No Episode This Coming Week

That's right, with Rob having left our ranks as of the last episode we're going to take a week off so that when we come back with our new line up (before we change the line up again as Darren heads off to Japan) complete. So, have a great week and we look forward to talking about all things comics next week!

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?!?!?: An Announcement and a Hint at Some Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Alright, for the first time in our history as a podcast The ComicDorksCast is actively taking a week off. We realize that there have been weeks where episodes were not posted but that was always because of technical difficulties. This weekend is the 4th of July. Independence Day. There are a lot of family commitments and whatnot that coincide with that and so unfortunately we'll be unable to record a show for this coming week. I (Scott) will be posting my thoughts on some of the comics I read here, on the message boards at www.fantasyshoponline.com and through my Twitter account at www.twitter.com/ScottDont if you're interested in what my thoughts are on this tumultuous week of comics.

Also, as I mentioned in the headline there are going to be some changes coming up for the ComicDorksCast and I hope that with the coming changes that you'll all feel that we're still bringing you the best in comics podcasting this side of the Mississippi!

Sneak Peek Reviews for 06/23/2009

Berserker #1

Written by: Rick Loverd

Art by: Jeremy Haun

Sometimes creators make a silly decision. Rick Loverd tried first to find a home for Berserker as a television show. He should have seen the problem with that. This is a story that, in many ways, was meant for comics. In many more ways it was meant to be drawn by the likes of Jeremy Haun. This is an incredibly fun read that brings a fun nuance to what might, in other hands, be a pretty typical horror story. Berserker brings the idea of losing your temper to a new and incredible height, imagine blacking out when you get really pissed off and coming to with a couple dead bodies nearby … that’s the kind of thing that happens to characters in Berserker. This is going to be one bloody entertaining book. Fans of books like Crossed who want a book that’s a little scaled back will love this one.

Detective Comics #854

Both Features Written by: Greg Rucka

First Feature Art by: J.H. Williams III

Second Feature Art by: Cully Hamner

This is going to be the comic of the year. You heard it here first. Don’t ever forget that. Detective Comics featuring Batwoman is going to be the hottest thing since bread, I mean sure when we started slicing it was pretty cool and all but bread was a pretty big step in the first place. Williams’ art is going to quite simply put you on your ass. He has a different style for each story element in the issue. And all of it is awesome. The story is fantastic and while having read The Question Five Lessons of Blood (now available in super sexy trade paperback) will make for a more enriching experience I think that you can feel more than comfortable diving into this book and loving every single moment. There’s going to be a lot of questions and by the time the second story arc rolls around you can expect to get some answers but for now let’s just be glad that the action is on and it’s hot. The second feature of this book is also phenomenal. The Question is a character that has been begging for her own series ever since the end of 52 and now 2 full years later we can expect monthly Question stories for quite some time to come. Cully Hamner has brought his A-Game to this title and even though it’s only 10 pages you’re still going to have a lot of fun with it.

Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia One Shot

Written by: Matt Fraction

Art by: Marc Silvestri

It’s not often that I find myself interested in reading a Marvel “Event” these days. There have been exceptions. Annihilation, Annihilation: Conquest, War of Kings … you’ll note, of course, that all of those books are about cosmic characters. So when I heard that one of my favorite writers currently working at Marvel, Matt Fraction, was going to be writing an event this summer I was immediately excited, worried, and frustrated. Excited because it’s about time that he got some face time on the big stage at Marvel as his work on Immortal Iron Fist, The Order, Uncanny X-Men, and Invincible Iron Man have been consistently amazing. I was worried because I didn’t want people to not like it and for it to have a negative effect on his career. I was frustrated because it felt like I might have to buy a Marvel event that dealt with major players and wasn’t just a super-fun space opera. 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. This book is a lot of good. A whole lot of good. So much so that it would be considered, by most, to be awesome. Fraction is going to be the name on everyone’s lips for some time to come (here’s hoping that they will go back and read some of the awesome stuff that he did before he found his way to Marvel). Silvestri’s art is good, though it is quite clear that he had help (yes he has 4 people on “pencil assists” [a.k.a. drawing the backgrounds and unessential characters]). I think that if you’ve been reading Uncanny X-Men that the best part about this event is that it built out of the events going on in the title over nearly the last 2 years. So, get set for Utopia to be broken, and for the world to look at Mutants in an all too familiar way … but with even more support.

Sneak Peek Reviews: 05/12/09

Unwritten #1

Written by: Mike Carey

Art by: Peter Gross

Get ready for a pretty lofty review. This is a seriously awesome comic. Vertigo has been scratching all the right itches for me lately. With Air, House of Mystery, Madame Xanadu, and now Unwritten. I devoured each and every issue of Lucifer while it was coming out and I think that it might well have been Mike Carey's best work to date and that it put Peter Gross in the limelight like he had always deserved. I think that everytime someone picks up a copy of the first Lucifer trade that I smile a mile wide. These are two guys with some serious talent and to have them come back together to work on another Vertigo book gives me the kind of happiness that I find difficult to describe. The story of Unwritten holds the kind of promise that a lot of Carey's work has, the kind of promise that makes me giddy. I find it a little hard to describe the story, but basically it is about Tom "Little Tommy" Taylor, who was the basis for his father's Harry-Potter-esque character that has become the most popular fictional character of all time. There are some questions about whether or not Tom is really his father's son, there are some questions about where his father has disappeared to, there are some questions as to whether he is human at all and not fiction come to life. The kind of questions that this series is bound to ask make my head spin in a good way. Peter Gross became one of my favorite artists when he worked on Books of Magic and then his work on Lucifer only further confirmed my love for his work, and now any time I read stuff he's drawn it's like putting on a favorite coat, like slipping into your favorite sneakers, like eating your favorite simple meal (grilled cheese, chicken noodle soup and jalapeno Crunchers). I am going to love the hell out of this book, but don't just take my word on why you should check it out, you can get it yourself when it comes out tomorrow ... for $1! That's right 32 pages of comic (48 if you count ads) for $1!

Dark Reign: Young Avengers #1

Written by: Paul Cornell

Art by: Mark Brooks

This was a really fun book that also asks some serious questions about what a post H.A.M.M.E.R. world would look like, and how young heroes would develop in that kind of world. I'm pretty unfamiliar with all of these characters and if Cornell created them for this mini-series then he did a great job of making them feel like they already belonged in the Marvel U. Mark Brooks does an excellent job on the art chores for this mini-series as well. However I think that the unsung hero on art in this issue is Christina Strain, her colors bring an excellent level of depth and reality to this book. I think that a group of young super-powered individuals that comes together during the reign of Osborn would unquestionably look like this, would make these same mistakes, would dance around these same philisophical quandries. I think that fans of Avengers: Initiative, and the original Young Avengers would probably really dig this mini-series and I think that it certainly serves as a compliment to Cornell and crew that I think so highly of the direction after just one issue. Grats to all involved.

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?!: Alright Mister Lapham ... You Win ... (or alternately: You Had Me at Hello)

David Lapham has been one of my favorite comic creators for the last 6 years or so. I first discovered his work when I started reading the second Stray Bullets hardcover while working at the Saint Charles location of The Fantasy Shop. I just remember looking at it there on the independent shelf and thinking "I've heard good stuff about Stray Bullets ... and I've never read any. But we don't have the first Hardcover." And eventually I broke down and read it anyway. And I was totally enthralled. And since then I have read anything and everything his name has graced. Some were better than others but they were all, in my opinion, very good. When he works with established characters he brings a bit of himself to them and there is something interesting about adding his interesting mix of noir, excitement, and nihilism to those characters. But it's when he creates something wholecloth that I get really excited. So when he announced that he was going to be doing some work under the Vertigo umbrella I was excited. I loved Silverfish and have spoken about it before on the show and have recommended it to quite an awfully large amount of people in the stores I have worked in since it was released. Then Young Liars came out and I got even more pumped because it was like what I imagine reading Stray Bullets on LSD would be like (or perhaps more likely what reading Stray Bullets would have been like if Lapham himself had been on LSD during the whole creative process). And when it was recently announced that the series would be ending with the forthcoming #18 I was saddened ... not because I thought "Why aren't people reading this book?!?! It should have been the next Sandman!!!!", because it simply wasn't that kind of book. I was saddened more because I had really grown attached to that book in a way that I tend to about a lot of the non-traditional books that I encounter. 

And then ...

Today I hear about something new coming down the pike.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21126

It's hard to explain why I am excited about Sparta. U.S.A. but there is something about the mix of suburban life, magic, high school football, betrayal and David Lapham makes me smile ... like ten feet wide.

Sneak Peek Reviews: 05/05/09

Final Crisis Aftermath: RUN! #1

Written by: Matthew Sturges

Art by: Freddie Williams II

Lately the name Matthew Sturges has been synonymous with excellent comics. When I heard that he was going to be penning one of the Final Crisis Aftermath books I was equal parts excited and nervous for him. I mean this is sort of a bigger stage than a lot of his work has been on in the past. Final Crisis (whether you loved it or hated it) was a huge story line for DC last year and the Aftermath books have the established love from some fans and the established hate from other fans both working for and against them. Someone who didn't love Final Crisis might still pick up RUN! #1 because they want to see what happens to the man behind the death of The Martian Manhunter, someone who loved Final Crisis might be picking up RUN! #1 because they want to see how things have changed for the characters who had been under the influence of the Justifier helmets. But either way there is a lot to live up to or live down when it comes to fan reaction when it comes to these books. I think that anyone familiar with Sturges incredible work on Jack of Fables, Blue Beetle, & House of Mystery is going to be enthralled by this book. It has a lot of the tell tale markings of a Sturges book. And at the same time those who aren't familiar with Sturges' previous work are going to really get a kick out of the kind of sense of humor and sense of pacing and storytelling that Sturges brings to his books. Freddie Williams II is really kicking butt on this mini-series as well. His art work is always improving and the case is no different here. I really think that he was a great choice to illustrate this story and when you read it I think you'll know why. There was one coloring gaff (Firestorm is colored as being white or perhaps light skinned but Jason Rusch [the current Firestorm] is a fairly dark-complected young black man [and one of my favorite {and woefully overlooked} characters of recent memory] but aside from that I think that the issue was really brilliant through and through. I highly recommend it and hope that you'll check it out when you hit the shop tomorrow.

New Mutants #1

Written by: Zeb Wells

Art by: Diogenes Neves

You ever have one of those childhood experiences that makes it hard for you to use good judgment about particular sections of geek culture. I have a few. One of them is New Mutants. There was something about the first couple of issues of New Mutants that I picked up that really stuck with me. There was something about the thought of Xavier Academy being an actual school and having classes and students that just thrilled me to the bone. And so whenever Marvel launches a new, New Mutants title I have to check it out, no matter what my gut tells me about it. Zeb Wells isn't one of my favorite writers. He and I had a good first experience together with his book from Virgin Comics "Snake Woman" I really dug that. But since then I have thought that most of his work has been pretty average. But like I said, it's New Mutants. Either issue #64 or #38 was my first issue of New Mutants (either way it was bought out of a back issue box) ... and like I said there was something about it. Zeb Wells manages to get on my good side with this issue, I think he captured the characters pretty well and I think that the story might be interesting as it unfolds. Diogenes Neves is pretty darn good as well. I think that anyone who is a fan of the Louise Simonson era of New Mutants is probably going to enjoy this issue and likely this series. So, prepare for a blast from the past as pre-Liefeld New Mutants are about to get all up in your business!

Sword of My Mouth #1

Written by: Jim Munroe

Art by: Shannon Gerard

A good long while ago I read a really great graphic novel called “Therefore Repent!” it was written by Jim Munroe and drawn by Salgood Sam. It was a really brilliant and rather touching book that takes place after The Rapture. Reading that got me to check out some of Jim Munroe's novels and I really dug those as well. So when I heard that he was going to be doing a mini-series to follow up Therefore Repent! I got excited. And my excitement was well aimed. “Therefore Repent!” introduced the concept that in a world after The Rapture, in a world no longer looked upon by God that Magic would work. It seems like a dreadfully simple idea but it really took me by surprise and made me love the book. Sword of My Mouth takes place in post-Rapture Detroit and focuses on a mother who is raising her young infant son without the help of the child's father. There is something dreadfully simple about the book but at the same time that simplicity strikes me as brilliant. I really, really liked this first issue and I can honestly say that I am really excited to see where this goes. I think that a lot of people might like this series and should check out “Therefore Repent!” you can read the first 60 pages herehttp://tinyurl.com/64lcvc and you can order it through your favorite local Fantasy Shop! I also recommend that you check out Jim Munroe's website nomediakings.org.

Brief Mentions: Free Comic Book Day!

Savage Dragon #148

Written & Drawn by: Erik Larsen

Colors by: Nikos Koutsis

Letter by: Tom Orzechowski

Free Comic Book Day was this weekend and I decided that I would focus on a couple of the books that came out as part of the industry-wide push to bring new readers into the fold. The first one is Savage Dragon. I started reading Savage Dragon again with issue #145 and I have been loving what the book brings to my monthly stack of books. Erik Larsen brings a huge level of fun and action to each issue without being pandering or skimping on story progression. I know that in the past that a lot of people complained that month in month out that not a lot was going on in Savage Dragon and I think that Larsen must have heard the complaints and is responding in kind by bringing the thunder on this book. I don't even remember the last single issue of Savage Dragon that I bought but my interest in getting back into the series started when I started reading the Savage Dragon Archives last year. The action and character and interest that went on in those pages could barely be contained, they were phone-books that managed to be page turners and that's certainly saying something these days. I think that Savage Dragon brings the best concepts of the Silver Age, the Modern Age, and European Comics (like Judge Dredd) and wraps it all up in a fantastic little package. This issue was jam packed with fights and wraps up an ongoing plot thread (IN THE FREE COMIC BOOK DAY ISSUE!!!) and is part of the regular numbering! With DC having released the Green Lantern: Blackest Night #0 issue for free comic book day (that was pretty much just a catch up book for people who haven't been reading) and Marvel releasing smaller than standard sized books (for god only knows what reason) I think that this Free Comic Book Day was a chance for some of the smaller names in the industry to make a mark and I think that Image did so by releasing Savage Dragon #148 for free, and they weren't the only ones ...

Resurrection #0

Written by: Mark Guggenheim

Art by: Justin Greenwood

One of the books that Darren and I were both super excited about when we started the podcast early last year was Resurrection from ONI Press. It was the story of what happens after the alien invasion ends, when humanity starts to crawl out of it's hiding spaces and tries to remake the Earth into something they can recognize. We saw people trying to cope with loss, we saw others trying to understand alien technology, we saw politicians getting their hands dirty to try to keep America from falling into the hands of the military, we saw a lot of chaos ... we saw people keeping secrets that should have never been kept. And in this issue we see the beginnings of the new Resurrection series, now in color and with a new artist. I think that this series still holds as much promise if not moreso going into the future, I think that Guggenheim has brought his A-game and that this new artist Justin Greenwood has a whole lot of great things that he can bring to the table. This issue showed us a little bit of what happened before the invasion and a little bit of what might be coming now that it's over. I really think that anyone who like the television show "Jericho" or who is digging Walking Dead would dig this book and should jump on board as soon as possible, go to your stores, order the trade (which collects the first 6 issues of the B&W series as well as the annual and will only set you back $6!) and then see if your store still has some copies of Resurrection #0 left around from Free Comic Book Day and get all caught up before issue #1 comes out in June!

From The Dorks' Soundtrack: Music From Episode 63 - Man Butt

Music From Episode 63 - Man Butt

Artist - Bright Eyes

Song - At the Bottom of Everything

Album - I'm Wide Awake, it's Morning

There is something about the band Bright Eyes that makes people want to argue. Some people think that everything frontman Conor Oberst does is genius and that his 29 years belies his musical wisdom and his "old soul"; others think that he is a whiny emo good for nothing and that his songs are like what it must sound like when you try to drown a cat. I can't really say that I am of either camp. I think that a good sized percentage of Bright Eyes songs are really brilliant and beautiful while others are certainly not my taste. I think that anytime Conor and his band decide to tell a story that they bring an amazing level of craft and quality to each and every song. And thus the albums that are rife with those are clearly my favorites. albums like I'm Wide Awake, it's Morning and Cassadaga lead the pack and though I certainly appreciate the rest of their albums those two will always be my far and away favorites. 

When Conor Oberst released his most recent solo record it reminded me of the stuff from Bright Eyes that I loved the most and when I heard that he had a new record coming out soon I got excited and thought that I should probably take the opportunity to introduce people who might not be aware of the kind of really great music that he can produce to the many wonders that he encompasses. When Outer South comes out next week I think I will probably find myself rushing out and buying it ... but then again he is coming to Columbia later this summer and I might decide to wait and just get the record when I go to the show. Who knows. And when I think about the fact that there is a guy who is only about a year older than me who has already released around a dozen full length records it really blows my mind, and if in those dozen or so albums he hasn't wowed me with every song that is certainly no fault of his, I am a fickle music fan, at least mostly ... at least when it comes to the things I love ... and the things I don't ... like I said ... it's not his fault.

Living Up To Expectations: The Reviews That I Forgot to Do for The Last Few Days

Let's start with my brief mentions from last week:

Captain Britain & MI:13 #12

Written by: Paul Cornell

Art by: Leonard Kirk

This book is so good that it gives me goosebumps sometimes. I mean seriously this is some kick ass comic-booking. Leonard Kirk does a great job on the art and depicts the characters with an excellent level of craft and talent 

(the only unfortunate thing is

 that there are often pages that he does not draw in issues or fill in artists who don't bring quite the level of craft at times [thankfully this issue is drawn entirely by Mr. Kirk]). And this book is really written with a level of craft that is woefully missing from a lot of other books, there is a sense of awareness of everything that is going on in the Marvel Universe without any necessary kowtowing to it, something that books like Daredevil, and Captain America do with ease and grace. This book also has DRACULA in it ... 

THAT'S RIGHT DRACULA! A nation of vampires living on the dark side of the moon who have made a tenuous deal with Dr. Doom to take over England. How awesome is that? And this book has the intellect to do all of this with the kind of coniving instinct with which vampires would actually comport themselves. There are secret agent vampires in this book ... allow me to repeat that Secret Agent Vampires. This is the kind of book that has the potential to change the landscape for comic bound bloodsuckers for quite some time to come. And all with Vlad Ţepeş at the helm. This is the kind of book that Marvel UK has needed for a long time and here's hoping that it will be around for a long time to come.

The Best Book You Didn't Read Last Week:

Ignition City #1

Written by: Warren Ellis

Art by: Gianluca Pagliarani

Warren Ellis is a mad genius. I think that even he would agree with that assessment. this book is ostensibly about understanding that your hero might not have been who you thought they were as well as what it feels like to grow up and exceed your parent's wildest expectations. Or at least that's what I read into it. Being the first issue of a Warren Ellis Avatar release is sort of like being a casting of runes, no one is really certain what it portends but plenty of people are willing to pontificate about it. I really think that if you liked Ellis works like Ministry of Space, Aetheric Mechanics, or any of Ellis' other Apparat releases that you'll probably really like the look and feel of this series, and I think that it's got a lot of hidden promise behind it's veneer of giant lizard diarrhea and food pellet constipation.

Sneak Peek Review:

You know what ... since you've already been to the comic store (I'll assume) I won't bother.

Living Up To Expectations:

Oracle: The Cure #2

Written by: Kevin Vanhook

Art by: Fernando Pasarin & Julian Lopez

It was only after reading the first issue and looking into Kevin Vanhook that I realized that he wrote on of my favorite guilty pleasure comics of all time ... and it's not a guilty pleasure in the sense that it was a bad book but that it was from a publisher that most poeple don't remember particularly fondly (and I only managed to put hands on the issues when they were collected into back issue collections at the store I shoped at in high school [and even then only when they were like 50% or 75% off ...]). Vanhook was the writer behind the first 39 issues of Bloodshot from Valiant Comics, I spent a long time in bed reading those books during a Christmas break back in Junior year of High School (there was a whole other reason for me being in bed that whole time but that is another story for another time ... maybe). I really, really like this book. I think that the artwork is fantastic and that the writing is very above average and has moments of brilliance (in my humble opinion). And I think that reading a story about Barbara Gordon without having to jump away to the action beats provided by Black Canary or The Huntress. The Oracle is one of my favorite characters currently in comics and I think that having her on the mainstage with this mini-series will be very rewarding. Also this gives a chance for The Calculator to be shown as a true foil to The Oracle and that is also very entertaining and very interesting. Does this book live up to my expectations? Yes, yes, yes, yes ... and then some.

From The Dorks' Soundtrack: The Wonders of Pandora

Music from Episode 60 - Potato Salad

Band: El Ten Eleven

Album: El Ten Eleven

Song: My Only Swerving

Lately I've been listening to Pandora a whole lot. When I'm at work at the shop there is no better alternative to the radio than Pandora these days. When I managed the Fairview Heights store we listened to a whole lot of CD's and while that certainly holds it's own appeal it doesn't hold the spontaneity of the radio and unfortunately the radio these days doesn't resemble anything like the kinds of music I actually care about and is so repetitive and filled with commercials that I find it borderline intolerable (with the exception of NPR and local public radio). So when I first got here to South County I started experimenting with Pandora again and when I started creating my own radio station for the store I found that it was so enriching and enjoyable that I couldn't begin to imagine the workday without it. At first there was a whole lot of music that I was already familiar with which was not altogether a bad thing but as things got more complex with the mix of bands I was feeding into the seeding of the station the more new bands started to pop up and I started hearing really exciting bands that I was not at all accquainted with and some that I had forgotten about. Some bands that I immediately latched onto were groups like The Spinto Band, Low, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Album Leaf, and El Ten Eleven.

I'm pretty sure that they arrived on my Pandora station because of the Ratatat seed and I started falling in love with the similarities between the two as well as the differences. The band got together in 2003 and released their first album in 2004 and then rereleased it in 2005 through Bar/None Records. The music that they produce is sort of pure rock bliss. I wish I could speak more intelligently about them but I've only really just started listening to them with any sort of frequency recently and I've yet to see them live (though I will be doing so when they come to town next week and grace the little venue that can The Firebird).

So, expect to hear more about them in the nearish future.

Sneak Peek Reviews: 04/07/09

Warlord #1

Written by: Mike Grell

Art by: Joe Prado

In 1975 Warlord’s Travis Morgan made his first appearance, and with it began an epic quest from imperiled USAF pilot to warrior legend of Skartaris, a mythical world he arrives at when he parachutes from his plummeting SR-71 Black Charger. The original series ran from 1976 until 1989 and is considered a fan favorite even today. So when it was announced that Grell would return to helm a new Warrior ongoing it was to some excitement and adulation. The first issue jumps right into some Indiana Jones like action with all new characters finding a portal to another world, one we will assume (for this review at least) leads to Skartaris. Once they’ve passed through the event horizon we jump to the perspective of our titular hero, Travis “The Warlord” Morgan. The issue does a great job of being introductory while also engaging and full of new material. It’s clear that Grell has not lost a step when it comes to crafting a story and anyone who is familiar with the work he has done over at www.comicmix.com should know that already. What’s really rather nice is that Joe Prado has a lot of Grell influence in his work and so it immediately hearkens back to the style that those familiar with the previous series will recognize. I think that anyone looking for a great sword and sorcery fantasy series would be doing themselves a favor by picking up this book, and anyone looking for something that isn’t tied into a dozen other titles in these days of everyone screaming “EVENT FATIGUE” (a concept that I admit I do not grasp) then they would also be doing themselves a favor. I think that this book has a lot of promise and that it would be criminal not to support it especially with its $2.99 price-tag.

Wolverine: Weapon X #1

Written by: Jason Aaron

Art by: Ron Garney

It’s not often that I review a Wolverine book … in fact in the history of doing written reviews this is only the third time I have ever reviewed a Wolverine book if I remember correctly. There is a very good reason behind that; I am not a Wolverine fan. I think that more often than not people grossly misuse the character and that he has become, because of fervent fan adoration, the most overused character in comic book history. Of the three times I have reviewed a Wolverine book two share a striking similarity; they were written by Jason Aaron. Jason Aaron is the kind of writer that I one day long to be. He knows how to pen characters that have a moral compass while navigating a life of amoral action. They realize the right things to do and the wrong things to do but often … they just don’t care whether what they’re doing is ultimately right or wrong. His work on books like Scalped, The Other Side, Ghost Rider, and his previous work on Wolverine have all given me goose-bumps. The few times I have talked to the man he has been engaging, interesting, kind, impassioned, and overall fun to talk to. So when I heard that Marvel was making the incredibly smart decision of letting him pen the launch of their new Wolverine book to coincide with the upcoming release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Re-teaming him with artist Ron Garney was also a master stroke. The two of them together have a way of drawing you into Wolverine’s ultra-violent world without making you shake your head from transition. If I were to compare the work of Jason Aaron and Ron Garney on Wolverine to any other creative team that has ever worked on the character it would most closely resemble the work that Greg Rucka and Darrick Robertson did when Marvel re-launched the Wolverine book in 2003. So take that for what you will. This is going to be a book of Wolverine not as superhero but as everything else Wolverine has ever fit into, horror, sci-fi, suspense, espionage, detective, etc. He might be wearing the costume, but consider it his work clothes, it’s form fitting and black and grey, it doesn’t give an opponent much to grab onto in a fight and it’s dark so it’s stealthy … so … yeah … BUY IT! (side note: This is one of Marvel’s new $3.99 books and it is still only 22 pages, although this issue does include a 6 page preview of the upcoming mini-series Ghost Rider: Heaven’s on Fire as well as guidebook information about the character Maverick and the organization Weapon X … so I am conflicted recommending this book but I think that for the creative team and the fresh take on Wolverine that it is worth the price of admission.)

Exiles #1

Written by: Jeff Parker

Art by: Salva Espin

The (New) Exiles are dead, long live The Exiles. In 2001 Judd Winick launched an ambitious new series at Marvel called The Exiles, it featured 6 characters pulled from separate alternate realities who had been brought together to fix some mishaps of the Marvel Multiverse … excuse me for stealing a phrase. The book was incredibly fun and great for people who liked mutants but didn’t want to have to know all the minutiae of decades of the characters histories, it was also great for people who liked the shows Sliders and Quantum Leap (and I was a fan of both). Winick wrote the series for 37 issues before Chuck Austen took over … things remained passably good and fun for that time. With issue 46 Tony Bedard took over and the book amped up a bit but unfortunately became a little repetitive. When issue 89 rolled around Chris Claremont took over … and I stopped reading the title. A book I had faithfully followed for 88 issues was now borderline unreadable. It remained unreadable for 11 issues until it was cancelled … only to unfortunately be combined with Claremont’s New Excalibur book and relabeled “New Exiles” which ran for 18 issues before being canceled. And for a while I breathed a sigh of relief that a book I had come to love and characters that I had grown ever so fond of were done being abused. Then Marvel announced that there was going to be a new Exiles ongoing. The cringe that followed could probably have been seen from space. Then they announced that Jeff Parker was going to be writing it and the “WOO-HOO!!!” could probably be heard from Mars. Jeff Parker is the perfect writer to take on this kind of book and I couldn’t be happier to see the title in his capable hands. The art by Salva Espin is gorgeous as well, I kind of wish that they had let him do the covers because I worry that some people might look at Dave Bullock’s cover and be put off by his very stylized look, but I think that it is plenty exciting and should be enough to draw the reader’s eye. This is pretty much a wholesale re-launch of the book and I think that anyone who liked what Winick did with the book would be remiss in missing this book.

Is there a character whose popularity you just can’t figure out? I'd love to know, email me at ComicDorksCast@gmail.com

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?!?: Reviews ... and an apology.

I'd like to start with my apology. I've been very lax on my posting the last few days and there is a very specific reason for it. Last Tuesday afternoon my cousin Trenton "Trent" Nathaniel Jiles, died in a car accident. He was 27. I'm 27. It took a whole lot out of me, you might have noticed that I wasn't myself on the most recent episode. I am getting better, a lot better. I'm going to live the rest of my life with a better sense of his desire for freedom in life. I bring a lot of myself to this website and to the podcast and I hope that everyone who listens to the show and reads the articles gets at least half as much out of them as I put into them. I think that if he had seen the site and read some of the articles that he would have laughed and if he had listened to the podcast he probably would have laughed a whole lot. A whole lot of my formative experience was informed by Trent and the man I am today is thanks in part to the things I learned from him while we were growing up, and he never got the chance to really know that ... so this message is for him and this life will be lived more fully in memory of him. So though none of you ever met him (as far as I know) I would like to take this moment to remember him.









Trenton Nathaniel Jiles 4/17/1981 - 3/17/2009


Nothing like a text version of a moment of silence.

And now ...


Living Up To Expectations!

Jack of Fables #32

Written by: Bill Willingham & Matthew Sturges

Art by: Tony Akins
I took a nice sabbatical from Jack of Fables for a while ... I'll admit that it wasn't my proudest hour. But recently I sat down and slammed through about 17 issues of the book and am now all caught up ... and let me tell you, dear readers and kind friends, I have been missing the fuck out. This is easily as good a book as the book from which it spawned. The idea that we can follow a character through as interesting adventures as we have in the 32 issues of this book and all the while there be this underlying seriousness and have it be delivered in such a covert and subconcious way ... brilliant. Toward the beginning of the series we first saw Kevin Thorn and it was almost a throw-away scene and probably lead to more confusion in readers than it did anything ... but now as we've progressed for over thirty issues into this book I have to say that the groundwork that Sturges and Willingham have done leading up to the Literals crossover that starts in the next issues of Fables, Jack and the Literals mini-series is astounding. This is seriously one of the funniest books that I have ever read and at the same time it has this brilliant level of complexity and drama and incredibly interesting, and often endearing, characterization. Expect to hear more about this series on the show this week as I think that it is quickly becoming one of my favorite reads.

The Oracle #1 (of 3)


Written by: Kevin Vanhook


Art by: Julian Lopez & Fernando Pasarin

There has been a lot of controversy about this book on the internet, people who both think that it is great and those who think that it is drek ... I come in on the former as opposed to the latter. I thought that Vanhook did an admirable job with all of the characters in this story. I thought the characterizations were spot on and if not perfect for some people's tastes I think that they were great. This ... yeah ... this is going to be my pick of the week. For the first time ever I am announcing my pick of the week before the show is recorded ... Listen to episode 60 for more of my thoughts on The Oracle #1.

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: How Cool is This?!?

Alright, full disclosure, Chris Samnee (pronounced Sah-mnee not Sam-nee ... by the way) is a pull and hold customer at the store that I manage and when he comes in he usually has questions about what's going on in comics today, (he's a busy artist he doesn't have time to read much of anything these days) and I try to provide as best an answer as I can. He mentioned the other day that he wanted to do something for me as a sort of payment for always being apprised of the current world of comics and so he did this piece for me:

From The Dorks' Soundtrack: Yours, Mine, & Ours

Music from Episode #58


Artist: The Pernice Brothers


Album: Yours, Mine & Ours


Song: One Foot In The Grave


I think I first heard about The Pernice Brothers on one of my favorite sources for finding out about new music: NPR. For a talk radio station they sure have great music critics who have really educated views and conduct really interesting interviews with the artists whenever possible. I think it was probably on Fresh Air that I first heard about Joe Pernice and it was because he had both a novella and an album out at the same time that I thought it would be essential for me to check out his stuff, so I went out and bought his contribution to the 33 1/3 series all about The Smiths' Meat is Murder album and the Pernice Brothers record Yours, Mine & Ours the same day and then fell down the rabbit hole with Joe Pernice and his compatriots ... and I don't know if I have ever poked my head back out.

There was something wonderfully melancholic about the Pernice Brothers' lyrics and songs. That it was simultaneously scored to somewhat delightful instrumentation that made for a wonderful experience. There was also something about Joe's prose that made me simultaneously happy to read it and depressed by what I was reading. I had already had an appreciation for The Smiths but I was suddenly far more fascinated by them just from experiencing them through the thoughts and viewpoints as expressed by Joe Pernice. I've probably read his novella about 4 times now and it always makes me want to listen to The Smiths and it always makes me love The records of The Pernice Brothers even more. There is just something about the way that the story is told that also makes me remember what it was like to be in high school and the many wonders that I experienced there, falling in love for the first time, getting my heart broken for the first time, attempting suicide for the only time, finding a love for creative writing like I had never had before, losing my love for all things learning and beginning to understand that I loved only certain subjects. There was something magical and dark about my high school years and there was something about the way that Pernice talked about these possibly true experiences that made me immediately identify with them. It made me wish that I had discovered The Smiths and Morrissey in high school instead of college. And whenever I listen to Yours, Mine & Ours I am reminded of that book.

There is something about the music that I was discovering in and around the year 2003 that has changed my life in many ways. The music of The Pernice Brothers, Grant Lee Buffalo (and Grant Lee Phillips), Mojave 3, The Kings of Convenience, Low, Hayden ... sort of indie rock mixed with alt-country ideals and sadcore and ... Let's just say that 2003 was not the happiest year that I had ever experienced but it was a year that I changed a great deal. I first started taking anti-depressants (which was one of the best decisions I have ever made and I can't thank the people who pushed me to make that decision enough). I found myself making whole circle of friends (a few actually). I moved into my own place for the first time (the place that I will finally be moving out of in May). I found out that I loved karaoke. I fell in love a few more times and each one of them was delightfully unspoken and unrealized.

So I guess this article and this song and this episode is all somehow dedicated to 2003.

The music of The Pernice Brothers is perhaps best described as intelligent, literary, accessible, emotional, genuine, guitar driven, melodic, austere in it's approach but lush in it's execution. It's a great song off of a great record from a great band and I hope you all love it.

Sneak Peek Reviews: 03/10/09

The Amazon


Written by: Steven T. Seagle


Art by: Tim Sale

There are not many creators that I have more respect and admiration for than Steven T. Seagle and Tim Sale. They've both had rough patches in their careers but I think that they inspire me because they are willing to venture outside the popularly accepted genres and adventure in the realms of more literary conceits in their works (Sale in his work with Jeph Loeb [when he was still writing really great stories like Batman: Long Halloween & Superman for All Seasons], Seagle has always been the kind of writer to buck tradition). This book was first published 20 years ago by Comico and is now brought back to us by Dark Horse and I was really blown away by how beautiful the book really is.

Amazon is the tale of Malcolm Hilliard, a journalist working for a fictional American publication: Point Magazine. His work has brought him to The Amazon to unearth the source of numerous sabotages of logging equipment at a lumber mining site run by American owned D'Orellana Timber Products. Along the way he encounters the vast disparity between the haves and the have nots of the South American jungles as well as the equally destructive practices of Christian Missionaries who seek to forcefully "share" a "better" way of life with the indigenous people.

The book is incredibly well rendered by the then 23 year old Tim Sale and is immediately accessible. The story is told in a very interesting tiered fashion as we see the thoughts of Malcolm written into his journal alongside the words he chooses to share in his article. It's really a rather enjoyable story. And I don't want these reviews to become nothing but cost comparison but when a comic that I think imparts great value for it's price tag comes across my stack I am going to share it with you: The Amazon #1 is 28 pages of comic (during which there are no ads) and 2 pages of discussion between the creators about how they think about the book 20 years after they collaborated on it ... and it's $3.50. Take that for what you will.

Batman: Battle for the Cowl #1


Written & Drawn by: Tony Daniel


Inks by: Sandu Florea

It's the book we've been waiting for, and from my persepective it was well worth the wait. Tony Daniel is the kind of artist, it seems, that takes a bit to get used to drawing the characters that he is working on, and by the time he was done with Batman: R.I.P. he had a really good handle on all the characters. Here in Battle for the Cowl, I don't know if it is that he has an even better grasp or if it is that he is working from his own script but his work looks better than ever. Ireally think that this is going to be one incredibly visual story and the visuals are going to be incredible. He also clearly knows what he's doing when it comes to writing the book and it's also clear that he learned a hell of a lot from reading Morrison's scripts while they were working together. From my viewpoint he clearly has the motivations of the characters down pat and has a really firm handle on what and who should even be in the background of a panel (i.e. when Catwoman appears in the book is perfectly timed). I certainly don't think that he's going to be the next big writer for the big 2 but he certianly can handle his own on his own. I get the feeling that he would have been a little too frontloaded had this story arc been any longer than three issues but that certainly he should be more than fine for the three issue stint. I look ever so forward to the upcoming Gotham resurgance on the shelves but for the time being I will just be very glad to have the Bat Family in such capable hands.

(ahem ... 30 pages for $3.99 and a big time event for the titles.)