 Yay! 2 Podcast weeks in a row, here we are, back on schedule! There were even 3 birthdays last week to celebrate, including my own, and I started crocheting a very special baby hat for a friend of mine. I don't want to link just yet, and maybe spoil the surprise, but if I manage to get it to come out half as cool as the person who made the pattern, it will be incredibly nerdy/cool. On to the comics!  New Release Wolverine First Class Written by Fred Van Lente, Pencils and Inks by Andrea Di Vito Mr Van Lente said in an interview with Comics Should Be Good that regarding Kitty Pride "I wanted a hook to get female readers interested in the series." It worked. I'm interested. I'd just like to see her be a more rounded character. Right now she seems pretty shallow, even for a 13 year old girl. The art is very pretty though. Oh, and I should post this correction: In the podcast, I mention that the colorist for this book deserves his/her own bow. Then I mention Glynnis Wein, who did the color on the Wolverine first appearance at the back of the book. The colorists for the new stuff are credited as the following: Laura Villari, Guru eFX, Chris Sotomayor, Wilfredo Quintana, & Val Staples. So bow, the lot of you. You did good work.  Marvel
Essential Doctor Strange Written by Stan Lee, Pencils Steve Ditko
This is my first foray into the Essential books, and so far, I am having a good time. The lack of color is a little distracting, but you get used to it, and the crazy 60's stories are like groovy and far out, man. I'm only about half way through this monster sized book, but I am really liking it a lot.
 Image Scud The Disposable Assassin The Whole Shebang - Rob Schrab Another one from Andy, my trail guide in the comics wilderness. This is so awesome in so many ways, but at 800 pages, I have no idea where to begin explaining it. If you are a fan of the absurd and violent, this book is totally worth it's cover price and you should just go out and buy it.  Del Rey Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney, Art by about 50 different people, credited as Capcom. Wow. I wish I had played the game, then I might have had some idea what was going on. I was under the mistaken impression that you had to yell at your DS in order to progress, and I did not want to be the crazy lady on the bus. I did enjoy this, but I would have gotten much more out of it if I knew what was going on. But that the elderly lady client's name was Ms. Oldbag absolutely cracked me up and had me showing the book to random people that came into the store. Thank you so much for hanging out with me again this week. Wish me lots of luck, me and Grammar Cowboy signed an offer on a house on friday. It would be awful nice to have a whole room to do this recording stuff in. Subscribe to my podcast to get the full reviews. Or click here to listen to it now.
I'm Batman
Speaking of webcomics, today's Shortpacked almost made me snort my tea.
I told you there'd be a podcast. and you doubted me. Also, you may have noticed, today GDRC joined the Rubifruit banner exchange. I hope you don't hate the ads too much, but Rubifruit should help spread the word about my little endeavor. Most of the participants in this are webcomics, like Penny and Aggie for example. For the record, I read a lot of webcomics. It's what I do in the morning while I drink my tea. However, I will not be doing reviews of webcomics on this site, not because I don't see them as a valid medium ( I most certainly do) just because it's not what I am interested in doing here. One of the banners I have seen is for Red String, and that is a work that has been printed in graphic novel format. I have all three current volumes on the shelf at the store right now, so that may be an upcoming review. If you want to help my exposure, click through on a link. You might find something really great.  New Release JSA Presents The Green Lantern Written by Steven T. Seagle, Tony Bedard and Junior Thomas; Art by John K. Snyder III, Dennis Calero, Staz Johnson, Mike Norton and others Cover by Snyder I believe that the purpose behind this book is to get someone like me, who hasn't really read this character to say. "Ohh, this looks interesting" and pick it up. It definitely worked, and I think it does it's job of introducing a classic character, making him interesting, and leaving the reader wanting more.  Bonus New-ish Release
Gotham Central HC Vol 01 Written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka; Art and cover by Michael Lark
This book has everything that I like. I has a strong, realistic female protagonist, an excellent story, compelling art, and it's a police procedual. It also made me cry on the airplane because Renee has to go through such heavy crap. I loved it.
 DC Starman Omni Vol 01 Written by James Robinson; Art by Tony Harris, Wade Von Grawbadger and others; Cover by Harris Thank you, Andrew. Yet again you have handed me something really cool. This book is really hard to describe. It's very 90's. Also very odd and just very good. I can't wait to read the rest of the books in this series.  Vertigo Hellblazer Original Sins Written by Jamie Delano; Art by John Ridgway and Alfredo Alcala I have been meaning to read this series for about 10 years. I kept going into the comic shop (before I worked there, and I was just a customer) and I would study the always growing collection of Hellblazer books,get intimidated by the number if volumes, and chicken out and get something different. I'm glad I am taking the time now. It was very enjoyable, if a bit dated visually.  VIZ Record of a fallen Vampire Written by Kyo Shirodaira, Art by Yuri Kimura This was as good as I was hoping. The story has elements of fantasy and horror without becoming too silly. The art is very pretty with a soft gothic style, and the characters are pretty compelling. My only complaint is that the fight scenes are really busy, making them hard to follow. Still a good read though. Subscribe to my podcast to get the full reviews. Or click here to listen to it now.
Mountains are pretty from an airplane
Yay! I'm home! It was nice to go back to Minnesota and all, but I was ready to not be traveling anymore. So my a-fore mentioned plans for nerdiness got rained out. We were really looking forward to going to the Minnesota Renn Fest but it was just too gross out. For those who've never been, the Renn Fest in Mn is one of the largest in the country. The shops and food make it worth the trip, even if you aren't into the silliness of costumes and fake British accents. But it's not exactly modern, or, you know, paved. When it rains there are few places to hide and the ground quickly becomes a muddy mess. So we saved our money and went to Fogo de Chao instead. The part of me that used to be a vegetarian is horrified. The rest of me was very happy. I also made it a point to go to the comic shops in the area. It was a mixed bag to say the least. I don't want to speak ill of anyone, but lets just say I like my store a lot. Also, Dreamhaven had moved. That store was like some kind of nerdvana. We used to go there for signings and rare books. They had all the cool photography books as well as collectibles and a huge used sci-fi/fantasy section. As we approached the (now old) location I could see empty racks in the windows. I almost had a heart attack. We stopped and I grabbed the flyer with the new location and we set out on our pilgrimmage, with a side trip to the Spyhouse. We found the new location, still in process of unpacking. I talked to the owner and he seemed so down. The new store has a lot of potential, but he was saying he was tired and ready to retire. We looked around for awhile, found Eric's books on the shelf, and then left. The owner's weariness took the wind right out of me. I wish him well, because we love Dreamhaven. If we didn't live 1400 miles away, we'd still be regulars. All in all it was good to visit, and great to come home. Things have changed a lot. Many of our old favorites are gone, but there are some newcomers that we will enjoy next time we visit (ahem, Jake O'Connors, ahem). I also read a lot of good stuff in the last 2ish weeks. I won't have time to cover it all in the podcast, but I'll hit the highlights. Check back here later on this afternoon, for the comic-y goodness.
Minnesota!
We have landed in Minneapolis, and we are at our hotel in Minnetonka. This is so wierd. My husband lived here his whole life before we moved out to Washington, and I lived here for 7 years. A lot has changed since we moved away. The little town by the lake where he grew up is almost unrecognizable. It's nice to see some of the changes, like where they finally pulled down the abandoned gas station and built something modern. It's not so nice to see the pumpkin farm by my folk's old place in the exurbs replaced with giant, tacky McMansions. Tomorrow we will do some very nerdy things, and if there are any good stories I'll let you know. As for the world of comics, there will be no podcast this week. I really tried to make it happen, but forces were aligned against me. Well, forces and a puking cat. I did actually manage to do a fair bit of reading though so if I have time I will do some written reviews. or I might just wait until next week and try to shoehorn all the cool stuff I have read into 1 show. We'll just have to see. AV
Wow, did you guys miss me? It's been a weird week, but things should be going better soon. As I mentioned in the show this week, we are trying to buy a house. I swear it shouldn't be this hard. All we want to do is give someone a large amount of money. Usually people like money. The house we are looking at went into foreclosure between when we made our offer and now, so the house that we like is in limbo. So think happy thoughts for us. My apartment gets smaller by the day. We have 5 books for you this week, since I made you wait so long.  New Release The Twelve Vol 01 Written by J. Michael Straczynski, Pencils by Chris Weston This book was a surprise. I was expecting camp and silly, and I got a dark, deep story with serious and compelling characters. I am looking forward to the second half.  Bonus New-ish Release
Astounding Wolf-man Written by Robert Kirkman, Art By Jason Howard
I liked this book for a lot of reasons, but I still feel like it feels a little rushed. Doesn't stop me from enjoying the heck out of it, though. Oh, and the link from the picture goes to Kirkman's blog. Usually I link to publisher sites, but Image's site makes it pretty much impossible to have a link to a specific book. Kirkman is pretty cool anyway.
 Marvel Spider Woman Origin Written by Brian Michael Bendis and Brian Reed, Art by Luna Brothers After my New Avengers binge a couple of weeks ago, I decided to grab this one to round out Jessica Drew's story in my mind. I think this was a good story. The art didn't wow me, but I thought it was interesting. It's not as fun as the New Avengers, but it does offer some insight into her motivations, and there are some really cool fight scenes. I just don't get why they had to start her out as a blond.  El Capitan Stray Bullets Vol 01 Story and Art by David Lapham Ok. I give up. I've read it. I wrote a 3 pages in my fancy new Tara McPherson notebook about it. I talked about in this weeks show. I'm still not sure if I like it or not. I definitely respect it, but it squiks me out something fierce. You'll have to read it and decide for yourself.  New Release The Other Side Of The Mirror Story and Art by Jo Chen There are 2 books to this series. If you see them, go ahead and grab them both. The serialized story of Lou and Sunny really gets moving in the second book, and the short stories in that volume are also sweet and solid. Jo Chen also does beautiful painted covers. Her Runaways covers are some of the most beautiful things I've seen. Subscribe to my podcast to get the full reviews. Or click here to listen to it now.
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