the vanishing

drive-by readings

B.P.R.D.: Hell On Earth - New World #1 (Dark Horse) Mike Mignola/John Arcudi Guy Davis Dave Stewart Clem Robins

what we learned: with more resources now that they're under UN purview, the BPRD is less constrained in sending people into weird hotspots all over the world. but intrigues still abound. Johann still wants a body, Panya may be up to something, and Devon's lack of trust may unravel the team.
oh shit moment: disappearing acts in British Columbia. you can feel the tension as Abe investigates by his lonesome.
what's next: does Bigfoot exist? and who's behind the disappearances of the good folk?


you mean the right-wing conservative human American zealots?

breaking news: Scott Summers arrested, deported and reborn as...

hey, he's a child of the atom, right? right????

things i liked this week

Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of our Fathers #2 (Marvel)
Reginald Hudlin/Denys Cowan/Klaus Janson/Pete Pantazis/Joe Sabino

Captain America makes the case for being a wartime ambassador, carefully bringing Wakanda to play on the world stage. and he and the Black Panther need to move quick, because the Red Skull has his secret weapons (starting with the stupidly-named Master Man). by the way, who's this Panther? T'Challa's grampa? man, kids today don't even know WWII. this one's for hardcore fans.

Amazing Spider-Man #630 (Marvel)
Zeb Wells/Chris Bachalo/Tim Townsend/Jaime Mendoza/Joe Caramagna (variant cover: Joe Quinones)
reads like a movie script, especially around the end when the inevitable happens. maybe this should be Spider-Man 4?


Secret Six #21 (DC)
Gail Simone/Jim Calafiore/Jason Wright/Travis Lanham (cover: Daniel Luvisi)

Catman tracks down his son's kidnappers in an efficient manner that would impress Batman, while his teammates are hot on his trail, trying to pull him off the brink of the abyss. but it seems too late, as he's been leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake. plus we get a backstory that says it may not be far off for Blake to be a killer anyway. can't wait for the conclusion.

War of the Supermen #1 (DC)
Sterling Gates/James Robinson/Jamal Igle/Jon Sibal/Blond/John J. Hill (cover: Eddy Barrows/J.P. Mayer/Rod Reis; variant cover: Aaron Lopresti/Matt Ryan/Brad Anderson)

this whole screw-it-let's-bring-back-the-Kryptonians thing kind of cheapens the myth of Krypton and Kal's parents sending him out as the only survivor of their doomed planet. the only thing i look forward to (and thus regarding this as the first step) is the eventual demise of everyone (including a painful death for General Zod), leaving Supes again as the only remaining Kryptonian (ok, including Kara and Karen).

Uncanny X-Men #523 (Marvel)
Matt Fraction/Terry Dodson/Rachel Dodson/Justin Ponsor/Joe Caramagna (cover: Adi Granov, variant cover: David Finch/Matt Banning/Peter Steigerwald)
the X-Men take a breather to bury one of their own (Ariel obviously didn't merit several pages), and still oblivious to the internal threat of Donald Pierce. seething emotions rise to the surface, the most obvious ones from Hank, blaming Cyclops for the debacle, and Logan, who can barely contain his anger at losing Kurt, not knowing whether Hope was worth the risk and loss. i don't know what the general consensus is for Second Coming, but personally it ranks high among the better X-crossovers of the past.


Incorruptible #5 (Boom Studios)

Mark Waid/Horacio Domingues/Andrew Dalhouse/Ed Dukeshire (covers: Rafael Albuquerque/Dennis Calero/Jeffrey Spokes)
Max Damage turns his town upside with a decoy Jailbait to find the real Jailbait. unfortunately, he may be too late. Mark Waid has been upping the ante in his Irredeemable universe, and this has the makings of what Invincible ultimately became for Image.


Irredeemable #13 (Boom Studios)
Mark Waid/Diego Barreto/Andrew Dalhouse/Ed Dukeshire (covers: Paul Azaceta/ChrisCross)
the secret of Bete Noir! yes, it doesn't stop at that damn candle wax. looks like she's the only one left to carry on the fight, and with Modeus on the loose, Tony the Plutonian may not be her biggest problem. at the moment.

Brightest Day #1 (DC)

Geoff Johns/Peter Tomasi/Ivan Reis/Patrick Gleason/Ardian Syaf/Scott Clark/Joe Prado/Vicente Cifuentes/Mark Irwin/Oclair Albert/David Beaty/Peter Steigerwald/Rob Clark (cover: David Finch/Scott Williams variant: Reis/Chuck Pires)
an event so huge, it took a million creators to produce it (and basically overloading Blogger's paltry tag limit). why is Aquaman still calling dead fish? is J'onn a murderer? will Ronnie and Jason ever become BFFs? why can't the Hawks ever find peace? is it really the brightest day or is that just the sun piercing my hangover? gaaaahhhhh!

Red Robin #12 (DC)
Christopher Yost/Marcus To/Ray McCarthy/Guy Major/Sal Cipriano
the whole point of the Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul is to position him to kill the rest of the Wayne family. just kidding, but not really. Tim Drake/Wayne checkmates him and ... well, it turns out that may not be totally the case. altogether now, Red Robin ..... yummmmm!


Batman & Robin #12 (DC)
Grant Morrison/Andy Clarke/Scott Hanna/Dustin Nguyen/Alex Sinclair/Patrick Brosseau (cover by Frank Quitely/Clarke)
who is Gotham's king?
Damian no longer Al Ghul.
Sexton is a joke.


The Boys #42 (Dynamite Entertainment)
Garth Ennis/Darick Robertson/Richard P. Clark/Simon Bowland/Tony Aviña

Butcher continues his surreptitious investigation of Wee Hughie, hoping that his worst fears won't come true. Metamorpho Malchemical laughing at Superduper continues to amuse (bad). the pacing's been a bit slow, but it all comes to a head next issue. heh, head.

Hellboy In Mexico (Dark Horse)
Mike Mignola/Richard Corben/Dave Stewart/Clem Robins

an idea that makes so much sense as much as it doesn't: Hellboy teaming up with luchadores to fight supernatural evil. Jack Black may have pushed it toward public consciousness, and Moon Knight and Deadpool may have ramped it up with their team-ups with the Zapata Brothers, but somehow putting Hellboy and festive-costumed Mexican wrestlers together is a lot more intriguing and entertaining. Hellboy 3 subplot?

things i liked this week

in no particular order:

Dark Avengers #15 (Marvel)
Brian Michael Bendis/Mike Deodato/Rain Beredo/Cory Petit
i wonder why The Sentry's expressing his anger at losing his wife in the form of The Void? why would he even have feelings for her in the first place? with both stellar and exasperating Deodato art, this series encapsulates the beauty of this series, as the world crumbles around the bad guys we've grown to like. denouement is near.


Hercules - Fall of An Avenger one shot (Marvel)
Fred Van Lente/Greg Pak/Ariel Olivetti/Simon Bowland
that was fun, especially a glimpse at the dead Herc's secret liaisons. and not just with the female species! i wish there were a few more guests, like Dane Whitman, Jan (the real Wasp, but dead), and She-Hulk (hey, where is she? Banner's here but she isn't? uh oh). oh, and the Wrecking Crew, Erik Josten, and Mr. Hyde, just for kicks.

Guardians of the Galaxy #24 (Marvel)
Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning/Wes Craig/Serge LaPointe/Nathan Fairbairn/Joe Caramagna (cover: Alex Garner)
let me just say this: not only the missing Guardians are coming back. and on that thought, hello, Cosmo!


Siege #3 (Marvel)
Brian Michael Bendis/Olivier Coipel/Mark Morales/Laura Martin/Chris Eliopoulos
hey, its not that bad. for all the crap Bendis got for his dialogue (i actually like his style), this one's got a lot of punching and kicking and shooting and yelling. though i'm still searching for that one big-ass fight scene where everything is thoroughly scripted well and the action flows fuidly and flawlessly (an idea for a regular post i'm toying with), i guess this will have to do. one thing for sure, there won't be a shortage of construction jobs in Broxton, OK.

Nova #35 (Marvel)
Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning/Mahmud Asrar/Scott Hanna/Bruno Hang/Cory Petit (cover: Brandon Peterson)
does this mean there's no second go-round for Nova and previously-the-most-dangerous-woman-in-the-galaxy? and who still says "Blue Blazes"?


Nation X #4 (Marvel)
"Dooptopia" by Peter Milligan/Michael Allred/Laura Allred
the most light-hearted of the stories in this issue is arguably its best. Doop is appointed Head of Criminal Investigations in Utopia. are you kidding me? shouldn't they pick Lucas Bisho- oh. never mind. its Doop, Milligan and Allred. what more do you want?


Green Lantern Corps #46 (DC)
Peter Tomasi/Patrick Gleason/Rebecca Buchman/Keith Champagne/Tom Nguyen/Randy Mayor/Gabe Eltaeb/Steve Wands
sometimes writer Peter Tomasi's brain really scares us.


Devil #2 (Dark Horse)
Torajiro Kishi/Madhouse Studios
Devil Investigation Section officers Takimoto and Migiwa (described hilariously as "straight-laced, procedural and tight-assed" - oh, you Japs) crap their pants when they meet a super advanced Devil temptress named Mariko. when humanity is no longer at the top of the food chain, who you gonna call?


X-Factor Forever #1 (Marvel)
Louise Simonson/Dan Panosian/Jim Charalampidis/Dave Sharpe
at this rate, we'll have New Mutants Forever, X-Force Forever, New X-Men Forever and X-Men Unlimited Forever hitting the shelves by the end of 2010. anyway, Weezie's 5-issue take on the original X-Factor past #64 seems a more reasonable diversion rather than giving Chris Claremont the keys to a car driving off to nowhere, cliffs included. you have villains coming out of the woodwork, and Apocalypse is at the forefront. Cable's still a baby. should be fun.


Batman #697 (DC)
Tony Daniel/Sandu Florea/Ian Hannin/Jared Fletcher
and its only because the identity of Black Mask is revealed - and holy crap, it wasn't Alfred!! and the jerk actually wears his glasses inside the mask. moron.


Incredible Hulk #608 (Marvel)
Greg Pak/Paul Pelletier/Danny Miki/Crimelab Studios/Frank D'Armata/Veronica Gandini/Simon Bowland (cover: John Romita Jr./Klaus Janson/Dean White)
am still a little slow on the uptake on the whole thing here, just like Skaar is, so the Leader is laughing at me. nevertheless, i like the killer ending (its already the end of Fall of the Hulks, and am still behind the eight ball). eagerly awaiting what's next.


X-Men: Legacy #234 (Marvel)
Mike Carey/Yanick Paquette/Michel Lacombe/Nathan Fairbairn/Cory Petit (cover: Clay Mann/Danny Miki/Emily Warren)
a long-overdue story about Rogue, after regaining her sanity and control of her powers (Rogue is a Carey favorite), and her new life as a life coach around Utopia. its quite satisfying to leave that drama of "ah can't touch anyone, ah'll absorb 'em with mah power" in the dust, and just have sane relationships where she can get close to Remy AND Magneto in the same day. hey, i said "close". git yer dirty minds outta de' gutter.


Amazing Spider-Man #625 (Marvel)
Joe Kelly/Max Fiumara/Fabio D'Auria/Joe Caramagna (cover: Marko Djurdjevic)
the foreshadowing has come to pass. the Old Rhino, with nothing left to live for (i'll let you make your guesses) comes to terms with his loss and takes on the New Rhino. and you're left a lot more depressed along with Peter. yes, this is how you wanted your hero. a sad sack loser.

things i liked this week

in no particular order:

Secret Six #19 (DC)
Gail Simone/Jim Calafiore/Jason Wright/Travis Lanham (cover: Daniel Luvisi)
this series, just like its characters, is downright dangerous and unpredictable. a slam-bang smash every month.


Batman & Robin #10 (DC)
Grant Morrison/Andy Clarke/Scott Hanna/Alex Sinclair/Pat Brosseau
suddenly this title got interesting again. yes, it ties in with the whole return of the one and only Bruce Wayne. Morrison gets the characterization right on the money. and am i the only one who finds Oberon Sexton cool?

Wolverine Weapon X #11 (Marvel)
Jason Aaron/Ron Garney/Jason Keith/Cory Petit
Deathlok! Captain America! Wolverine! and of course, beers! what's not to like?

Punisher Max #5 (Marvel)
Jason Aaron/Steve Dillon/Matt Hollingsworth/Cory Petit (cover: Dave Johnson)
i don't know which is more cringe-inducing: Wilson Fisk's ability to not care about anything, or Frank's final punch-up with The Mooninite Mennonite.


Hellboy: Bride of Hell (Dark Horse)
Mike Mignola/Richard Corben/Dave Stewart/Clem Robins
yeah i know, this is a bit late, but hey, better late than never. Mike Mignola's stories are never boring.


Criminal: The Sinners #5 (Icon//Marvel)
Ed Brubaker/Sean Phillips/Val Staples
The Sinners comes to a fitting end - doesn't that remind you a bit of the Boondock Saints? and with all the beating Tracy Lawless got in this issue, i felt as if i got pulped myself.


The Waking #1 (Zenescope)
Raven Gregory/Vic Drujiniu/Mark Roberts/Crank! (cover: David Finch)
its like if the cast of Friends got smarter and became detectives. with snappy dialogue. oh, and dead people wake up. where have we seen that before?


Prelude to Deadpool Corps #2 (Marvel)
Victor Gischler/Whilce Portacio/Jamie Mendoza/Thomas Mason/Clayton Cowles (cover: Dave Johnson)
somebody should explore this alternate dimension more: a topsy-turvy Xavier School featuring the X-teens that spirals into chaos everyday because of Wade Wilson. loads of fun!


Amazing Spider-Man #624 (Marvel)
Mark Waid/Tom Peyer/Paul Azaceta/Javier Rodriguez/Andres Mossa/Joe Caramagna (cover: Michael Lark and Jodi Wynne)
and here we go. with all the complaining Marvel got about Peter's direction in life, well here it is, Spidey fans: the bottom of the barrel. oopps, wait. what's that? it gets even worse?


The Sword #22 (Image)
Luna Brothers
hurtling towards its action-packed finale. not for the squeamish.

Wolverine: Savage (one shot, Marvel)
Ryan Dunlavey/Richard Elson/Veronica Gandini/Dave Sharpe (cover: J. Scott Campbell)
Wolverine preparing sushi! no joke!!


Daytripper #4 (Vertigo/DC)
Fabio Moon/Gabriel Ba/Dave Stewart/Sean Konot
another bittersweet tale from the acclaimed tandem of Moon/Ba. perfect for the rainy weekend.

he's got great hair!

and he looks pissed?! what's his problem??

NBC execs slaughtered, film at 11

i mean, that's one really messed-up situation. and i'm not referring to that Jersey Shore airhead.

impulse buys

looking back, i actually bought a lot more books this year than any other (danger, Will Robinson, danger!). browsing the mall on a depressing Saturday afternoon leads me to impulse buys. hey, Waldenbooks is closing (sad) but they're having a fire sale on everything (good). and i mean everything. i actually now have a big problem how to haul the shit back east.

no mea culpas or regrets here. but let's examine part of my haul, which is obviously related to this blog.

yeah, i know. you're thinking ... you bought ASS-BAR!? i know Frank Miller pissed on everything here, his Bat legacy included, and the critically-derided books came out so late a new US administration took over and they still weren't finished. but who cares? its just a non-traditional interpretation of Batman, and somehow Jim Lee makes it all better ("wasted on the title", some say). i think i will pick crazy, inflammatory stuff drawn by Lee and Scott Williams, over crazy, inflammatory shit drawn by Rob Liefeld. who's with me??

to soothe your eyes and minds, i grabbed the acclaimed Umbrella Academy books by emo rock star Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba, and are definitely must-reads.

actually, the point here is to examine if i really saved something on the fire sale.

ASSBAR - $19.99 minus 10% discount plus 8.25% tax = $19.47
UA: Apocalypse Suite - $17.95 minus 10% discount plus 8.25% tax = $17.48
UA: Dallas - $17.95 minus 10% discount plus 8.25% tax = $17.48

Total: $54.43 out of a total cover price of $55.89, which really is $60.50 with taxes. hey, can we ditch taxes for reading material? am already paying a lot for bailing out Wall Street, and am not sure if they're gonna even give me a fair mortgage, while fucking our economy. see, even the simple joy of buying comics ends up in ranting, and its not even about the content.

so ... 5 bucks and change saved. but in this economy? hmmm. the real value here is that someday, as long as i keep 'em intact, is that my kids may find value in reading them (hell yeah, they are gonna grow up geeks).

what Conan thinks of what YOU think:

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Conan the Cimmerian #16

cover of the week

Kull #2 by Andy Brase
New Exiles #15 by Alex Garner

i'm being spoiled by the fantastic paintings of Garner; Greg Land/Greg Horn who?

barbarian at gate one

how can you not love Conan?



or Frank Cho?


"That was a good trick, boy. I am Hoenig Red Hand. Do you know of me?"
"No, but my horse told me he bedded your mother."

PWND!!!!

hellboy loves pancakes

in honor of such pancake passion, some Orlando natives are hosting a gallery of sorts.


go watch Hellboy II today, or i'll sic the Golden Army after you!

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Hellboy: The Right Hand of Doom
Mike Mignola/Dave Stewart/Pat Brosseau