ERIC'S "BRINGING BACK THE SPICE."
COMICS NOW! NEWSLETTER VOL. 10 #8 - August 2008

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

I realized over the last few months that I've kind of fallen into a rut in the newsletter writing. Instead of being my once-spicy self, I allowed myself to just kind of blah-blah out the previews I was giving out of upcoming comics. Well, let me tell you that this is no longer the case. I've renewed my vigor (thanks to "Comicgra" from Pfizer) and I'm going to make this issue the first where I truly go after the whine and cheese of the comic book industry (yes, I spelled whine correctly).

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

Though I'm going to rip it to shreds later on in the newsletter for being too old, I've got to say that I'm way excited about the upcoming X-Files sequel and accompanying comic book. Yup. That's right, I'm picking a truly ancient intellectual property as this month's comic-of-the-month. Enter X-Files Special #0.

JUN080285 X-FILES SPECIAL #0 $2.99 retail
*** 35%-OFF AT WWW.COMICSNOW.COM ***

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

The June 9th episode of Deconstructing Comics (http://www.globalcomics.net) will feature an interview with Jim Hardison. He's an animator based in Portland, Oregon, and his first foray into comics, "The Helm", is coming out from Dark Horse next month. (Previewed in the newsletter last month!) He's also co-founder of Character, a company that manages characters used in advertising, including some classics like Tony the Tiger.

Deconstructing Comics continues to have lots of reviews, including "Scott Pilgrim" by Bryan Lee O'Malley and "Paul Has a Summer Job" by Michel Rabagliati on June 2; Jeffrey Brown's "Clumsy" on June 23; and "The R. Crumb Handbook" on June 30.

June 16th's show will feature Tim with Mulele and Patrick G., talking about various comics-creator issues, including, cranking out the work when you're just not inspired. Hey, even Alan Moore doesn't always achieve greatness!

Check out www.globalcomics.net for more including previous podcasts.

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:
JUN080289 AIR #1 $2.99
JUN080270 AUTHORITY WORLDS END #1 $2.99
JUN080181 DC UNIVERSE LAST WILL & TESTAMENT #1 $3.99
JUN080258 FAMILY DYNAMIC #1 $2.25
JUN080183 FINAL CRISIS LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #1 $3.99
JUN080179 FINAL CRISIS REVELATIONS #1 $3.99
JUN080182 FINAL CRISIS SUPERMAN BEYOND #1 $4.50
JUN082310 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #1 $4.99
JUN082333 IRON FIST ORIGIN OF DANNY RAND #1 $3.99
JUN082376 RUNAWAYS 3 #1 $2.99
JUN082353 SECRET INVASION INHUMANS #1 $2.99
JUN082354 SECRET INVASION THOR #1 $2.99
JUN082355 SECRET INVASION X-MEN #1 $2.99
JUN082309 VENOM DARK ORIGIN #1 $2.99

40%-OFF TRADE PAPERBACK DEALS:
JUN080235 BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE TP VOL 3 $19.99
JUN080238 COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS TP VOL 3 $19.99
JUN080240 GREEN LANTERN REVENGE $12.99
JUN080245 JUSTICE TP VOL 2 $14.99
JUN080304 SCALPED TP VOL 3 DEAD MOTHERS $17.99
JUN080255 SUPERMAN BATMAN SEARCH FOR KRYPTON $19.99
JUN082416 HULK PREM HC HEART OF THE ATOM $29.99
JUN082438 IMMORTAL IRON FIST TP VOL 2 CITIES OF HEAVEN $17.99
JUN082432 MIGHTY AVENGERS TP 1 ULTRON INITIATIVE $14.99
JUN082409 MMW AMAZING SPIDER-MAN HC VOL 10 $54.99
JUN082429 SPIDER-MAN TP ONE MORE DAY $19.99
JUN082421 TWELVE PREM HC VOL 1 $24.99

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

Check out Comics NOW! Inc.'s Top-100 on IRX Productions. Download the July 2008 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. (1) Justice League of America
3. (4) Detective Comics
4. (-) Final Crisis
5. (5) Secret Invasion
6. (3) New Avengers
7. (9) Uncanny X-Men
8. (7) Amazing Spider-Man
9. (8) Justice Society of America Annual
10. (-) Astonishing X-Men

TOP 10 INDEPENDENT COMICS

1. (-) Transformers All Hail Megatron
2. (1) Transformers Spotlight
3. (2) Transformers Movie Sequel
4. (5) Angel After the Fall
5. (6) Project Superpowers
6. (4) Boys
7. (-) Spike After the Fall
8. (3) Transformers Movie Prequel
9. (7) Fallen Angel
10. (8) Red Sonja

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

DC COMICS

FINAL CRISIS: REVELATIONS #1 of 5
FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #1 of 5
FINAL CRISIS: SUPERMAN BEYOND #1 of 2
FINAL CRISIS: DIRECTOR'S CUT SPECIAL #1

Good lord, this series really does refuse to die, doesn't it? It's kind of like the Democratic Primaries. Seventeen months where the same thing happens over and over again told from different viewpoints. Seriously, DC, at what point are you going to realize that you can take one good storyline and actually end it? And then start up another one? It's not very difficult; hire a few more writers, fill them full of Red Bull, vodka, and roofies, and send them on their merry way through the DC universe. At this point, I'm fairly certain this series won't end until we find, develop, and completely convert to solar power as a renewable resource and we all have personal jetpacks.
By various.
Revelations & Legion: 40pg, 5-issue mini-series ringing in at $3.99 retail
each.
Superman Beyond: 40pg, 2-issue mini-series whopping your wallet for $4.50
retail.
Director's Cut: 64pg, redone monstrosity vacuum-sucking $4.99 out of your
pocket.

DC UNIVERSE: LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT #1

The concept of ending the entire universe in which your superhero characters exist is always an interesting one. Marvel's been doing this one for years. For this, I give DC the Dense Company of the Year Award (oooh, look the first two words start with the same letters as DC. maybe it really does stand for Dense Company instead of Direct Currents; speaking of which, what the hell does that mean anymore?!). It's great that DC decided to write a comic about the end of its own universe, it just seems a little bit played out by Marvel. I mean, it's kind of like the endless stream of political tell-all books coming from every press secretary that quits the current administration's White House. Bush and his buddies hid stuff from the American public. We get it! Now, DC's decided to do the same thing by blabbing on about who-loves-who and who gets the what. I call dibs on the JLA space observatory!
By Brad Meltzer and Adam Kubert with John Dell.
48 pages. Ongoing series (?). $3.99 retail.

THE AUTHORITY: WORLD'S END #1

Remember last month when we all talked about WILDCATS World's End? Well, this month it's The Authority's World's End. Wow. We couldn't see that one coming like a giant pink elephant swimming through the ocean with Gallagher on top of it squashing watermelons. The Authority has survived whatever math problems the Number of the Beast was throwing at them and have gone back to their own world to find that it's, well, ending. I mean, that would be a little obvious if they had only closed their own comic and looked at the title, right? Anyway, as you might expect, this is "the beginning of an astounding new direction for the series." Really? "Astounding?" Apocalyptic storylines in the comic universe are nothing new and completely transforming your entire series definitely doesn't constitute as originality. Allow me to refer to the time period in the 1990s that I like to call Why-Eric-Stopped-Reading-Marvel-Comics or what readers might be more familiar with as X-Men storyline named "The Age of Apocalypse." So, if by"new direction" you mean Direction-That's-Now-Almost-Old-Enough-to-Drive then I guess you're spot on.
By Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Christos Gage, Simon Coleby, and Trevor
Hairsine.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

THE X-FILES SPECIAL #0

I liked the X-Files TV show. I mean, I really liked the X-Files TV show. I had a hard-on for Gillian Anderson (who didn't?) and David Duchovny's dry wit and monotone delivery had an endearing quality to it. I liked the show so much that I bought the first couple of seasons. on VHS! Yes, that right there should tell you how old this series is. The movie came out in 1998, for crying out loud. It's celebrating its 10th Anniversary. So, in honor of its 10th birthday, Fox has decided to. wait for it. make a blockbuster movie sequel. Bring down the money juicer and start squeezing Gillian's once-gorgeous-butt all over it. Duchovny's almost 50 now (I'm not kidding, he'll be 48 in a few months) and Gillian will be 40 (oddly, her birthday is August 9 and his is August 7. how's that for an X-File?). At any rate, naturally there would be a comic-book tie-in to this disaster movie disaster (the two "disasters" were intentional), so here it is.
By Frank Spotnitz and Brian Denham.
40 pages. Ongoing series (?). $2.99.

AIR #1

Air tries to suggest that there's a vigilante group of anti-terrorists investigating a frequent flyer member who may be a terrorist by flying an entire plane of innocent civilians to a secret country that doesn't exist with the only person knowing what's going on being the stewardess (now called "flight attendants," DC, just to let you know) named "Blythe." I feel that we should change her name to "Contrived" and introduce the readers to her friends at Lost, Air Force One, and Die Hard 2: Die Harder.
By G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker.
40 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

ARMY@LOVE: THE ART OF WAR #1 of 6

I went out and actually procured a copy of the trade for the first season of ARMY@LOVE and gave it a really good shot. It's not so much that I wanted to like it, as I heard so many positive things about it that I felt like it should be the Second Coming of Christ. It's not. In fact, it feels way too much like Desperate Housewives where the girls have been drafted into the army and handed M-17s. I expect this "second season" to be more of the first only probably a whole lot worse. However, the marketing talks about how much Entertainment Weekly really likes it, so you know it has to be good. (Did I just burn both ARMY@LOVE and EW in the same paragraph? Oh, you bet your ass I did).
By Rick Veitch and Gary Erskine.
32 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

IMAGE COMICS

GOLLY #1

Image's obsession of the forces of Heaven fighting the forces of Hell have become Image Comic's equivalent of the videogame industry's love of World War 2 and Nazi Germany. From the Darkness, Witchblade, Spawn, and whoever else wants to get in a battle of demons, Image just constantly (oooh, Constantine. but that's DC's) assembly line's the same thing over and over again. This time around we don't even have well-developed characters to look forward to. It's another of those failed attempts at comedic humor where a "dimwitted, kindhearted, foul-mouthed carnival ride repairman" is supposed to defend the planet from Hell's minions.
By Phil Hester, Brook Turner, and Andy Brase.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99.

GUERILLAS #1 of 8

Holy macaroni! A war comic that features a war other than World War 2! I'm astounded! Shocked! Amazed! Wait. wait. what's this? It's the Vietnam War and the U.S. government has developed a secret weapon of ... attack monkeys? Oh, good god, even the title's a pun (let me respell it for you - Gorillas). It's a troop of specially trained chimpanzees (the mixed-species issues are running rampant in this one, too).
By Brahm Revel.
50 pages. 8-issue maxi-series. $3.50 retail.

THE ROBERTS #1 of 2

I read the description of this comic and desperately wanted to come up with a reason to hate it, but I have to say that I'm actually intrigued. The idea is that the Boston Strangler and the Zodiac Killer are both still alive, living among old people at the Shady Lane Retirement Center. Both of them become friends and trade "war stories" about their golden years. Granted, there are more possible pitfalls and holes to fall through in this idea than Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, but it has potential, and, from Image, having potential is truly rare.
By Wayne Chinsang and Erik Rose.
48 pages. 2-issue mini-series. $5.99 retail.

MARVEL COMICS

VENOM: DARK ORIGIN #1 of 5

Venom was a great character from the original Spider-Man universe. Spawned from Secret Origins 2 (yes, a big giant idiotic maxi-series), the symbiote costume was one of my favorite times in Spider-Man (but I also liked when Spidey was imbued with the Captain Universe powers). The introduction of Venom was brilliant, and scary (can anyone forget when Venom stalked Mary Jane and "grew" a smile in the darkness?). However, nothing says "money grubbing" to me like when the origin of a character has been told within the actual series, and then the comic publisher decides to say something like the following: "Discover the true, twisted roots that gave rise to a lifetime of malevolence for Eddie Brock. AND the symbiote!"
By Zeb Wells and Angel Medina.
32 pages. 5-issue mini-series. $2.99 retail.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #1

If you collect a bunch of mildly-intriguing storylines and combine them together in a single comic book, will it sell? That's the general idea here. What happened the day after Uncle Ben died? What was Spider-Girl's life like before Spider-Girl discovered she had powers? If this series becomes ongoing, then be prepared to have these and other "ho-hum" questions answered with my reaction being something like, "Oh, that's sort of interesting" much in the same way as I enjoy watching Discovery Channel and finding out facts like why the sky's blue.
By Marc Dematteis, Tom Defalco, Alex Cal and Ron Frenz.
104 pages Ongoing series (?). $4.99 retail.

SECRET INVASION: INHUMANS #1 of 4
SECRET INVASION: THOR #1 of 3
SECRET INVASION: X-MEN #1 of 4
SECRET INVASION: SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY #1 of 3

Instead of ranting against Marvel the same way I ranted against DC earlier in this newsletter for their Final Crisis insanity, I'm just going to throw my hands up and say that if DC's bad for doing this, Marvel is no different. Get out the money grinder and start cramming the Marvel characters into it until there's nothing left except mildly unidentifiable pulp.
By various.
32 pages each. Multiple length mini-series. $2.99 retail each.

RUNAWAYS #1

Wow. I really don't care about this series anymore and it's five billion reboots. There's a bunch of mutants that run away from their respective parents' houses and don't want to be found. They live a life that the Men in Black would be proud of, constantly hiding from the public and trying to live a low profile. Strangely, they always get found (I guess that's the writer's fault, huh?).
By Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos.
32 pages. Ongoing series. $2.99 retail.

NYX: NO WAY HOME #1 of 6

It. hurts. just. writing. about. this. Kiden Nixon (a.k.a. Nyx) is a mutant who's living on the streets of Manhattan. She has a home and a family now, except someone's out to get her and targets one of her friends. Naturally, this sends her into a bipolar spiral into the pits of sadness and depression that only random sexual encounters and a guardian angel can pull her out of. Wait, that's Saving Grace on TNT. I just got so bored reading this comic's description that I turned on the TV and it's getting in the way of my writing. I'll shut that off now. Ooooh, Metal Gear Solid 4 previews on TV! Okay, okay. I'm really turning it off now.
By Marjorie Liu and Kalman "Is-This-Is-Real-Last-Name?" Andrasofszky.
40 pages. 6-issue mini-series. $3.99 retail.

X-MEN ORIGINS: JEAN GREY

I'm not sure I've ever read anything about Jean Grey's origin. In fact, in all of the comics, cartoons, and movies that I've seen about the X-Men, I honestly don't know if I've ever seen anything about her origin. Oh my god!?! Has Marvel really come out with an original story that hasn't been done before!?!?!?! The apocalypse is coming! Wait. They've already done the apocalypse storyline. What else is there?! Hold me. I'm scared.
By Sean McKeever and Mike Mayhew.
32 pages. One-shot (?). $3.99 retail.

WOLVERINE: KILLING MADE SIMPLE

Ever wonder what would kill Wolverine (besides old age)? He's got a healing
factor that allows him to come back from the dead more often than Robert
Downey, Jr.'s acting career. This one-shot seeks to answer that question by
allowing Wolvie to sit down with his new buddy Trance and tell him all his
secrets. Yup. That's what I always do. Whenever I make a brand new
friend, I sit down and tell them all the dirt and secrets on me so they can
go blab to everyone else and my enemies. Well done, Logan. Glad to see
your 100+ years of experience have taught you absolutely nothing.
By Christopher Yost, Todd Dezago, Koi Turnbull and Steve Kurth.
48 pages. One-shot. $3.99 retail.

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

August looks like it's shaping up to be a pretty generic month; there are some new releases but nothing to really let the horses roam free for. However, it's still one of the summer months, so the weather should be great and there's always a good reason to get outside and expose yourself to the cancer-causing agent that outdoorsy types refer to as the sun.

As always, if there are no good comics to read, you could always do something else. What the hell am I saying? Screw that! Bad comic months were created so you could catch up on your trade paperback reading!!

And, as always, thank you for your business!

Eric Jacobson

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