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The original comic-book industry rumour
and news column, by Rich
Johnston. |
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Elmo Health Warning: This column is RUMOUR. Do not take anything here seriously. These RUMOURS are presented here as GOSSIP for their ENTERTAINMENT value. |
| What is Ramblings 99? | Logo by Kirk Kimball, Pop Rocket |
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Dateline: 27 May 1999 |
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Marvel Murmurings. Chapter 11, junk bonds, freelances being sued, the Marvel financial situation has been interesting for a while. Well, movie studios, investor groups and toy companies have all been round the burning carcass kicking the tyres. And it looks like its down to Mattel or Hasbro, USA's two largest toy companies. Marvel was last valued at two million dollars, but the asking price is three. But the possibility of further expanding character licences into toys, computer games and internet devices may prove tempting. It should be noted that Hasbro already has the licence for Batman and other major DC characters... Super Nova. We hear that Marvel have cancelled Nova. A quick trip to www.savagedragon.com confirms this... Erik doesn't reckon it'll get past issue 7. Now, we haven't done this for a while (the last time was over Deadpool) but we've got a new twist for this one. Before we simply wanted Deadpool not to be cancelled. Deadpool was a very innovative superhero book and its continued existence was of significant benefit to superhero comics. Nova is a lot of fun and its continued existence probably can't be argued as well as Deadpool. Mind you, less and less superhero books are a lot of fun, so it deserves to stick around for a while at least. On the www.savagedragon.com message boards, Erik says that an appeal might give him a few more issues to wrap things up. So, why not join the GIVE ERIK A COUPLE MORE ISSUES campaign? Mail mail@marvel.com and tell them just that. Something like...
If you're in the mood, why not mail the Voice Of Marvel at yourman@marvel.com and see if he'll say anything on the Your Man At Marvel newsboard. Doubtful, but you never know. We did it with Deadpool, let's try again! Knight Preacher Well, now that Marvel Knights II is signed up (however, for less money than previously... this is cost cutting Marvel after all), we've got our first rumoured new creative, Garth Ennis on Punisher. Is this a good rumour? Garth's worked on the character with Doug Braithwaite in the memorable Punisher Kills The Marvel Universe book. Calling Garth... damn, he's not in. Now, we've previously rumoured that he dropped the Sgt. Rock project because he only wanted to work on his own characters from now on. Could this all be wishful thinking? We shall see... Mailbag! Mailbag! Some young thing e-mails to ask us about 2000AD. "Rumor has it that some of the older characters are returning is this true and who are they?? Robo Hunter, Rouge and The A.B.C. Warriors would be cool." Indeed they would, chap, especially Rouge Trooper... running around with a compact in one hand and a powder puff in the other. Anyway, let's see what Tharg has to say about that. Tharg? What's that? A shopping list? Oh I see, here you go fella. Devlin Waugh: Sirius Rising 26-part mega-epic starring the occult avenger by John Smith and Steve Yeowell begins in Prog 1149, on sale from June 16 Mazeworld III: The Hell Maze Third and final book of the Adam Cadman trilogy by Alan Grant and Arthur Ranson begins in Prog 1151, on sale from July 7 Rose O'Rion Eight-part series for character who first appeared in a Pulp Sci-Fi one-off by Kek-W, Andy Clarke and Dylan Teague begins in Prog 1151, on sale from July 7 Nikolai Dante: The Courtship of Jena Makarov Heart-rending 13-part series as Dante's world plunges towards war by Robbie Morrison and Simon Fraser begins in Prog 1161, on sale from September 15 Nemesis the Warlock: Book X - The Final Conflict Ten-part final series to be published in glorious monochrome Written by Pat Mills, art by Henry Flint (Part 1-9) and Kevin O'Neill (final episode) Begins in Prog 1165, on sale October 13th Strontium Dog New series starring Johnny Alpha, set before he died by original creators John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra begins in December, 1999 Rogue Trooper: Remembrance Day Special story exploring the links between the original Rogue and Mercy Heights' blue-skinned character Toy Cyan Written by John Tomlinson, art by Dave Gibbons - his first new strip work on the character he co-created for 18 years published in December, 1999 A.B.C. Warriors one-off story in special end-of-1999 prog by Pat Mills and Kevin Walker published in December, 1999 Slaine one-off story in special end-of-1999 prog by Pat Mills and Greg Staples published in December, 1999 No plans for immediate return of Robo-Hunter, although Ian Gibson is working on new pin-ups of Sam Slade and Halo Jones for end-of-1999 special prog Former 2000 AD artists returning to the fold on new strip work:- Steve Yeowell; Cam Kennedy; Colin Wilson; Mike McMahon; Dave Gibbons; Kevin O'Neill; Chris Weston; Carlos Ezquerra; Cliff Robinson... Splundig etc. Tharg. Thanks chap! And may your remaining follicles sprout in all their glory! Chaos Theories We get a huge press release from B Sprenger of Chaos Comics. He starts "The players are in place as ordained by fate. There is no more waiting - Armageddon, the Father of all Fear has arrived on earth and begun preparations for his ultimate goal - the utter extinction of all life on the planet!" Ah well, no point in going on with the press release then. Seeya! Bye! |
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Dateline: 23 May 1999 |
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Group Discussion. Comics International has just started an egroup forum... basically a cross between an e-mail list and a web page discussion board. Already, editor and publisher Dez Skinn has let slip the following after I observed that Wildstorm editor Scott Dunbier is attempting to recruit all of Alan's previous work partners for ABC; "I wish him the best of luck with Alex Ross. We had dinner a couple of months ago (along with Alex's mum and dad, which was weird). After Alex expressed surprise not to see my "other half" present (turned out he was referring to my ex-PA, Kerry-Ann Hurley!!) he colourfully described the Moore/Ross Awesome fiasco and certain manipulative manouvers which had been attempted, using Alex's name...' No more was forthcoming... but maybe you can tease something else out? You could also join in conversations that start "Just why is Rich Johnston popular. All he seems to do is offend people. I've been to his website and it is littered with bad language and blatant digs at people, companies and projects, yet he is still perceived by many as a reliable and respected net person." Make your voice heard, pop along to http://www.egroups.com/group/comics_international and sign up! Maybe you can work out why I'm popular... I know I can't. JSActually... We've been told a rumour by two people that the creative team of James Robinson and David Goyer have split. An old story by now to some of you, I'm sure. Now, Robinson plotted out the first year of JSA, from issue 1 to 12. And he's leaving the scripting with issue #4. Originally Goyer was supposed to take over scripting starting with #5 and go on from there. But... there are problems. Geoff Johns will take over with #5. But why? And what was his role on previous books in that case? IDIOT NOTE: The above rumour was not taken from or confirmed with any of the involved parties. It's a rumour. Punk Style. CSNsider have confirmed a long standing rumour at Ramblings, that Joe Kelly will be writing Chris Bachalo's Cliffhanger book as well as giving it a name, Steampunk. Naming a book after its genre... is that why it took so long to clear legally? And there was that Antarctic book of the same name that never happened too, wasn't there? Top Cow In The Dungeon. Mary! What is is Rich? I'm busy dealing with David Bishop. He's been in the dungeon for months but no matter how many tongs I use, I can't get another word from him. Well, leave him till later. More press release people to see us. And they're from Top Cow! What, Top Cow, the guys who had a wodge bought by Eidos, wouldn't confirm it for ages, dodged around the issue and when we finally got confirmation and printed the story, said that it was old news? That's them. Send the corporate whores in! First, faceless bureaucracy boy! "Top Cow Productions announced today the hiring of Matt Hawkins for the new corporate position, Vice President of Publishing. His primary responsibility will be overseeing Top Cow's day-to-day publishing operations and all other company functions directly linked with the comic book industry." Matt Hawkins... name rings a bell... one of Rob Liefeld's mates, yes? Worked at Awesome for ages... what happened there then? Oh, there was that Lady Pendragon thing too... ooh, kinky! Well that deserves a nipple tweak for a start! "We are very excited to have Matt at Top Cow," says Top Cow President Brad Foxhoven. I can tell, Brad, your excitement is showing. Put it away, you might do some damage. So what kind of excitement? Parties in the street? A huge cheer when he enters the building? Or just more press release bollocks? And what bollocks you have, David... "He brings with him a tremendous amount of experience" Oh, he certainly brings that, I can tell you. He's in these dungeons every day, wanting this manacle, that rack, I tell you some of the things he asks for would made the Marquis De Sade blush! "and we have always admired his ability to spur excitement in the comic book industry." Spurs, yes I forgot about those... can do some fair damage with them, I can tell you. "We will look to him to continue Top Cow's focus on providing high quality and entertaining comic books to our fans, while assisting in new ways for Top Cow to broaden its readership." Why not give away free nipple protectors, Brad? I mean, Matt goes through about twenty a week... it'll broaden the readership to a certain sector of the public that's for sure. And let's be honest, the way most Top Cow women are drawn, the body modification people will really get into it! "I'm excited to start working with Top Cow, it feels like I'm finally graduating to the major leagues," says Matt Hawkins. I won't tell Rob, if you won't Matt. "Top Cow has the most talented arsenal of artists and creative energy in the business" Well, apart from Fantagraphics, Wildstorm, Slab-O-Concrete, Slave Labor, Dark Horse... in fact, aren't most of your lot just Silvestri clones, Turner clones and Jim Lee clones? And can you tell the difference between them? "and I'm honored to be associated with them." Your honour is showing Matt... oh wait, no, honour doesn't work, I mean pride.. oh bugger. Okay faceless bureacracy boy, what do you have to say? "Hawkins addition to Top Cow's staff is part of a renewed company focus on its comic book operation which includes the return to guaranteed shipping and the addition of such high profile projects as J. Michael Straczynski's Rising Stars." In fact, that's the only one to be honest isn't it? I mean Top Cow couldn't even hold onto Garth Ennis and that Panic Nation thing with Warren Ellis just never happened, did it? "Top Cow made a statement a couple of years back by shipping an entire year's worth of books on time while maintaining the highest artistic and production quality this industry has ever seen," comments Hawkins. The highest... hey I thought I was the sadistic one here. I mean come on Hawkins, Top Cow is artistically incestous and even in the field you operate in, Wildstorm whips your arse. Ooh, there's an idea. And then compared to Fantagraphics... I mean have you seen the production quality on Acme Novelty Library? Or all the beautiful colour hardback novels that swamp France and Belgium... that's a hell of a comment, Matt. And one that deserves a good thrashing. WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Matt? You still conscious? Oh very clever, get me so angry that I beat you into submission. Matt? Quick someone get a bucket of water. SPLASH! "The impact was obvious and made me jealous as an executive for a rival publisher at the time." I didn't think my impact was at all obvious, Matt. And you don't need to be jealous, you've got me all to yourself. "Top Cow has recommited itself to that standard and the proof will be in our actions in the coming months." I can hardly wait, Matt! Who knows, you might even start publishing some good comics! JMS is the place to start after all... Now, dragging your bleeding, soaked bodies from the dungeon and close the door on the way out. SLAM! Well, we don't expect Brad will be back for a while (shame), but... oh look, Matt hasn't left, he wants more! And what's that Matt? Your very own press release from Top Cow! Ah, bless. So Matt, what's the news? "In compliance with Image Comics corporate policy that creator-owned projects are solely to be solicited through Image's central office, Scott Lobdell and Adam Pollina's Hellhole will be published through Image Central." Compliance, eh Matt? That's not like you. Now bend over while I stuff some variant interior Fathoms up your rectal passage. Oh by the way, who's your friend? "Scott Lobdell and Adam Pollina are two of the finest working professionals in comics and we will continue to work with them on a number of different projects," says VP Creative Affairs David Wohl. David, so good of you to join us and so complimentary! Shame the reviews often differ from that opinion so often. So, do any of these projects include bodily fluids or unnatural stretching? "This is simply a matter of Image policy." Oh, David, so powerful, so forceful. You know, that military uniform really suits you. Care to let me burn it off with a modified blowtorch? And so we leave David and Matt squirming in Dominatrix Mary's Press Release Dungeon. As ever, anyone who wishes to send such press releases to us, is more then welcome. Our Dominatrix Mary is getting moist just thinking about it. |
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Dateline: 15 May 1999 |
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Back Where They Belong. Ramblings doesn't reprint press releases straight, right? Ramblings doesn't just reprint stuff it's found on the net, right? Ramblings doesn't just churn news from other places, rather it finds its own news, right? Well fuck that, here's where I make an exception, found on rec.arts.comics.misc. This speaks for itself. QUANTUM & WOODY RETURN IN SEPTEMBER WITH ISSUE #32?!? Acclaim Comics is proud to announce that the world's worst super hero team-QUANTUM & WOODY-returns to monthly status this September with issue #32. But why jump to #32 and not pick up where they left off with #18? Editor Omar Banmally refuses to believe that the title had ever been cancelled. "Issue #32 is the number we'd be publishing for September 99," said Banmally, "and that's where we're picking up. So what if we're leaving out 14 issues worth of story?!" But Acclaim executives thought differently and are forcing Banmally back to regular numbering in October with issue #18. "Well, at the very least #32 will give readers a quick glimpse into Quantum & Woody's future but, damn! Now I have to go back and get Priest and Bright to fill in the rest of those stories!" QUANTUM & WOODY's regular creative team returns to the helm with Christopher Priest as writer, M.D. Bright as penciler and Greg Adams as inker. QUANTUM & WOODY #32 is the third issue of a four-part story arc entitled Eclipse. With time running out, Quantum & Woody race to find a way to destroy Dr. Eclipse's ultimate weapon while knowing that if they succeed, destroying the weapon could also kill Eclipse Quantum's oldest friend! QUANTUM & WOODY #32 is 32 pages and is priced at $2.50. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now bring back Hepcats, Beanworld, Big Numbers, 1963 and Dirtbag. Oh, wait... |
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Dateline: 12 May 1999 |
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Do Your Bit. A Kosovo Crisis Appeal comic book is being published a small British publisher and comic shop, Blue Silver. Best known for their 'Tales Of Midnight' book, this special edition will be used exclusively to raise funds for the Kosovo Refugee fund. Organiser Francis Lee, is preparing an anthology of short stories and pin ups by a number of great comic book writers and artists. Names like Garth Ennis, Roger Dean Chris Acheilleos, and Bryan Talbot have been confirmed and even I've been asked to do a story. Other high-profile British and American creators have expressed interest, but many more people will be needed. The publication will be printing pieces that deal with the concept of being a refugee rather than dealing with the Kosovo situation directly, intending to show just what being a refugee can mean in differing circumstances. Blue Silver's characters from Tales From Midnight will appear in the publication no doubt, but hopefully this won't be another Heroes For Hope, Against Hunger, or generally people in spandex mixing it up in Kosovo. Lee is going for a big media push with this one and the articles have started to appear across the national press. The book will be launched at Galaxion 99, set to be Europe's biggest sci-fi convention, in London Olympia. Now, I know that a number of comics pros read this column, some for entertainment, some to see if I'm saying anything about them. Well, consider this payback time. If you are involved in the comics industry, are a high level creator, work with such creators, sell comics, distribute comics, whatever, and can offer help, contact Francis Lee on info@bluesilver.com or call on 0181 840 9446 in the UK and 011441818409446 from the USA. Do it now. Ramblings will continue to update this story as it progresses. More Bludgeoning. Have you asked your comic shop owner to order you a copy of Petra Etcetera 1 from Gratuitous Bunny Comix yet? It's in the latest Previews, given a Cool Cat, but horribly hidden in a bunch of old reprint comic covers so it's hard to find. You owe it to yourself to order this comic. It's a sensation. Probably the best British comic currently being published. So order the fucker. |
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Dateline: 05 May 1999 |
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Dead Dog, Prime Mate. We have a name. We have a name for this writer/creator-owned imprint that may or may not be associated with Mark Waid and/or/nand/nor Kurt Busiek. We have a name from a source who should know. The name is not Bulldog. The name is: GORILLA. And we all know that gorillas sell, hmmm? Again, still all rumour, but at least this one makes some kind of sense. This source mentioned Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid and George Perez as being involved. Note for the idiots: We have not attempted to confirm these rumours with the people involved, because these are rumours. They are not the source for this info. Do not believe anything until you read it in Newsarama. Hey, you know, that last line might just have to make it's way into the Rumour Warning... A Word From The Author. Right then. First of all, a message to my readers. I own you and I can treat you as I like. After a series of e-mails which will probably be released after I've died, I have this message for you all. YOU ARE IDIOTS! Not all of you, naturally. Not those who enjoy reading Ramblings '99 for what it is, a collection of rumours, gathered from frankly dubious sources, never fabricated simply reporting what's circling the industry, clearly labelled as such. But those of you who hold industry positions, whethers as editors, publishers, lawyers, reporters, etc, who decide to ignore the Rumour Warning and decide that Ramblings '99 is a factual column based on the occasional snippet we get right... dear me. The purpose of this column is to entertain, to hold up industry rumours for consideration, confirmation or denial, to campaign that great comic books get the credit they deserve, to play around with other people's marketing and to basically talk a load of entertaining nonsense that a lot of people seem to enjoy. We are not fucking Newsarama, and we don't want to be. Yeah, sometimes we get things right. We talked about League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the fall of the non-line at Image, the circumstances of the Batman sackings, the acquisition of bits of Top Cow by Eidos, the strains at Superman, the on-again-off-again status of Deadpool, advance looks at DC's Previews solicitations, the cancellation of Stormwatch and the emergence of The Authority, Chris Bachalo at Cliffhanger and at Vertigo, the problems at Marvel Tech, etc etc, before anyone else. It's mostly stuff that I give a toss about. We also talked a lot of old nonsense in the process. Surely you can But anyone, I mean anyone, who makes decisions based on this column (except for which comic to buy and which to not) is a moron. You want the news? Go to Newsarama or BBC World. You want fun, stick around, we've got plenty of that. And those who have been inconvenienced and annoyed by these idiots as a result of this column, my apologies. You have my permission to refer these loons to this article, fax it round the offices and generally act like a smug but bitter individual. And now it's time for my regular readers to come back. Sorry about the harsh language. If anyone has any thoughts how to deal with this situation without closing down the column or changing it fundamentally, I'd like to hear it. Something to make the column idiot proof (apart from the one who's writing it)? E-mail them to ramblings99@hotmail.com and the winning chosen entry will see his or her suggestion implemented and receive a free X-Flies: Bug Hunt 1-4 in the post (whether you like it or not). Back To The Dungeon Right, now before I get myself a drink, let's have some fun with some marketing. Dominatrix Mary, you there? Certainly am, darling. Now, none of that. I'm a married man now, I can't be seen to dally with the likes of you. Thank fuck for that, you're a right ugly bastard. True enough. So who's in your press release dungeon today? Some twat called Matt Hawthorne. Oy Matt, this is Abuse night, so what have you got to say for yourself, you snivelling piece of sunbaked placenta? What would happen if in the near future America broke out into a civil war and the only safe haven was a small Caribbean island plagued with terrorism? You'd have the beginnings of the comic book HYSTERIA! You'd also have a very improbably hypothesis too. There's loads of other countries and continents people could flee too. Why not go to Portugal, they're not terrorist infested like this fictional Carribean island you're talking about. Start making sense soon! Thinktank Comics' first book, HYSTERIA, takes place on the fictional Caribbean island of Port Asteria. Ah, so that's why it's the only safe haven, because you didn't want to do any Portugal research did you? Lazy fucker. A second civil war was fought in America, dividing it's people by race and class. Asteria, after disassociating it self from the main land, has become a safe haven for people who refused to choose sides in the war. This philosophy of peace has made the island a popular target for political and racial terrorists. But why? What do they hope to gain? I'm a racial terrorist involved in the American civil war... I know, instead of bombing the other side or trying to seize power, I'll devote my financial, strategic and manpower resources to attacking a peaceful island instead, leaving me open to attack from my many enemies. To protect the island from the constant threat of terrorism a mercenary anti terrorism unit was formed. But if they're all peaceful in Port Asteria, it'll be a pretty shit fighting force. Hitting each other with bunny rabbits maybe? Or will it be filled with expert fighters who moan a lot about the morality of it all? You decide. HYSTERIA follows the lives of this unit. It consists of: Joshua Mucaro; the would be leader of the team, CC; Joshua's pet chupa cabra (goat sucker), Otis Redding; a genetically engineered ex-American soldier, Pitchfork Congo; a freelance spy and undercover operative, and Toledo Santiago; a detective for the Port Asteria police force. What, no one in a wheelchair? Why not, dammit? If you're going to be cliched, be consistent. "I believe an independently published, action genre, comic book doesn't have to be an oxymoron", says creator Mike Hawthorn, True, Previews is cluttered with them. Mind you, congrats for not putting 'Force' in the title. "Spain proved this with his work on 'Trashman Lives'. I just want to reinvigorate the genre with a book that is kinetic, exciting, thought provoking, and above all entertaining!" And not the kind of comic that doesn't stop within five issues, clog up some back issue bin and leaves the creator thousands of dollars in debt? It's novel, certainly. HYSTERIA will be published monthly starting in June from Thinktank Comics and creator Mike Hawthorne. Go see a free preview for HYSTERIA at http://thinktankcomics.com. Yeah, yeah, you've had your link. Now lick my boots. Thank you Mary. Back to usual business now, methinks. The Campaign Begins Marketing aside, it's time for one of the greatest and criminally underrated Sleaze Castle to have a new issue solicited... and those very clever chaps at Gratuitous Bunny Comix have managed to get around Sleaze Castle 8 being the last solicited comic from Diamond, by making it a flipbook with a new title, Petra Etcetera. It's in the new Previews, under 'G'. I got a copy at Comics 99 and it's brill. Here's why. Sleaze Castle, the main feature is the story of Jocasta and Panda. Both at university together, they had very different lives that collided together nicely. We've learnt that Jocasta came from a very strange anti-establishment (or maybe even the *actual* establishment) school and is studying media studies. Panda is a ruler from another dimension (with similarities to our own) who gets trapped. When she finally goes home, Jocasta is none the wiser. Then Panda returns and brings Jocasta with her into a whole new life of new worlsds, strange scientific experiments, Valhalla pizza deliveries, multiple dimensions and zombies, executed in a very intelligent, multi-layered but surprisingly light and enjoyable manner. Beautiful artwork, heavily detailed writing, it's the finest comic to be published in Britain since the days of Near Myths and maybe Warrior. Petra is Jocasta's younger sister. And Petra Etcetera is her story, far away from any fantasy elements, it's a slice of life comedy about friends and relationships. Indeed the cover may look vaguely familiar... Add this to your comic order you trolls. This is a beautiful comic book and you deserve it, you owe it yourself to treat yourself with this beautiful piece of comic book work. I'll be going on about this in the next column. You might even get some art, you lucky people. Statue Esque Loads of spinoff stuff from DC coming up, some of it quite bizarre indeed. A Crisis statue (that no doubt will have to be recalled after someone spots that Supes has one too many fingers). Sculpted by Tim Bruckner based on artwork by George Perez, featuring the death of Supergirl, held by Superman. It's that Crisis issue 7 scene brought to life... or death! Out in October for only $125.00 Then there's a Darkseid statue sculpted by William Paquet based on designs by Steve Rude for December. He's got the whole world in his hand... and a mother box in the other, as he stands on screaming faces. Lovely. Yours for $195.00 Shazam! from Kingdom Come is sculpted and designed by Kingdom Hater Alex Ross. Only $250.00. Does Mark get a cut? Who do voodoo? Tim Bruckner do voodoo! Well, the Wildstorm Voodoo statue anyway, for $139.95. Prop Up Fancy a holiday? Can I suggest Hell? As reported months back by Ramblings, The Key To Hell from Sandman gets propped. Plus you can try using it on that window that won't open in the cellar. A cool $99.95 Adult Figures Sandman, Spider Jerusalem and Starman for November! Woo! And a PVC set of Preacher figures including Jesse, Tulip, Cassidy, Starr, the Saint of Killers, Gran'ma, and, of course, Arseface all ready for Christmas. Speed Roaster Just as we promised, Speed Racer gets August solicited, from yon Wildstorm fellas. And it's a Year One treatment for the familiar fellows... oh fuck, this is tedious. Apparently this is big news to those Stateside but I've never seen it. And it's in a US/manga style. Sigh. WelshC.A.T.S. As I recall, a fair few years ago, a Welsh writer submitted a WildCATS story to Wildstorm, it got made into WildCATS Trilogy, he made piles of cash, wrote a letter to Comics International about it all, and vanished. Well, hopefully the reprint cheques will find him as WildC.A.T.S. Trilogy moved from the 50 cent bins to the 10c bins as a TPB comes out in August. I mean, it's not like they're hard to find... anyway, Jae Lee drew it in his '8 pages a day' mode. Legionnaires Disease Another August DC TPB collects something probably not too hard to come by as well, the in-canon origins of The Legion of Super-Heroes as Legion: The Beginning Of Tomorrow. With a writing talent base of Mark Waid, Tom McCraw and Tom Peyer with art including Lee Moder, Ron Boyd, Stuart Immonen, Jeffrey Moy, Philip Moy, W.C. Carani, Yancey Labat, Brian Apthorp, Scott Benefiel and Tom Simmons. This is all post-Zero Hour stuff from Legion Of Super-Heroes #0, #62-65 and Legionnaires #0, #19-22. Speeding Preacher How fast is this reprint? I've just read Preacher 50 and already they're collecting it in a TPB! Preacher 41-50 gets the treatment as Salvation in August. WIll they start collecting issues before they're published soon? Preacher 54 reunites Tulip and Jesse. And we learn some nasty stuff about Cassidy. Shelly's Heroes We all know about Yeah!, by Bagge and Hernandez in August... but my favourite piece from DC's soliciation is "YEAH! is an ongoing HOMAGE COMICS series, edited by Shelly Roeberg." The first cross-Vertigo/Wildstorm editorial job? Tom And Jerry Tom Strong 5 has an added treat in August, an 8 pager by Jerry Ordway. Tomorrow Stories leads with four new series in its anthology, reducing to three in every subsequent issue. Top Ten looks to be having fun with the 'ordinary day in the office' scenario. BTW, more and more of Moore's art partners are being recruited by Scott Dunbier to work on the line. How long until we get to Eddie Campbell or Todd McFarlane? Vertigal Pieces And Congo Bill. Congo Bill. Goodness. It's by Scott Cunningham and Danijel Zezelj who have done their traineeship on the Vertigo anthologies and now get a series of their own in August. Aaah. Paul Pope's Heavy Liquid comes out in August too. Buy it. In August, Flinch 5 treats us with some new Wheatley/Hempel work and solicits loads of Gregory stuff too. Something to read while we're waiting for the next Tug 'n' Buster. Hellblazer 142 by Warren Ellis has a rare event in August, Tim Bradstreet on art duties. But what's more amusing is the solicitation line "A bent cop who has been on fire for three years, unable to be extinguished." Presumably he'll be standing against walls a lot, smoking. Nyeaaa... What's Up Supes? Wow. Talk about high profile... Superman & Bugs Bunny, a four issue mini-series by Mark Evanier, Joe Staton, Tom Palmer and Mike DeCarlo starts in August. And it's all down to Mr Mxyzptlk and the Gremlin. Expect to see loads of DC characters mixing it up with Warner Brothers characters... literally! Double Take. Goodness me, what's this doing here? Body Doubles, the spin-off series from the cancelled Resurrection Man, that was itself postponed pops up again in August, by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Joe Phillips and Jasen Rodriguez. DC Bits Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave & The Bold is a new six issue from Mark Waid, Tom Peyer and Barry Kitson, set just after Barry Allen and Hal Jordan established the JLA.... cue loads of reissuing of Flash archive stuff in August too. Fresh from being in ape bodies, the JLA find themselves in each other's bodies. Not the plot of a superhero porn comic sadly, but of JLA: Foreign Bodies by Len Kaminski, Val Semeiks and Prentis Rollins. It's brain switching time! The Batbooks get the Larry Hama and Bronwyn Carlton writing treatment in August. And in Martian Manhunter 11, he goes back to the 853rd Century to find the final fate of Martian Manhunter! Da da! Sci-Find Okay, this is just drop dead gorgeous. Thank you DC, thank you. It's Pulp Fiction Library: Mystery In Space TPB, collecting loads of short sci-fi comics written the likes of Edmond Hamilton, Gardner Fox, Len Wein, Paul Levitz, Gerry Conway, Bruce Jones, and Manley Wade Wellman and drawn by the likes of Jack Kirby, Frank Frazetta, Joe Kubert, Alex Toth, Virgil Finlay, Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson, Brian Bolland, Rick Veitch, Tom Yeates, and Dan Spiegle. Get to see Adam Strange, the Atomic Knights, Space Cabby, Tommy Tomorrow, Kris KL-99, Captain Comet, and the infamous Ultra, the Multi-Alien, all taken from books like Mystery In Space, Strange Adventures, My Greatest Adventure and Time Warp. Joy in August! Happy Days Rumours from days gone by... we love this sort of thing. Makes us nostalgic for when comics sold well. Anyway, did you know that the young Neil Gaiman originally approached Bissette and Totleben to illustrate his first sample script for DC, a ten-pager featuring the Medieval Swamp Thing, Jack-In-The-Green? Well, you do now... Cause And FX An ex-SFX freelancer calls to tell me that SFX magazine are no longer using freelancers for articles... SFX has been a steady source of income and work for many of Britain's cult sci-fi heads. Now for some pure speculation, it's not uncommon for magazines to stop freelance work in times of poor cashflow... we at Ramblings like SFX, and we hope this is not a sign of things to come. And what about Dan Abnett? Bulldog Bullshit Well, it definitely seems like the name Bulldog was a red herring... but hopefully we'll have a new name to tease you with shortly! Nostalgia With A Prince Albert The trends of comic book superheroes are again turning. With sweeping generalisations, we've seen the fear of the fifties turning into the innocence of the sicties, the troubled conscience of the seventies, the grim and grittiness of the eighties and the nostalgia of the nineties. There's no definite cutoff point to these eras and they often exist side by side. So what's after nostalgia? Well how about a return to irony? Certainly seen in the eighties to a degree, books like The Authority and Planetary, ABC, Deadpool and Black Panther seem to forging new waves in not only how comics look and work structurally, but how they regard themselves as an art form. Based in the knowing nostalgia of the nineties, an attitude seen in some of the Giffen/DeMatties JLA is growing in steam. Certainly if I was a big publisher looking to launch or revamp a book, I'd pay close attention to intelligent, knowing subtley self aware (nothing like She-Hulk) humour as a way to get critical excitement (and hope it transfers to the sales). But I'm not a big publisher (maybe there's a reason for that). But a message to those books that deal primarily in nostalgia? Time to shape up... yours is the easiest jump to make to the next stage. Next trend prediction? Comics about squirrels. If you enjoy, or just barely tolerate this column and would like to be updated whjen it updates, why not join Friends Of Ramblings by e-mailing ramblings99@hotmail.com today? |
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