Yes, that's six days left for you to find a great gift for your Fanboy. You can always check out one of the great Stocking Stuffer gift ideas posted around the store for a good quick gift!
There's still time to make a gaming order for Christmas! You just have to get your order to us by 1:00 PM on Wednesday, December 20th.
Trying to think of a gift for that special someone? Check out our Product Spotlight archives.
Don't forget that a Tom Fleming Print makes a great holiday gift for any superhero fan! Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and Green Lantern are just a few of the great characters of whom you can get prints! Check out Tom's Website to see some of his work.
Check this, my peeps: even Fanboy Comics likes to take time off for non-demonational holiday gift-giving! Take a gander at these schedule adjustments, and perhaps check yourself in time to avoid wrecking yourself:
Christmas Eve - Sunday, December 24th: Closed Early at 7:00 PM
Christmas Day - Monday, December 25th: Closed All Day
Tuesday, December 26th: Regular Schedule Resumes
Wednesday, December 27th: Newsletter Released a Day Late Because I Am Going On Vacation and There is not a Damn Thing You Can Do About It
Thursday, December 28th: Weekly Comic Order Arrives a Day Late Due to the Holiday
New Year's Eve - Sunday, January 31st: Closed Early at 7:00 PM
New Year's Day - Monday, January 1st: Closed All Day
So be wary of these changes, and have a festive secular humanist winter solstice!
It's time to learn to play some awesome games, like HeroClix, HorrorClix, Warhammer, and Warhammer 40K. There will be demos every Saturday for the rest of December into early January, and you will learn how to play these games or by God Sylvester Stallone will make another Rocky movie. Wait, he did what? Okay, scratch that. He'll make a sequel to Judge Dredd...focusing on Rob Schneider's character. You don't want that, do you? Nobody wants that, I consider it safe to say.
It has returned! We've got Boosters, Booster Boxes, and Raid Decks right now. We should have Starters in later this week, too. All will be available at the following prices:
Boosters: $3.89 each
Box of 24 Boosters: $85.00
Onyxia's Lair Raid Deck: $34.95
Starter Decks: $14.99
Also, we've got special days set aside for playing World of Warcraft, and we'll have sanctioning beginning in January! Here's the schedule:
6:00 PM Monday: Free Open Play
7:30 PM Friday: Free Open Play, Pick-Up Tournaments, Sanctioned Events in January
We also have the following events coming up, with prize support and door prizes:
Dec. 29th and Jan 5th, 12th, 19th: Constructed Swiss
Jan. 26th: Onyxia's Lair Raid Deck Tournament
$19.99
The first Wolverine solo series, collected here for the first time in a Marvel Premiere Hardcover! The master of mutants joins the master of ninjas in Wolverine's first solo series - replete with romance, intrigue and mayhem! Our beleaguered berserker's in Japan on a mission of the heart, if he can survive the Hand first! Plus: the introduction of everyone's favorite riotous ronin, Yukio! Collects WOLVERINE #1-4, plus Uncanny X-Men # 172-172. There's also a variant cover featuring the cover to Wolverine #1!
$18.99 EachYou've finally got another chance to catch the figures you may have missed before! The four figures in this assortment are some of the most popular sold-out Marvel Select figures that have been made. Check out Thanos, Green Goblin, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Ultimate Hulk, finally available again at long last. These are some sweet figures, and this may be your last chance to pick them up at retail cost, so take advantage!
$24.99
It was the biggest thing to happen to the Avengers in recent memory--the team destroyed, disbanded, and, if I may go so far, disassembled. Of course, it pretty much turned out to be a way for them to put Spider-Man, Wolverine, and some other characters Brian Michael Bendis had crushes on onto the team. However, think what you will of what has happened since then, but Avengers Disassembled was a pretty good read. This volume collects the whole thing: Avengers #500-503 and the Avengers Finale, as a deluxe, oversized hardcover. Even if you don't like the changes to the Avengers that occurred in this series, don't worry! They'll probably undo all of it once Joe Quesada steps down as editor.
$14.99
This volume collects Justice League of America #4, # 75, #105-106, 3146, #161 and #173-174, featuring Green Arrow, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkgirl, Zatanna and Black Lightning, and how they gained entry into the league! Seriously, aren't you a little bit curious how a guy with a bow ended up on a team with Superman? Not to mention a stretchy guy who isn't Plastic Man? What about finding out why we have to deal with Red Tornado being constantly jammed down our throat? The answers lie within.
$19.99 (S-XL)
This is a great gift for Magic players, particularly those who play black. Now, for your viewing pleasure, the word "T-Shirt" copied and pasted over and over again:
T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt 
T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt T-Shirt
$8.95
Finally, the secret origins of some of philosophy's most beloved characters, including Karl Marx, Machiavelli, Descartes, Sartre, Derrida, Wittgenstein, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Kierkegaard! These books are awesome for anyone who wants a light and irreverent review of some of philosophy's biggest names, or even someone who really likes philosophy and is in fact majoring in it! It's fantastic, entertaining, and--dare I say--educational! I can easily give it my highest recommendation. Oh, and it's only nine bucks! A great gift for anyone who has ever taken a philosophy course or even thought about philosophy. I would go so far as to say it is the Platonic ideal of the comic book about philosophy. Seriously, there is not much more praise I can heap upon this awesome book.
I am far too white to even use language like that, but I refuse to let a first-class case of honkiness stop me! Wow, I can't even use the word "honky" without sounding like a chump. Hey, though, you know who aren't chumps? I'll tell you: people who are awesome at segues. Oh, and also the people who play D&D Miniatures, because they take advantage of some awesome free sanctioned events with great prize support. Every Tuesday at 7:00 PM they show up for a DCI Sanctioned free tournament, where the winner gets one booster for every four players who play! Did we mention it is free?
Another event that is essentially free is our D&D Miniatures Kill and Keep Tournament, which we had to reschedule to December 30th due to a shipping error! We apologize to anyone who planned to play in that tournament, where $30 gets you two boosters to build a 200 point team, which you can field along with every other player to try to kill the store's team! Yes, the store busts open a booster for every entrant and builds a massive team of 100 points for every player who shows up. What happens to the monsters you kill? Well, you get to keep them! Pretty much, you buy a couple of boosters that you would have bought anyway, and you also get to have some fun and win more minis as a bonus!
They were introduced in the top-selling Road to Civil War one-shot: a group of powerful white men who try to control the world. Coming from Brian Michael Bendis, (A Jewish Man--Perhaps a Zionist?) this book is a pretty cool look at some of the Marvel Universe's most powerful people kicking butt and taking names. Then they take these names and use science to grow butts onto these names which they in turn further kick. Don't believe me? Check out this 5-page preview, which inexplicably has a two-page spread as two images, at Newsarama. For my part, I'm hoping this information leads to The Secret Defenders: Freemasons, and Astonishing X-Men: the Rothschilds.
We've got a new Index.
We've got a Forum.
We've got Archives.
Soon, our domination of INTERNET will be complete. Get on board now, and you can be one of the numerous priest-kings that will preside over our domination of this strange and frightening realm.
Whole bunch of stuff been added to our store! Read on for a list of what we've gotten to so far. Most of the listed issues will be in our Recently Acquired boxes.
THIS WEEK'S ADDITIONS
Key Modern Age X-Men Issues: #201 (FN, First Appearance Cable as Baby Nathan, First Whilce Portacio Art on X-Men), #266 (VF, First Appearance Gambit), #267 (FN+, Second Full Gambit Appearance)
Bronze/Modern Age Fantastic Four: #122, 126, 127, 131, 143, 145, 167, 176-178, 183-186, 188, 189-195, 198, 200, 236, 250, 281-287, 298, 299, 303, 322, 381 (Death of Reed Richards and Dr. Doom), 395, 399, 400
Bronze Age Conan (Marvel): #1-3, 5-11, 14-16, 18, 19, 26, 31, 34, 37, 38, 42-47, 51, 55, 60
Bronze Age Silver Surfer (Original Series): #4-8, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17
Claremont/Miller Wolverine Miniseries: #2, 4
Wolverine: #1-4, 47-90
Wolverine (New Series): #1, 6-8, 12-14, 20
Kitty Pride/Wolverine: #1-4, 6
New Comic Sets: Painkiller Jane #1-3, Blade of the Immortal #107-111 (Shortcut Pts. 1-5), 52 Weeks 9-12, 52 Weeks 13-16, 52 Weeks 17-20, Ion #1-6, Green Lanter Corps #1-3
EARLIER ADDITIONS
Silver Age Daredevil: #4 (VG+, First Appearance of the Purple Man), #47, #49, #51-57, #60, #62, #66-67, #69-71, #73-77, #79-81, #84-89, #91, #120, #122-123, #142, #146, #148, #160, #185, #189-192
Silver Age Amazing Spider-Man: #16 (1964, VG-, Spider-Man vs. Yellow Costume Daredevil)
Silver Age Sub-Mariner: #8-9, #13-31, #33-34, #37-39, #41-45, #47
Silver Age Captain America: #112-125, #127, #132-136, #141-149, #151-154, #206-209, #212-215, #222, Annual #4 (All VG to FN)
Notable Issues: #117 - First Appearance of the Falcon, #154 - First Appearance of Nomad
Silver Age Captain Marvel: #9, #11-22, #37, #52-61
Notable Issue: #17 - New Costume
Comic Sets (Uncanny X-Men): #189-193, #194-200 (Trial of Magneto, Giant-Sized 200th Issue), #202-204 (Nightcrawler Storyline), #205-209 (B. Smith Art on Wolverine Solo Story), #214-219 (Features 1st Appearance of Mr. Sinister and Wolverine vs. Sabertooth), #225-227 (Fall of the Mutants), #228-231, #232-234 (X-Men vs. Brood), #235-238 (X-Men in Genosha), #239-243 (Inferno Storyline), #244-247 (First Appearance of Jubilee), #248-255 (First Jim Lee artwork on X-Men and Wolverine vs. Reavers), #256-258 (New Psylocke), #259-264,
Comic Sets (Captain Marvel): The Untold Legend of Captain Marvel #1-3, Captain Marvel: Son of Marvel #1-2, Captain Marvel #1-6 (Peter David Run), Captain Marvel: Cover (Parts 1-4, Issues 9-12, Peter David Run), Captain Marvel: Monsters and Gods (Parts 1-2, Issues #7-8, Peter David Run), Captain Marvel: Crazy Like a Fox (Parts 1-4, Issues #15-18, Peter David Run), Captain Marvel: Odyssey (Parts 1-6, Issues #19-21, Peter David Run)
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Silver Age Avengers
Silver Age Iron Man
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Silver Age X-Men
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Other Titles
Two-fisted high-flying action can now be found in Fanboy in Pulp form! Ask to look at our pulps while you're checking out our paperback selection and pin-up magazines!
So Discuss things over at the Fanboy Comics forums, although we'd prefer if you did it with a minimum amount of disses and cusses. Cusses do not make things fun for a lot of people, and disses do not help elevate the standard of conversation! Right now, I've started a topic on the new Civil War Delays, and I have not had a chance to reply to the one other reply to the topic. Maybe you can help me out here and throw in some thoughts of your own! Are delays really that big a deal, or are they just a natural result of working in an industry that depends on a massive amount of creative talent to sustain it? Let us know!
Fanboy Comics is always looking to buy Silver Age Comics, Used Trade Paperbacks, Classic Magazines, Vintage Pulps, and Pre-War Records with store credit or cash. So turn your old stuff into platinum diamond-studded teeth or whatever!
As usual, a great many comic books have been pushed back to a later date. This news is so shocking that we are now developing a weekly section where we announce comic delays, so you can better know when your favorite books are coming out. Or when the next delay announcement will be, whatever. We'll also include other schedule announcements, like different products coming back in stock, second printings, and the like. But this is the comic industry, and we all know which type of announcment we will see the most.
Changed Release Dates
I have little patience for these Fights on this day. Let us see the entries, and judge them harshly. First, from regular fights contributor Perry Morrison:
Yugi would not have any chance to play his playing cards for Gambit would come in and throw cards or whatever he wants all around the place, then letting it explode! Yugi would cry to his inner self and then cry because his cards are burning and Gambit would just laugh. When Yugi starts running in circles, Gambit would throw cards up in the air and play "Target Tag" without a "Tag" and declare he won! End of Discussion!
I'll be honest: at this point, the only reason Perry Morrison doesn't win every single week's Fanboy Fights is out of pity for the rest of you. His are easily the most entertaining fights each week, and that have a certain stream-of-consciousness-cum-absurdist touch that I definitely appreciate. As far as making me laugh each week, Perry pretty much wins hands down. Who knows, maybe I won't give it to him this week if one of the other entries can capture a certain je ne sais quoi that Perry has attained complete mastery over. Let's try this one, from Sean:
I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail here because I don't know **** about this Yugi Mutou thing, other than what thrity seconds on Wikipedia taught me (he plays the Pokemon CCG with Egyptians on television or some such horse ****).
Knowing at least a tich more about the X-Men than that, and knowing that Gambit can be pretty bad-ass now and again, I shall now present to you, the reader, with my interpretation of this fight.
In the interest of perculiarity we shall set this scene onboard a space-shuttle, going to, hell, Mercury or something. Gambit, having just finished hitting on the only woman aboard for the nine-hundredth time or so (she's some frigid Russian astro-physicist who won't give him the time of day. Frigging typical, man.) floats himself down a hall-way and into a little side room where-in sits some little punk with spikey hair, wearing a cape and girl pants.
"Ha, ha," says the little bastard, "I am Yugi Mutou. I shall challenge you to a card game and take your cards, because I am very powerfull!"
"Indeed," Gambit might have been heard to say if he were British, "I do not believe that I am understanding you correctly young sir. Your cards appear to portray silly looking monsters and a statistic system that dirties the good names of both Customizable Card Games and Role-Playing Games. I on the other hand have simple playing cards, which I may fill with otherworldly kinetic energy and cause to explode, singing off your freakishly proportioned face. De us all a favor and shoot yourself out of the air-lock now."
Ah, but this would anger the little bastard now wouldn't it. Because as we all know, all of the main characters from that sort of show are exactly the same in mannerisms. Gambit's perceptive and even-handed response would send this revolting little **** into an indignant rage where-in his head became very large and a single vein stood out on one temple as he screamed "unfair" over and over again. Let's watch...
"UNFAIR UNFAIR UNFAIR UNFAIR UNFAIR!" Yugi Mutou screamed, "You should respect me more! I have played cards with Egyptians! You are nothing Gambit! Ha, ha!"
I think that at this point it reasons to say that Gambit would pick some of Yugi Mutou's cards out of his pocket and then charge them up, before throwing them at him and causing his head to explode in a brilliant kaleidoscopic light-show that would be visible from space had they not already been in space.
Later, the hull breaches and everybody dies, regretably stopping the crew from stopping off at Mars to rescue Don Cheadle.
Huh. A bit much on the cusses. There are some good ideas in this one, and I've got to give some props for mentioning Don Cheadle, but overall it just felt bitter. I'll be brutally honest here: I am, myself, very bitter. So I have enough bitterness myself to satisfy me. I don't need other people to add bitterness to my life. So your best bet is to not act exceedingly bitter when writing in to the Fanboy Fights. Let's look at our next entry, from another person named Sean:
Yugi Oh goes up to Gambit and challenges him to a card game. Gambit tells him he doesn't play Magic Cards. "This is Yugi Oh Cards," says Yugi Oh angrily.
"Oh, the stupid Japanesse collect them all stuff. No thanks kid."
Now Yuig is mad and tries to lay down a card to get one of his monsters, but Gambit kicks the card out of his hand. He tries to put some distance between him and Gambit, so he can put a card down. Gambit throws his staff to trip Yugi. Yugi starts to get up as he is hit in the head with a kineticly charged playing card. This is sets his hair? hat? both on fire. Some of his burning hair/hat falls on his cards leaving him helpless.
Gambit walks away the victor.
This entry seems pretty bitter, too. I think perhaps that people tried to guess my feelings on the matter and write to those, but got them completely wrong. I like the Yu-Gi-Oh TV show! In fact, I probably like it more than I like Gambit. Sorry, folks. Nobody takes the win from Perry Morrison this week. Congratulations, Perry! To the rest of you, don't worry! My mood changes pretty much constantly and I could really want bitter entries! It seems unlikely, though, as this week's fight features some heartwarming characters. Who would win in this fight, folks,
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The Sinister Six |
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The Seasonal Six |
Send in your responses to fanboyfights@fanboycomics.biz, or post them on the forums!
Writers: Craig Kyle & Chris Yost
Artists: Mike Choi & Sonia Oback
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $2.99
X-23 was created for the X-Men: Evolution animated series, but the character made enough of an impression to be included in the X-Men comic escapades. How could she not? When you’re going to clone Wolverine and make lightning strike twice…well, that’s a character that’s tough to ignore. You also know things are going to backfire. Not a perfect clone, X-23 (real name Laura Kinney) has Wolvie’s traits (two claws rather than three on each hand, regenerative healing, slowed aging, heightened strength) and some intriguing additions of her own (like a retractable claw on her foot—that’s my favorite).
For those of you who want to read about a female teenager made in Wolverine’s image, there’s no need to track down earlier incarnations of X-23’s comic adventures. The past is all laid out in a detailed prologue before this issue gets going. Basically: X-23 (named as such because the first 22 tries didn’t work out) was supposed to be a recreation of Weapon X as a living killer. A whole bunch of things go wrong and two years after X-23 escapes shady government control, she ends up in New York (detailed in the NYX series) working as a prostitute. Those missing two years are detailed in this book.
But for some reason, the creators wanted to cram the vignettes from those two years all into this first issue. X-23 is eleven, then thirteen, then fourteen, then fifteen—it all comes too fast. What this issue does is hit the important points to be featured in upcoming issues, but the narrative here doesn’t provide detail for what’s going on at each moment. Some of them are action-packed and exciting, such as when X-23 is in fight simulation (along with the hologram of Weapon X) and later when she goes hand-to-hand with some well-armed soldiers. The rest of the background scenes are spare and empty. Plenty goes unsaid and leaves a lot to be filled in later. There’s a nice Marvel U character appearance that bookends the story, which will make for an interesting follow-up, but what’s also set up is a series of memories rather than forward momentum. I hope that’s not the case, because seeing X-23 in action is exciting anytime she draws her claws.
The digital artwork on this book is fantastic. It’s very clean and dreamy, like filmed through a soft lens. There are splashes of blood and violence, but overall the artwork is quite elegant. There’s also a shout-out to the British version of The Office, which is unexpected, out of place, and funny.
The writers here were responsible for first introducing X-23 in the X-Men animated adventures, and perhaps they take familiarity for granted in this issue, or maybe they have reveals in mind. While it’s clear that they know their character, I hope they know what the readers want, too—more butt kicking. X-23’s appearance and style are in good hands, so her story should be taken care of as well, eventually.
RATING: 3/5
Writer: Darwyn Cooke
Penciler: Darwyn Cooke
Inker: J. Bone
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $2.99
Will Eisner’s creation is back, not with a whimper, but with a brilliant crash through the wall and a fist through a gangster’s face. Here’s a story for anybody who thinks that a hero created more than six decades ago who doesn’t have any gadgets (equipped only with a eye mask and red tie) or otherworldly superpowers can’t keep the story moving at a rapid clip. After last month’s Batman/Spirit team-up crossover, Darwyn Cooke begins the new Spirit ongoing series with a title story that feels simultaneously modern and timeless. It’s not groundbreaking by any means, but it’s fine comic reading.
While I did not offer a favorable review to Mr. Cooke for his work on Superman Confidential #1, I can say that the writer/artist has won me over with his work on this title. Even though I’m much less familiar with the Spirit than I am with Superman, I fell instantly in line with the character as portrayed in this issue, which is part Batman, part Dick Tracy. Cooke’s retro style works perfectly with the character’s beginnings and modern incarnation.
A young, intrepid news reporter is working to break a big story that’ll crack the case of mob figure “The Pill.” She’s kidnapped by his goons, and while the police are on the case, it takes the Spirit to mount the rescue. But saving this reporter, Ginger Coffee (cute name, Cooke), turns out to be more trouble than its worth as her desire for career advancement won’t allow her to play the damsel in distress.
This is pretty much a self-contained issue, although there isn’t a whole lot of background offered on the titular hero. We see his techniques, which are blunt but not without error. We see his “Robin,” a character named Ebony White (a black kid who drives a taxi—and was the target of controversy doing the Spirit’s earlier runs), and a whole lot of humor spread throughout the book. Cooke’s knows his way around good pacing, as the book cooks along briskly without feeling short or slight. Quite simply, this is a fun comic story.
While the story alone works, it wouldn’t have been nearly as effective without the artwork. Cooke’s pencils are as dazzling as they were on DC: The New Frontier, and they pointedly capture action and intrigue (and nasty bad guys). There’s just so much life on every page, highlighted by the muted but lively color palate.
While this one shot-styled plot could’ve benefited from hints at history and background, there’s no denying that this is a great place for a new series to begin. The Spirit is in good hands.
RATING: 4.5/5
Writer: John Ney Rieber
Artist: Eric Nguyen
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Publisher: DC/Vertigo
Price: $2.99
It has been nearly eight years since the Sandman Mystery Theatre series has been on the racks, but the character and storytelling from that series still resonates and intrigues. The Sandman (not Neil Gaiman’s creation, but there is a slight connection) harkens back to the DC Golden Age, a hero who couldn’t fly or melt steel, but who was equipped with fine detective skills and a weapon packed with powerful sleeping gas. Not to mention the gas mask he wore that, when coupled with a trench coat, just made him look really tough and scary. Pretty much anybody in a gas mask would look scary. Even a baby.
Rather than relaunching the franchise where it ended, this first issue of the new miniseries acts as a short of torch-passing affair. Wesley Dodds, the OG Sandman, is older now and finds himself in Afghanistan in 1997, accompanied by long-time lover Dian Belmont. Despite desires for vacation (in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan of all places? St. Croix would’ve been nice, too), trouble finds them and it isn’t long before Dodds has to made a difficult decision to save Dian from an uncertain fate.
Cut to Afghanistan of today, and US forces are fighting extreme opposition. Kieran Marshall is an embedded reported with the troops and is hell-bent on getting an interview with Masad, a fanatical resistance leader. Marshall bears witness to the violence and bloodshed censored from television. He eventually gets close to having his interview, but when his life is threatened, he discovers the Sandman’s secrets (and signature weapon) in order to escape a cruel fate.
There’s a lot that goes unanswered here in this first issue, which is at times both intriguing and confounding. The narratives of both Dodds and Marshall are juxtaposed throughout the story, but it’s not clear yet how they’ll connect. How did the Sandman’s disguise and gun get stuck on a crate only to be suddenly found by Marshall, and by coincidence at that? By the end of the issue, the fates of both characters are seemingly reversed, and there’s no telling what’ll happen with the next issue. Despite the confusion, the story is still intriguing for its real-world relevance and palpable sense of danger.
The artwork in this book is a true accomplishment and demands attention. Each storyline is portrayed differently: Dodds’ experience is dusty and gray, sketched and rough. Marshall’s story begins with a similar look, but goes through several stylistic and tonal changes. Color is used so efficiently throughout that when a vibrant hue is used, it stands out brilliantly.
The Sandman is a fun character, and he’s given new life in a present fueled by trepidation. While the story is laced with confusion, it’s good to see some new life here.
RATING: 3.5/5
So here I am, with a problem. I wanted to do some sort of little written thing for the newsletter, where each member of the staff just writes a little bit about a book that came out this week that they liked. Well, only Pam actually wrote anything. So I can't really make a feature of it like I wanted, for one. I also don't really feel like writing some editor's notes this week. Then, brilliance hit me, and like Alexander cutting two Gordian Knots with one stone, I decided to just put Pam's thing she wrote in as my editor's notes. Enjoy!
Alright, Cyrus is now forcing the other employees to do write ups of comics we like each week or else he’ll steal our unborn children. Seems fair if you ask me. So here it goes…Cross Bronx 4, the final chapter in this series written by Michael Avon Oeming and Ivan Brandon, art by Oeming.. It’s good. Read it. That’s all…….blah blah blah. I think I need to take up more space. Ok, why is it good? It’s a supernatural cop drama. Artwork is good. Writing got progressively better as the issues came out. “I want to pray but I don’t know who will listen.” If that isn’t good writing, I don’t know what is. And now I’m sad it’s over. Oh yeah, also David Mack did the alternate cover of this issue, whom I love. So I suppose I’m bias right off the bat. I also tend to like character driven storylines as opposed to plot. Cross Bronx really stood out because of it’s great characters, including the tired Detective Aponte who’s reminiscent of Lieutenant Gordon in Batman Year One. And also a weirdo woman who’s reminiscent of a senile bag of wrinkly skin. If you haven’t read the series, pick it up or wait for the trade to come out. Either way, read it. Good stuff.
Now, on to what I really want to write about. It’s that magical time of year again when kids everywhere are laying on the ground at Target throwing tantrums, drivers are crashing their beloved vehicles in attempt for the best parking spot, and retailers are drinking their scotch and smoking cigars as money swirls around their heads. That’s right, it’s Christmas. But what I am going to watch this magical holiday season, you ask. Here’s a list of classic fun holiday movies for the whole family, but some not so appropriate.
5. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
4. Elf
3. Home Alone and/or Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (don’t make fun…these are great)
2. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (not a Christmas movie, but it does take place during Christmas time)
1. Bad Santa (will always have a special spot in my warped heart.)
God, I am so freaking brilliant I amaze even myself.
NEXT WEEK: I will be in Florida and this newsletter will be a day late!
