Comic Joy's Journal

10:58am: Yes I'm still updating.

It's been a slow couple of months for comics. There's been weeks where I have bought and not read. So here's some of the bits and pieces I'm enjoying, as well as a sort of review of the year.

Still loving Meridian. I know it's finishing soon, but that is adding to the joy. Bought my first page of Meridian yesterday (Mike Perkins/James Hodgkins), so I'm chuffed. According to James, it's all about the hair.

Crossgen has really impressed me this year. Despite the forthcoming demise of many of it's titles (it's certainly time for Ruse to go as it just gets more and more pointless) the added titles have been fantastic. Lady Death, El Cazador and now Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - keeping the high production values (and the hair) but marrying it with incredible characters and plots. So much fun.

IDW is another indie publisher that seems to have done the right thing this year. On the back of 30 Days of Night and the CSI publications, they've brought a whole slew of interesting horror titles into circulation. The most recent one I read was Lore, which has a lot of potential. I suppose my main problem with IDW is it's artwork. Does not need to be scratchy...

Dark Horse finally dumped Buffy. They still do spin-offs, although Tales of the Vampires is weak beyond belief. The Buffy comic was actually starting to get some good, which is a shame. Dark Horse has also been playing with horror and extending its stable. Nice to see some creator owned stuff getting into circulation. Whilst I enjoyed enormously, would not have said that it was all that brilliant.

Vertigo had a very odd year. Fables rocked, Y the Last Man disappointed (despite Monkey). Mike Carey consildated his position as my favourite writer this month with the marvellous My Faith in Frankie. His Lucifer and Hellblazer are the best (and creepiest) they've ever been, and now he does rom-com. With a rabbit attack.

And I've given up large chunks of my DC and Marvel. No more Elektra or Nightwing, no more Gotham Central. No more Authority. I suppose I'm starting to veer away from superheroes again, for all that I adore Wonder Woman (Greg Rucka, maybe lesbian subplot...). I've also dumped large chunks of Warren Ellis because he has become dull since he started writing turned down film and tv pitches as comics.

2:49pm: Sketch Gallery
I have created a sketch gallery of some of my favourite sketches from Cons and Signings here. Some scanned okay, but many didn't. Some have stories attached, and some are just giggles.

Also a preponderance of Constantine.

The main reason being that this week's comics were a giant staming pile of crap. The only bright lights being Lucifer - which deserves such a lot of attention this week and El Cazador - because how can you not love pirates. Considering I picked up everything, this is not good.

9:09pm: Week on a budget again...
So working on the buget principal, I seemed to go all mainstream this week:

Fallen Angel - yeah, I adore this. It's fun fun and full of drugs and sex and a fantastic setting. It's complex and hard and I just get a kick out of it. It is not a challengin read, as it is very very well written and drawn.

Fables - what more can I say about Fables. It makes more sense if you have read The Last Castle. It's wonderful. I love the artwork. Must buy Fables artwork.

1602 - A state of ennui. I care not.

Dark Days - I think this will read better once it's completed. Not enough happens in a single issue to really make it worth the price tag. It's still rather good, I like the art and I like what they are doing with Stella's character. But... I remeber this plot from Ultraviolet.

And I also ought Gotham Central with the aim of catching up on the previous few issues. It hasn't happened yet as I keep getting sidetracked by rereads. So a rec for that:

Witchcraft - a Sandman spinoff with a bit more juice than normal. Take three of the more lucious artists in Vertigo's stable (Yeowell, Snejeberg and Zulli) and set them loose on a cracker of a story. Works perfectly as a graphic and is rather scary. Images from it are staying with me, which is always a good thing.

8:23pm: Con Report
Also, a quick report on the London Winter Fest on November 1st.

I'm in two minds about the con - on the one hand, it was busy, and there was an awful lot of people about, and it was great for meeting people I hadn't seen for a while, and catching up with the guys. On the other hand, it was only one day, and there were a whole raft of other events in London on the same weekend that I had heard nothing about until I got there. Also, the dealers had no set time to clear up at, and the big store of junk decided to clear up a four, when there were still people coming in.

Got to spend more time with Al Davison, who is a personal god, and was unimpressed with small press people who refused to talk to me as I was standing behind the only back issues dealer table there. Which was not of the good. I also seemed to mis a lot of the craic being as I was exhausted and wanting to sleep after my lovely 13 hour drive.

On the overall, loved the idea of the con, loved the atmosphere, but possibly prefer Bristol. Was a great con for the self publishers and wannabes, I think.

But Selena Ulrich (kitsune76) won the pitch fest, which I can only be glad at. Superb and professional pitch, very different from anything else pitched and a deserving winner.

8:16pm: This Week's Comics
I’m budgeting this week and surprised at what I bought.

Empire – ever since I did a quick reread of the first issues, I cannot wait for this superlative story to finish. Plot threads a plenty, gorgeous art and one of the more complex and interesting Superhero stories out there (anti-hero isn’t just about swearing…)

Demo #1 – The new Brian Wood/Becky Cloonan collaboration. I like Brian Wood’s writing, and I very much enjoyed Jennie One – for me, it’s a perfect conclusion to Channel Zero, and I just like the way he thinks. This take on superheroes is quite something else. Heart wrenching and challenging and takes a better perspective on the whole twelve connected issues thing than Global Frequency does. This deserves to be on everyone’s list. It’s kicking about my head thinking about themes and images.

Bad Girls – on the other hand, my new bad taste title is Bad Girls. It’s pointless and I like it.

Powers – Yay! More Walker backstory! The monkeys fucking make so much more sense now. Also more bang for the buck, less adverts and still a letters page – how do they manage to do this for a reasonable price when certain other manufacturers just seem to have less and less plot and story in the title. Liking Powers even more now.

Random pick up was 9 Lives, about the daughter of Bast. Has a cute kitty cat. No idea why, just fun. Also got the first graphic of Meridian, as I feel in the need for cheering up – I like Meridian, it’s gentle.

10:15pm: New Comics
Am very skint this week, so I only picked up what I was desperate to read. When it's Lucifer, Boneyard and Mystique, it's suddenly brought home to me that I do read a hell of lot of comics, and a rather diverse lot at that.

Boneyard was sweet and funny and a must read. I still can't believe that Boneyard is a biumonthyl (oft quarterly). It's not fair. I will do a Boneyard rant at some point.

Lucifer was the second part of the new arc. I'm fairly glad the previous arc is now finished, because it has given the story a lot of new impetus, as well as, you know, changing the entire structure of the known world. My favourite part ( was ).

Mystique is fun and developing something of a plot arc. I still like the high octane jinks, and it had a really shiny cover. Oh, I am weak.

btw, new fandom/life/dull stuff journal at akadougal. I have succumbed.

5:55pm: This week
Slightly smaller bundle this week.

1602 - slightly disappointing issue: I was expecting more in the way of foreshadowing, etc. But then I thought about it. It's a twelve part series. It's just too early for the big bad to show up. Hopefully. Please...? Gaiman isn't a washed up writer, he can still do subtle and inrtigue, can't he?

Fallen Angel - still no idea what is going on. It's wonderful and subtle and bloody. Just great.

Fables - another one of the one-shot issues that pepper the title. A different artist and lovely Thumbellina story. I'm also finding that I adore the covers more and more.

Two Step - Finally, a new Warren Ellis mini that is actually some good. Bitter and reminisicent of Transmet.

El Cazador - with news of Crossgen in trouble, I just hope that they manage to finish publishing this sleek, exciting, slashtastic pirate story.

There were others, but they are a blur in my memory.

3:15pm: Weighty Bag o' Comics
This week I ended up buying about a month of stuff that had been lying, and I think my arm is longer because of it.

Bought some Indie Clix - got Witchblade. It doesn't actually look that awful, for all that I recognise merely half of the characters.

Also Barry Kitson, artist of Empire was up. I love Empire, it's wonderful. I am really enjoying Waid's take on the evil side of Superherodom, as well as some glorious art. I got a piece of unusued design which is beautiful, as well as some rather pervy Dredd for Dave (with his taunt rippling muscles, and ominous thrill...).

I was VERY disappointed with the end of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Very little happened. I felt that the conclusion was over just too quickly. It does suffer dreadfully in comparison to the first Volume. 1602, in contrast, just seems to be getting better. Lovely artwork, and whilst it is more fun spotting the Marvel character, the plot looks to be moving forward quickly.

Supreme Power, the JMS Marvel Superman comic, whilst good, is not gripping my attention in the way that Red Son did. For a revisionist Superman, it's okay but not what I've come to expect from the man who wrote Rising Stars.

The Shrek comic is fun. As is Witchblade Animated, and Bad Girls. These and Buffy are my no taste comics. Especially when Buffy has a guest appearance by Lilah!!!

Powers has definitely paid off for the issue of Monkey fucking. I've been loving the world and it's great to be getting some background. Walker's various incarnations have been varied yet identifiable and the confrontation with his nemesis was satisfying in the extreme. Bendis back on form.

The Losers is living up to all my expectations and surpassing quite a few. More plot and backstabbing than you can shake a stolen heliocopter at, this just gets more and more outlandish and funny and gripping. I love it dearly. Hellblazer goes from strength to strength under Mike Carey's marvellous guidance too. It's got magic in it, it's got background in it and Carey is trying to kill me with suspense while I wait a month for the next issue.

I would love to say the same of Dark Days, but not enough happens per issue to really make me feel like it's worth spending my money on. I'll wait till the end of the arc, but I feel that the 30 Days of Night bubble has burst.

Fianally, the Fables special, the Last Castle was heartrenching and wonderful and actually added a great deal to the main title. And that's an achievement for a prestige.

And that's just the special ones!

6:13pm: Wallpapers
Deciding upon needing some wallpapers for work, I hereby provide my first wallpaper work. Comic related of course. Well, if you count Twisted Toyfare Theatre as a comic.

Click, for the Evil! And Funny. Mostly Evil.

10:37pm: Comic Filing
So it’s been quite a while since I filed, but here’s some of the new stuff that I’m placing with great care into the long box.

Arrowsmith: I do enjoy Kurt Busiek’s writing a great deal. He just seems to get it so the story trips off the page. And the art was just lovely! And I can’t resist a good alternative history kick, especially not when you throw in some dragons. Going to be continuing this one.

Bad Girls: It’s tripe, it’s cheesy and I love it already. More more!

Empire: Kitson is coming to do a signing. That and Mark Waid wrote it. Worth a look, based around the idea that the bad guy won.

Fallen Angel: Peter David is another underrated writer in my books. I like him for all that he doesn’t have the hip factor that the Big British Three have. He’s fun and this is intriguing and religious enough for it to check another box in my list of obsessions.

Possessed: So it’s a rerun of the Exorcist. Georgetown, creepy pus and then, the shot widens to show who’s really going to kick that demon butt. High octane, Alien-esque feel. Johns writing, Sharpe doing something that isn’t 2000AD or Warhammer. Looking good.

Losers: Another British pair that have crossed the pond. Taking the A-team as some kind of template, this promises to be just crazy. Something of the 100 Bullets feel to it, but the fact that you can tell all the main characters apart is a big plus. Jock is some crossover between the best of Sean Phillips, the clarity of Darick Robertson and the earthiness of Eduardo Risso. And he’s and ace bloke. Go Jock!

Supreme Power: JMS has built a name for himself with clever, erudite comic writing. Still, this is the first comic I’ve read of his, and it’s another take on the Superman mythos (yawn!). Giving it a try – it is lavishly produced and I’ll see if he can produce the goods. Maybe next issue…

Trouble: Despite the rather hype about this, I thought I’d give it a miss, as I’m not a Spiderman kinda gal. Bought it, liked it, didn’t get all the jokes. Millar is still a superior writer, and I like romance comics anyway.

Mystique, Runaways & Emma Frost: I was suspicious of the whole Tsunami thing – I’m a big supporter of manga et al., but these three titles are fun, enjoyable and a nice switch off for the brain. I have decided that Emma Frost is my new heroine. Bitchy, cold and cruel – the way I ought to be. Or something.

6:23pm: Diaryland Jurnal
If anyone is still reading my dl journal, drop me an email and I'll set you up with username/password.

Cheers

10:17am: This Week's Comics
I have a few raves from this week.

Dark Days - this is the sequel to 30 Days of Night, which, jumping on a bandwagon THIS BIG, is one of the best books I have read this year. I love vampires, and I love the art and I love the take on it. Dark Days just ups the ante. I had chills running down my spine. So good.

Fables - I love this book more and more. Even more now that it has resolved into a plotline, not just a series of stories and vignettes. I love this book.

Superman: Red Son Pt 2 - Millar has made Elseworlds interesting. I'm not a fan of this concept, and I certainly don't regularly read Superman, but Red Son is just very satisfying and dark.

Legends of the Dark Knight - Okay. I read Batman. But this is by Bill Willingham who wrote Fables, and it's a right giggle.

And today I get Mutant X Action Figures. No, I do not have a life.

10:15pm: Avatar Press
I was never impressed with Avatar Press. I don't like their output (as a rule). I resent them for Threshold. They made me buy six issues of stealth porn*. But after a conversation with William Christiansen - who is such a sound guy - EIC, I've had to rethink my attitude. I still don't like a lot of what they are publishing. I mean, the Warren Ellis stuff is beyond dull. But then, more and more of what Ellis is writing seems to be going to the same way. But I love their Alan Moore stuff. So, here's my main list of why I should support Avatar.

Yes! They are publishing stuff that would not see press elsewhere.
Yes! They really do give a new creative outlet that publishes.
Yes! They publish ON TIME!
Yes! They keep their books affordable - especially their graphics.

And I will buy the SG-1 book for Dave. I just know it.

And my comics this week included ONE comic that I hadn't already read. So I picked up a graphic. ONE! Next week had better be a great week for indies.

Oh yes.

*Stealth Porn [n.] six pages of actual story, and then twelve pages or porn. Pure porn. See also: Image, Top Cow, Chaos.

10:30am: New Indies
There seems to have been a boom of new product from Dark Horse and Image of late. I know people say they are not indy, but to me, anyone who isn't the big two... Both Dark Horse and Image have been publishing a lot of licensed comics - ranging from Buffy (yay!) to Battle of the Planets (er, no). So it's nice to see them making a commitment to original work again. Shame that the original stuff is so patchy, but so what. A lot of the Dark Horse stuff is horror, and I think there is two main reasons for this. 1). They've got the Hellboy license, which isof course coming out as a film later this year (or sometime...) and they can publish an anthology with one Hellboy story and you'll get all the Hellboy Fanatics (for they are) buying it. 2). 30 Days of Night.

30 Days of Night is fairly good. I wouldn't have gone as far as to say classic, but it's a fun and intriguing vampire story. It's got interesting art, which is atmospheric and scary. And it's gone stratospheric. So we've got this other character by the same creative team - let's build a whole horror line around it. And it appears to be working.

In other news, I'm reading Battle Royale. It's my first proper manga, going from right to left as it does. Taking a while to get my western brain round this. I'm incredibly dismissive of manga, as I do not like being ripped off, nor do I like romance comics. But I'm giving it a go. It's violent enough, although the art degenerates into kiddie a bit often, and it's been translated by the guy who wrote Ambush Bug. Which makes me laugh.

10:48am: Brian Michael Bendis & Horror
I'm living the Bendis fangirl life at the moment. Alias on Sunday, Total Sell Out yesterday and Torso (reread) today. I suppose that there must be an explanation for this. Somewhere....

I like plot. I like characters too, but I like story. I like it when things happen and it progresses. It's why I'd read most science fiction and fantasy as opposed to mainstream fiction. Because of the "criticism" levelled at it by my high school English teacher - it's plot driven. Bendis, for me, is a fantastic plotter. And his dialogue just crackles off the page allowing you the pleasure of great characters too. Mmmmm.

Also loving the horror at the moment. Finally read 30 Days of Night - very enjoyable, does exactly what it says on the tin with a fair bit of shivers up the spine thrown in too. Also liking the whole new Dark Horse Nightmares line. Some of it is a bit by numbers, but Scarlet Traces (which I've read as it was printed in the Megazine - advantage to the UK for once) is cracking. The Blackburne Covenant is shaping up to be quite thrilling - it's got all the ingredients I like. Modern day, supernatural horror and great big stonking thousand year old conspiracies. Devil's Footprints is a bit by the numbers but fun.

And Judd Winick's Blood and Water. Can't wait for the next one.

8:28pm: Orbiter
Warren Ellis is wittering about how he doesn't know how comic shops will pick up Orbiter. It's got three things going for it.

• Warren Ellis
  
• Colleen Doran
  
• Aliens
  

Maybe not Aliens, but Space. And Space is a desperately nostalgic area where a lot of our readers are concerned. So Mike and I are placing orders, and it's like hoom, how many of these can we take. We can sell them a million times over, as there's a lot of Warren Ellis fans and seperately a lot of Colleen fans. So it's an awkward one.

We cautiously ordered ten, and hope that Diamond keeps it in stock. Did you know that Barry Ween Volume One is out of print. The wassocks.

5:45pm: I have Elektra on a mug.

Seriously.

There is no end to this caffiene rush. Hence the spamming.

5:44pm: Hides Head in Shame
I love these boxes: http://www.volstor.com/. It's the perfect combination of librarianship and comic love. They sit on bookshelves and look fantabulous. Need to be creative and create spines.

However, turns out that I need four of the big ones for Hellblazer so far. Much John design work on the way. I've already got Transmet done, but no spine made yet. But they are superb.

1:58pm: He did it!
James woz 'ere...
Supergirl... kinda

Send me your address Ms Kabukivice

10:53am: James Hodgkins Signing
James Hodgkins this weekend. The party man - he cometh. This is a fantastic story, that deserves to be disseminated to the entire world.

James made a lot of money last time he was up. A lot. And went drinking. A lot. Then it reaches cucking out time and he decides he wants to keep drinking. So Mike says where? Dancing club? Casino? And my boyfriend interrupts with Strip club? Being half testosterone and half alcohol, the group sets off to an establishment of strip. And when they get there, there's this stripper walking around in a Union Jack bikini with long blonde hair. This immediately strikes a chord with James, who follows her off for a private dance. All the time saying - Say You're Jenny Sparks... After more alcohol and more nakedness, he bought the bikini.

So, last week, this girl comes into the shop and says, hi! Mike immediately turns to me and says, say hello to Jenny Sparks. She was in for some reference material, being as James was coming back up. Some reference material for Wonder Woman AND Catwoman. Oh my god.

If anyone wants a Jenny Sparks/Catwoman/Batman/Aliens/Daredevil sketch, drop me a mail and I'll see what I can do.

6:37pm: Quick Recs
Archard's Agents (CGE): If you donothing else, check out the art. What are they doing keeping Mike as the inker on the main title. He's tons better than Guice.

Rex Mundi (Image): I love the atmosphere on this.

Batgirl Year One: Works well. I love Barbara and it's nice to see her break out of Oracle but retain the inner librarian.

I was going to keep this equal, but I can't for the life of me remeber a single Marvel title I read this week.

6:31pm: Mutant X
You need Mutant X. Not the tv series, but the comic Marvel cancelled so they could abuse the name. It's about Alex Summers in an alternate dimension and I casn't work out if they thought they were being serious, or if they were just enjoying mucking about with everything. Let's have that bit of the X-Men, and lets have her cause it's cool.

I don't think I'm giving anything away by saying that Storm never got better from being a vampire, Kitty is the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club and Spiderman never quite got over the whole six arm thing. Or the clones. And Elektra is Scotty Summers' nanny.

Nanny Elektra!

It's enjoyable and quite fun. Silly fun. What the brain needs after the bruising it got in the most recent League of Extraordinary Gentelmen. Put it away, Quartermain.

10:31am: Boneyard
I should update this much more often, but do I have time noo.

So I thought I'd talk about Boneyard. The Boneyard graphic novel is probably our biggest Indie graphic. Seriously. I adore Boneyard beyond words, and I think that Mike and I's persistent hassling of customers about it is paying off. Including those who came in to buy it for Christmas presents for other people. So we sell out of Boneyard a lot. Why don't more people sell Boneyard - oh yeah, that's right. FP wouldn't know an Indie unless there was a film of it.

Boneyard. Trust me. You have to get this.

11:49am: Sneak Peak this week included a lot of stuff I have no intention of reading. But now that a chunk of it is sitting in front of me, I realise that I'm going to give most of it a chance. Amazing Spiderman by Straczynski, and Uncanny XMen by Chuck Austen. Writers I like. Ultimate Spiderman - I'm not so sure about it. Green Arrow - I think I'll enjoy this one. But the biggie - Ultimate Daredevil/Elecktra.

Thank god for Greg Rucka. I loved it. It's not as mysterious as the main title - I do miss the large chunks of ninjing. It just seems like an intriguing new setup, and Elektra! Squee of joy! It is just cracking. Want more...

My boss still has the rest of the previews, but I'll get them soon.

6:18pm: X-Men Binge
I binged on X-men last night.

I haven't read X-men recently at all, and I decided it was high time to spend half my pay on graphic novels. So Idecided to compare Ultimate and New. Ultimate was good. Solid. Fun. New - New was good in a satisfying manner. Ultimate brought home how soap opera and young X-men are, whilst New dealt with stuff. Adult stuff. But was also fun. I like Morrison here - he's being reigned in by an editor, who is telling him - go with the X but keep it readable. A bit like his fantastic run on JLA. Batty but readable. Ultimate wasn't as tasy.

To top all this off. I got a replacement for my Tale of One Bad Rat. My old work managed to chuck my signed ToOBR, Hardcover Dreamhunters and V for Vendetta into the rubbish, so I am slowly replacing them. So I got the limited edition hardcover Tale. Isn't it good working in a comic shop.