Under Your Radar: Local

by Liana

I guess it’s a couple of years ago now that, while lying in bed reading comics, Dan turns to me and says, “If I give you something, will you read it?” Usually, my answer is no; we tend to like different comics. But I was in a good mood and he asked really nicely, so I took the comic from him (though I wasn’t exactly looking forward to reading it). That comic was Local #3 and it blew me away.

Local is the twelve issue series from Brian Wood (DMZ, Demo) and Ryan Kelly (Lucifer, The Books of Magic), following the life of one young woman, Megan McKeenan, as she travels from town to town, trying to figure who she is and where she belongs. That’s it in a nutshell. But what in life has ever really fit inside a nutshell (other than nuts)?

Local starts off as a series of done-in-one stories, loosely held together by Megan’s presence. Sometimes she was the star of the issue and sometimes, like in issue #3, she just made a cameo. The real star of the series, at least at first, was whatever town Megan was currently living in. Great care was taken to accurately reference each town (from Portland, Oregon to Burlington, Vermont, with ten stops in between) and make them all characters in their own right. As the series goes on, we learn more about Megan’s life, and her struggle to understand herself eventually becomes the main focus.

Each issue takes place about a year after the previous and, as stated, in a different town. The famous #3 that immediately hooked me was in Richmond, Virginia and was about a successful rock band breaking up and coming back to their hometown that has seemingly moved on without them. What’s the old adage? You can’t go home again? Megan only appears on three pages, in a sequence where she finds the band’s drummer and asks him to sign an album, only to get back a misspelling of her name and his phone number. I guess Richmond goes on Megan’s Disillusionment List, which is a list I just made up and erroneously at that since Megan doesn’t exactly come across as the most hopeful of individuals.

In fact, she’s pretty screwed up. So much so that, apparently, there are people online who want to punch her in the face. I know this not because I’ve run into any of them, but because Brian and Ryan talk about them in some of their fantastically insightful essays at the end of each issue. I have to wonder why, if Megan moves them to such hate, they continue to read, but then that’s the kind of thing you have to wonder about everyone who subjects themselves to all kinds of crap. And we all do it in some way, don’t we? But still, it seems to me that if you hate the only constant in a limited series comic book, maybe you can just save yourself the aggravation every month (oh, if only this book had actually come out every month!), take your three bucks and buy yourself an ice cream cone instead. Ice cream makes everything better.

There are some pretty weird times in this book, like in #2 when Megan sort of dates a guy who sneaks into her apartment in Minneapolis and leaves polaroids of himself with messages on them. There are some pretty scary times in this book, like in #4 when Megan is held hostage by a dangerous family feud (not her own) in a Missoula, Montana diner. We meet her brother in Austin, her cousin in Tempe, her OCD roommate in Brooklyn and a slew of boyfriends and other acquaintances in Chicago, Toronto, Halifax, and Norman, Oklahoma. Through it all, Megan goes from a confused 17 year old girl on the brink to a mature 30 year old who faces her demons and accepts who and where she’s been and who and where she is.

Local is a deep, dark journey that most of us can relate to. Who hasn’t known what they’re doing and where they belong? Who hasn’t felt unconnected to the world?

Normally, I’m all about getting trades at the library. But Oni Press is putting out a nifty hardcover edition of the series, and it's currently being solicited in Previews for release in September (ISBN: 978-1-934964-00-2; Diamond Code: JUN08 4143). This one, I think I need. And I think you need it to. Go to your local comic shop and preorder it. What else can I say to convince you? If you’re a fan of Brian Wood’s or Ryan Kelly’s, this is obviously a must-own. If you like Blankets or The Waiting Place or Andi Watson or JD Salinger or The Breakfast Club or indy record shops (hi Zia!), then you’re going to love this. If nothing I’ve said has sparked even the slightest interest, then I’m sorry to say you might be dead inside. But I’m willing to punch you in the face to make sure. Read more!

Trades Wait For Me: Sorrow, Sub-Mariner, the Phantom, Cable & Deadpool

by Doug Smith

Life is actually slowing down a little bit, and the mountain of trade paperbacks weighing down my bookshelf are finally getting some love and attention. Following my Y: The Last Man marathon, I tackled a few done-in-one books, and a smaller run on a “catch-up” title. Pleasant surprises were to be found in this stack o’ books! So grab the popcorn and get ready for reviews of Sorrow; Sub-Mariner: Revolution; The Phantom: Man Eaters; and a bunch of Cable & Deadpool.

Oh, and because we're always looking for more hits here at the Bad Genious...look kids! Boobies! That's right, I have no shame.

Sorrow trade paperback (Image Comics) by Rick Remender and Seth Peck (writers) and Francesco Francavilla (artist)

Image publishes a lot of miscellaneous miniseries, most of which slip under my radar. I came across some of Francavilla’s artwork online recently, and was impressed enough to order the trade collection of this four-issue series that he did last year. Sorrow tells the tale of four young people who stumble into a town filled with vengeful spirits. The story is nothing radical – angry Indian spirits aren’t exactly a new concept – but the writing is solid and the dialogue has punch; the quality is akin to something from the Showtime series Masters of Horror or the current NBC anthology Fear Itself. I was very impressed with the artwork though, which is quite creepy and gruesome. Francavilla employs an old-school style, which I found ironic since it’s a very different style than what drew me to his work in the first place; there are definitely some Joe Kubert influences here and at times his inks remind me of Tom Palmer, one of my all-time favorites. Francavilla is certainly an artist to keep an eye on. Grade: B

Sub-Mariner: Revolution trade paperback (Marvel) by Matt Cherniss and Peter Johnson (writers) and Phil Briones (artist)

Another book where the artist is the star. I was familiar with Briones thanks to his work on the recent White Tiger miniseries, but he really took a step forward on this six-issue miniseries featuring Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Briones embraced a more “classic Marvel” style here, heavily indebted to John Byrne in his heyday; there’s even an homage page to one of Byrne’s classic Namor covers. (Note: the image presented here is a cover by the late and much-missed Michael Turner.) The writing is nothing to sneeze at though; Cherniss and Johnson tackle Namor’s post-Civil War status quo with a nice mix of political intrigue and superhero action, deftly moving their setting in time back and forth to foreshadow a fairly daring climax. I would imagine that some people would have a problem with Namor’s decisions and actions at the end of this series, but I thought they made sense for a character who has never really defined himself as a “superhero”. A much better book than I expected, and I’d like to see a follow-up by this same team. Grade: B+

Cable & Deadpool trade paperbacks Vol. 3 “The Human Race”, Vol. 4 “Bosom Buddies”, and Vol. 5 “Living Legends” (Marvel) by Fabian Nicieza (writer) and Patrick Zircher, David Ross, Lan Medina, Ron Lim, and Reilly Brown (pencillers)

Proof that mega crossovers do work! When Marvel first launched this series several years ago, I read the first two issues and walked away unimpressed. I didn’t read it again until it crossed over with Civil War, and I was amazed to find myself really enjoying it. The book found itself on my pull list and stayed there until its recent cancellation. I’ve gone back and filled in the sizable gap in my collection with the trade paperbacks. Throughout the run of the series, Nicieza spices things up with just the right amount of humor (sometimes wildly inappropriate humor) and has a blast writing Deadpool. Cable is a harder character to make work, as he’s just…well…boring. Nicieza gives him a fascinating raison d’être as a Christ-like mutant savior of humanity, but Nathan Dayspring Summers is just such a blank slate personality-wise that it never really achieves its potential. But Nicieza still acquits himself well here; he avoids the continuity-slog and over-plotting that marred his Thunderbolts run and focuses more on moving his protagonists forward, an impressive trick considering the deep ties these two characters have with the X-universe. Patrick Zircher is the main penciller in these volumes; I’ve always thought he was very underrated and I’m glad to see that’s he’s currently getting some higher-profile work with a series of Thor one-shots. Grade: B

The Phantom: Man Eaters graphic novel (Moonstone) by Rafael Nieves (writer) and Vatche Mavlian (artist)

This is an interesting twist on the graphic novel, as it’s actually a prose story with illustrations; each two-page “spread” features prose with a “strip” of artwork running through the middle of the pages. The story concerns the Phantom tracking a pride of man-eating lions that have ravaged a small African village, but this being a Phantom story, the real enemy walks on two legs. Nieves delivers an impressive writing job, keeping the story moving briskly without sacrificing detailed descriptions and characterization; given the confines of the format, it’s a nice trick and I’m sure it wasn’t easy to pull off. Mavlian provides moody artwork that compliments the writing. All in all, a fulfilling read. Grade: B

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From Top to Bottom: Comic Book Movie Sequels

by Matt

Welcome to the 11th edition of the weekly "From Top to Bottom" column! Every week I will look at something within the comics industry and give you my opinion on what I think is the best and what I think ranks amongst the bottom-feeders.

Last week, I celebrated Canada Day by looking at the Top and Bottom of Alpha Flight characters. Today, because I am SOOOO excited for the new Batman and Hellboy sequels to come out, I thought it would be fun to rate my favorite Comic Book Movie Sequels. We all know they will pull huge crowds and make a buttload of money but can a comic book movie sequel be any good? Is there a chance that it could be better than the original? Have they EVER been good? Am I WAY too hyped for Batman and Hellboy sequels? All these questions will be answered and more!

I'll answer one of those questions right off the bat. Yes, I'm really hyped and excited for the new Batman and Hellboy sequels and I hope they deliver. Sequels like, The Empire Strikes Back and Aliens really spoiled me when I was younger. Those were excellent sequels and were a perfect example of how a sequel should work. Most sequels have paled in comparison to these and I come out of the movie theatre slightly disappointed. Some sequels I have enjoyed and I am pretty forgiving for some of them (Star Wars Episodes I-III for example) but most are not as good as the original. Only a few, rare sequels have made me excited and were in my opinion better than the original. Here are my Top 3 Comic Book Movie Sequels followed by my Bottom 3 which I wished I rented instead.


3) Blade II
I was blown away by the first Blade and I had some high expectations for this installment and I was not disappointed. I have always loved seeing heroes and villains teaming up for the greater good (a theme you will see a little later) and this was fantastic! Blade and the Bloodpack team form a very uneasy truce and Reinhardt (Ron Perlman) was a great foil to Blade.








2) Superman II
Kneel before Zod! I have fond memories of this film and looking back on it, I found that it is pretty cheesy (the memory kiss and the huge cellophane Superman symbol) but when I was a kid, this had a fight to end all fights! I always thought Superman was sort of a wuss but I got chills when he asked Zod to step outside. Even Superman was going to kick some ass!









1) X2: X-Men United
I went into the first X-Men movie expecting nothing and came out shaking my head in disbelief. They actually made an X-Men movie that worked! Going into X2 I was hyped beyond measure and I was not disappointed. This movie had everything, I couldn't have asked for more. I couldn't believe how hardcore Wolverine was when he was chopping down those soldiers. The opening scene with Nightcrawler teleporting everywhere, Storm making the tornadoes, Magneto teaming up with the good guys (I love that!), Mystique fighting it solo, Deathstrike and Wolverine's fight, oh I could go on and on and on about how much I LOVE this movie!

I wish all sequels had this effect on me but sadly this is not the case. Some sequels have been good but not as great as the original (Spider-Man 2 for example) and some have just been plain awful. Here are my Bottom 3 Comic Book Movie Sequels, that I wish I could have gotten a refund.

3) Fantastic Four 2: The Rise of the Silver Surfer
I have to give this movie a little credit. It is vastly better than the first and it does have my favorite sequel plot device (heroes and villains teaming up for the greater good) but it fails on so many layers. And how can they make uber-hot Jessica Alba not so hot? How the blue hell is that possible? This movie had a lot of potential, combine that with my hype for the movie (I thought the trailers looked good) and my expectations far exceeded what was made. I kept thinking "if only" throughout the whole movie. So close but yet so far.




2) Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Nuclear Man? I hated Superman III so much that I thought this Superman HAD to be better. How could they possibly make another bad Superman? Boy, was I wrong and I was HUGELY disappointed. The plot, the acting and the dialogue was horrible. Trapping Nuclear Man in an elevator?

In the words of G.O.B.,

"C'mon!"







1) Batman and Robin
My wife and I were engaged at the time this came out and I was looking to expose comics to her slowly and I thought seeing this movie together would help. This damaged that more than it helped. I have never been more embarrassed to be a comic collector than I was when Batman and Robin kicked their boots together to get "Bat-Skates". I wanted to die at that moment. Right then, I knew this was going to be a crappy movie. And that was just the start, we were treated to some horrible acting and even more horrible dialogue. This movie killed the chance of any comic book movie being made for a very long time.


Here is for hoping that The Dark Knight and Hellboy: The Golden Army show how to make sequels! I'll see you in line Friday night.

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Trades Wait For Me...Y: The Last Man

by Doug Smith

One of the benefits of falling behind – way, way behind – on reading the big stack of trade paperbacks on my shelf is that I can read multiple volumes of a series in a row. Since I knew that Vertigo’s Y: The Last Man series was coming to a close with issue 60, I elected to hold off on reading the series until it was done. The tenth and final trade paperback of the series came out a few weeks ago, so I finally sat down and read all ten volumes over the course of one week (I had read the first three volumes as they were released). And wow, what a reading experience it turned out to be! By this time I’m sure you’ve all heard what an amazing series writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Pia Guerra gave us, but in case you’re not sold, let me offer you this:

“Soldiers and spacemen, cowboys and ninjas, pirates and robots.”

That’s right, this series has all of the above. I didn’t even realize it until Yorick Brown, the star of the series, reminisced about his adventures. He encountered all of the above, and it’s to Vaughan’s credit that he skillfully wove all of those disparate elements into one brilliant series. All of the things we loved to play at as children; I’m just amazed he didn’t find a way to mix some dinosaur action in there as well.

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Over the course of sixty issues, Y: The Last Man follows Yorick, the last man on Earth thanks to a mysterious plague (referred to as the “gendercide”) that kills every other man. Humans aren’t the only ones affected though; the only other male mammal to survive is Yorick’s pet monkey, Ampersand. What kept these two alive? That’s the answer that Yorick and his female companions, Dr. Mann and Agent 355, must find if the human race is to have any hope of surviving past the current generation

Their journey takes them from America’s east coast to its west coast, and then on to Japan, Australia, and finally France. There are echoes of The Odyssey, as they have to overcome one obstacle after another along the way. Since the series progresses in a semblance of real time, there is also a huge passage of time; the first 59 issues cover five years in the lives of our heroes, as they struggle (much like Odysseus) to travel in a world where mass transportation has collapsed. It’s a nice thematic element in a work that features a supporting character named Hero, and a lead named after one of Shakespeare’s most famous characters.


Vaughan very effectively puts an end to the old “if the world was run by women, there would be no wars” argument; given the chance to run the world, women prove themselves to be just as power-hungry and paranoid as their male counterparts. Society completely breaks down in the days following the gendercide; the early issues have a sense of horror about them as the survivors try to make sense of what has happened. Some women join the ultra-militaristic Amazons, while some others try to salvage what’s left of the world’s governments. With no men left, most of the world’s infrastructure collapses It’s not that women aren’t capable of doing the jobs that were performed by men, but it was an infrastructure designed, implemented, and staffed by men; women simply weren’t in the positions and given the training to step in and replace the fallen men. How many women are currently in the U.S. government, or working as police officers, or airline pilots? To Vaughan’s credit, society fares better where women had been given equal opportunity to serve alongside men (as seen with the arrival of the Australian navy).


Along with the three lead characters, there is a large cast of supporting characters who play roles of varying importance; everybody is given a distinct personality and you find yourself caring deeply for people who only appear in a handful of issues. The dialogue is sharp and real, and there is a rich vein of humor throughout the book’s run; the Russian agent Natalya and her mangling of English are particularly amusing.

Pia Guerra was a new name to me when this series launched; she handles the majority of the penciling duties over sixty issues, with an early fill-in from Paul Chadwick, and regular fill-ins from Goran Sudzuka later in the run. Jose Marzan Jr. inks all sixty issues, giving a consistency to the series that may have been lacking otherwise. But the real artistic star is Guerra; her work reminds me of Steve Dillon in that it is deceptively simple. There’s not a lot of “flash” here, very little that will knock you out and make you say “wow” at first glance, but her storytelling sense is exceptional, and that’s what I want from an artist, more than anything else: tell the damn story! And she does, and she excels at conveying emotion in her characters. And yes, she can do stunning, highly-detailed work too, as a two-page spread of Paris in the final issue breathtakingly proves.


I won’t give away any more information for fear of spoilers; I will say, however, that when we recently had a roundtable discussion about comics that made you cry, I didn’t have a ready answer. After reading the final issue of this remarkable series, I have to admit…I was a little choked up. Vaughan brings all of his characters and plot threads home with some really clever storytelling tricks and one of the most heartbreaking goodbyes I’ve ever seen, and this issue really puts the “plus” in this book’s final grade: A+

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Advance Review: BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT

by Joe

*This advance review may contain some minor spoilers.*

I didn’t really get into anime until the year 2000, towards the end of my college “career.” But even then, while I appreciated a lot of the animation techniques and character designs, the storylines just didn’t hook me. There was too much goofiness to the dialogue, too many side characters simply for comic relief, and not nearly enough characterization and development, critical for one to actually care what the main character was getting into. There were notable exceptions, like Akira and Vampire Hunter D, but after sampling titles like Trigun, Gundam Wing, and Escaflowne, I pretty much gave up.

I do remember thinking, however, “Someone should do an animated comic book film using this style of animation.” Eight years later, it happened.


Batman: Gotham Knight, the newest release from Warner Premiere DVD, is advertised as the missing link between Batman Begins and this summer’s The Dark Knight. There are six stories in total. Each one is handled by a different writer (many of whom have written Batman in the funny books) and Japanese animation house, though all link together. After the success of the straight-to-DVD release of The Animatrix, Warner Brothers decided to apply the same strategy and style to their number one superhero franchise, The Batman.

But does Gotham Knight succeed in its attempt to bridge the two films?

The first tale, written by the Academy Award-nominated Josh Olson, is the aptly titled “Have I Got a Story For You,” revolving around a small group of friends, each detailing their own experiences with the Dark Knight. Each story is farfetched in its own way, as this story capitalizes on teenagers stretching the truth and having overactive imaginations. Batman never looks the same in each flashback, shown once as a ghostly wraith, then later doing his best impression of Iron Man. This was, surprisingly, the weakest story of the batch. One, all of the kids saw Batman earlier that day, with the sun out, and again during their group discussion. Quite the number of coincidences. Second, I’ve seen this story before, and handled much better, in the episode of The New Batman Adventures titled “Legends of The Dark Knight.”

"Crossfire," written by the one-and-only Greg Rucka, writer of DC Comics’ Gotham Central, is the story of detectives Crispus Allen (who fans will immediately recognize from Gotham Central and as the current Spectre) and... Anna Ramirez. You were expecting to read “Renee Montoya.” Me too. But she’s not in it. Why? I’m told I need to watch The Dark Knight for the answer. Fair enough.

“Crossfire” focuses on these two officers, both members of Lt. James Gordon's Major Crimes Unit, and each with an opposing view of Batman. Allen thinks Batman is a vigilante, taking the law into his own hands, and trivializing the role of the Gotham Police Department, while Ramirez is unsure about him, but is thankful that good cops are actually being respected now that Batman has shown up. After taking a recent Arkham escapee back to the asylum (the villain featured in the first story on the DVD), they soon realize they're stuck in the middle of a gang war between Boss Sal Maroni and The Russian. This story functions almost as a direct sequel to Batman Begins, referencing both “The Narrows” and the day of “the breakout.” The entire island is now the asylum, in a nod to “No Man’s Land.”

"Field Test," written by Batman Begins producer Jordan Goldberg, starts with Lucius Fox showing Bruce Wayne some new high-tech gadgets. Among them is a harness equipped with an electromagnetic pulse strong enough to deflect bullets. Batman decides to test it out on Boss Maroni, The Russian (looking remarkably different than in the previous episode), and their goons. Everything is going Batman's way until a certain... glitch occurs, serving a slight wake-up call to the fledgling Dark Knight. This episode strengthens the ties between Lucius and Bruce, and heavily implies that Bruce has trusted Lucius with his secret. "I'm willing to put my life on the line to do what I have to. But it has to be mine, no one else's,” says Bruce.

"In Darkness Dwells," written by David Goyer, the fan-favorite scribe of Batman Begins and the Blade film franchise, has everyone looking for a sewer monster named... “Killer Croc.” Apparently, he was the former patient of a certain Doctor Johnathan Crane. Speaking of whom, we also see the next phase of Scarecrow’s evolution here, and his ties to Killer Croc and various other “oddities” in Gotham City. That being said, as enjoyable as this take on Scarecrow was, he does not seem to be the same person we saw in Batman Begins, even with the extensive dose of fear toxin administered to him in said film. The episode also expands on Batman’s relationship with the Gotham PD, showing their growing trust of one another.

Eisner-Award winning 100 Bullets writer Brian Azzarello tells the tale of an injured Batman on what seems like any other night he puts on his mask in "Working Through Pain," or, as I dubbed it, “How Batman Became a Bad-Ass.” Batman’s resolve and tenacity are highlighted here, as he struggles with his severe injuries. We're also privy to a few flashbacks, tying in nicely with Bruce’s trek in Batman Begins, and we learn the difference between exterior and interior pain, and how Batman uses it to his advantage (like taking a bottle to the head and smiling). Alfred appears in the story, coming to Batman’s aid in a surprisingly heartbreaking ending.

Last, but certainly not least, is my favorite story of the bunch: "Deadshot." Yes, that Deadshot. This bit comes to us from writer Alan Burnett, who has written and produced episodes for pretty much every single DC Animated series ever. Floyd Lawton has come back to Gotham and has set his sights on Jim Gordon. Or does he? This tale serves to enlighten the audience on Batman’s views towards guns, but it also has the coolest version of Deadshot you’ll ever see and the best use of “Bullet Time” since The Matrix.

I want to say that Batman: Gotham Knight is superb. Because it is. But I asked the question earlier, “Does it succeed as a bridge?” No, I don’t think so. It’s visually stunning, but also visually all over the place. The fact that Batman looks different in each vignette, and far more like he does in the comics than in the films, will immediately pull you out of the “Nolanverse.” And even though the stories were meant to be as grounded as possible, there were some things that just didn’t fit. And I’m also certain that aspects of The Dark Knight will negate some of what is seen here; in fact, some of the previews I’ve seen already have (I won’t go much further as I don’t want to give anything away).

But barring that, Gotham Knight is fantastic and a Batman fan’s wet dream. There's really no other way to describe it. I had my doubts about it at first, but those were all alleviated after the first few minutes of the film. The animation is amazing – exactly what I was hoping for back in 2000. Everything moves crisply and smoothly. The fight choreography is akin to a finely-tuned dance, a waltz between Batman’s punches and kicks and his various opponents’ faces. And, even though the artistic style changes per episode, it’s actually quite unnoticeable. The superb voice cast stays the same throughout the entire film and while each individual tale has its own story to tell, they're all connected and flow together nicely. And let me just say - hearing Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman again, I cheered the first time he spoke, it sounds SO right. And while some have complained at the lack of either Harvey Dent or The Joker, I for one would much rather see them debut on the big screen first in full, Technicolor glory!

Gotham Knight is a feature that shouldn't be missed by anybody. Really. Whether you're an anime fan, a Batman fan, or you're just looking for something new to catch your eye, I'd whole-heartedly recommend Batman: Gotham Knight to anyone and everyone (except for maybe my mother who “wouldn’t get it,” bless her soul). It’s got something for everyone- action, romance, mystery, suspense, and more. The animation is beautiful and the stories are incredibly well-written and will keep you interested for the entire 75 minutes. And, again, as for this being “a bridge,” well, if you've seen Batman Begins, you'll be fine when you see The Dark Knight. This is a very nice bonus, though, and is highly recommended.

Rating: A-

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Panelology - Who Do We Read, Part II

by Brandon



Who do we read? My look into the essentials of comic collection continues this week with my second look at the companies and titles we read. The big guns - Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse are out of the way, so all that remains are the indie publishers. Some are large, many are small, but they all offer a refreshing blend of titles for comic book fans.

It can be scary to try something new out. I personally believe many fans do not go outside of their comic comfort zones often enough to experience the lush variety of titles outside of the big four. We fans can be creatures of habit, and with big events being the crutch that DC and Marvel are seemingly clinging to these days, it can be tough to tear ourselves away from these companies and the familiar titles they espouse. I promise that comics not produced by these four companies do not bite. They may nibble a bit, but if you are like me, you like it a little kinky anyway.

Though I think the lack of trying out books from independent publishers is mostly born out of a “fear of the new”, there are also economic considerations. Typically, indie books are more expensive than the titles from the big companies. Although Marvel and DC have their share of $3.99 and up books, it is more the norm for independent publishers to have the higher price point. This isn’t always true, but it certainly happens more often than not. And with the way the economy is going, it is a tough sale for fans to buy books at a higher price point. These books are also scarce. Of the four major shops in my area, only one consistently carries independently published books. So there may be a lack of exposure to books outside of DC, Marvel, Image, and Dark Horse. Part of this comes from the laziness of these shop owners, but part of it comes from their keen eye for buying trends. Why order something from Fantagraphics if Johnny loves DC books? What’s in it for them?

So, by way of introduction, what follows is a humble and short introduction to six of the other comic book publishers out there. They aren’t the smallest, but they act as a great gateway drug into the world of independent publisher. I only wish I could promise the first hit will be free. Don’t be afraid to read about them or, heaven forbid, actually buy one of their books. If you start to feel light headed, go pick up a copy of Final Crisis and rub it on your chest for two to three minutes and continue. It certainly won’t kill you to try them out, and you may end up actually enjoying something!



Dynamite Entertainment
Like Dark Horse, this publisher has started to scoop up some interesting licensed properties. Among their pack of licenses they hold, they have Highlander, Red Sonja, Xena, Terminator, Army of Darkness, Battlestar Galactica, and the Lone Ranger. That’s pretty impressive for a company that just started publishing in 2005. Chances are reading through that list, you found one title that interests you. If not, check out some of their original work, chief among those is the wild Garth Ennis superhero spoof The Boys. I also heard that they will be picking up some interesting titles from the 2000 AD brand. This company will probably be doing as well as Image and Dark Horse in the coming years.

IDW
The fifth largest publisher of comics in the USA, IDW also has some great licensed properties for fans. Angel, Transformers, CSI, and Star Trek round out just a few of their licensed titles. They have had a ton of miniseries in this licensed realm as well. They also just picked up G.I. Joe. Pretty impressive. They also have a great lineup of original work too. They are probably best known for their 30 Days of Night titles, but Popbot also received some rave reviews.

Fantagraphics
Publishers of The Comics Journal, Fantagraphics has been plugging along since 1976. They have a ton of killer books; Jimmy Corrigan, Castle Waiting, Schizo, Love & Rockets, Angry Youth Comics, and Eightball. Talk about an impressive horde of award winning titles! They also have a bevy of great graphic novels including King, Ghost World, and Palestine. Not to be outdone, they have some impressive licensed material that they have re-released like Peanuts, Dennis the Menace, and Little Orphan Annie. This publisher just puts out some of the finest “alternative comics” (whatever that means) in the business. Do yourself a favor and check on of their books out. If Noam Chomsky read comics, I am positive he would dig Fantagraphics


Top Shelf Productions
This label is probably known more for their graphic novels than they are for anything they continuously put out. Just looking at their back catalogue makes that obnoxious indie-snob that haunts your LCS grin with envy; From Hell, Lost Girls, Blankets, American Elf, Box Office Poison, Super Spy, Owly, and Korgi! They have a slew of great creators that they have published like Alan Moore, Craig Thompson, James Kolchalka, Christian Slade, and Nicholas Mahler. I mean, holy cow Batman, why aren’t you order some of their stuff yet?

AIT/Planetlar
This is another company that focuses on the production of graphic novels and miniseries. Demo and True Story, Swear to God have been the biggest successes for them in the past few years. I haven’t been as pleased with their output as others have been, but many fans really do enjoy their titles. Electric Girl is a fun all-ages read too. Check them out!

Slave Labor Graphics
Yet another publisher probably better known for the graphic novels they have published, SLG was probably one of my first indie loves. They have published some really great titles over the years including Milk & Cheese, Bear, Dork, Dr. Radium, Emo Boy, Lenore, Migraine Boy, Skeleton Key, and The Waiting Place. My first introduction to these guys came through the Evan Dorkin titles they produced, but they have been a treasure trove of entertainment for me, especially during my college years. Migraine Boy is probably my favorite collection thus far from these guys. I can’t recommend this company more highly!

My challenge to each and everyone one of my readers is to take a dip in the independent pool this summer for some much needed comic book refreshment! I challenge each of you to at least try one independent book out from one of the above for every, let’s say five books you buy this summer. So, if you buy four Marvel trades, why not buy a fifth from Fantagraphics? Or if you go to the store and buy some comics, why not pick up an extra indie or two? Like I said earlier, they certainly won’t bite and it will give you good comic book karma. I promise very few of the titles mentioned above deal with marriages being dissolved or anyone being a Skrull.

Next week, I will return with the penultimate edition of my look at the essentials of comic book collecting. I will be taking a look at where we buy comic books. I promise not spend too long with the “adults only” area at the back of the store.
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Raiders of the Last Shipment: Something to Cry About

by Liana

Dan's shipment this month contained neither Fables nor Jack of Fables. This realization made me cry. Real, actual, wet tears. Honestly. What was even the point of reading anything at all this month? There wasn't any! I mean, I'm forever behind on Captain America and all the X-titles, so all that just got added to my ever-increasing pile. Luckliy for me, the new issue of House of Mystery was also in the box and we picked up Madame Xanadu at the shop, so my tears dried up and I got reading. Then I found What if This Was the Fantastic Four? and the tears started flowing again.


House of Mystery #2 – Hey, it makes sense now! Last month, I reviewed the premiere issue of this new series from Matthew Sturges and Luca Rossi and I said that I liked it, even though I had no idea what was going on. In this second issue, they explain pretty much exactly what we readers need to know, and they make us want to keep reading. Our protagonist, Fig, has been dreaming of a house for years and become so obsessed with it she’s even drawn blueprints. She’s shocked to learn that her dream house and the house she’s currently visiting are one in the same. We’re less surprised, but then we readers are a bit savvier than poor Fig. As snappy waitress Cress explains to Fig, the house is “a mystical place located at a supernatural crossroads between many worlds.” The currency is storytelling, and that’s where Bill Willingham comes in, this month aided by artist Jill Thompson. A process server bar patron tells of the time he had to travel to the bottom of the sea to serve King Krakenheart a summons for $3.57 in unpaid parking fines. These little stories are cute and a nice addition to the book, though I found the art a bit hard to follow this time. Back to Fig, we find out the mysterious people from the first issue just appeared in her bedroom and told her to come to this house or else she’d be in “terrible danger.” Ooh, I love it when there’s going to be terrible danger! She’s then informed by bartender Harry that while some people can come and go, a small group of patrons (including Cress, Harry, the Scary Pirate Lady are stuck and now Fig) are stuck there permanently. Again Fig is surprised. The issue ends with Fig laying in bed, a Disembodied Voice and Fig’s shocking lack of surprise. This book gets another B+ and I’m definitely onboard for the foreseeable future.


Madame Xanadu #1 – When I read it, I liked the preview (featured in the back of several Vertigo books last month) of this new series from Matt Wagner and Amy Reeder Hadley enough to head to the comic shop and give it a chance. But the shop I went to last week didn’t have it (poor guy seemed kind of confused when I asked him about it) so you did not get a post featuring this new #1 exclusively. Fortunately I was able to score it at another shop last night, but that means it’s being lumped into this batch review, which is kind of shame because I think I could have said a lot about it. Avalon? Camelot? I had no idea from the preview that this is where the series takes place. I love this stuff! And if I’d been using my brain at all, I would have put it together in about four seconds. But apparently I was saving up my brainpower to show up Fig. Anyway, in this series, Nimue is younger sister to Vivienne and Morgana, who you’ll remember as mother of Mordred, King Arthur’s son. She is of the forest, as Vivienne is of the lake and Morgana is of, um, evildoing, I guess. Also, true to legend, she’s sleeping with Merlin, who may not exactly be on the up-and-up. Plus, she’s being stalked by some doom-and-gloom (and kinda sexy) Stranger. The art is fantastic and perfect (and bonus! done by a chick!) and then ending is surprisingly bloody. This first issue is an A- if I ever saw one, and I cannot wait until #2.


Air free preview - Since it was in the back of the two books I just read, I thought I’d mention that nothing about the preview caught my interest, and the little interview between the creators at the end made me want to read it even less. That was harsh for no good reason, but there you have it.


What if This Was the Fantastic Four? - The much-missed Mike Wieringo was in the middle of drawing this What If…? issue when he passed away from sudden heart failure nearly a year ago (more on that this August). In tribute, writer Jeff Parker and Marvel teamed up with the Hero Initiative to have a group of other artists complete the issue. The story is a standard What If…? tale brought to you by the Watcher (I really hate that guy). Here, instead of the FF being temporarily incapacitated by Skrull agent D’Lilah, they are killed (except for the de-powered Ben Grimm, who ends up leaving NYC to care for young Franklin) and replaced permanently by Spider-Man, Wolverine, grey Joe Fix-it Hulk and Ghost Rider. At first, people don’t like the group; they’re unfriendly and too mean. But when they save the city from Doom’s new Frightful Four (featuring the Abomination and his new catchphrase “I’m going to Kill you, Hulk”) everyone warms to them and their newfound love helps defeat Mephisto. The list of artists who contributed to this issue is as long as it is distinguished: Art Adams, Paul Renaud, Stuart Immonen, Cully Hamner, Alan Davis, Casey Jones, David Williams, Sanford Greene, Humberto Ramos, Skottie Young, Mike Allred and Barry Kitson. Most of them worked “at a drastically reduced rate, many as low as one dollar per page….out of their love and respect for Mike, and to help maximize benefit for The Hero Initiative.” As wrong as it seems to criticize this issue, I do have one complaint, and it’s a doozy. Ghost Rider did not scream “VENGEANCE!” Not even once. But he did have some awesome lines, so I guess I can learn to forgive. Eventually. I leave you with Jeff Parker’s perfectly written last words and (most of) Barry Kitson’s flaming Ghost Rider skull.

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BG Roundtable: Favorite Pixar Characters

by Betsy

With Wall-E out in theaters, there is a lot of talk around Bad Genious Mansion about Pixar movies and the memorable characters therein.

Friendly Neighborhood Editor Liana said, "Hey, let's do a roundtable. I call dibs on editing. There's nothing more fun than editing a roundtable!" I said, "Step aside, catlicker. I'm editing this one.

I wonder why she was snickering at me behind her hand.

I figured, how hard can it be? Everyone tells who their favorite character is, I do some copy-paste, and we're done.

"So, geniouses," I asked at our morning meeting, "Who's your favorite Pixar character?"

Tyler says, "I liked The Incredibles." Doug agrees - that movie was fantastic. That's well and good, but we're looking for a favorite character. Do you like Dash? Violet? Edna Mode? Suddenly, things get quiet at Bad Genious Mansion.

I employ my time-honored editorial trait of glaring and banging my fist on my desk to make my coffee cup jump in the air. I figure if it works for J. Jonah Jameson, it'll work for me. Finally, Jon chimes in.

"Elastigirl. Favorite means 'most want to sleep with,' right?" Because I think Elastigirl is awesome and am secretly writing a future post about her, I will accept this answer.

Dan, Yoda bless him, is considerably more helpful. He muses, "Mater or Sulley? Sulley or Mater? Well, they had a fight to the pain and Sulley wins my heart. Hard-working. Logical. Realistic. All things that make a great character! Oh, who am I kidding, I love Sulley because he’s a big huggable furballarific Kitty!"

Meanwhile, at Cindy's house, they're still a bit confused about the topic of this week's roundtable. Cindy marches right up to my coffee-stained desk and says, "I polled the members of my home for their favorite Pixar movies. My 12 year-old son, Jackson, had to think about it for a minute. My however many years-old boyfriend quickly responded, "The Incredibles, no doubt!" Jackson replies, "Oh yeah, The Incredibles!" I do love that movie, but I have to pick Finding Nemo, simply for giving us, Dorie. She's so open and devoid of edginess. She's funny without being overly clever. She's genuine without being too sappy. All the while, she's a fish, the only animated fish ever to almost bring me to tears. Not bad at all for a fish."

Technically, Cindy and her family got confused on the whole character vs. movie question. But, not only did Cindy bring me a cup of coffee along with her completed assignment, she also gave me an idea: we need to ask some kids.

First up were Sarah and her son Callum. Sarah, like any good parent, has watched a lot of Pixar movies and was able to give this matter a lot of thought.

"Pixar has a plethora of great characters from their films, some of Callum's and my favourites are Dorie from Finding Nemo and Buzz from Toy Story. However there is one film that has what are probably our two favorite characters in.

"Which film is this and who are those characters? Well it is the film Cars. From the first viewing of this film (and boy have we watched this a good few times, probably triple figure viewings) there was one outright winner for my son Callum, yep Lightning McQueen. In the words of a four-year-old boy who is car crazy 'He's cool, he's red, he drives fast but best of all he is a talking car, you can't get cooler than that, well apart from if he was blue he should have worked for Dynoco.' Callum has every version we've managed to track down of the Mattel's Lightning McQueen Car, he can quote line after line of Lightning's from the film and quite often you will hear him going round going 'Ka-chow! Ka-ching!'

As for who my favorite character is, it is Mater:

Mater: My name is Mater.
Lightning McQueen: Mater?
Mater: Yeah, like tuh-mater, but without the "tuh."

I love everything about this adorable character, his simplicity at seeing things in life to his loving heart, plus he's pretty funny. You can't help but love Mater."

Next, I had Chris ask his daughter Cassie who her favorite Pixar character is. Because Cassie is crazy for all things princess - and Pixar is princess free at the moment - he gave her a bit of direction.

Chris: Cassie, who do you like more: Buzz, Woody, Jessie, Sully, Mike, Boo, or Lightning McQueen.
Cassie: You mean the ride?
Chris: No, which of those characters is your favorite?
Cassie: Ummmm... Buzz!
Chris: Buzz?
Cassie: Yeah.
Chris: Why?
Cassie: Fly!
Chris: Because he flies?
Cassie: Yeah. I like flying.

Chris adds, "I figured she would have said Mike or Sully because she used to watch Monsters Inc. about once a day (if not more). I wonder if her choice has something to do with the fact that she loved the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disneyland.

I'd probably have to go with Sully. He's loyal, brave, and has a strong sense of right and wrong. Plus, he sticks up for his friends."

Of course, I knew that if I was going to ask some kids, I should probably talk to my own. So, I asked Jack who his favorite Pixar character was. Without hesitation, he threw in with Cassie: Buzz Lightyear all the way. And why? Like Cassie, Jack digs the fact that Buzz can fly... never mind that according to Woody, he doesn't fly so much as he falls with style. Jack added that he likes that Buzz is friends with Woody and thinks that he's funny.

Thanks to Jack, my husband Steve has watched many the Pixar movie. His favorite character is Marlin, from Finding Nemo. Steve says, "I can really relate to Marlin. Being a father is so important to him, and he does everything he can to protect Nemo and keep him safe. Unfortunately, that causes him to be overprotective, which I can be too. I hope that, like Marlin, I can gain the courage to let Jack fall down - and to let him succeed even when I think he might not."

As for me, I had to give this matter a lot of thought. I love Elastigirl, but like I said, I'm saving my thoughts about her for a future post. I like Jessie's spunkiness and spirt of adventure. I even have a soft spot for Andy in Toy Story, whose vivid imagination reminds me of Jack's. But right now, my heart belongs to Wall-E. I adore his curiosity and the magpie way that he keeps interesting objects he finds. He is incredibly loyal and loving to EVE, he's funny, and he even enjoys a good musical.

Ha! Editing a roundtable isn't so hard. All you have to do is get your kids to do the work for you. Until the next roundtable, in which we ask our children about their favorite issue of Preacher, chime in, lurkers: who is your favorite Pixar character?

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From Top to Bottom: Happy Canada Day!

by Matt

Welcome to the 10th edition of the weekly "From Top to Bottom" column! Every week I will look at something within the comics industry and give you my opinion on what I think is the best and what I think ranks amongst the bottom-feeders.

Last week I took a look at the Top and Bottom of Comic Book Robots. Today I am celebrating Canada Day, in honor of my former residence, I thought it would be fun (it might just be fun for me and my fellow Canadians) to look at my Top 3 Alpha Flight characters and those that make Trudeau look cool.

Alpha Flight characters go through a ton of stuff and are always changing. Multiple deaths and resurrections, sex changes, different powers, different personalities, siding with the angels one moment and with the devil the next, it certainly makes for an interesting read. Maybe the reason I am very fond of these characters is because they change so often, and deep down inside I knew that I would lose them at any time. Here are my Top 3 favorite Alpha Flight characters along with 3 characters who I wouldn't trade for a Loonie.


3) Box/Madison Jeffries
Madison has the ability to transmute metal and can make virtually anything. But that was only part of his abilities. He later made himself a cool-looking metal battle suit and could merge with it and transmute his "Box" body. The only thing that I didn't like about the character was his codename. I always thought it be would cool if he joined the X-Men with Forge as a teammate.



2) Guardian
I really liked the original Guardian, James MacDonald Hudson. He didn't want to be a hero and leader. You can tell how insecure he was about it all. I was sad when he was killed, but it certainly progressed the story. He was not killed just to be shocking (like he was the 4th time he was killed). His costume was so simple and so cool. But he has been killed and resurrected more times than Jean Grey. His wife later took the costume and abilities and became Vindicator but she was more assertive in her leadership than James.


1) Sasquatch
Every version of Alpha Flight has a Sasquatch on the team, whether it is Walter Langkowski or a real Bigfoot! When I think of Alpha Flight, I think of Sasquatch. Originally, James wanted to become like the Hulk so he took some gamma rays and became Sasquatch instead, only it was not the gamma rays but it was one of the Great Beasts that was inhabiting his body. Snowbird realized this and killed him. And that is just the start of his strange journey. His spirit was still alive and Shaman put it in one of the Box robot bodies. Then his spirit left the Box robot and he took possession of the white Sasquatch (which was Snowbird who was killed by Vindicator), and when he reverted to human, he became a woman and was known as Wanda. Eventually he was turned back to the oranges Sasquatch and back to a man by Talisman. He's been through every up and down and is still with the team.

There have been many attempts at making Alpha Flight a "cool" book. Marvel has tried to make it like the Avengers, by making them look like "Avengers North" and they tried to make them look like the X-Men by introducing a Wolverine or Cable type character. And now for those "cool" Bottom 3 characters.

3) Manbot
Manbot had some cool things about him but he was as lackluster and creative as his name. The cool thing about him is that he was made up of old Box parts and they tried to reconfigure him. He was also used to spy on the members of Alpha during the 2nd volume.






2) Wyre
I can imagine the Marvel Editorial thinking behind this character. "Let's see, Cable is popular, let's make another character like that. Hmmmm, cable, wire. Hey! Wire! Only let's spell it with a 'y' to make it look more cool. He should have guns too! At least this guy's codename made more sense than Cable's did. Wyre had the creepy ability to make hard wires come out of his shoulders which he could use to pick up things and stab them. Ew.


1) Wild Child
He started out as a decent and creepy little villain, but then Wild Child was brainwashed, became good and joined Alpha Flight -first as Weapon Omega and then *groan* Wildheart. He lost everything that was cool (which was not a whole lot) about him when he became a hero. It seems like back in the '90s, anyone who was evil and had claws became a hero. He joined X-Factor and was the 'one with the claws' on that team (which was another '90s rule; every team had a guy that could cut people). Eventually he became evil again and lost his powers due to M-Day. He has appeared since with his powers.

Alpha Flight is still one of my favorite books. They definitely had some good moments and memorable story lines. They started a Registration Act years before Civil War was even thought of, they were one of the first teams to feature a woman leader, they also had the first homosexual superhero in Northstar. I am sure you can find a ton of them in some quarter bin, give them a try!

*Dedicated to Jon who celebrates his birthday on Canada Day. I drink a Canada Dry in your honor!

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