ERIC'S "TURKEY DAY MADNESS!" COMICS NOW! NEWSLETTER VOL. 9 #11 – November 2007

INTRODUCTION
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We enter what is typically a slow time for comics with a bunch of new titles, some of them actually good. In addition to that, there are a ton of comic-related movies, video games, television shows, and other stuff all in the mix. Incredibly exciting. So, hang on to your seats, because it’s time for yet another issue of the newsletter…

IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE
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It was a close one this month, it really was. On the one hand, we have World of Warcraft, the comic book adaptation of the video game. On the other hand, we have Ultimates Origins, an attempt to explain the origins of the Super Soldier program that created Captain America and the Weapon X program that created Wolverine. Well, gotta give it to the Ultimate storyline.

SEP072171 Ultimate Origins #1 $2.99
** 50%-OFF AT WWW.COMICSNOW.COM **

DECONSTRUCTING COMICS
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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
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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:
SEP070263 Freddy vs Jason vs Ash Freddy Cover #1 $2.99
SEP070265 Freddy vs Jason vs Ash Jason Cover #1 $2.99
SEP070153 Salvation Run #1 $2.99
SEP070247 World of Warcraft #1 $2.99
SEP072187 Captain Marvel #1 $2.99
SEP072196 House of M Avengers #1 $2.99
SEP072226 Silver Surfer In Thy Name #1 $2.99
SEP072229 Thunderbolts Breaking Point #1 $2.99
SEP072171 Ultimate Origins #1 $2.99
SEP072202 World War Hulk Aftersmash #1 $3.99
SEP072248 Zombie Simon Garth #1 $3.99

40%-OFF TRADE PAPERBACK DEALS:
SEP070222 Batman Superman Saga of the Super Sons TP $19.99
SEP070218 Flash Fastest Man Alive Full Throttle TP $12.99
SEP070276 Hellblazer Bloodlines TP $19.99
SEP070215 Tales of the Multiverse Batman Vampire TP $19.99
SEP070262 Welcome to Tranquility Vol 1 TP $19.99
SEP072167 Dark Tower Gunslinger Born Prem HC $24.99
SEP072266 New Avengers Vol 1 HC $29.99
SEP072279 Omega Flight Alpha to Omega TP $13.99
SEP072262 Ultimates 2 HC $34.99
SEP072278 Wolverine Origins Vol 3 Swift and Terrible TP $13.99

THE BIZ
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HEROES STARTS SEASON 2

Big whoop. I may be one of the only people out there who isn’t completely chomping at the bit for the second season of Heroes, but, seriously, I have to agree with my brother who said, “The show Heroes’ biggest super-power is that nothing happens and it gets millions of people to watch every week.” Amen. I swear there were 5-6 episodes in the first season where literally NOTHING happened. Oh, and no big surprise, there’s a video game in the works.

CLIVE BARKER PREPS ‘JERICHO’

This 1st-person shooter seems to be getting an absolute ton of press. It was on the cover of Maximum PC and PC Gamer this month, and Wizard even has a huge article about it. It’s getting so much press, in fact, that you’d think this was Clive Barker’s first foray into gaming. It’s not. In fact, it’s his third. The first two were so terrible that they’re almost unmemorable. I’m very excited about this one but I’m trying to keep my hopes at bay because the track record is bleak, at best.

IRON MAN MEETS ROBERT DOWNEY, JR.

Man, talk about a casting job made in heaven. Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark. Yes, this has the makings of a damned decent movie.

TOP-10 and TOP-100
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Check out Comics NOW! Inc.'s Top-100 on IRX Productions. Download the September 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 #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

TOP 10 PREMIERE COMICS

1. (1) Justice League of America
2. (2) Batman
3. (5) New Avengers
4. (8) Detective Comics
5. (4) Superman Batman
6. (7) Justice Society of America
7. (9) Uncanny X-Men
8. (-) Action Comics
9. (-) Superman
10.(10) Countdown

TOP 10 INDEPENDENT COMICS

1. (1) Transformers Devestation
2. (3) Transformers Beast Wars The Ascending
3. (4) Boys
4. (-) Transformers Sourcebook
5. (5) Red Sonja
6. (6) Transformers Best of UK Dinobots
7. (8) GI Joe America’s Elite
8. (10) Battlestar Galactica
9. (9) Simpsons Comics
10.(-) GI Joe Storm Shadow

THE GOOD STUFF
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DARK HORSE COMICS

GRENDEL: BEHOLD THE DEVIL #1 of 8

I can’t really remember the last Grendel series we’ve had and this one brings back the original Grendel, Hunter Rose, in a new mini-series. Not bad, not bad. It’s been over a decade since we’ve had a story of the original Grendel by Matt Wagner… this is actually pretty exciting.
By Matt Wagner.
24 pages. 8-issue maxi-series. $3.50 retail.

DC COMICS

SALVATION RUN #1 of 7

The super-villains from the DCU are being exiled to another planet and left to their own devices. A very survivor-meets-pitch-black kind of storyline where the question is who will thrive and who will survive.
By Bill Willingham, Sean Chen, and Walden Wong.
32 pages. 7-issue maxi-series. $2.99 retail.

TEEN TITANS EAST SPECIAL #1

Oh boy, here we go. For awhile there in the 1980s and then again in the 90s both Marvel and DC tried to bring out East Coast and West Coast versions of their teams. Marvel even had Alpha Flight coming in from our great white Northern Canadian neighbors. It seems that DC wants to give it another shot with Teen Titans East Coast. Well, here’s hoping.
By Judd Winick, Ian Churchill, and Norm Rapmund.
48 pages. Ongoing series (?). $3.99 retail.

WORLD OF WARCRAFT #1

You knew this was coming. I mean, c’mon. The video game has been absolutely huge. And then there was the card game. And the board game. There was only a matter of time before the comic came out. I mean, even the movie’s in development. If you don’t know what WoW is then you really need to get your head out of the sand. This is the comic book based on it. ‘nuff said.
By Walter Simonson, Ludo Lullabi and Sandra Hope.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

TRANQUILITY: ARMAGEDDON #1
WETWORKS: ARMAGEDDON #1
GEN13: ARMAGEDDON #1

More investigations by Wildstorm into what becomes of their various superheroes, superteams, and Wildstorm, in general, after all hell breaks loose on the planet Earth.
By various.
32 pages. One-shot specials. $2.99 retail each.

FREDDY VS. JASON VS. ASH #1 & #2 of 6

Okay. So, the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street comic series are surprisingly popular and doing really well. And now, they’ve taken Ash and thrown it all together for a mano-on-mano battle royale of sorts. Step up and game on!
By Jeff Katz, James Kuhoric and Jason Craig.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail each.

IMAGE COMICS

THE CIRCLE #1

There’s this CIA-like group called MI6 where an agent falls into a battle between “The Circle,” this group of mercenaries, and a CIA assassin who’s gone ronin. At the base of the whole argument is a stolen nuclear missile train (apparently, a nuclear missile would’ve been boring so we made it a “nuclear missile train” whatever the hell that is).
By Brian Reed and Ian Hosfeld.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

FEARLESS #1 of 4

The concept is there is a superhero who has no fear. The reality is that the superhero uses an anti-fear drug to control his anxiety disorder so he can have no fear. Except… he’s running out of his drug…
By Mark Sable, David Roth, and P.J. Holden.
32 pages. 4-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

HAWAIIAN DICK #1

They’re back! And, as expected, in an ongoing series (well, at least as ongoing as any Image series is… so 4 or 5 issues, right?). It’s 1954. Lots of stuff’s going on. The whole cast is back. Byrd goes to meet with a World War II flying squadron when they’re attacked by a Japanese fighter plane. Yeah, if you liked the mini, you’ll like the ongoing.
By B. Clay Moore, Scott Chantler and Steven Griffin.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

MARVEL COMICS

ULTIMATE ORIGINS #1 of 6

Oh yeah! Here we go… Brian Michael “I-love-him-and-hate-that-I-do” Bendis is teaming up with Butch Guice to try and tackle what created the Super Soldier and Weapon X programs. Granted, this is all in the Ultimate Universe, but it’s still going to be cool to see what happens when some of the greatest talent in Marvel try to explain everything behind the biggest loose-end factories in all of Marvel.
By Brian Michael Bendis and Butch Guice.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 of 5

Captain Marvel gets bumped from the Negative Zone (and the pages of Civil War) into the present where he has to prepare for his impending death. Capt. Marvel gets launched over and over again in so many different forms that it’s really quite strange. The last one was comedy; this one’s serious.
By Brian Reed and Lee Weeks.
32 pages. 5-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

HOUSE OF M: AVENGERS #1 of 5

Thought we were done, didn’t ya? Yeah, me too. But, nope, Marvel still wants to tell more stories from the alternate timeline where everyone’s a mutant so here’s the Avengers.
By Christos Gage and Mike Perkins.
32 pages. 5-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

SILVER SURFER: IN THY NAME #1 of 4

Man, we’re bringing back all the golden oldies in this newsletter. Here’s the first Silver Surfer storyline in quite some time. The Surfer finds utopia out in the cosmic wasteland of space but discovers that even utopia can be totally screwed with in very little time.
By Simon Spurrier and Tan Eng Hat.
32 pages. 4-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

FINAL NOTES
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We’re warming up for the winter months with a ton of new comics and next month, we’re headed into the winter holidays. Who knows where we’ll end up next, right?

As always, if you need an actor to play an alcoholic playboy, why not get an actor who actually is often an alcoholic playboy?

And, as always, thank you for your business!

Eric Jacobson

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