just in time for the elections!

somewhere in Alaska, and in the Tea Party headquarters, heads just exploded.

brother grimm

drive-by readings

Fantastic Four #584 (Marvel) "Three Part Two: Congratulations, Mr. Grimm. You're Handsome Again!" Jonathan Hickman Steve Epting Paul Mounts Rus Wooton Alan Davis/Mark Farmer/Javier Rodriguez (cover)

what we learned: this title has been gathering steam and now its clicking on all cylinders, with Jonathan Hickman bringing all the previously-introduced elements slowly to bear. Sue takes charge to be an ambasadress for the Atlantean tribes (Angelina Jolie!), and Reed may be in trouble with the Surfer. for the best part, he also finds a way to revive the 'can we make Ben Grimm human again' record and get away with it, with him and Johnny painting the town red (hey, Stan!), tangling with a retooled Yancy Street Gang (that was a hoot), and having a tender moment with Alicia (aaaawwwww).
oh shit moment: uh ... Galactus?
what's next: always expect the Fantastic. Hickman brings the wow every month. someone also draw up divorce papers for the Richards couple.

hey, me too!

how to treat your future father-in-law

especially if its Sinestro (duh).

-----
Green Lantern Corps #53

hey, we want that pleasure too!

ok, we're kidding. we love Foggy despite being a klutz. but don't deny it, you have some Beast in you occasionally.

-----
Daredevil #511

gotham gumshoe

drive-by readings

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5 (DC) "Masquerade" Grant Morrison Ryan Sook Mick Gray Pere Perez Jose Villarubia Jared Fletcher Travis Lanham Andy Kubert/Ryan Sook (covers)

what we learned: Bruce reappears in late 1920s Gotham as an amnesiac and is hired to play a detective in a movie, or actually investigate the death of his own mother. turns out the lady who hired him is probably his real mother and its all a ploy to sacrifice the 'man-bat' (oh hey there you are again, Dr Hurt or should i say Thomas Wayne).elsewhere/when, Red Robin prepares the JLA for Batman's arrival, which should blow them all out of existence.
oh shit moment: what's really up with the Waynes?
what's next: Batman 1000000 (or something) is back!

you know he's gonna say that at some point.

blacker ops

drive-by readings

Uncanny X-Force #1 (Marvel) "The Apocalypse Solution, Chapter One" Rick Remender Jerome Opeña Dean White Cory Petit Esad Ribic (cover) Clayton Crain/Rob Liefeld/J. Scott Campbell/Marko Djurdjevic (variants)

what we learned: X-Force just won't die. and though the previous hype for this new incarnation came across as cheesy, Rick Remender's take is fresh and his choice of characters and characterizations are on the money. the new team follows the money trail to a resurrected Apocalypse, and Archangel himself has made the decision to clearly kill the S.O.B. its also refreshing to see someone use Deadpool for his talents as a coldblooded wisecracking skilled killer that he is, and not simply as the premiere wisecracking raconteur of the MU. this is clearly the best work of Jerome Opeña's burgeoning career.
oh shit moment: gone are the days of simply killing human footsoldiers of the anti-mutant forces. Remender ups the ante and puts our heroes in real harm's way. i don't expect this original team to be still intact at the end (you could say the same thing about the past incarnations, but its probably the vibe of this new team).
what's next: the best time to kill Apocalypse is while he's a child.


no one explains how Warren lies down on his back.

mostly a good J Arthur

drive-by readings

Knight and Squire #1 (DC) "For Six, Part One" Paul Cornell Jimmy Broxton Guy Major Steve Wands Yanick Paquette/Michel Lacombe/Nathan Fairbairn (cover) Billy Tucci/Hi-Fi (variant cover)

what we learned: England's Batman and Robin get their own book, and who better to chronicle their adventures but British writer Paul Cornell (i totally miss Captain Britain and MI:13). in this first issue, Knight and Squire whoop it up in their version of The Bar With No Name, only this bar is a DMZ for both heroes and villains (and quite a few arcane characters only a British writer can imagine in his sleep). even Wildcat stops by for a pint or two. everything's hunky dory until somebody starts a fire.
oh shit moment: you could hear a pin drop before everything breaks loose. and artist Jimmy Broxton loves himself too much.
what's next: more Britannia!


ggg
they lied! they still sacrifice virgins!

elevation

drive-by readings

Superior #1 (Marvel/Icon) "One Magic Wish" Mark Millar Leinil Francis Yu Gerry Alanguilan Dave McCaig Clayton Cowles

what we learned: a gentle nudge in the direction opposite of Kick-Ass and Nemesis, Mark Millar's new movie (ok, soon to be a movie, at this rate) courts the bleeding heart crowd with its protagonist an MS sufferer who's suddenly becomes endowed with superpowers by a ... talking monkey named Ormon.
oh shit moment: an extraterrestial talking monkey!
what's next: all will be explained in one month.


you'd be mad too if you're Superman with Magneto's costume

webbing up

Electro? the Vulture? Kraven? what character will Rhys Ifans play?

seriously? i want the Sinister Six. with Alfred Molina back as Doc Ock!

highlights of the NYCC

sure, sure, they're MY highlights. didn't get to move around much, except for hunting down signatures and taking the occasional picture along my routes. most of the time i was stuck in lines, as always. my feet hurt big time, lugging all those trades. the good thing about it is no book was left unsigned.

 with that, let the reminiscing begin!

John Stewart wants a piece of you.

he shoulda just punched that Red Mist pretender beside him.

Spidey wants to score but can't. Story of his life.

with the news that Emma Stone has replaced Snaggletooth as MJ, that's good news for Spidey and us fans.

Seth Green being asked to leave the building. "Robot Chicken? what's that?"

my future kids will be enjoying this

 

the hardest working man in the biz and leader of the Pet Avengers, Chris Eliopoulos

an incident occurred where some guy ranted and cussed out while with his son. read the amusing details here.

former and current Marvel mutant artist Clayton Henry

"i keep telling you, Zatanna, keep our relationship on the down low!"

"Hal, i DO NOT have an action figure. DC screwed us!"

i thought dragons had claws, not paws.

a picture seven years in the making (Garth Ennis and me)

apparently, they're on again.

Greg Pak is always surprised by The Hulk's sales numbers.

did you see that guy's EARLOBE???

"we will be making an example of this man for those who don't play Arkham Asylum!"

Jedi beats Joker anytime.

that's a mashup of Dr. Strange and Brother Voodoo, with some Gov. Paterson thrown in.

kid, you're in the wrong booth.

living in your mom's basement has PAID OFF. BIG TIME.

Seth Rogen had to slim down to fit in this car.

"YOU! YOU NOT WATCH MY MOVIE! YOU DIE!"

that is an AWESOME Batman. not like this loser.

they're lucky there were no South Koreans in the building.

zombie-meister Arthur Suydam

zombie Headpool

the Mann that is Clay

S.H.I.E.L.D. cover artist Gerald Parel

Secret Six-er Nicola Scott

Thor's l'homme de l'heure Olivier Coipel

Mark Millar needs to be Superior

how come nobody watched ... The Watchmen?

that's Robert Horry and Ice T for you.

Michael Jackson's dad wants you to show him the money.

"oh, dear God, i hope i don't end up being mocked in someone's blog!"

i haven't even finished the current one and you have another?? (that's a DLC, you twit)

dancing blue somethings

Hugh Jackass

the big bad Jason Aaron, flanked by Ron Garney and Adam Kubert

Dan Slott: "so in Big Time, Peter Parker becom- hey, guys, guys!! eyes over to me!!"

"so, Mr. Lee, what do you mean i have to pay $400 to be up here with you?"

i should be accepting of this fact by now, but i don't know why i can't. so anyway, i get in line for the DnA signing, as the Aaron/Garney/Kubert/McNiven set winds down. then Breevort and Bendis walk by.




then before Bendis walks over to his next panel, i tell him, "Mr. Bendis, i just need to shake your hand every single year." and what's his reaction?

Nemesis' Steve McNiven: "yes, yes, i am going to earn big bucks with the movie adaptation."

there were a few anxious moments as Andy Lanning got held up by an R2D2 over at Artist Alley, which made the fans a little concerned.




then he shows up.

DnA! yaaaaaaaaaayyyy!!!

listen, Iceman, you don't get to be a douchebag with a tiny penis like that.

 to be fair, the X-Men ensemble who came for the Marvel Costume contest was close to awesome, in terms of getting a lot of people to dress up and do it. but its also likely, they really do this even when not in conventions.

Professor X and his hoverchair (swivel chair from Staples+yellow cardboard)

i knew it! Peter's defection was premeditated!

venomous.

former FF/current Iron Man artist Salvador Larocca (2009 Eisner Award winner!)

Steve Epting, Alessandro Vitti, Clay Mann

The Nightly News and S.H.I.E.L.D. is brought to you by Jonathan Hickman

one little story about Hickman. i was in line, then i overhear the guy behind me say "yeah, i've been waiting for a long time to see Kirkman." i look at him and say "Kirkman, like The Walking Dead?". he goes "yeah!". i matter-of-factly say "Kirkman's over there at Image Comics. this is for Jonathan Hickman ... you know, S.H.I.E.L.D.?" he mutters about getting the two mixed up and ambles over to Image. another satisfied customer.

they never learn: before going to conventions for signings, at least know the people you want to see, you opportunistic sons of bitches.

you know the Doctor wants some of that boo-taayyy!

now that is a fetching Pixie

Gambit and the X-ternals! (yeah, you remember that)

Bishop pumping up some DMX with Forge documenting it

War Machine! what is he good for? absolutely nothing!

Kletus in da houuuusse!!

you won't believe how many "orgasm face" jokes this spawned

Jeph Loeb trying to apologize for Ultimatum

DC Cover Girls

the rumors are true: Mary Marvel has been corrupted!

proud to be Pinoy for Leinil Yu

the great Adam Hughes

Cobra has risen but no one likes it

if Dagger doesn't fill out the costume, then she's no Dagger.

its a shame about Ray

the legendary John Romita Sr.

not bad for a (former) Marvel Hunk o' the Month

Marvel's all-around nice (and frank) guy, Editor CB Cebulski

that was after some commotion with a Wolverine-costumed dad and his kid, and CB gladly handed him his card and told him to drop him a line so they can smooth things out.


the bulk of my books on Sunday were for Mark Waid - Kingdom Come HC, Empire, Superman: Birthright, JLA: Year One and some JLA single issues. Waid emphatically says JLA #18-19 (the Julian September case) is his favorite JLA work. well, whaddayaknow. 

Mark's camp is astonished about claims that he is evil.

and then i realize just now that i didn't pull out Superman: Birthright from my bag, which i had Leinil sign earlier. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Batman playing Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. wonders never cease.

Mexico's hardest working artist: Humberto Ramos

Gary Frank's Superman wants to punch someone

yaaarrrrrrrrr! the Black Pirate Batman

my name is Zsasz, and i am stabby!

a sorry looking DC brigade

even Storm Troopers cried blood when Lucas announced that 3D thing

ummm ... no. this is creepy on many levels.

and that craft means ... getting as much money from your fans and raping their childhood?

another one bites the dust

even Supergirl and Poison Ivy need cash

NYCC2010 had more people than ever, and that's kind of good and bad. with comics going mainstream because of movies, there's a wider audience that is a lot more cognizant of the characters. but whether the medium itself has gained a lot more respect and readers, that's subject to debate. i read comics since i was a kid and that opened the doors to vocabulary and language for me (aside from the fact that it was pure escapist joy). today, does anyone read anymore? why bother to read when you can watch the movie?

a big reason not to go again, also aside from rubbing elbows with know-it-all douchebags and clueless morons, would be avoiding subjecting your eyeballs to this:

OH, GOD. NO.

the only reasons i'll be coming back next year are (maybe) appearances by Kurt Busiek and George Perez (health permitting). otherwise ... i'll just be living vicariously through the interwebz.