BONE VOL 4 DRAGONSLAYER COLOR ED HC (PP #725) $18.99
BONE VOL 4 DRAGONSLAYER COLOR ED SC (PP #725) $9.99
Massive fan of Bone. It’s strange that I bought the complete edition from about a year ago or something like that, and I’ve still not had the chance to just sit down and read through it. I do recommend this serious if you’ve not had the chance to have a look at it, you’re now getting it pretty cheap and in full colour which is great. I’m enjoying Jeff Smith’s black and white artwork, which is essentially golden in my eyes. The story follows the Bone brothers as they’re ousted from Boneville (think Duckville or whatever it’s called in the town the Scrouge McDuck has got that massive house that has a massive dollar sign on the front of it…although Smith has never shown us this place)..anyway it follows their adventures, and they do have many. Dragons, Cow Races, crazy grannies and lots of ‘Stupid, Stupid, Rat Creatures’. It’s a modern classic.

BOY PRINCESS VOL 3 GN (OF 9) $9.99

CABLE DEADPOOL VOL 5 LIVING LEGENDS TP $13.99
They’re still publishing this? Damn loads of people love them Cable and Deadpool, which is just unfair when there are soo many other series that DESERVE a larger audience not having it but something ripped from the carcass of the late 90s Marvel still has wings to fly.

CANT LOSE YOU VOL 2 GN (OF 6) $9.99
DECIMATION SON OF M TP $13.99
DEVIL DOES EXIST VOL 7 $9.99
DOKEBI BRIDE VOL 2 GN $9.99
DRIFTING CLASSROOM VOL 1 TP (MR) $9.99
DUNGEON TWILIGHT VOL 2 GN $14.95
ESSENTIAL LUKE CAGE POWER MAN VOL 2 TP $16.99
FAMILY GUY VOL 2 GN (OF 3) $6.95
FORGOTTEN REALMS DARK ELF TRILOGY VOL 3 SOJOURN TP $14.95
GALAXY ANGEL BETA VOL 3 GN $9.99
GOLDEN AGE GREATS COSTUMED CRUSADERS SP #1 $24.95
GOLGO 13 VOL 4 GN (MR) $9.99
GREAT CATSBY VOL 2 GN (OF 6) $19.99
GROUNDED TP $14.99
HANA KIMI VOL 13 GN $9.99
HARD STORY HC (MR) $12.95
HYPER POLICE VOL 7 GN (OF 10) (MR) $9.99

IDENTITY CRISIS TP $14.99
I never actually read this, although I have been told that it’s pretty good, even if you’re not a fan of the DC Universe. The intricate plot will pull you in…apparently. Hmm might flip through this at the store if I’m feeling particularly bored or something.

IMAGINARIES VOL 1 LOST & FOUND TP (RES) $9.99
INU YASHA ANI MANGA VOL 16 GN $11.99
IRON MAN INEVITABLE TP $14.99
JUSTICE SOCIETY VOL 1 TP $14.99
KEKKAISHI VOL 6 GN $9.99
LET DAI VOL 3 GN (OF 15) $9.99
NAOKI URASAWAS MONSTER VOL 4 TP $9.99
NARRATION OF LOVE AT 17 VOL 1 GN (OF 4) $9.99

NEXUS ARCHIVES VOL 4 HC $49.95
I’ve honestly heard so many great things about Nexus, and once I even bought a comic like 15 years ago. It’s a highly regarded series, however I can’t really justify the price tag that Dark Horse seem keen on placing on it. I’m really hoping for some affordable paperback copies of this series to be honest because I’d definitely be all over them.

PLASTIC MAN ARCHIVES VOL 8 HC $49.99
POISON ELVES VENTURES VOL 1 HYENA TP (MR) $14.95
PSYCHO TP $17.99

QUEEN & COUNTRY DECLASSIFIED VOL 2 HC (MR) $20.00
QUEEN & COUNTRY DECLASSIFIED VOL 3 HC (MR) $20.00
I actually brought these when they first came out. It was about the third volume that Greg Rucka decided to throw his weak political views into the book itself and in many respects I completely lost it’s credibility with me to be honest.

RELISH GN (A) $19.95

SPIDER-WOMAN ORIGIN PREMIERE HC $19.99
One of the Bendis books from his I Love the Avengers era. I’ve not really picked up anything of this crop of books by Bendis, although he’s generally a pretty readable sort of guy. This is illustrated by Brian Reed, who’s a new name for me, however of what I’ve seen of his stuff he’s got subtle undertones of Joshua Middleton, which is never a bad thing. Put this in the definitely maybe pile, I guess.

STAR TREK MANGA GN $9.99
TIJUANA BIBLES VOL 7 TP (A) $14.95
TRANSFORMERS BEAST WARS GATHERING TP $17.99
ULTIMATE X-MEN VOL 6 HC $29.99

VAGABOND VOL 22 TP (MR) $9.95
If there’s one book that I buy without reservation it’s Vagabond. One of the best books on the market, bar none. If you’ve never read Vagabond, you owe it to yourself.

YOU CALL THIS ART GN $29.95
ZATCH BELL VOL 8 GN $9.99

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Missed fucking opportunity. I’m a massive Greg Capullo fan, but the graphic design on this art book leaves a lot to be desired. Something seriously went wrong with the trade dress on this one.

I said I was going to buy the hardcover that was released a couple of months ago, however never got round to it, I’ll definitely pick up the trade, not really sure it’s worth the hc treatment (although I’m a big Brubaker fan).

More Brubaker goodness. Gotta love the man, he’s on fire currently, just wish he wasn’t Marvel exclusive, his DC and WS stuff was always stellar.

Never played the game, but I’m sure this will be a good seller for Marvel. Can’t remember the last time Marvel did a proper license property, fitting it should be one of the most popular video games currently.

Probably wait for the trade paperback on this one. As much as I love Ellis’ superhero writing and Adi’s art is above the rest, not 6 issues is not worth $19.99.

Seriously this book is ridiculous. 50 issues of Witchblade. Is that a record? 1248 pages long!!!! I’ve got the first 42 issues so it’s not really for me. I will vouch for the first 25 issues as the artwork and the story were very well paced. Not much in way of revelations which is a real shame, and getting Randy Green to replace Michael Turner at the time wasn’t the best option (I enjoyed it but they really hurt themselves with that move). Still though 1248 pages.

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I just finished reading the excellent interview on Newsarama with Scott Dunbier, Executive Editor at Wildstorm. Many people growing up remember Spider-man or Superman as their hero of choice. The character they grew up reading and therefore finding a great attachement to.

Growing up Spider-man was the LAMEST character on the planet and Superman wasn’t as fun since they brought him back from the dead (although the before and after stories were good). I’m an Image boy through and through and more specifically a Wildstorm Universe guy. When everyone else had a few ‘hot’ artists on their crap books, I was reading Alan Moore and Travis Charest on Wildcats. I was soaking in Jim Lee’s Divine Right and devouring Warren Ellis’s Stormwatch with Tom Raney.

I’ve literally dropped like 5 names there that produced some of their greatest work for any publisher (except for Moore of course, everything he’s ever done is golden). The point is this was where the energy was. This is where the hot books, the great colouring and the brilliant characters all lived. The company was never scared of taking chances. Since they were brought out by DC Comics, they’ve actually had their fangs taken away from them. Originally DC took their colourists because at the time the DC people didn’t have a clue what they were doing. They were trying but they seriously sucked in every manner of the word. Wildstorm FX came in and sorted and taught a lot of people how to do things. Talent was stolen on a regular basis to feed the engine that is the DC Universe and so it went.

You can think of the Wildstorm Universe as following it’s writing stars. They’re not afraid to put some faith in their writers. First they had Brandon Choi (who was/is I dunno what’s going on there) Jim Lee’s buddy mapping out a great deal of the early stages of the Universe. As time went on, people like James Robinson stepped in for a little while writing a few things, before Alan Moore came aboard and wrote the best books the WSU had seen, ever. This effectively gave Moore the clout to do other things, and he followed this work up with the ABC Comics line, which is one of the best comic book lines ever published.

The future of the Wildstorm Universe was to continue in the hands of another Brit with a very different voice. Warren Ellis stepped up to the plate and made Stormwatch (the longest running WS book at the time) matter. He killed the first volume and launched the second volume with Oscar Something (I forget his name since he only lasted like 5 issues). Bryan Hitch came aboard and Warren seemed to find his energy again. He killed off Stormwatch in a spectacular way, and relaunched the series as The Authority.

This was the biggest book for Wildstorm since Gen13 by J Scott Campbell. So Ellis defined the WSU for a few years before my man Ed Brubaker came in and brought back the links. Brought back a cohersive whole.

The next man inline to take the WSU in a new direction is Grant Morrison, which I think is a fantastic coup for the WS guys. His stuff is always completely insane and if they don’t fuck around with his vision (which I think they’re less likely to than Marvel did with his X-men run) we’re all in for a serious treat. So what about the other BOMBSHELL announcements that Scott decided to lay on us during that interview? Right lets take stock people:

Wetworks
Let me see, Whilice Portacio, who remains to this day as one of my favourite artists is going old skool on this series. This is the series he created and he’s loving every second of it. He’s had ages to draw this puppy, so hopefully it won’t be a 5 issue thing and then a fill in? Mike Carey writing this? I’m so there it’s not even funny. This is bound to be a quality book any which way you see it. If you think Whilice’s art is strong you have know idea the genius that is Whilice. When he’s on fire, he’s one of the most dramatic artists in the business, period.

Deathblow
I’m a massive Azzarello fan. His take on Deathblow during the Deathblow/Batman crossover was superb. He’s accompanied by one of the unsung heroes of the WSU, and that’s Carlos D’anda. I’m equally a big fan of D’anda, even though sometimes his faces are not drawn that great, he’s a great storyteller and his Brass mini series from a few years back was one of the best mecha books I’d seen since the original Brass mini-series was released. Don’t be silly of course I’m buying this book.

Wildcats
Erm, Jim Lee returning to the book that he created and stared the Wildstorm Universe with Grant Morrison as the new architect of the WSU. Hmm yeah I think I’ll pass on this one….yeah right.

Authority
Gene Ha and Grant Morrison. Just when I thought things could not get ANY better, I get this announcement. If you don’t know who Gene Ha is, go right here. He’s easily one of the best artist this side of universe and a supremely nice guy to boot. My only worry is that he won’t be able to meet his deadlines. 6 books a year might not seem like much, but if you’ve ever seen what a Gene Ha page actually looks like, then you’d be singing a different tune. It takes detail to a whole new level. If they can keep the schedule up for 12 issues I’ll be a happy man.

Midnighter
I really like Garth Ennis. Mainly because I enjoyed Preacher as much as I did. I don’t think you can possibly read Preacher and not fall in love with Ennis. However his work since then has left me slightly cold. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt here. Midnighter is a good character and one I’m sure Ennis can do a great deal with if he’s left to his own devices. He’s not your typical superhero. For those in the dark regarding the Midnighter he’s a character from the Authority. He’s effectively a hardcore Batman, only here’s the spin, he’s gay. Oh and his partner is Apollo, who seems to have the same powers as Superman. What makes the Midnighter so hardcore however is his dialogue. He’ll say shit like:

I know what you’re going to do next. I’ve played this fight in my head, a million times, from each and every angle. I won this fight even before you turned up.

Lets see if he can come up with anything similar. Chris Sprouse on the art is like a massive piece of pie, with a cherry on top. Again my only worry is time until they get the standard fill-in artist.

Gen13
This is actually the book I’m least looking forward to. Not based on the writer for I think Gail Simone will do a spectacular job, however I do fear for the artwork by Talent Caldwell, will be slightly sub-par. Compared to the other heavyhitters on this list, his book is bound to be the least impressive of the lot. What cements that in my eyes however is the shoddy looking promo artwork for the series. I dunno it’s just not punchy enough. I’m happy to see the original team out there again, however it’s just not as unique and solid looking as the rest of the books on this list. This one is definitely in the wait and see pile, while every other book is a must buy right now.

August can’t come soon enough.

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So after discovering superhero comics I finally became aware of the comic book creators behind the scenes. For the next 10 or so years I would read the words of these creators however I could NEVER hear them. The hobby that I was obsessed with just didn’t have anything on TV where creators could chit chat and talk about the latest releases. That’s a show I would watch EVERY SINGLE WEEK. So I had to contend to reading interviews and imagining their voices in my head. Now thanks to Podcasts I don’t have to do that.

With the advent of podcasts and seeing that format be cuddled by the comic book industry is a fantastic series of events. Loads of creators have been popping up in podcasts and I for one think it’s one of single most brilliant addition to the comic book industry. When I first discovered podcasting, not so much discovered but actually embraced the format, I had Augie De Blieck podcast, which I didn’t fancy very much. Nothing personnal to Augie as I’m a big fan of his Pipeline column. I’ve had a couple of email exchanges with Augie to explain myself further. I then latched onto Comic Geek Speak. Which seriously reminds me of the times in the comic book stores.

However I’ll be critical of the boys now as well. I really like their rants and raves, but I’m sorry their interviews lack a certain direction, a certain amount of professionalism. They’re getting better at it all, but there doesn’t seem to be a real coherent plan of attack and I think it shows. Also they’ve seriously got to get some better equipment because their phone thingy really doesn’t work. The quality is arguable at best.

So you ask why the hell am I bringing this up, just to slag the boys off, seems I’m pretty good at getting people’s attention like that. No the reason is because I want to point out how you should be doing a comic book interview. Do I think I know how a podcast interview should be conducted? Absolutely not, but John Siuntres seems to be seriously very good at it in ways the CGS boys haven’t really mastered.

I think even they’ll agree with me here, but his Word Balloon Podcasts, from the way he asks the questions to the flow of the entire thing, it just comes off in a spectacular fashion. He leads you in and out of the podcast in a great little way and it comes of in an extremely professional manner. The questions are coherent and seem to spark some great responses from the recipients.

Go check it out if you’d like to hear your favourite creators because 2 years ago you couldn’t.

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One of the problems I faced is that I didn’t get a chance to read a couple of the books that were released in 2005 (which I’ve bought) that would have probably made the list. I plan on giving each and every one of these books it’s fair amount of time in a proper review but I thought I’d give everyone a taste of things to come on Splash Panel and say goodbye to 2005 in style.

10. Daredevil | Volume 4
    By Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev
    Marvel‘s input to this list was very anaemic, as most of what they’ve published since Bill Jemas left the building has been seriously underwhelming. It’s amazing what that crazy guy actually brought to the table, regardless of what Rich Johnston says (love you lots Richie). The number of Hardcovers went down dramatically, and they introduced this premium hardcover editions, which are less bang for your buck than their now traditional 12 issue hardcovers.

    Having said that, the team behind Daredevil is the best ever at Marvel. It’s a shame that they’re moving on but I can understand it completely. They’ve both had a healthy run on this character and I’m extremely grateful for all the fun times they’ve provided. Their replacements (Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark) are top notch so at the very least this great character is in good hands.

    You can expect Volume 5 to be in the top ten next year as well, maybe.

9. Samurai Executioner
   By Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima
   Honestly it’s a bit of the same with regards to the 28 volume Lone Wolf and Cub, but with a little more humanity involved. It’s also on a smaller scale as it centres around one person living in one place rather than roaming the countryside. However when it’s this good I’ll happily take as much as they dish out. The publishing schedule was slightly erratic which is weird however I can forgive Dark Horse, simply because they’re publishing this exceptional series.

8. Chosen
   By Mark Millar and Peter Gross
   Even though this was a three issue mini-series, it was a damn good three issue mini-series. It talked about the second coming, but definitely not in the way you’d expect. It was an extremely pleasant surprise since I’d missed the hype around it. I actually rate this higher than Wanted (Millar’s other creator owned comic that came out this year), even though that one was pretty good, this mini-series was better.

7. We3
   By Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
   It’s always a treat when these two gentlemen get together. The last time they got together before this was during the first part of their X-men run. This was a beautiful mini-series about three animals (a dog, a cat and a rabbit) that escape from the military lab they were being tested on. It’s a touching little mini-series that packs a great deal of emotion. Due to the nature of the story the words and art had to work together in complete synergy. These two gents accomplished that without skipping a heartbeat.

6. Invincible
   By Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker and Ryan Ottely
   I was actually very surprised at just how much I enjoyed reading this, simply because I honestly didn’t expect to have this much fun. It reminded me of the first couple of years of Ultimate Spider-man except what you think is a traditional Superhero story gets turned completely on it’s head. I don’t want to say much for ruining the story, or my upcoming review of this series. Take it from me, there’s a reason it’s on this list.

5. Sleeper | Season 2
   Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips
   I was actually very sad when this series finished, because it was one of the best things I’ve read in a good long while, and was told in the Universe that I grew up with. Most people claim the DC universe or the Marvel Universe as the books they grew up reading, for me it was the Wildstorm Universe. The great thing about Ed’s story however is that even if you don’t know jack shit about the WSU, you’ll enjoy this just as much as me. The only thing is I’ll get a slightly extra kick out of a couple of things. That just shows the talent involved. Sean Philips is of the same school as Eduardo Risso a great storyteller.

4. Deep Sleeper
   By Phil Hester and Mike Huddleston
   This series was originally published under the Oni Press banner as a follow up to their previous collaboration The Coffin which is still in my eyes one of the best graphic novels published in 2003. This is not a follow up except that it’s of the same superb quality as The Coffin. Hester has an amazing knack for telling a story and ending it properly without loosing a beat. It’s very important because it seems more and more that comic book creators are forgetting how to end a story. The buildup is good but the pay leaves you cold. Deep Sleeper does nothing of the sort. It delivers.

3. Ex Machina
   By Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris
   The first year of Ex Machina was released in the form of two trade paperbacks, The First Hundred Days and Tag. Both are exceptional pieces of work from both of these creators. The ending of the second book reminds me of the great little cliffhangers that Bendis has done over on Daredevil for the past 2 years. The characters jump off the page, both in terms of their dialogue and because Tony photo references everything. One of my favourite news series of 2005.

2. Vagabond
   By Takehiko Inoue
   Vagabond consistently entertained and wowed me throughout this year. The second I’d buy it I would have to start reading it. Most times I’d have finished reading the book before I even got home. That’s how addictive this series was. 5 books released in 2005 isn’t a bad run. Now let’s just hope that Takehiko Inoue gets drawing and finishes this story off, because the suspense is killing me.

1. Top Ten | The Forty-Niners
   By Alan Moore and Gene Ha
   This is like 2 years in the making. If there is one series that Moore has created in the past 5 years that stands tall around his other creations it’s Top Ten. Unfortunately for us this book also marks the last time that Moore and Ha tell us a story with these characters, and it’s a terrible shame. If I had to pay twice as much for books like this but that would ensure they continued with these characters I’d pay it in an instant.

   Still how could a Gene Ha fully painted book (the detail is astounding) written by Alan Moore not get the best book of 2005?

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Here’s a couple of notable additions to the Image Comics graphic novel library (which has yet to get their own Watchmen I might add):

Saint Germaine
I flicked through this book and the production values are very solid. The cover is well produced and the interior art reminds me of Eddie Campbell, of ‘From Hell’ fame.

The Further Adventures of One-Page Filler Man
This is the first original graphic novel by Jim Mahfood. While I loved his work on clerks, I think the property had something to do with it aided in no small part by the great writing by Kevin Smith. His Grrl Scouts book was a bit rough around the edges in terms of the story, so I’m not very hopefully about the story in this one. Having said that there’s no reason why the man shouldn’t have grown as a writer as well. Again one to watch for if I’m looking for something specific to read.

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These posts will help those that don’t get it, at least have a fighting chance of understanding it; while those that do get it with maybe an arguement or a thought that can be used in the real world to explain to people that don’t get it.

The first stigma that seriously needs to be shaken out of people’s heads (at least in the anglophone world) is the statement ‘comic are for kids’. That statement is completely ignorant of the state of graphic novels and what sequential storytelling actually means and where it is used.

Sequential storytelling has evolved past the superhero genre, it has evolved past the easy to understand, easy to consume 5 minute pop thrills. Sequential storytelling can be used to tell any kind of story. Some would argue that this has been the case since they first began, and it’s only the popularity of the superhero genre, the easy to consume and understand stories that gave the artform it’s stigma.

Whatever the reasons (and there are many) the graphic novel is experiencing a rennaisance. The quality of books on the shelf, and the number of different types of books on the shelf themselves are a tribute to what can be achieved using this method of storytelling. Ultimately graphic novels are not limited by anything but the creator’s imagination and skill to tell a story.

It’s a direct translation from the writer and artist to the eyes of the reader. There is very little between one person and the next. The road is not windy and curved by producers and idiots with cash. It’s untarnished.

Why not just a book? Because a picture paints a thousand words.

While most people have wild and vibrant imaginations, I still believe that many people have better imaginations than others. If those people are also gifted with the talent and drive to draw or write then you get a graphic novel.

And eventually it’s a sickness, it’s an addiction. Once you’ve seen just what an amazing world of books and imagination you’ve closed yourself from then you’re hooked forever but I’ll talk about that in another post.

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I was in the comic book store last week and someone was talking about the new Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely Superman All Stars series. I think I entered the conversation by saying something along the lines of “Superman All Stars, UTTER RUBBISH”. Now I didn’t actually mean that. There were some pretty cool things going on in that book, unfortunately I’ve read much better from both gentlemen that I did feel like they didn’t hit that story out the park like they should have or even could have..we all know full well that they’re both more than capable of making it the best Superman story ever, unfortunately the first issue really didn’t take my breathe away.

A simple comparison would be what they did the last time they tackled an old concept that needed a bit of rebooting, namely New X-Men. I definitely did not get that buzzing feeling I got when I first read their first issue together. Reading that was like getting my eyes opened as to what the X-men could be about. It was more than a breathe of fresh air, it was great comics. Of course that momentum did falter towards the end of Morrison’s run, but the start was undeniably brilliant.

With this book, it’s like they forgot part of their craft, which in this case is creating an environment of sheer awe. I’ve not read a monthly Superman comic in absolute years so these guys did do something significant here by making me buy the book in the first place. The cover is beautiful and tells me a lot with such little effort. The rest of the book design is unobtrusive and breaks from the normal conventions of books so I like the book dress as well.

I opened the book to the entire origin condensed in 4 panels and 8 words. I really liked that. It made me smile, however the rest of the book was lacking in several areas. I do like the twist that the sun gives him his powers but it would seem is also the mechanism to his downfall. I also really enjoyed the one line of dialogue by Lex:

So, if I want to die happy, it’s time to get serious about killing superman. Don’t you think?

I wasn’t all that interested by the little plot on the surface of the sun. I don’t like the fact that he accepts this from the weird guy in the raincoat so quickly. I wasn’t all that impressed with how Lois was conveyed by Frank. The best Lois for me was by Lee Berjemo in the Gen13/Superman crossover written by the supremely talented Adam Hughes. She just looked a bit cheap. I wasn’t all that impressed with how they’ve set it up for Clark to tell Lois the truth.

I’ll probably pick up the first trade or something just to flick through since even on a bad day both these guys can entertain me better than most people. Maybe I’m used to reading 140 pages that this doesn’t answer or develop anything in a conclusive whay? Whatever it was I didn’t feel the magic and that’s why I’m slightly disappointed.

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