Comic Con, RPGs and Podcasts

Comic Con has come and gone and this year DC seemed to dominate. Not that I'm complaining mind you. I'm a lifelong DC fan, but it did seem odd to see DC as the center of attention. This years Comic Con was actually about comics. Hollywood has dominated the event for the past several years, so it was nice to have an actual comic book company be the big news.

Of course I'm excited about the DC 52 launch this September. Granted I think more than a couple of the books will tank, but over all I'm really jazzed that DC is doing something this bold. I'm also glad that they are already looking at the next wave of books and not just depending on the initial 52 to carry everything. Plus Ryan Choi is not only alive again, but he is The Atom and he's in the Justice League!!! They may not have brought Ted back :-( , but at least they gave us Ryan back. Good job DC.

I've been listening to the DC Comic Con panels on the DC Podcast, (or through itunes) which I highly recommend you download and listen to, and there was really only one time that I got aggravated. Jim, Geoff and all the other DC people were very gracious, even when people asked really dumb questions. However, someone asked a decent question about why the number of female creators has dropped and Didio was a dick to them.

As a listener that really pissed me off. The guy asked a legit question and wanted an intelligent answer and Didio got all snarky and down right rude to the guy. I've heard that Didio was an asshat from other people, but I've never met the guy so I can't say for sure. All I know is that he would have deserved it if the guy that asked the question had caught him after the panel and taught him some manners by putting a boot up his ass.

Didio really did seem to come off as a real jerk. Plus he has a bad habit of talking over the creators. Honestly I don't really care what Didio thinks unless it is something that can't be answered by the creators.  I'd just rather hear what the creators think or have planned for a character. It isn't the Dan Didio Panel at Dan Didio Con for Dan Didio Comics, but that's kind of how he comes off. Again I wasn't there and was only listening to an audio podcast so I can only say how it seemed from the audio. Maybe I would have a different opinion if I had actually been there and seen it. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but I wasn't impressed with him.


I saw a CBR interview with Quesada @ Comic Con and he was really upbeat and positive about DC's 52 reboot, even though Marvel is again doing their dick move of "tear up DC books and get a Marvel prize". Of course I'm not a big Marvel fan and probably take things like that much more personally than I should. Still he was pretty nice and positive about the whole thing.

In a CBR interview with Todd McFarlane he had nothing positive to say about the DC reboot and from what I hear Mark Waid is pretty anti-DC as well at the moment. It kind of sucks that creators get like that, especially ones I really like, but then I guess if you have a bad experience with an employer you get that way.

Honestly I don't care if they do hate DC and/or Marvel. The way I look at it there are a lot more people reading Marvel and DC books than will ever read their creator owned stuff. People will remember the DC and Marvel characters long after their creator owned stuff is forgotten, even though some of it is pretty damn good.

Since we're on the topics of comics, I'm going to suggest some comics to read. I'm not going to do a whole lot of Marvel and DC stuff, mostly because if you read comics there is a good chance you already read their stuff and are aware of what they offer.

First I am going to recommend The Pound. This is put out by IDW and it's about animal control officers who open their own business in Cleveland and find out that the town if full of monsters. It's a min-series and it isn't the most brilliant of books, but it is a lot of fun. I've read the first 3 issues digitally and I've really enjoyed them. I definitely recommend it.

Second, I'm going to recommend the G.I. Joe books all of which are by IDW. G.I. Joe, Cobra and Snake-eyes are set in the IDW continuity and are really good books. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is set in the same universe as the Marvel Comics series. It actually picks up where the Marvel series left off  and is also very good read. Of the two universes I prefer the IDW one as it is a bit more adult, but Hama is still doing a great job of picking up where he left off on the Marvel series. Try them both and see which one you like best. Maybe you'll do like me and read both.

House of Mystery by Vertigo is another book I really enjoy. It's just a really fun, twisted book and I can't quit reading it. You can get the trades pretty cheap on Amazon.

Captain America and Bucky, Captain America and Alpha Flight but this should come as no surprise. Cap and Alpha Flight are the only Marvel books I read on a monthly basis. Unless of course they bring back Iron Fist. They are really good books and I highly recommend them.


Showcase presents... I love these trades. Where else can you get up to 25 issues of a comic book series for under $20 (some are under $10 if you use Amazon). Sure they are black and white, but they reprint some classic books and allow you to read some great stories for next to nothing. I buy these every chance I get and enjoy the hell out of them. I highly recommend them.

Lastly I recommend picking up the Captain Canuck Vol 1 and Vol. 2 trades. CC may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I've always enjoyed the character. Or you can pre-order the Complete Edition and get all 15 of the original issues, the summer special and the newspaper strip. I've already got mine pre-ordered.

Lastly I have to give some recognition to Discount Comic Book Service. I've just placed my first order with them, but I have heard nothing but positive things about them and so far the customer service has been great. The prices are amazing and I suggest you check them out.

This year's Comic Con also gave us the teaser trailers for the Amazing Spider-man, Avengers, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. All movies that I'm eager to see. Well actually I'm not too keen on seeing the origin of Spider-man again, but I will watch it and I definitely want to see the other movies.

The Raimi Spider-man is just a decade old, it's too soon for a complete reboot. The origin movie is still too fresh in our minds. Just like a James Bond movies, I would have been completely OK with them simply casting new people and making another movie in the series, even if they didn't call it Spider-man 4. But I really don't want another origin movie. I have the feeling they are going to do the same thing with Batman once the Nolan Trilogy finishes. I don't want more reboots, just recast and keep going!!

Walking Dead season 2 also had a long trailer, which shows them finally making it to the farm. Granted there were some changes to the story that I like better in the comic, but over all season 1 of the show was great. I only hope season 2 is half as good. I have a friend who has never read a comic book(seriously, he had to ask me how to read one), but loves the show. So I let him read my trades of the series. He likes the comic better too and wishes they had kept more of the comic in the show, but he still loves the show. 

As for RPGs, I'm a very disappointed that Exile Game Studios won't have Revelations of Mars, a sourcebook for the awesome Hollow Earth Expedition game, ready by Gen Con. I was really looking forward to getting that book.

My group no longer wanted to play 2e AD&D and made me start running a Pathfinder game once again. My group has grown from 3 to 6 players with only two people (me and 1 player) who are over 17. It's kind of odd to be running a game for a group made up mostly of kids. Two of which are girls (niece and daughter). It's going pretty good, but I have to run a real battle heavy, plot-lite game, with heavy miniatures use, which is something that is not normally my style.  So it is kind of a learning experience for me. I've done one shots like this over the years when I just needed a quick game, but this is a whole campaign. It is a little different experience.

I'm still trying to talk them into letting me run something different, but it doesn't look good. A couple of players want me to run a supers game, I suggested a post-apocalyptic game or even a G.I. Joe vs monsters game (1 player liked this), but I can't get everyone on the same page. One player absolutely refuses to play anything but Pathfinder and due to the circumstance of the group it is an all or nothing situation. I can't even get them to play 4e! You would think a group that loves battle so much would be thrilled to go back to 4e, but nope. So we are sticking with Pathfinder.

I also have some podcasts that I've been listening to recently and I want to recommend them.
Raging Bullets, "A DC comics fan podcast" is a really good and show that I thoroughly enjoy. When it comes to strictly comic book podcasts, this one and Backroom Comics are my first two choices.  When it comes to video podcasts I go with Exploring the Multiverse.

Last but not least is Star Joes  " A podcast dedicated to Star Wars, G.I. Joe, and everything in between. We talk about Comics, Movies, TV Shows, and Toys…lots of Toys…". It's a really fun show if you love '80s comics and toys like G.I. Joe, Transformers, TMNT, Voltron, etc.

These are the shows I've added to my normal rotation of The Nut Gallery, Tekzilla, Hak5, The Tome and 3.5 Private Sanctuary.

G.I. Joe and some thoughts on other things

I was catching up on my comic book reading the other day, specifically the trade paperbacks of IDW's G.I. Joe series which I am really enjoying, and I realized that I've never seen a G.I. Joe RPG. Why the hell is there no G.I. Joe RPG? It would totally kick ass. Sure I know I can use everything from d20 Modern to Mutant Epoch to Shadowrun or even Rifts to run a G.I. Joe RPG, but that's not the point. I want an actual G.I. Joe RPG damn it!!!
Hasbro owns G.I. Joe and D&D, so why in the hell hasn't someone said "hey, why don't we make a G.I. Joe RPG" and made my dream a reality. I've enjoyed G.I. Joe since I was a kid. I watched the shows, I even sat through the movie multiple times and  I bought the toys and I still read the comics. (On a related tangent WTF were they thinking putting Marlon Wayans in that movie? Didn't he ruin the D&D movie enough? I'm sure he's a nice guy and to some people he's probably considered funny, but give me a break. Did they really have to make two movies about two properties that I have loved since childhood even worse by adding him?) I know that if they made a G.I. Joe RPG, I'd buy the hell out of those books. I'd really be even more happy if they released it in the Essentials digest format for easy carrying and use.

We went to the drive in over the weekend and saw Harry Potter and Transformer 3.
While I do think the books are way better (they usually are) I am still a fan of the Harry Potter movies. That being said The Deathly Hallows pt 2 was great! My wife and daughter have never read the books and they loved it.
Transformers 3 wasn't as bad as the second one except for Shia LaBeouf. I'm not a huge fan of his but he just came off as a whiny, self involved little bitch in this movie. After I got over wanting to beat him over the head with a bat, I actually started to feel embarrassed for him. His part in the movie was beyond horrible. Actually most of the humans in the movie made me feel embarrassed for them. The Transformers themselves were actually pretty damn cool and their part of the movie was entertaining. The kid-o loved it, but her and her cousin both agreed the people were annoying and the movie would have been better without them.

We also saw the previews for Captain America (awesome!) and Dark Knight (wtf? that made no sense and yes we get it.. its the end, shut up about it already).

I caught the leaked preview trailers for Avengers (double awesome!!) and Amazing Spider-man (meh, don't really care anymore). Both of which are pulled down from the sites where I saw them.

Some movies I'm looking forward to:
Smurfs (there's nothing wrong with liking the Smurfs, beside NPH is in it so it has to be funny, although he was also in Beastly and that was just bad, bad, bad)
Capt. America
G.I. Joe 2 (Completely Wayans free!!!!!)
Sherlock Holmes 2


If you are a Beastie Boys fan you gotta check out the 11 minute video for Don't Play No Game that I can't Win  and the video for Make Some Noise (or check out the 1/2 hour full version... yes 1/2 hour)

Tradepaper backs I've been reading lately:
G.I. Joe (IDW)
House of Mystery (Vertigo)
Hellboy(Dark Horse)
Irredeemable (Boom)
Showcase presents The Atom
Showcase presents Justice League of America
Saga of the Swamp Thing

Some of the comic books I'm enjoying right now:
Flashpoint
Flashpoint: Batman Knight of Vengeance (This Batman is great!)
Dungeons & Dragons (This is my favorite D&D comic book series ever!)
Invincible (this series just keeps getting better)
Alpha Flight (even though it is tied in to the crappy Fear Itself event this book is still rockin')
Knights of the Dinner Table

Derby City Comic Con & some podcasts

I've been whining for years that we need more geeky conventions in the Kentuckiana area (Louisville Metro & Southern Indiana area). I don't care if it is a gaming conor a comic con, I just want something close to home.

I get tired of listening to all these podcasters and bloggers talking about their home town cons and I got nothing. Granted Gen Con is only an hour and a half away, but it's kind of expensive to go to that, even for one day. Well it seems my wish has been granted. A few weeks ago I was catching up on some of my podcasts, I listen to a lot of podcasts, and came across an episode that mentioned the Derby City Comic Con in Louisville.

***** Before I get any emails about it, I didn't forget about Conglomeration. I have never gone but it just seems that gaming has a very small presence and I've never known anyone that actually went. I've tried emailing them to get more info over the past 3-4 years, but have never gotten a response. I figured that if they didn't care enough to respond to a potential customer's email, they must not want my money and I'm happy to spend it on more gaming stuff somewhere else.*****

I've lived in this area my whole life and I've never heard of this con before so I Googled it and sure enough there is a comic book convention being held at the Kentucky Convention Center on July 16th. They're going to have guest comic book creators and everything. This is awesome!

I'm not sure how strong of a presence gaming will have at the Derby City Comic Con, but the vendors that are there do sell gaming stuff. So maybe. Besides $7 to get into a comic book convention is awesome. Even if I only get a couple things out of some quarter boxes, take some pictures of people in costume and maybe get a picture of a comic book creator, even a lesser known one, it's still worth $7. It'll be fun and if enough people show up it may be bigger next year.

On to a different topic.

Since I mentioned that I listen to a lot of audio podcasts (I have an hour commute and do a lot of walking... love my ipod), most of which I am very behind on at the moment, I thought I'd recommend some of my favorites.

The Nut Gallery Review: A movie review and geeky podcast by occasional Geek Gazette blogger Jason James and some other great guys from up north, but I don't hold that against them. (Sorry gang I'm trying to catch up)

3.5 Private Sanctuary: I really like their Know Direction episodes, although they're all pretty good. Their stuff from Paizo con was really great for those of us that couldn't make it.

Thaco's Hammer: As a 2e AD&D fan this is a must listen show. It is very well put together and fun to listen to. Even if you don't play 2e I recommend giving this a try.

Paranormal Podcast: Even though I'm a big skeptic, Jim Harold does a great job with this show. I really enjoy this one and get some great gaming adventure ideas from it as well.


DC Noise: This is one of those strange shows that I can't stop listening to even though there are better shows out there. It's really just some guys sitting and talking. It literally seems as if you are just listening in on their phone conversations.
There is no format and no real direction to each episode, but buried in most episodes is some really good comic book discussion. My number one complaint is that the episodes could use some editing to get rid of the dead time. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but I like it, mostly.

Comic Vine Podcast: A pretty good comic book discussion show.

The Backroom: This and Comic Vine are probably my two favorite comic book podcasts

Pulp Gamer out of Character: I'm not a huge Pulp Gamer fan, but of their numerous shows I really enjoy this one.

4 Geeks 4e: I may not be a big 4e fan, but I really like this show. I only wish they put out episodes on a more regular schedule.


Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast: Some of the episodes are pretty long (3 or more hours), but still there is a lot of good content.

Dragons Landing Inn: Chuck and Lonnie haven't done a new episode in a while, but I still enjoy listening to the old ones. One of the first podcasts I ever listened to and still one of my favorites. If only they would restart the show.

A pretty long post on the DCU reboot

**Originally posted as a comment on CBR. I decided to repost and expand upon that comment**

I have no real issue with the quasi-reboot. Some of the changes they apparently are making to some of the core/iconic heroes seems a bit odd, but if the stories are good, so be it. I'm not afraid of change and won't whine and cry if things aren't exactly like they've been for the past "x" amount years. I think the changes seem pointless and little too 90's retro, but I'm not going to start declaring this the first signs of the death of comics. If I don't like it, I won't buy it.

I was surprised by the choices of books in the first 52. I completely expected half of the line to be made up of Batman books so the 11 or so that are being released are no surprise. After all DC/WB doesn't seem to have nearly as much faith in their other characters.  Many of the 52 seem destined to fail within the first 12 months so I guess it will end up being a self fulfilling prophecy. There are just so many books and characters that just don't seem to have the staying power, outside of a few diehard fans, to keep a series afloat.

It's nice that DC is willing to try something different and attempt to grow awareness of their books/characters beyond Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman during their attempt to enter/create a new era, but they just seem to have made some odd choices. Why totally overlook the opportunity to re-invent fan favorite characters like the Marvel Family, the Atom & Blue Devil, among others, to focus on books and characters that don't seem to have that big or loyal of a following, such as Red Hood/Jason Todd?

While I'm sure there are people who are big fans of Jason, there rarely is a character that doesn't have at least a few fans (yes I'm talking about the 2 other Wild Dog fans out there), how does he warrant getting a position in the first wave of the reboot? Granted I can't stand Aquaman and I'm not a fan of Hawkman, but I know they have a big enough fan base and are recognizable enough to the general populace to have earned their place in the first wave. Though I do confess to being confused as to why the Atom got no love.

I understand and I don't think it is any real secret that the books/characters chosen are more than likely the ones that DC/WB believes hold the best possibilities of not only appealing to the younger generation of fans, but of also making the jump to other media (TV/Movies/Video Games/Action Figures). But I still can't believe they totally overlooked the Atom! He didn't even get a place on any of the Justice Leagues, but Hawk & Dove get their own book? WTF ?!!!??(for all you loyal readers "WTF" is the phrase of the day. Whenever you see it scream real loud.)

I don't think, under normal circumstance, that many of the titles in the initial 52 would make it to the 2 year mark before they were either canceled or went through another reboot/major overhaul. I honestly think that DC will try real hard to keep even low selling books among the initial 52 afloat. At least for a while. Otherwise they will have invested all this time and energy into something that will become known as DC's failed "Heroes Reborn" and I'm sure the suits @ WB won't like that much. Unless, of course, that's the plan. Maybe this really is just one big publicity stunt and everything will go back to normal in a few months. 

The Fury of Firestorm: I'm a Firestorm fan and I know there are quite a few other fans out there. However, I think the revised origin could turn some people off and kill the book.I hope I'm wrong and I'd love to see the character become one of the next gen iconic characters, but DC just doesn't do very well when it comes to straying too far from the idea that the entire DCU revolves around Batman and Superman, but mostly Batman.
My prediction: 24 issues

Captain Atom: I've been a Captain Atom fan since I was a kid, but I've got a bad feeling about this one. I think they are going to try to make him the Dr. Manhattan/Doctor Solar of the DCU and I don't think they will do it well.
My prediction: Unless they surprise me, I'm saying 12 issues.

Mr. Terrific: I actually like this character and applaud DC for picking him for a solo book in the initial 52, but I don't think he's compelling enough for his own book. He would have been a great addition to the Justice League or JLI.
My prediction: 12 issues

Aquaman: It's no secret that I have always disliked (hated) this character and could never understand his appeal (the same goes for Namor), but I also understand that he is one of the most recognizable characters outside of the big 3. I also know he has a fairly loyal fanbase so I'm betting this book will suck(I'm biased) but will stick around for a while.
My prediction: with a good writer I'm betting 36 issues.

The Savage Hawkman: I don't really like or dislike this character. I've always thought he was a bit boring, but had the potential to be cool. I actually kind of like him when he makes guest appearances, but I've never wanted to buy his solo books. I'm also betting this addition to his convoluted history won't be any better than his past books. I wish him well, but just don't see him lasting long.
My prediction: 24 issues

Justice League International: First of all I really became a comic fan/collector in the JLI era so I've been wanting to see this book for a very long time. However, the team that appears in this books just doesn't seem right. First WTF is up with Booster's outfit? It looks silly. I would rather see Animal Man than Vixen on the team. Also where is Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel, Mr. Miracle (Scott), Dr. Fate (he appears to even be missing from the magic books), Doctor Light and Captain Atom? I'm not asking for a return of the "bwa-ha-ha" league because I think that people forget the book wasn't originally about cheap laughs and slapstick. It was a really good superhero book that happened to have some really funny parts. The funny just took over once the book became popular.
My prediction: I hope, hope, hope this book is done well and lasts for a while (though I wish they'd get Batman off the team!) but I think this one will see lineup and creative changes fairly quickly. 36-48 issues.


DC Universe Presents: I love anthology series or ones that are basically a series of mini-series because they give lesser known characters that have fans but can't support a regular series a place to shine.Unfortunately these books don't seem to last long with current readers.
My prediction: 24 issues



Green Lantern: The New Guardians: I'm a long time GL fan and even I'm getting a bit burned out on the abundance of GL books and characters. It seems like GL is well on the way to reaching Batman status with 11 related books coming out each month. (BTW I don't read any Batman books. I have come to greatly dislike the character. Though I will pick up Nightwing) I know that the movie is coming out and they are trying to cash in on the hype around that, but really 4 GL related books?
My prediction: I'll try it and I might like it (Unless this is he John Stewart GL book then I won't make it past the 1st issue), but I'm betting I won't read it for long. 24 issues, just because of the movies.

Red Lanterns: Don't get me wrong the Red Lanterns are cool as hell. I love the idea of the color spectrum and multiple corps, but do we really need an anti-hero corps? These guys should be held in reserve for big GL story-lines and events. I think this is an example of too much of a good thing. Of course I'm a sucker and I'll be getting the first issue.
My prediction: I'm betting the Reds will play a part in one of the upcoming GL films so I'll give this one 36 issues.


Red Hood and the Outsiders: Jason Todd, didn't I call in to have them kill your annoying ass when I was a kid? Considering I could not stand this character when I was a kid and still reading Batman comics, I don't see me liking him any better now that he is an annoying anti-hero. What is this the 90's. I'm really getting that vibe with the costume designs and gun totin' heroes. I wonder if the 52 will come with alternate, holographic, chromium covers drawn by Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld?
My prediction: Considering that all of the Outsiders books have kind of sucked over the past decade or so, I don't see one starring a character that people actually paid money to have killed bucking that trend. 12 issues

Batwing: Really, Batman of Africa? While it would be great to see a book like this survive, there just aren't that many readers that are interested in characters from other cultures. DC just doesn't have any luck with these types of books. People in America, and it seems the rest of the world, want to read about American heroes. I think this stems from the fact that American writers and artists have a harder time accurately portraying characters from other cultures. Yet non-American creators seem to have a pretty good handle on how to portray American characters. He might work and become a favorite as a member of a team, but solo I just don't see this having any staying power.
My prediction: less than 18 issues.

Animal Man: I love the character and would love to see the book survive for a while, I just don't think it will happen. Thanks to Morrison's run on the character it seems that DC can't see him existing outside of the realm of the weird/vertigo realm. I want A.M. back as a superhero on a team. I don't want an attempted rehash of the Morrison run. I've already read and enjoyed those books when I was a kid. Still as an Animal Man fan I'll be giving this one a try.
My prediction: If the book is halfway good I think Animal Man has enough of a following to stick around for a while. However I'm saying 24 issues will be the max on this one. I just don't think there are enough of us fans to keep this one alive.

Swamp Thing: Few creative teams have been able to get Swampy right. I doubt this book is going to do it either. I think that this book will end up disappointing and alienating long time fans without bringing in new ones.
My prediction: With this one I will be optimistic and give it a maximum of 3 years, just because Swamp Thing does have a fairly strong fanbase. However, I will add that during the initial 3 years we will see them trying their damnedest to recapture the magic of the classic run

Justice League Dark: WTF?! The Magic Justice League with John Constantine??? That's just silly. First of all a PG-13 Constantine just seems wrong. The character has been R-rated for too long and he works in that environment. John is supposed to be the foul mouthed, chain smokin' bastard we all know and love. This is one of the few changes that I am whole-heartedly against.
My prediction: I think this one might make it 15 issues, but I'm betting 12 is too generous.

Demon Knights: A medieval magical Justice League...

My prediction: Less than 12 issues


Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE: Ummmm, no.

My Prediction: Less than 12 issues.

Resurrection Man: The original series was under-and I'd like to see it go for a while, but I just don't see it happening.
My Prediction: 18 issues

I, Vampire: "Hey don't the kiddies love vampires? Let's do a vampire book!"

My prediction: 12 issues if it is lucky

Voodoo: She was never that interesting in the first place. Books about female characters, especially ones that aren't that well liked, just don't cut it.

My prediction: Less than 12 issues.


Hawk & Dove: Hawk and Dove with Liefeld? What is this a semi-annual book? How long has it been since the last issues of Youngblood was published? Well at least they had feet in the promo images I saw.

My prediction: I'm betting this one will go no more than a six months before a new creative team comes on board and probably no more than a year before cancelation. So that should equate to about 3 issues if Liefeld stays on the book.


Stormwatch: I have high hopes for this one. I'm betting a DC version of an Authority/Stormwatch mash-up with the Martian Manhunter has the potential to be a great book. Very reminiscent of the JLU cartoon. But one of the things that people loved about the Authority was its edge and I don't think that will translate into the core DCU.
My prediction: 24 issues


Blackhawks: I don't see this one lasting long at all

My prediction: 12 issues

Sgt. Rock and the Men of War: I've personally always hated spy/war comics. I can't stand Nick Fury or Sgt. Rock, so my point of view on this one is too biased to be fair. I think there is an audience for this, but it is a very small one.
My prediction: 12 issues

All-Star Western: Again, I have never liked western comics, but Hex has some fans out there.
My predictions: I'll be generous and give this one 24 issues.


Grifter: I like Grifter and I think DC could possibly turn him into the Deadpool/Punisher of the DCU. I think they will fail miserably and piss off the few fans the character has, but if done right he could be a very popular character that would make a kick ass movie.
My prediction: 18 issues

Omac: Give me a break. This character/concept has always sucked.
My prediction: less than 12 issues


Blue Beetle: Granted I grew up with Ted Kord as the Blue Beetle. He's my #1 favorite superhero and I would really, really like to have him back.
However, I do think that Jaime is a decent character and I understand why DC thought the concept needed an update. Even though he reminds me of something off of Ben10 or some kind of Power Ranger, I can't deny that this version of the Beetle has the most cross over potential. A superhero kid with shape changing power armor just screams multiple action figures with tons of goofy accessories (Deep Dive Blue Beetle, Deep Space Blue Beetle, etc...)
My prediction: I'm gonna say 24 issues.


Suicide Squad: I've never been a fan of the Suicide Squad, but I know there are a lot of people who do like it. This one could have staying power, but I think it'll need some fine tuning in the first 2 years.
My prediction: This one could go for a while, but I'm betting 24 issues if they screw it up.
You probably noticed that I didn't say anything about the Superman or Batman books and that I left alone the core GL, Justice League, Wonder Woman and the Flash books alone. That's because those books are more than likely going to get published, in some form, no matter what. So instead of a book by book take on them I'm going to group them together where applicable.




The Batman Family: Given that the only Batman books I've really enjoyed in the past 15-20 years have been the ones starring Dick as Batman, I think it is safe to say that I have a fairly strong bias here. I won't be reading any of these books, except Nightwing and Batgirl, but I know that that Bat-books are some of DC's biggest sellers. With the exception of Batwing and possibly Batwoman I think all the Bat-books will do fairly well. At least for the first year or two.



The Superman Family: I'm not sure about the direction they are taking with Superboy in the reboot, but I know that Conner is a fan favorite and has a pretty good following. Supergirl is one of those characters that has a past almost as messed up as Hawkman. No one really seems to know what to do with her so they continually re-imagine her. I think the upcoming version will be too alien and fail.
Now for the white elephant, Superman. If the images we've seen so far are an indication of what to expect I'm not hopeful. I'm all for rebooting his origin, making him younger, making him single and redoing the supersuit. However, the 90's armored look that was recently released? That's just stupid. There are a million and one variations of the Superman look that are waaay better. Many of which we have seen on the JL cartoon or in Elseworlds stories. In the image I saw he looked like Superboy/man Prime. I'm hoping that is who was really in the image and it was released to throw everybody off and get us talking. You know how us fanboys love to bitch and moan about change. If so, good job DC, you got us talking. If it is really how the "new" Superman will look, I repeat it's stupid and won't last long.

Wonder Woman: This is character that much beloved but who can't sell a book for shit. There have been good runs of her book(s), but never a definitive run. WW never had a "Batman: Year One" type of run. There has been nothing that has truly defined the character and every creative team has a different (sometimes drastically different) approach to the character. There is no definitive Wonder Woman. She really needs that. I don't see the new book as being any different than they rest of them.


Justice League: The return of the "big 7" was expected. I was surprised by the addition of Cyborg, but then I thought about the fact that he appeared on Smallville, fills the "ethnic" void left by John Stewart/Vixen/Martian Manhunter (i.e. he's not white) and is a young, tech oriented character, it made sense. He is a good fit for a "younger, hipper" Justice League. Plus, if I remember correctly wasn't he part of the Superfriends in the old Super Powers cartoons? So I guess Cyborg has earned his spot on the league, plus he's not a bad character. I was disappointed that the Atom didn't make the initial cut and that Aquaman did, but that's life. Plus I'm not diggin' the 90's leather/armored look with collars and chin guards.


The Flash, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, and Green Arrow : These were kind of no Brainers. Hal, Barry and Ollie have all died, come back and been reimagined before, so rebooting them isn't that big of a deal. Honestly Ollie kind of needed it after the last couple of changes in the character.

Teen Titans: Really? Robin has wings? Yeah its gotta be 1994 or he's watched too many episodes of G-force (Battle of the Planets). Wonder Girl's a criminal? Who's the Spider-girl and shadow person in the back of the image? Is that Obsidian or a new take on Raven? BTW, how did conner get a tattoo?

Static Shock: I'm actually surprised that this didn't happen sooner

Legion of Superheroes: The Legion Lost (legion members in present day) isn't really new and the current LSH seems to be doing well. They might make them younger, but I don't think they'll mess with them too much.

Now for the surprises, for me at least, regarding the reboot:

I can't believe that the Atom, Powergirl, Starman, Capt. Marvel (or the Marvel Family), Booster Gold, Mister Miracle (Scott Free), Hawkgirl, Manhunter (Kate), Blue Devil, Plastic Man, Elastic Man(and wife) and Stargirl didn't get anything in the reboot.

First I thought Booster's book was selling pretty well. It's one of my favorite DC books. Of course I'm biased as I was a Booster fan from the first issue of his original series. Is it because they think Booster can't support two books and decided to focus on the JLI?

Powergirl not being represented kind of worries me. I really enjoy her current book and have been a longtime PG fan, but I've got the feeling that her being alternate universe version of Supergirl may have put a target on her back. I think she may disappear until yet another alternate, non-kryptonian origin can be developed for her. Or else she will return to her status as an Earth-2 citizen and be removed from primary continuity.

Where's the Atom? He can be made younger, plus he's a tech/sci-fi kind of character. C'mon DC give the little guy a chance.

Starman and Stargirl both seem like perfect fits for the new, younger DCU. Why aren't they in the Justice League or Teen Titans? Why hasn't Scott Free returned and why isn't he on the JLI? Hawkgirl is more well known than Hawkman by the younger crowd since she starred in the JL cartoons. Why does he get a series and she gets ignored? If DC is doing a mystical Justice League, where the hell is Blue Devil? Everyone else is getting rebooted, why not BD? If there is a character that belongs on a supernatural JL, it is Blue Devil.

What the hell was DC thinking by ignoring the Marvel Family, especially Captain Marvel? If they are wanting to appeal to a younger demographic why leave out the long lived character who is a kid/teen that can turn into an adult and become the Earth's mightiest mortal. He's been around as long as the big 3(really it should be the big 4 and Captain Marvel should be considered one of the iconic characters), he once outsold and was more popular that Superman and Batman, and he has a loyal fanbase. Seriously, you dropped the ball big time on this one DC.

I hope that some of the overlooked characters will show up was that the JL since it will eventually expand to 14 members. I think that that more members could be joining the JLI too. Hopefully, the Atom will be added to one of the Leagues.

As for the same day print & digital release. I don't have an iphone or an ipad and I don't like reading comics on a computer, so I don't see this really affecting me. I'm one of the ones who wants to hold my comics in my hand. With print books I don't have to worry about the industry switching to another format down the road and thus making my entire digital collection obsolete and possibly losing it. Sure a natural disaster could cause me to lose my print collection, but in 50 - 100 years if nothing like that happens I'll still be able to take my old comics out of a box and enjoy them. If the current digital format becomes an unsupported format down the road, I'll either have to find a way to convert my entire collection or repurchase them all. Screw that.

Plus I don't like the idea of "renting" or purchasing the rights to view my comics. Even in the digital world I want to own my shit. I love my kindle, but that's one of the things that pisses me off. I also refuse to give up my physical copies of certain books. Lord of the Rings, Dresden Files, Mark Twain, Wheel of Time, I have them on my kindle, but I also have and will continue to purchase (in the case of the still ongoing series) the physical books.

If DC instituted a Netflix type of deal where I could read "x" amount of books for a monthly fee I might do it. Say DC says you can read 10 books per month online for $7.99, 20 for $9.99 and so on and you retained the ability to re-read the books you've already read without eating into your monthly allotment, I might go for that.

Basically you create an online "pull list" of the books you want to read for the month and they enter your library. You can change the list from month to month or read the exact same series each month. If they stayed with the same day publication it might be worth it. I would still buy my physical books and that won't change, but this option might entice me to read books I might otherwise skip. Take R.E.B.E.L.S for instance. I wanted to read that, but it never fit into my budget, so I never picked it up.

Nothing is going to replace my monthly Justice League, and Superman books. I'll buy them, my other DC books and the books I get from other publishers for as long as they're printed. I've been doing it for nearly 30 years, I like them and I see no reason to stop now. But for the books that I skip (Teen Titans, REBELS, Outsiders to name just a few) reading them digitally might be worth it to me. I'm not losing anything because I never would have bought the physical books in the first place. Unless one of my print books got canceled.

Well that's my take/rant on the DCU reboot up until this point. I may have something else to say as more information is released and I actually get to see the books. Everything I've said is, of course, my opinion and as you know opinions are like assholes, everyone has one.

I may be way off on everything I said and this could be an instance of me talking out of my ass. In a way I kind of hope it is, but I feel pretty confident that my lack of confidence in may of the series is well founded.

A quick rant about digital magazines, plus more Matrix movies.

I am a pretty big magazine reader. I read at least 20 mags per month (my wife made me cut back) and that doesn't count comics. Of course 3-4 of them are related to my field of study, but the rest are just for fun.

Pretty much every day I have a magazine or comic book in my mailbox and the magazine rack is one of the first places I hit in any store. I actually choose the stores I prefer shop at according to the quality of their magazine racks.

This is one of the reasons I was so upset when WotC canceled both Dragon and Dungeon magazines and moved them to a digital format. I absolutely hate reading digital magazines and until Kobold Quarterly came along they were the only gaming mags I knew about. Though Knights of the Dinner Table did ease the pain of their loss somewhat.

Sure I read quite a few blogs, online news sites and messageboards, but those are usually quick reads meant to grab small bits of info. I use them just to keep up to date on topics I can't always find in magazines. Honestly my online reading pretty much revolves around RPGs, and current comic book news. Everything else I try to get from a print magazine.

Before long it seems like I will be stuck reading damn near everything in digital format or not reading them at all. RPG books, comics, magazines, newspapers are a going digital. 

I don't want to buy a new tablet PC/ipad, e-reader or smart-phone just so I can enjoy my favorite magazines/comics/books. I'm not that old and I stay fairly knowledgeable regarding current technology, but this push to make us slaves to our digital masters (a little melodramatic, I know) not only makes me feel old, but it pisses me off. I don't mind having a choice between print or digital, but I don't like being forced to accept something I don't like or want just keep keep reading the things I enjoy.
 I feel the same way about this push for all movies to be 3-D. I don't $#%^ing want to see movies in 3-D! I want plane old 2-D that I can enjoy without paying an extra $10 per ticket and without wearing those $#%^ed - up glasses.

What was I talking about? Oh, yeah...

Wizard magazine, one of the few comic book magazines that can still be found on the magazine rack in your local grocery, and pretty much every where else,  is apparently ceasing publication along with sister magazine Toyfare. According to the press release at Newsarama, Wizard will become a digital magazine called "Wizard World".

Now I admit that Wizard has not been up to par for quite a while and they have always been a bit selective about which comic/companies were covered, but with hobby magazines quickly disappearing from magazine racks they were kind of the last bastion of geekyness among all of the mainstream mags. All we have left are the few science magazines (as long as they manage not to get hidden behind the latest issue of Rachel Ray), Archie Digest (the last comic book on the rack) and the few remaining video game magazines. I find this very upsetting.

Here is the press release:

GAREB SHAMUS UNDERTAKES PUBLIC COMPANY WIZARD WORLD, INC. AND LAUNCHES NEW ONLINE PUBLICATION ‘WIZARD WORLD’
New York, NY (January 24, 2011) – Gareb Shamus, recently appointed President and CEO of public company Wizard World, Inc. (“Wizard World”) (OTC: GOEE.PK), today announced that the Comic Con Tour, which consists of pop culture conference events that provide high visibility marketing opportunities to pop culture brands and companies in multiple venues throughout the year, is now being produced by public company Wizard World. The Wizard World Comic Con Tour intends to cover 12 cities in 2011, including major cities such as New York City, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Austin and New Orleans. The Tour will include sponsors ranging from major movie studios and TV networks to gaming and toy companies to content publishers.
In addition, Wizard World plans to launch in February 2011 an all-new digital magazine called ‘Wizard World’ that will appeal to pop-culture fans, the same audience to which Mr. Shamus has catered to, for over 20 years. Wizard World digital magazine will provide coverage of the world of comic books, toys and superheroes, and the personalities behind them.
“This is a very exciting day for Wizard World and the industries it serves,” said Shamus. “Having the Tour produced by a public company provides additional opportunities to expand and grow the Tour. The new digital magazine Wizard World will give consumers the content they want in a magazine format with which they are familiar, but distributed in a form that is always available at any time on any device. It is a natural evolution for us in this market.”
Wizard World Comic Con will begin its North American tour at New Orleans Comic Con held from January 29 to 30, 2011. The full event schedule can be found at www.wizardworld.com.

• In case you hadn't heard, according to Slice of Sci-fi who got this from IGN, who were told by Keanu Reeves (I feel like I'm in Middle School again), there are plans to make 2 more Matrix movies. I think everyone agrees that the Matrix trilogy (mostly #2 &3) had some issues and could have been better, but over all I liked them. Though I  freely admit that the parts that were bad, were really really bad, but the parts that were good absolutely kicked ass. So I am kind of torn. Part of me wants to see a new movie and part of me is kind of dreading it.

Why so serious? or It's just a f@%$!ng comic book!

Today on Newsarama there was a post by David Pepose about the fact that DC is considering the possibility of doing sequels to Watchmen. Let the fanboy outrage ensue.

I for one don't give a shit whether they do 50 sequels, Watchmen cereal, Rorschach toothpaste and a Saturday morning cartoon using the characters. After all I don't own those characters, DC/Warner Bros owns them and they can do whatever the hell they want.

I enjoyed the original Watchmen as much as the next comic book fan, but it is just comic book, not some kind of sacred text. In the same way Casablanca is just a movie, Huxley's Brave New World is just a book, Elvis was just a musician and Alan Moore is just a writer. Sure all may be good or even great, but they are what they are and nothing more. People tend to attach too much to works and creators/artists that are part of the upper echelon, the best of the best. They attribute an almost sacred aspect to them, holding them in higher regard than they deserve.

I'm not bashing the quality of Moore's work here, I'm simply pointing out that none of this shit is so sacred that it can't be exploited. Common sense will tell you that if it tanks, they won't keep doing it. If it does well then there was demand for it because they put out something that people liked and wanted.

Ok I can already hear the cries of hypocrisy. Wasn't I pissed when D&D 4e came out? Well yeah, but not because it tarnished the name of D&D. I was pissed because of the way I felt WotC treated their fans. I gave 4e a chance and while I admit the system is good, I didn't like playing it. I didn't find it fun.

3e/Pathfinder is the type of system I prefer for D&D. It is that simple, a matter of preference. 4e has not "ruined" D&D or taken away from my ability to enjoy 3e/PfRPG. Do I still hold a grudge against WotC, sure and maybe that colored my judgment of 4e. However, I still own ten 4e books, so I think I gave the system a fair chance. Though in my defense my group didn't care for the system either.

Now what was the purpose of this rambling mess of a post? I guess I just wish that people would get over themselves. Don't take this shit so seriously and don't discount something until you at least give it try. Nothing is sacred and just because you love a certain piece of work doesn't mean that another one can't be just as enjoyable. After all the purpose of comics, movies, games, music, and fiction is entertainment. If they teach us something in the process, build character, or make us think, then we benefit from their existence. Still they are nothing more than what they are, a form of entertainment.

Don't take this stuff so seriously.

My new favorite old comic may be my next RPG campaign

Ok really the comic isn't necessarily old, but Femforce,  published by AC comics, is the longest running all female team comic, since 1985, that I know.
I use to pick this book up back when I was a kid, but as I got older, got a job, had a family and the cost of comics went up, it was one of the books that got cut from my monthly purchases. Other than the occasional issues I came across over the years, I haven't read the book regularly in well over a decade. I actually thought it was canceled long ago. Last year I noticed a current issue on the shelf of my comic shop and I asked the owner to pull me an issue and I'm glad I did.
Is Femforce a groundbreaking and thought provoking title? Honestly no, but it sure is enjoyable. Reading through an issue of Femforce reminds me why I started reading comics in the first place. The book is just fun and I don't mean that in the "ha ha ha" sense, I mean that when I'm done reading an issue I don't feel bogged down by heavy continuity or preachy stories. Granted there is continuity, but unlike some comics, that I will be X-tremely careful not to MENtion,  I don't feel completely lost when I pick up an issue whether it is current or from 5 years ago. I like the simple nature of the book.
Featuring what is referred to as "good girl" art, the all girl team is full of scantily clad, well developed babes, but they are not defined by their looks. The characters are competent and capable heroes. Their sexuality is not hidden, but it doesn't define the characters. They are not a bunch of sex starved, vixens. The sex in the book reminds me of something from the 50's. You know what's happening, but you don't see it.
     However the comic is a flip book with the comic Gargantarama on the flip side of the book. Gargantarama has a bit more sexual overtone than the FemForce feature. Women growing into giants tend to rip clothes, but there is no actual nudity that I've seen, just very little clothing. Of course I think that is the nature of the comics in Gargantarama, giant women are suppose to be sexy. I won't deny that this isn't my favorite part of the book, but some of the stories are kind of entertaining.
The tone of the book is light, meaning that they don't go around constantly killing villains or using curse words in every sentence, though there are a few mild ones at times. The stories occasionally contain political or social issues, but they don't beat you over the head with the messages. Over all the book is very much what I loved about 80's comic as a kid, but with current stories.
I recommend this to everyone who wants a comic that is just entertaining to read. Besides with the rise of retro-gaming I don't see why retro-comics can't gain in popularity. Some may argue that if I want retro-comics I should just go buy Gold or Silver age comics, but that's not the point. I want the feel of an older comic, but without having to drudge through a story that feels like it was written for a 5 year old.Many of those older books they feel like they were written by a 5 year old. Besides most are incredibly outdated. That's one of the reasons I like Femforce, the old feeling with new stories.
The books is mature enough for an adult but not so mature that you couldn't let your tween(10-12 yr old) read it. The writing in Femforce is "simple" meaning that the stories are not overly complex, they are basic superhero fare, but are not childishly simple. 
Since I've already mentioned, in a previous post, my new obsession with old school superhero rpgs, I don't think that it should be a surprise that I plan to run a Femforce campaign. I haven't decided if I will use Villains & Vigilantes, DC Heroes or even Marvel Superheroes. Personally I think V&V would be the better choice.
However, I have also recently been reading a lot of Truth and Justice and BASH!(you got this if you bought the Helping Hati megabundle at RPGNow). Both are simple little systems that could easily be used for my planned campaign, but honestly I'm more torn between using V&V or T&J than anything else. I'm sure there are people that would say I'd be better off using Savage Worlds Super Powers, Mutants & Masterminds or even Silver Age Sentinels for my FemForce game, but I don't think so.
First of all Savage Worlds just doesn't feel like a superhero game to me. Granted I am not that familiar with the game, having just bought it recently, but I don't think it suites my needs. Besides I don't have the Super Powers supplement anyway.
Mutants & Masterminds is the obvious best choice, as it is probably the best selling superhero rpgs out right now, but it doesn't have the simplicity I want for my game. The simplicity requirement is also what took Champions(Hero System), and Heroes Unlimted out of the running.  Silver Age Sentinels (d20 or tri-stat) would also be good choices, but still not as simple and fast as I want. Honestly the d20 version, while playable, is far inferior to M&M or the Tri-stat version of SAS. At least in my opinion.
So right now that is where my mind is regarding which system and why. When it comes to supers games I am completely enamored with V&V and T&J at the moment. Honestly, I'm usually the type to shy away from smaller press games, which I find tend to be amateurish at best, but Truth & Justice has been a pleasant surprise. From my reading it seems to be a damn good, yet simple system that captures the feel of a comic. But to me so does V&V.
My first dilemma is deciding whether I want to use V&V because it actually is a game from the time period I want to capture the feel of or because it is the best system for the campaign I want to run. My second dilemma, and the most minor, will be stating up all the FemForce characters I plan to use in my game. If anyone knows of a site with pre-gen stats for these characters in one of my preferred systems post a comment.
My third dilemma is going to be convincing my group, currently comprised of all males (ages 12-36) to play an all female team in a mature fashion. Ok maybe I'm setting my sites a little too high, as long as they will agree to at least play a female character I can work on the "mature" part as we go along and they get use to the idea.
Like I said this is where I am at the moment, in the early planning stages. I have the feel I want for my game, I'm going to try to expand my groups playing skills beyond all male macho stereotypes, and I have an idea of what direction I want for the campaign. Now is the hard part, deciding which system to use.
I'm going to spend the next few weeks rereading the two systems. I'll stat up a few FemForce characters, in each, go over combat rules and hopefully make a decision by the end of February. That's usually when our winter break ends and we start fitting in an occasional game until spring hits and we get back on schedule.
I'll keep you posted.


*Support the small press comic book publishers.*
The recent changes that Diamond Distribution has made are apparently having a sever impact on all comic publishers, but small press in particular. I'm not going to try and go into the details of the changes here, you can find tons of info and articles about it on the web. My point is that small publishers such as AC comics will probably be harder to find in your FLCGS. Readers are going to have a harder time finding their favorite small press books, unless they go directly to the publisher's website. Some may even disappear completely.
While I may not have always been a big supporter of small press rpg companies I am coming around, but I have always been a supporter of small press comics. I know that I have whined and complained about pdf versions of both rpgs and comics over the years, but I am looking at digital versions more and more these days. I hope that smaller companies, like AC Comics, are doing the same thing. I'd love to see the title continue and I will buy all the issues directly from the site or as pdfs if necessary.
I still prefer reading hard copies of my books and fortunately I have the capability to print them at this time. If I didn't my opinion would likely change again. Despite my dislike of digital versions, I have to admit that I never would have discovered some of my new favorite rpgs and comics if not for RPGNow and DriveThruComics. Plus I have to admit the cheaper price is a big motivational factor in my purchasing decisions and pdf/digital copies are usually much cheaper than their print counterparts.
The point to all my rambling is directed towards the comic book fans in the rpg community. You could do a lot worse than try a few extra small press books.
Femforce may not appeal to you, but there is also the Champions line or Flare from Heroic Publishing that are available in comics shops(for now), at the publishers website or at DriveThruComics. Champions is another comic with that retro feel that I read regularly. Heroic Publishing has several titles other than Champions and Flare (League of Champions, Anthem), but since I have yet to read them I can not give any details about those titles. Some of the other digital comic books I'm reading are The Uniques and issues of Crusade Comics' Shi that I either missed, never got around to, or lost track of over the years.
Help support the small press comics in the same way many gamers support the small press RPGs. If you are willing to buy a pdf RPG for $20, you can buy about 20 copies of some digital comics for the same money.

**Update****

I've been communicating with Mr. Heike of AC Comics about the book and the impact the changes in Diamond policy will have. I've mentioned that I'd be willing to support Femforce by subscribing , but there is no subscription. I was told that if enough people would go to the site and contact them about opening up subscriptions to the public, they would be happy to create a subscription program. If not you should continue buying the book from their site or just pre-order at your local comic shop..

Marvel's Dick Move

DCs recent Blackest Night colored ring promotion did exactly what it was meant to do. It boosted sales of the company's books, and in the process knocked some of Marvel's books from their normal place on the top of the sale's charts. Marvel apparently did not take it well.

 In retaliation, though they claim it is a good will gesture to retailers, Marvel has offered to give 1 copy of the Siege, Marvel's new event mini-series, issue #3 with the Deadpool variant cover to retailers for every 50 covers they send in from the Blackest Night tie-in books.  According to the articles I've seen on Newsarama, Comic Related, Cosmic Book News and CBR, as well as numerous message board postings, retailers have mixed feelings about this move.
Some retailers have posted that they agree with me, this is a dick move by the Mighty Marvel and have no intention of participating. Some say they simply don't have enough of the BN tie-ins to qualify, but would if they could. Others, who were stuck with too many Blackest Night tie-ins, are happy to rip those covers and receive their variant from Marvel. According to some of the retailers I've spoken with they would have to sell the Siege variant for $200 to break even.  To be honest I have not and do not intend to read Siege but all of the feedback that I've heard about Siege has been negative. What I don't understand is why would anyone want a $200 variant for a book that sucks according to many fans? I guess they wouldn't offer it if they didn't think someone was dumb enough to pay it.
Personally I think that this is not only a dick move by Marvel, but in very poor taste. I'm all for competition between the two companies, after all their goal is to sell the most books, plus the fans enjoy it. I just think that openly taking cheap shots at the other company is tacky. Some fans may favor one company over the other, but most of us enjoy characters from both and often include Marvel and DC comics/characters among our top 10 favorites. We tend to feel a connection to both companies and seeing one act "unsportsmanlike" kind of lessens our view of the offender.
Marvel seems to come off as a spoiled diva that can't take temporarily losing a couple of spots with grace. Seriously I love DC, but everyone knows Marvel is the bigger seller and will be again. Fans want the competition to continue between the two, but not in the same under handed mudslinging manner we tolerate from  politicians. Personally I want them to compete for our dollars by trying to tell the best stories possible. That way whoever ends up in the top spot, deserves the position.
I'm not big on variant covers and honestly don't give the value of my comics a great deal of thought. I buy them to read and if one day they put my grand kids or great-grand kids through college that's super. Until that day, and unless I get my hands on Action #1 or a similar rare book, I don't give a shit about 99% of the variants produced or the "value" of my comics. The true value of my comics is that I enjoy them. I'm not really a collector, I'm a fan who owns a lot of comics.
So as far as I am concerned, I'll keep my multi-colored rings (I'm only missing blue and red) and all the BN books I bought. You can take your variant and shove it.


*Here is where I interrupt this post to insert my own little side rant. I'm just on a roll and didn't feel like making a new post.*

Anyone who knows me personally, knows that I am a much bigger fan of DC comics than of Marvel. That being said I like Joe Q and think he has done some really great things at the big M. 10 years ago I may have read 1 maybe 2 Marvel books per month and now I regularly enjoy about 6. That may not seem like much, but considering my 20 DC books, and my couple of independent books per month, making room for 6 Marvel books in my budget is a big deal. Also note that I didn't just say I read the books, I said I enjoy the books, which is something I haven't been able to say about Marvel in a very long time.

Granted I think the current developments in Spiderman's comics is beyond ridiculous, though I do hear the stories are good, I just don't care. Marvel has frakked with everyone's favorite webslinger so much over the years (yes I was a Scarlet Spider fan and hold a grudge) I can't bring my self to read his book(s). However, Capt. America, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova and Moon Knight absolutely kick ass. Ms. Marvel, Iron Fist, Daredevil and New Avengers were on that list but lost their momentum, for me at least, so I dropped them.
I just hope that the idea and approval for Marvel's Siege variant offer was solely the responsibility of marketing or some other corporate department filled with suits that have nothing to do with creating comics. I also hope that Joe Q had nothing to do with this or I will lose a great deal of respect for the man. Given some of the stories I've heard about Didio, from fans and comics pros, I would expect something like this from him.
 Though to be honest I do not know that man, and while I do not agree with a great many of the editorial decisions at DC, I have had no direct contact with the man and can not personally speak about his character. I just hope that DC decides to take the high road and not stoop to Marvel's level.

What is wrong with Wonder Woman?

I have often wondered what has kept Wonder Woman from being as popular as the other two big heroes at DC comics, Superman and Batman.

Wonder Woman is part of the holy trinity at DC, she's as powerful as Superman, as smart as Batman and wears almost no clothes, why isn't she more popular?

I think DC does a fair job of promoting the character. She is part of nearly every major story, she is looked upon with reverance, just like Supes and Bats, by other DC heroes, but the guys have multiple titles (regular monthly series as well as one-shots and mini-series) coming out each month as well as decades worth of staring roles in movies, tv shows and cartoons.

What does Wonder Woman have? One book coming out each month in which she is the star and that is it. Though she does usually appear in the JLA team book as well as several special appearances in other titles, she can barely support the one title in which she stars. Personally I think there are two reasons Wonder Woman has such as difficult time breaking the "glass ceiling" of the comic book world.

First, no one understands the character because there is no definitive version of WW. Is she kind and loving? Is she a hard as nails warrior woman? Is she butch or feminine? No one really knowns and if you read her book over the years you will see various versions of the character. Under one creative team she is very butch looking and feminist. Yet under another group of creators she is a dangerous thing of beauty, a warrior and a goddess. No one actually gets her, which leads me to my second point. Fans can't relate to her like they can to Supes and Bats or even Spiderman and the Hulk, but let's stick with DC comics for this.

Superman is the last of his race(not really but that is a discussion for another time), an alien with godlike powers, but in some ways he is the epitome of what it means to be human. We can all identify with feeling alone, or like an outcast even amont friends and family. Superman lost his family and his whole world just as everyone experiences loss at some point in their lives, we can relate. Superman was raised by ideal parents, the kind of understanding and loving folks that everyone wants to have. Superman has the powers we all want to have, every child and most adults daydream about flying and he fulfills that wish. Superman has all of this incredible power and could easily subjugate the world to his will, yet he spends his days saving us all from external and internal menaces. Superman represents both a messianic protector, and the model of what all people believe they can be. There are tons of other things that allow people to connect with the Superman, but to put it simply, he represents everything that is good about humanity. Superman is who we all want to be, at least in some way.

Now for Batman, who is a little more obvious. He is a normal human, who saw both of his parents gunned down before his eyes. Rather than whine and cry he pushed himself to become the ultimate representation of vengeance and justice. Batman is the things that villains fear more than the law. Sure Bruce Wayne is a billionaire, but that is just the facade for Batman. Everyone has multiple faces that we wear in life. For some it is the work face, the home face, etc... We can all relate to having to be "someone else" depending on our situation.

Where as Superman represents the purity of spirit, the alturistic nature buried in every person, Batman represents the rage and desire to punish those that scare us. To exorcise and beat down our inner demons. Whether people like to admit it or not we are all scared of the world around us and would love to overcome that fear of the dark and make it afraid of us. Like Superman there are so many ways that people can relate to Batman I could write a thesis paper on either character regarding this subject. I think I've made my point well enough to move on to the reason for this post.


Despite being of our Earth, Wonder Woman is more of an alien than Superman in every way. First she isn't even human. Her mother formed her from clay and the gods breathed life into her. She is a princess, trained to be a warrior that grew up in paradise surrounded by nothing but women. Then she was sent to man's world to show us how to live peacefully, or something like that. Now I for one don't see how a non-human, warrior princess, raised on a tropic isle, and who is much more aloof and removed from humanity than an alien from Krypton who was raised in middle America, could possibly understand, much less relate to the rest of humanity. Who the hell is she to tell us how to live?

Don't get me wrong, I like Wonder Woman. For the most part when she appears in other books, besides her own, she is an interesting character. Even in the occassional issues of her own books she is pretty interesting, but it never lasts. There is just too much about the character that is too "alien" for most of us. Other than the feminist angle, which to be honest a lot of people just don't associate with, WW just doesn't have the ability to connect with readers in the way so many other characters do. I think she is a great character and deserves to be in DC's big 3, but they need to work a little harder to make her more accessible and popular with readers.

Another thing that I think hurts Wonder Woman's popularity is her lack of cool villains. Superman has his arch nemisis Lex Luthor, not to mention Mxyplyzyk, Parasite, Doomsday, The evil Kryptonians (especially Zod), Toyman, and let's not forget Bizarro. Batman has his arch nemisis the Joker, plus probably one of the all time best and most well known rogues galleries in comics history. C'mon everyone at least knows the Joker, Penguin, Catwoman and Riddler.

Besides cool villians Superman and Batman have well known supporting characters. Alfred, Robin, Commisioner Gordon, Batgirl, Supergirl, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Superboy, and Perry White are pretty well known even by non-comic book fans. It is sad that Wonder Woman's supporting characters, though not as well known in the mainstream as Batman's and Superman's, are probably more popular with fans than WW. Donna Troy and Wondergirl (Cassie) are pretty strong heroes in their own right that are much easier to associate with, more likeable and most would say more popular.

When you say Wonder Woman what villains or supporting characters come to most people's minds?

Sure if you are a comic book fan you can think of a few villians like Cheetah, Circe or Silver Swan. You may even thinkof her love interest Steve Trevor, but what if you asked non-comic book fans? I think it would be safe to say not one average person who only knows the character from the 70's TV show or from the Superfriends cartoon could not come up with a single Wonder Woman character. Yet those same people could probably associate three or more names with Superman and Batman.

The few female comic fans, or at least women who can appreciate comics , that I know don't like Wonder Woman very much, and few of the guys do. As much as it may upset those that like the feminist image of WW, the angry feminist angle is not appealing and gets old kind of quick for guys.( I know that his a sexist thing to say, but let's face it the majority of comic book readers are male.) Few guys and apparently few women want to read about a love sick, warrior princess or a bitchy, super powered feminist. There needs to be a more accessible version of the character presented, a version to which both male and female fans can relate. Wonder Woman has the potential and deserves to be one of the greatest comic books superheroes in more than just title alone.

ElfQuest Online.

The comic book Elfquest has always been a favorite of mine. One because I'm a gamer and have used the plots from the books in numerous campaigns and two because I'm a comic book fan. The books are actually a good resource for gamers that I think gets overlooked far too often. It's a comic book about elves for Pete's sake!
Granted the characters tend to have a little bit of a Saturday morning cartoon feel, but I think that is because the more delicate topics like sexuality were handled very maturely by the creators, so that it wasn't "shocking" and could be enjoyed by readers of many different ages. For the most part the stories are very good and easily adaptable to pretty much any basic fantasy setting. To me Elfquest always felt a little like old school D&D.

So if you need some campaign ideas, are a comic book fan or just love Elfquest you should be happy to know that you can read them online. I have been going through the site and it seems to me that pretty much every book, and there have been quite a few, is available to read, for free, on the Elfquest site. Check them out here.

$1.99 comics

According to Bon Alimagno over at Newarama.com Vampirella comics are going to attempt selling the book for $1.99. This is an attempt to bring back readers and get the character back into the top 100. They are calling for fans to join their Myspace page and Twitter to help promote the character's 40th anniversary. They claim they might be able to do the lower price, unlike Marvel and DC, due to low overhead and smaller staffing.
While Vampirella has never been one of my all time favorite characters, I have enjoyed the book the few times I picked it up in the past. For $1.99 I'm willing to give it a try.

Original Article
Myspace page
Twitter

The dead are rising...

Everyone pretty much knew it was going to happen but the original Captain America is defintely coming back from the dead. The news of his return can be found all over the net and from what I hear it made it to some of the major news networks as well.

I for one am a bit disappointed. While I thought it was idiotic to break the "only Bucky and Uncle Ben stay dead" rule, I admit that Bucky Cap has had some of the best Captain America stories I have ever read. I would say that Captain America's book has been one of the best books at Marvel with Bucky at the helm. Steve Rogers was going to come back, that was no secret, but Marvel had a good thing going with the current star of the book. It would have been nice to get to know the character a little bit better before they brought the old guard back.

Marvel is also rumored to be bringing back the Scarlet Spider over in the Spiderman books. Now I was a fan of the character when he was originally introduced and was disappointed when they killed him off. I actually quit reading Spidey for a while. I even liked his low budget costume, which was much more realistic than Peter Parker, a teenage boy when he got his powers, sewing a costume with a very complicated design. I admit the whole clone saga was a pretty crappy story as a whole, but a character with a lot of potential came from that story. Unfortunately he paid the price for the horrible taste the story that spawned him left with fans. Hopefully, Marvel will bring old Ben back with a bit more dignified story this time around.

We all know Dick Grayson has replaced Bruce as Batman and Damian has taken up the mantle of Robin, for now. DC seems to have plans for the new dynamic duo for at least the next year, so when will Bruce return? My vote is never. Even though they've only been a team a short while, I am already enjoying the new direction of the Batbooks more than I have in years. I say it is time for a changing of the guard... permenantly. Of course we all know that won't happen. Bruce will be back in the cowl in the near future, my guess is next summer.

Who else has returned from the dead in recent years? Here is a list of the characters from DC and Marvel who are again among the living. These are just the ones I can recall off the top of my head. If I think of more I'll add them later.

Superman... although that was a long time ago I decided to add it to the list anyway.

Aunt May (not sure how that happened. her death story, the start of the clone saga, was a really good Spidey story. Then she almost died recently to start the OMD story.. or as I call it WTF.. she is a tough old bat.)

Barry Allen (Flash)

Bart Allen (Kid Flash... still think the explaination for that was a bit dumb... he wasn't even that important of a character and he didn't die using the speedforce like every other speedster that has come back... he was beat to death! )

Wally West (not really dead... living in another dimension for a little bit??? that's dumb)

Green Arrow

Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)

Superboy (Connor Kent)

Jason Todd... he still sucked the second time around.

Bucky

Captain Marvel (the Marvel comics version... not the real one)

Mockingbird

Goldstar

Blue Beete (Ted Kord...temporarily taken out of the time stream, don't know if he is actually dead again or not??? Also isn't he suppose to be coming back as a Black Lantern/Zombie? Will there be 2 Teds running around? I hate time travel)

Norman Obsorn

Harry Osborn( he was dead wasn't he?)

Wilson Fisk

Ghost Rider(s) (haven't both of them died at some point? if not they will)

Jericho (how many times has this guy died anyway? Didn't his dad gut him or something?)

Dead Characters that will more than likely be returning soon:

Martian Manhunter

Bruce Wayne

Blue Beetle (Ted)

Jason Todd... didn't they kill him again? If not they should.

Reverse Flash

** *Blackest Night may make the returning soon list much longer. I didn't add those characters, such as Bruce's parents, because I think they are just going to be zombie like things. Even though zombies rock, they do not count as living and were not added. That may change as the story unfolds.***

Characters that should be killed off permenantly just because I don't like them ;-) or I like/would like newer versions better.

John Stewart

Martian Manhunter

Charles Xavier (is he dead now or alive? He's died and came back so many times I can't keep track)

Magneto (same as Xavier)

Aunt May (WHY WON'T YOU DIE!)

Aquaman

Jericho

Jason Todd

Flash (Barry)

Batman (Bruce... I like the character, really, but it is Mr. Grayon's turn to prove himself as the new Dark Knight... he's earned it and I bet most fans like it.)

Captain America (Steve Rogers... again I like the character, but the current stories are just so damn good I hate to see them screw it up with an event.)

All of the New Gods, except Darkseid... he is one bad mamajama....

All those damn Kryptonians... How can you be the Last Son of Krypton when there is 100,000 other Kryptonians running around? Not to mention the dogs and cats and monkeys, it's ridiculous.. although I do want to see a super badger. It could dig a Burrow of Solitude and fight for animal injustice... and table scraps. What do badgers eat anyway?(Update.. wikipedia says badgers eat worms, small mammals and poisonous snakes... badgers are bad @$$)

FYI for all the fans of the characters I listed in the "should be killed" list... these are just characters I personally don't like and you should not take this opportunity to be offended. I have no control over the creative direction of these characters and my opinion has no impact on the characters. This is just my opinion and should be taken as the good natured jab it is intended to be. Despite the fact that I am right and most of those characters suck, the list was made in jest and should be seen as such.

Comic sales down in May

According to ICv2 comic book sales were down about 18%. This was attributed to the fact no number 1's were put out and Dark Avengengers was missing. I attribute it to the fact that comics are getting too damn expensive and I'm broke. My pull list use to be 30-50 books per month, including one-shots, annuals and mini-series. Now my total is 15-20. Granted I do have mail subscriptions to 10 or so titles, which saves me quite a bit per year, but that kind of drop in sales can't be isolated to just me. Surely others are feeling the economic pinch, which is not being helped by a comic book price increase.

When I was a teenager comics were 75 cents, gas was around $1 and I think cigarettes were less than $1(don't smoke kids... it really does stunt your growth, you smell bad and it makes your teeth yellow). That was roughly 20 years ago. Now comics average $2.99-3.99, gas has gotten as high as $5/gallon... though it is roughly $3 at the moment and cigarettes are hitting the $5 mark. This doesn't even take into account the fact that many of us have families, mortgages/rent, and other bills to deal with that we didn't have back then. Everything is 3 to 5 times more expensive and most of us haven't seen a pay increase of 3 to 5 times more $$$. Then everyone is surprised to see comic sales decrease? I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't get much much worse. I'm still dropping books or skipping ones that I want to get because of the price.

Maybe when I am a multimillionaire I can support the industry buy buying everything that is published, but for now it is every person for him/herself.

BTW I highly recommend you get at least a few mail order subscriptions if you are strapped for cash. I want everyone to support the brick and mortar stores, but in hard times it helps if you can find a way to save some cash. Besides if you have a set monthly comic budget and you subscribe to a few books once per year, you aren't buying that book each month and can spend that cash at the shop on something else.

ICv2 article

I Need a New Shop

Another comic book and hobby shop is closing the doors.

Between classes yesterday I had a little free time so I drove over to the comic book shop where I get my books. As I pulled into the parking lot I noticed all the lights were off. At first I though they might have changed their business hours and were now closed on Thursday, which seemed odd. I was just about to turn my car around and head back to class when I noticed the sign in the door. The shop was going out of business!

I've been going to Pulp Heroes for the better part of a decade and I've been happy buying my product there. Is it the greatest shop I've ever been in? No. It is a fairly small shop, in an old strip mall, right next door to a Mexican restaurant/grocery. They often had to special order books I wanted because the selection of books on the shelf was pretty much the most popular indie and mainstream books, but there was nothing wrong with that. My taste in reading material does not stray too far from the mainstream superhero books. When you compared my little shop to some of the larger, chain owned shops across the river, they may not have seemed so great. I have heard some customers complained it was too dark and cramped, but I never noticed. If anyting I liked the atmosphere of the shop and I liked the people.

They didn't carry a lot in the way of gaming material, mostly just comics and action figures, but I still found some great deals on RPG books, such as the Authority RPG I got for $5. They also carried Heroclix, Magic and Pokemon cards and that is pretty much it. Still I really liked my little shop and didn't want to go anywhere else.

In this economy and with stores closing all across the country I don't guess I should be surprised, but I most definitely was. There always seemed to be a small, but steady stream of customers going in and out, so I never considered they fact they would close. I guess you just never think it will happen to you.

I bought my books at Pulp Heroes for so long for several reasons. First it was convenient, it was really the closest shop I knew of, I went by it on my way home from work and they were always really nice to me. I've seen quite a few guys behind the counter over the years, most of whose names I honestly can't remember right now, but every time I walked in I was greeted with "Hi Mike." It was kind of like Cheers, everyone knew my name.

If I missed a book that should have been in my pull file, the owner, or one of his employees always made sure I got it. Even if they had to give me one of the higher priced variants at cover price. They would pull books for me that I didn't normally buy just because they thought I might like it, or it had an appearance by a character I really liked. I wasn't obligated to buy these extra issues, they put them in my file just in case I wanted them. They actually took the time to do that and I appreciated it.

So, stunned, I sat there in the parking lot trying to figure out how to get my comics. I considered all the shops across the river in Louisville. Then I thought about how much farther I would have to drive and quickly dismissed the idea. I figured I would just be stuck ordering my gaming and comic books online, beefing up my my mail subscriptions and even *gasp* buying more pdfs and subscribing to digital comics. I was not a happy camper but I had class in less than an hour, so decided to head back to campus.

On my way I suddenly remembered another shop that wasn't too far from my old shop. I had completely forgotten Empire Comics and hadn't been in that shop in years. So I drove around for a little bit, until I remembered where they were. They were open!

I went in, and was instantly struck by how many customers were inside. It was almost crowded. I met the owner, who was a really nice guy and he told me that he was picking up a lot of new business because of the closing of my old shop.

Now the comic selection was comparable to that of Pulp Heroes, but Empire also has a lot of gaming stuff. They run tournament games, I think only Magic and D&D, which means they have a game room for people to gather and play. Which means I may be able to get in on some games.

When I filled out the form to make sure my weekly comics were pulled, the owner described his program to me. Everything is pretty much computerized or automated in some way. He sends out weekly emails telling you what is coming out the following week. If you see something on the list that you want him to pull, email him back and let him know. He also sends out an excel spreadsheet letting you know what is in the Previews catalog. All you have to do is fill in what you want, send it back to him and he can order that stuff for you too. On top of that he sends out a Dungeons & Dragons newsletter. Did I mention he also has a website where you can order and a message board? Can't make it into the shop for a while? Call him, use your credit card and he will ship your books to you.

Needless to say I was shocked. I haven't seen this kind of attention and customer service in any shop I've ever visited. I honestly began to feel guilty. I was genuinely excited about the new shop and felt like I was betraying a friend by consorting with the competition, changing my allegience.

I sincerely will miss my old shop and have many fond memories of my time as a customer there. It is always sad to see an "old friend" go, and even more saddening to know that someone who was living most fanboys' dream, just saw that dream fall apart. I wish the PH crew the best of luck and hope to see the shop reopen sometime in the future.

Despite the tragic story of another shop disappearing, there is a bright side to this. Business just increased for another shop, meaning he will be in business that much longer. Hopefully, I'll be happy with my new shop and won't need to look for another new shop for many years to come.

WTF!

Recently I have been hitting the various Tee shirt shops online looking for new tees to add to my collection. A good geek can never have enough, you know.
Anyway I have noticed that no where, on any of the sites, are they offering a Blue Beetle or Booster Gold t-shirt. Sure there are a couple of JLI and Formerly Known as the Justice League shirts that have those characters, along with others, on the front but none with only those characters. I want a Blue Beetle and a Booster Gold logo shirt. They have them for all the Lantern Corps and most of them haven't even been introduced yet! Hell they even have shirts for characters like The Greatest American Hero, Madman, and the Atom! But no Blue and Gold shirts?!?! WTF?
So if anyone out there is reading this and you work for a company that produces tees, make a note. Gimme Blue and Gold merchandise!
So say we all!!!

Justice League My Way...

For no reason, other than the idea just popped into my head, I am posting the version of the Justice League I want to see. The team that I would have in the book if I had the power to make it so... my JLA dream team.

Blue Beetle(Ted Kord)
Booster Gold
Firestorm
Animal Man
Captain Marvel
Captain Atom
Manhunter(Mark Shaw)
Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)
Flash (Wally West)
Powergirl
Green Arrow (Conner)
Nightwing
Red Tornado

If I think of any more I'll post them later.