooo... I actually like this one!
By Fred van Lente and Charles Carvalho.
32 pages. 4-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

MARVEL COMICS

SPIDER-MAN/RED SONJA #1 of 5

I do love Red Sonja. It's not just because she's a half-naked woman with a sword. She's also got red hair! Mix that combination with Spider-Man and you've really got a winning combination for a mini-series (not to mention that it looks like they're going up against Venom as well as others... kickass!)
By Michael Avon Oeming and Mel Rubi.
32 pages. 5-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

THE LAST FANTASTIC FOUR STORY

Oh, we can only hope (I'm kidding... I'm kidding!). You know the drill, this is the last story of the Fantastic Four. It's been done with Wolverine, with the X-Men, with practically everyone in the Marvel Universe (and those where we don't have one, you can be we will soon).
By Stan Lee and John Romita, Jr.
64 pages. One-shot special. $4.99 retail.

SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL: SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST #1 of 4

There is something about Shanna that reins me in. Maybe it's her attempts to become more human while still being relied on to be the killing machine she was trained to be. Or maybe it's just that she's hot. Nah, I think it's the internal psychological drama that gets me. Yeah, definitely the drama.
By Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and Khari Evans.
32 pages. 4-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

TERROR, INC. #1 of 5

His name is Mr. Terror. He runs his own business. He's about 1550 years old and... well... he's kind of decomposing. His business is spy-work and assassinations and he has his lover from the 12th century (or what's left of her) to keep him honest. You can see where this is headed -- he takes a job where he's told a specific target is a bad guy who turns out not to be a bad guy and now he needs to figure out what the heck happened.
By David Lapham and Patrick Zircher.

FINAL NOTES
---------------------

Alright. So last month had a lot of comics. I'll say that. But this month is definitely not anything to sneeze at, either. Take a look at Image, for cryin' out loud! That's a whole ton of new ... errr... comic material to read. Okay, well, on to another topic... at least there's a large amount of production going on in the industry, right? Right!

As always, if you run out of tissues, maybe you can find a bad comic
around that is worth sneezing at.

And, as always, thank you for your business!

Eric Jacobson

Back to current newsletter