NOVEMBER PREVIEWS REVIEW: For items shipping in January 2002
by Chris Butcher and Scott Gruenwald

Hello, and welcome to the Previews Review! January is customarily a slow month for comics solicitations, though you wouldn't know it from the several high-profile projects and great new books being offered! And where are they being offered, you might ask? Why, in Diamond Comics Distributors' PREVIEWS magazine, available at finer comic shops everywhere (or online at here at PopImage). With me as always in italics is my co-host, Scott Grunewald.
For a slow month, this issue of Previews was certainly packed with some cool stuff. If I were to list everything I'm pre-ordering this month we'd end up with a 10 page article.

Luckily, you didn't. I think we should be spared from any more of you're whoring for THOR'S HAMMER or STARBLAZERS merchandise.

You know that when I get my God Pheonix you'll be first in line to touch it. Go on, touch my God Phoenix, touch it, love it...

Why do we do the Previews Review? Simply, to promote good comics, and to encourage you as a consumer to pre-order your comics from your local comic shop (or mail order service). The Previews Review is grass-roots activism for positive change, so make sure that you're out there pre-ordering every month! Whether that's by doing a regular pull list or handing in an order thirty days, it really is important. Anyhow, on with the review!

9-11: EMERGENCY RELIEF
by Various
$14.95, b&w, 128 pages, Page 216, Alternative Comics,

Chris's Pick of the Month.

There are two very good things about this book. The first? All of the proceeds from it's sale are set to be donated to the American Red Cross. The second? It is a collection of some of the most gifted writers, artists, and storytellers in the comics industry, under one volume. The list of names is huge, and impressive, coming from all corners of the comics industry (and you can find the complete list of contributors here.) In advance of the book making it's appearance, Dean Haspiel's short story name has been posted in it's entirety at comicbookresources.com. If all of the stories included are as gripping and powerful, it may well be the best book published in 2002. Also of note to PopImage readers, Steve Stegelin will have a two page BOONDOGGLE short included.

The outpouring of support for the victims of the September 11th tragedy has been simply inspiring. I counted no less that four high profile releases solicited this month, each committed to giving all of the profits to the Red Cross and other related charities. The comic industry may have a lot of problems right now, but charity and kindness is not one of them. Bravo to all of you who participated in this book.

Scott's Pick of the Month

BATMAN: THE TEN CENT ADVENTURE
By Greg Rucka, Rick Burchett & Klaus Janson
$.10, FC, 32pg, page 77, DC, NOV010553

This stunt can't come at a better time than now. Greg Rucka has transformed Batman into the hard-boiled crime comic that it should have always been. Batman has never been about being a superhero. He doesn't have super powers or a magic ring, he has a brilliant mind and a body pushed to its limits. Greg Rucka understands that and has boiled the character down to his basics. I've been touting the Batman books for a while now, and I'm hoping this 10-Cent adventure opens the excellent books up to a wider audience.

This is the best thing ever. A full issue of Batman. For ten cents. I hope every retailer out there is ordering a minimum of one hundred of these, and hopefully a full thousand. And then, I hope they take advantage of the opportunity to hand these out to every single person that even steps inside the doors of their store. And then I hope that they've ordered a significant number of the follow-up issues to this story, and have a good number of BATMAN trade paperbacks on the racks as well. Most notably the newer stuff like Greg Rucka's DETECTIVE run, DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and STRIKES AGAIN by Frank Miller, etc. And then, I hope those retailers stock other works by the Batman creators. Like WHITEOUT and SIN CITY and 300 etc. Because this is a real opportunity to open up comic stores (not to mention the industry) to the general public. Let's take it.

It's even cheap enough that retailers can afford to give it away with each purchase.

FRIGHTENING CURVES PRINT SET
Art by Aman Chaudhary, designed by Antony Johnston
$49.99, Full Colour, 6 gorgeous prints, Page 406, Cyberosia Press, NOV

As the admittedly biased description above says, these are gorgeous pieces of artwork. Six super-high-quality prints on glossy stock. Not only suitable for framing, but worth showing off to every visitor who enters your home, apartment, or laboratory. Sure, they're expensive, but quality costs. And these are high quality. Honestly, they're really attractive, and hey, you deserve them :).

I've seen the prints at this past San Diego Comic Convention and can attest to their quality and beauty. Would it shock you to find out that it wasn't paint that brought those images to life but rather a loose pencil sketch and PhotoShop? Aman is the newest in a recent string of artists forgoing standard pencil, ink, or paintbrush techniques for the computer. Traditionalists be damned, it takes an artist to make a computer program sing like Aman does.

REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA VOLUME 1 TP
by Chiho Saito
$15.95, b&w, 200 pages, Page 308, Viz Communications, NOV

For some reason, this book was solicited again this month (it was one I talked up quite a bit in the last Previews Review). Just in case this is the real solicitation and last month's was an error, I'd like to remind you to order it. UTENA is really, really freaking weird. I just want to re-iterate that. I just finished watching UTENA: THE MOVIE last night, and it's really tripped-out and beautiful. It features some strangely non-linear storytelling, undefined gender roles, all sorts of great stuff. This isn't the book you think it is. Give it a shot.

ISLAND VOLUME 1 POCKET MIXX TP
by In-Wan Youn & Kyung-Il Yang
$14.95, b&w, 168 pages, Page 308, Tokyopop,

I'm really torn about ISLAND. It's a really pretty series, being one of the few translated Korean books on the market. The art is very fresh and sexy, and gruesome when it needs to be. The concept and the story too, are lots of fun; A rich/bitch girl goes to teach on an island off the coast of Korea to learn a little humility, where she is promptly stalked by a serial killer. That's not the worst of it though, because there are also ancient demons out to get her (who will do much worse than the killer), so she hires the serial killer to destroy all the monsters, at $10,000 a pop. So it's sex and death, the key ingredients for any good horror story. What really bugs me though, is that this volume is pretty much a straight translation from Korean, with little to no re-writing. The translation is laughably bad, and is actively detrimental to the story. In fact, the first time I read the book I threw it down in disgust, and it's only after re-reading that I began to appreciate it. Although this problem will be fixed for future volumes, this one is the real introduction to the stories. So I can only give it, at best, a very cautious recommendation. If you think the terrible sub-titles and dubbing of old Kung Fu Films is hilarious and appealing, you'll have no problem here. If not? Stay far, far away.

All your serial killers are belong to us!

Did I do that joke last time? :)

AKIKO VOLUME 5 TP
by Mark Crilley
$12.95, b&w, 112 pages, Page 302, Sirius Entertainment,

Akiko is a wonderful all-ages book that has recently made the leap to mass-market distribution novels (which are selling quite well, by all accounts). It's another of those examples of the comic industry not getting it while the mainstream does. Buck the trend! Pick up this, the newest volume of AKIKO! (I haven't read the stories in volume 5 yet, but the first three volumes are just brilliant.)

I'm hoping Akiko's success is the mass-market will do one of two things. Either wake up creators of all-ages comics to the fact that the Direct Market has neither the ability, nor desire to sell comics to young girls. Or maybe, even better, prove to the Direct Market that the success of books like Sailor Moon and Powerpuff Girls is not a fluke, and that girls will buy comics if you order and sell them.

Nah. Girls don't like comics, silly. "If it's not for a twelve year old boy, it's not a comic book." Oh well.

BUNNY TOWN #1
by Will Allison
$2.99, b&w, 32 pages, Page 299, Radio Comics

"Fans of Johnny and Lenore should love the dark, gothic humor; and fans of Lortnoc will not want to miss this serving of Hello Kitty- style cuteness, warped by the darkest of evil!" I'm beginning to think that the work of Jhonen Vasquez is almost it's own genre now. It's a little bit sick. On the other hand, Will Allison did the under-appreciated PERVERT CLUB, and that buys a lot of credibility in my book.

Will Allison does good comics. PERVERT CLUB was a hell of a lot of fun and It's a shame that it's not around anymore. Count me in for whatever he has lined up next.

POPBOT #1
By Ashley Wood
$7.99, b&w, 48pg, page 286, Idea & Design Works, NOV012419

I'm biased in favour of people who use orange intelligently in their Previews advertisements. What can I say, I'm easy? It helps that this comic is described as "Dadaist", and it's by the very talented Ashley Wood. I'd even recommend it if it wasn't so expensive. $8 for a b&w 48 page book? Pass.

Granted, it's pricey, but sometimes you have to pay more for beautiful things. I'm going to give the book a chance to grab me.

BIPOLAR #2
By Tomar & Assof Hanuka & Etgar Keret
$2.95, b&w, 36pg, page 279, Five O'Clock Shadow, NOV012385

I picked Bipolar #1 blindly, and was very surprised at it's quality. It was clever, well written and had nice art, all for three bucks. I wish all the comics sold would offer as much.

WHITE RAIN #1
by Yoshitoshi ABe
$3.50, b&w, 40 pages, Page 276, Fanboy Comics,

Second time is the charm? This is re-solicited after, you know, not coming out for some reason. So, in the spirit of re-solicitation, here is my exact hype for WHITE RAIN #1 from last March's Previews Review:

"Yoshitoshi ABe is brilliant. I fawned over his haunting, beautiful work enough [on his awesome book ESSENCE]. Suffice to say it's still haunting and beautiful, but now it will be in a beautiful comic book. WHITE RAIN is creepy, SERIAL EXPERIMENTS LAIN- like science fiction, created entirely from pencils and zipatone. I'm so very happy to see this coming to print. Order two. One for yourself, and one for a friend."

I'm still trying to figure out if the spelling of his last name is a typo that stuck, or pretension. :)

STRAY BULLETS #23
By David Lapham
$3.50, b&w, 32pg, page 274, El Capitan, NOV012358

David Lapham's crime stories do something to you when you read them. You can almost smell the blood rising from the page and hear the screams of its characters (Who will, almost inevitably be screaming at some point). His stories aren't scary, at least not in the conventional sense, but they're shocking in their brutality and truth. These aren't the heroic tales of a stern PI tracking down a perp; these are the dirty little stories that most writers are afraid to write. They're stories about sweaty sex, violent death, consuming greed, and the cold sting of betrayal. They're stories about love, hope, hatred and loss. They're the stories that fall between the cracks and get ignored. STRAY BULLETS is back. Hold onto something.

Hey look, Stray Bullets is back! A book that is probably entirely unique in the comic industry, STRAY BULLETS rocketed to fame for it's hard-edged noir ideals and brilliant, cinematic storytelling. After a less-than-favourably-received dalliance with the MURDER ME DEAD limited series, the incredibly talented Lapham returns to his (in my opinion) best creation.

While I'll admit to liking his short, brutal stories more than his book length tale's, MURDER ME DEAD was a damn good read and a lot of reviewers were overly harsh with it.

I think it suffered from the fact that it wasn't Stray Bullets, personally. I mean, it's one thing to put out a bad comic, but I saw some surprisingly harsh reactions to MURDER ME DEAD. I guess I'll find out the real story when the trade paperback shows up in December.

JACK STAFF VOLUME 1: YESTERDAY'S HEROES TP
by Paul Grist
$15.95, b&w, 112 pages, Page 267, Dancing Elephant Press, NOV

Don't know who Paul Grist is? He's a British creator who has worked on scads of books over his esteemed career. What's he best known for? Most likely it's his noir detective series KANE, stories of Star City police officers. It's really quite good, and you should order it. So what's JACK STAFF then? That's his better selling pulps 'n' superheroes story, in which a forgotten hero from the 1920's is on the run for a crime he didn't commit, aided and abetted by all manner of heroes, robots, and more. Make sure it's on your order form.

OVERTIME
By Marc Bryant & Mal Jones
$9.95, b&w, 76pg, page266, Cyberosia Publishing, NOV012303

Local boys make good. While it might be a little bit suspect of me to be recommending it, seeing as Cyberosia is also publishing the PopImage book this spring and Marc and Mal are friends of mine, I would honestly be recommending it anyhow. I've read the first several pages of it online, discussed the plot with Marc, and seen a bunch of the concept art (not to mention the brilliant Brian Wood cover). This is going to be a great original graphic novel with good production design and at a decent price. Honest recommendation, pick it up.

I've had the pleasure of reading the whole script, and of seeing most of the finished art and bias or not, this is a fantastic book. It's a Sci-Fi book that defies the rules of Sci-Fi and it's a police drama that fits comfortably inside, but isn't defined by, police drama conventions. Marc and Mal have created a unique and enjoyable comic that uses the Graphic Novel form to its fullest. Don't believe me? Fine, go check out the downloadable preview at www.cyberosia.com/OTpreview.pdf

STRANGE KILLINGS #1
By Warren Ellis & Mike Wolfer
$3.50, b&w, 32pg, Page 230, Avatar Press, NOV012165

Bolstered by the strength of the sick and twisted Stranger Kisses, I'm rather looking forward to this newest 'Strange' mini-series.

I don't really have anything to add to this, except to say that a trade paperback collection is imminent. I can't see any advantage to
buying it serially.

THE WAITING PLACE #12
By Sean McKeever, Mike Norton & Jeffrey Linke
$4.95, b&w, 48pg, Page 220, Slave Labor Graphics, NOV012119

This is the final issue of Sean McKeever's THE WAITING PLACE. I was actually flipping through some early issues of the series earlier this month, and I was sort of saddened. McKeever originally envisioned the book as having "seasons", sort of like a television show. With this, the end of the series, I feel a sense of loss. TWP is an enjoyable book, with great characterization, solid art, and engaging stories. The comic industry is poorer for it's absence. Congrats on a great run, guys.

Earlier, I was speaking a little about books that the Direct Market doesn't support, and all-ages books aren't the only victims of their shortsightedness. Virtually all of the issues of this brilliant series were sold at a only handful of comic stores in our country. I've heard reports of some stores selling twenty or thirty copies. And yet most retailers still maintain that books like this won't sell at their stores. I'm sorry, but I refuse to believe that the only places that people who read comics like this just happen to live within ten miles of one of the few comic stores that actually stock the book. The real reason these books don't sell when they're actually stocked is because you've driven the customers that would buy them out.

And just to make sure that the retailers don't get all of my wrath this month, I'd like to point out that these retailers might be more willing to take some risks if comics we returnable, like other print material. Wake up publishers, if Diamond won't get off their asses and make comics returnable, then maybe you should. Sure, you may have to pulp some issues, but I'd be willing to bet that your orders would increase significantly.

All that being said, I'm really going to miss The Waiting Place. It was a touching, heart felt comic that had more to say about young people than a dozen WB drama's ever could. While I'm sure Sean and Mike will be moving on to some great new projects, I still consider losing this series a loss.

Actually, Diamond is actively against publishers going returnable on anything but a very specific overship basis. Despite that, some publishers like TOP SHELF and (I believe ANTARCTIC PRESS) do have policies where you can return new, saleable merchandise to them and exchange it for other books. Granted, it's not super-publicized, but as a retailer-only concern I can't see why it would need to be.

Cross-Gen also got retailers to take a greater look at their work buy making it returnable. I'm not sure if they still do it, but I'm certain it was a major factor in the fledgling comic publisher's modest success.

PUBLIC DOMAIN: A CHANNEL ZERO DESIGN BOOK
By Brian Wood
$12.95, b&w, 112pg, page 216, AIT/Planet Lar, NOV012105

I've been dying for this book. Ever since I interviewed Brian last year I've been desperate to get even further inside his head and see where CHANNEL ZERO came from.

I really like Channel Zero. I really liked the DUPE special, and I'm a fan of Brian Wood's art and design. This is really a no-brainer.

I wish more artists would do something like this. I don't mean an artbook; anyone can slap one of those together. No, I'd love to see a book detailing how someone like Chris Ware works and creates his comics.

POP GUN WAR #2
By Farel Dalrymple
$2.50, b&w, 24pg, page 212, Absence Of Ink Press, NOV012091

This is one of the lost gems of 2000, though I don't really know how lost it is, per say, considering how loudly it was shouted from the rooftops. The second issue to the beautifully illustrated, surreal tale of a boy who finds angel wings. I don't often recommend second issues, but I'm recommending this. Go and get it. And if you can find the first issue, get that too.

It's also worth mentioning that Farel won a Xeric grant for the first issue last year. They don't just give Xeric grants to anyone, so you know this is a quality book worth checking out. I'm hoping the new publisher Absence of Ink Press will make sure there is less of a gap between issue's this time.

WIZARD EDGE
$4.99, colour, 128 pages, Page 198, Wizard Publications, NOV

I'm sort of happy and sort of insulted. I mean on the one hand, this is a great opportunity for the 16-or-so books that are above this solicitation to get some much-needed and much-deserved attention. On the other hand, the solicitation prominently mentions books and creators almost entirely from the front of the catalogue, except not superheroes (or not entirely superheroes). I really, really want this to be good. I mean, I want it to be good a lot. But… no, let's leave it there. I'm expecting a lot out of this. I hope it doesn't disappoint.

It's Wizard, of course it'll disappoint. Someone once told me that It was pointless of me to be so hard on Wizard because it was what it was, and it caters to a willing audience. I agree, so why now is it courting another? The cynic could say that it's just another reason to talk more about Kevin Smith...

Whatever, Wizard can do what it wants, but I won't pretend that I'm not annoyed by Edge's lack of female creators or, in a mass e-mailing, Wizard referring to creators like Jim Mahfood and Andi Watson as 'newer' creators when both have had very long and successful careers.

I'm going to wait.

I'm not going to bother.

MOMENT OF SILENCE
cover by joe quesada & alex ross
kevin smith, joe quesada, bill jemas & brian michael bendis (w)/igor kordey, john romita jr., mark bagley & chuck austen (p)
• THE SCOOP: An all-star collection of creators craft four silent stories - with all proceeds going to the victims of 9•11•01.
• THE STORY: Inspired by the true events, four duos of titanic talent unite to remember the heroic sacrifices of 9•11•01. And, in keeping with our 'Nuff Said event, all stories will be told with images only. The creative teams include: Kevin Smith (DAREDEVIL, Green Arrow) and Igor Kordey (CABLE); Marvel's EIC Joe Quesada and John Romita Jr. (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN); Marvel Prez Bill Jemas and Mark Bagley (ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN); and Brian Michael Bendis (DAREDEVIL) and Chuck Austen (ELEKTRA). And it's all wrapped in a touching cover penciled by Quesada and painted by Alex Ross. Best of all, Marvel will give all proceeds to the families that lost loved ones during the attack on America.

• THE FORMAT: 32 pages, with no ads. Printed on glossy stock with a cardstock cover.
7-59606-tbd-00111 (MarvelPG)        3.50

If this is what I think it is, then Bendis recently announced that the art for his contribution will be done by none other than Scott Morse.

X-MEN: FALL OF THE MUTANTS Trade Paperback
Cover by Alan Davis
$24.95, FC, 272pg, page180, Marvel, NOV011852

Marvel, true to its word, is searching their archives for some of the classic stories that made them stars. In the 80's, it was all about X-Men. Chris Claremont was, after several years of towing the line, breaking out and turning the X-Men into his book.

You can now expect Chris to come along and make fun of me for talking about this, but screw him, he's not really right in the head.

I don't need to make fun of you. Your choices speak for themselves, fanboy.

Touch my God Phoenix!

THE ULTIMATES #1
By Mark Millar, Bryan Hitch, & Andrew Currie
$2.25, FC, 32pg, page 157, Marvel, NOV011803

I just read the Wizard preview of this and it's really, really good. Aside from the fact that Bryan Hitch is one of the best illustrators in the business, in my humble estimation, the story really appears to be one of the most thoroughly constructed superhero books in years. Seems like a lot of fun. I have no problem with well-done superhero books. This is going to be a very well done superhero book.

Mark Millar doesn't mess around when it comes to stretching the boundaries of superhero comics. He took Authority to the next, over the top step, leaving people asking 'Warren Who?' and remade the X-Men into a hip, counter culture teenage drama. I'm dying to see what he can do with the Avengers.

Marvel's Mangaverse Event

I think it's really telling that for all of the attention that Marvel has received lately for top-notch art and design on their comics, these books are looking even sharper and more attractive than their normal stuff. Granted, they're not all winners (X-Men, Ghost Rider…) but all in all, they're an incredibly sharp looking bunch. Special kudos go to SPIDER-MAN though, for being the hip, current, excellent looking book that Ultimate could have been.

Wow. Interesting slam on the Ultimate Spider-man book. I'm not sure how recasting Spider-man as a ninja trained by Uncle Ben is something that would have been cool as more than a one off, but I will admit that it looks fun. I'm also interested in checking out The Punisher and Fantastic Four.

I don't think ULTIMATE went far enough to re-cast spider-man in a current light. It's still really… old looking. Just look at that artwork, that's slicker than most computer animation, not to mention most comic books on the stands. Ultimate would have benefited from interiors that looked like it's covers. For a start.

Really now? I think the Ultimate Spider-man covers are a weakness myself. I don't think changing Spider-man as radically as this special issue would have been a very good idea. The Ultimates wasn't about starting from scratch, it was about pulling down 40 years of continuity and re-thinking the character. I'm not a teenager by any means anymore, but I'd like to think I'm still reasonably in touch with what will and will not work for them. If marketed correctly, I could easily see this book being popular fans of say WB's SMALLEVILLE. Can't you see a weekly drama based on the life of Peter Parker? I read Ultimate Spider-man and get the same feeling I get while watching the Superman drama.

NOBLE CAUSES #1
By Jay Faerber, Patrick Gleason, Amanda Conner, John Wycough & Jimmy Palmiotti
$2.95, FC, 32pg, page127, Image, NOV011515

Noble Causes is a buzz book. That is to say, it came out and found a lot of positive feedback, good sell-through, and an audience. So if you found this one on the racks at your local shop and decided to give it a try, remember to pre-order this book with your comic retailer. Because these sorts of books don't always see the increase in orders that they deserve. And this book deserves them.

And everyone should check out the wonderful article Jay wrote for us about the evolution of Nobel Causes located here http://www.popimage.com/industrial/101701jayfaerber.shtml

DARKMINDS: MACROPOLIS #1
By Chris Sarracini, Jo Chen, Christina Chen, and Alan Wang
$2.95, FC, 32 pages, Page 114, Image, NOV

No no no no no. I know what you're thinking. STRIKE IT FROM YOUR MIND. We've all heard it before, and it doesn't apply here. This series is beautiful, illustrated expertly by Jo Chen (who is frighteningly talented), and ably assisted by her sister Christina Chen. It is written by a friend of mine named Chris Sarracini, and he can really write. So I'm going to tell you, drop all your pre-conceived notions about Dreamwave, and DARKMINDS in particular. This is going to be an

Chris is the DJ. Scottie's the rapper.


PopImage Forum - Discuss this message at the PopImage forum.


Upfront Archive - Read past Upfront articles