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Bob's Thoughts

by Bob Gay

Best (and Worst) of 2007

2007 has come and gone and another year's worth of comics are now stored in boxes and on the proverbial sagging bookshelf. From a personal standpoint, I don't think I've been as excited about a group of reprint projects than those that have been started in the past year. Most are complete and, in many cases, feature material that hasn't seen the light of day since it was originally published: and it's good comics too! Manga also began to take up some of my reading time.

I also don't recall a period in which I have had less interest in the monthly four-color periodicals that I've collected for nearly 40 years. Cost, combined with dismal stories and art that is barely representational at best have driven me away from the racks of new material and back into the days when storytelling and art were combined into comic stories that not only entertained, but were also are a feast for the eye.

All that being said, here is my rundown, by company, of what I found to be the best and worst of the last year.

AC COMICS

Once the premiere company for comic reprints from the 40s through the 60s, AC hit some major snags in 2007.

• Their publishing schedule was very erratic.
• The price increase to $9.95 of Men of Mystery caused me to drop the book (and I'm sure hurt sales), although the contents always looked intriguing.
• America's Greatest Comics, which featured some of the best art and story not produced by the either Marvel or DC disappeared from the schedule.
• Best of the West continued to hold the line and usually featured a gem of sorts in each issue.
• AC also entered into the realm of public domain DVD production in 2007 and this, coupled with their output of over-priced reprint books ($24.95 is just too much, especially for material that they have already reprinted) make me think that AC may be on their way out of the comic business. They will be missed.

DARK HORSE

Dark Horse released a number of Omnibus volumes this past year and all are worth giving a squint.

• My favorite of the bunch is the first Alien vs. Predator volume, which features one of the best science fiction stories I've ever read in comics (the first A vs. P series) and one deserving to be brought back into print.
• The Harvey comics volumes, although not of any interest to me, were extremely well produced and featured excellent reproduction on nice, white paper stock.
• Dark Horse also announced some eclectic reprint hardbacks such as Al Capp's Shmoo and The Complete Green Lama: books that may not be for the mainstream, but definitely fill a niche due to their rarity and artwork.
• On the downside, Dark Horse continues to solicit some product nearly 3-4 months in advance with a laughable lack of information of what the books will contain (the current Savage Sword of Conan volumes being a prime example). If a publisher expects to garner sales from both dealers and collectors, they need to let people know what's in the book.

DC

DC continued to amaze me in 2007. Even while their regular comics spiraled into the morass of one colossal, boring crisis after another, their reprint schedule expanded and threw a number of gems our way.

• The Showcase volumes have more bang for the buck than any project in recent years and, to their credit, DC has been trying to target the books to meet every fanboy's dream. Along with the Silver Age adventures of the major character (Superman, Batman, et al) we've also been treated to such diverse characters as Jonah Hex, The Challengers of the Unknown and the excellent art (but, dreadful stories) that appeared in the House of Mystery. In fact, the only drawback I can find to the Showcase series is that DC (and Marvel is guilty in this regard as well) is not attempting to test the market for Golden Age material in this format.
• DC righted a great wrong this year when they released Jack Kirby's Fourth World series as an Omnibus series (the final volume will come out in 2008) finally presenting the comics in their original release order and in color. Considering how much DC owes to Kirby's concepts it's good to see that they are finally coming around.
• Another Archives volume of Kamandi came out this year, as well, with more on the horizon...Now, if DC would only do a Simon and Kirby Omnibus!
• The Absolute editions continue to baffle me. Although I like the larger size, I can't quite bring myself to pony up a hundred bucks for comics that are relatively recent and have been perpetually in print since they originally came out (although I find The Sandman volumes intriguing). Hopefully, DC will come up with a boffo project (Kirby's Fourth World would have been a slam dunk) for this format that will be worth the money...
• Lastly, on the Archives front, there is both joy and sorrow. Even while I stumbled over DC's announcement that there would be two more Spirit Archives (the daily strips and miscellania), I also discovered rumors that DC was planning to discontinue the Archives series of books and look into other types of reprints. Although the Archives seemed to be scraping the bottom of the barrel of late (the Seven Soldiers of Victory were not A-list), I find that I will miss them. The line, as a whole, was high on quality and extremely well done.

FANTAGRAPHICS

Once thought of as the company that hated comics, Fantagraphics has done a turn-around and entered the field of newspaper strip reprints.

• The Complete Peanuts features excellent reproduction and packaging and the series may reach an end providing Fantagraphics remains in business long enough.
• Although I can't quite figure out the "why" of Dennis the Menace, the series is, again, excellent in its presentation.
• The surprise of the year is the Popeye volumes, which will eventually reprint all of Segar's work on the character. They are well produced and the price is right.
• Even Krazy Kat has a following (for reasons that escape me), and Fantagraphics has gone to great lengths to release rare and never reprinted material by Herriman.

Gemstone

Gemstone gets more boos and hisses from me than any other company, simply because they seem clueless on how to publish a regular line of comics.

• Continual price increases have plagued the Disney line from the start and paying the current price of $7.99 for (mostly) bad European reprints puts them off of my buying list and, I'm sure, out of the hands of other collectors as well (I will add that their regular comics line are all trade paperbackish anthologies)
• Of their "special" trade paperbacks, Gemstone refuses to publish a series of Don Rosa collections; something that can be had in Europe and sells like hotcakes. In fact, the only way they seem willing to publish Rosa is:
  1. if they can do both Rosa and Barks in the same volume, or
  2. they can include a story in a trade paperback anthology of other creators, or
  3. they can serialize a story over a number of their regular comics
• There are a couple of "gems" that came from Gemstone this year, those being the volumes in the ongoing EC reprint series (large, hardback format with excellent reproduction). Showing greed, however, Gemstone also decided to try publishing the same books in a leatherbound edition (just what the industry needs...more expensive books).
• Gemstone may also be on their way out, as they missed their ship dates beginning around the end of November and, as of this writing (January, 2008), haven't made their way back to the comic racks.

IDW

MARVEL

I started reading Marvel comics over 30 years ago and, at one time, my collection went back to the early 60s. Today, I find them only slightly behind IDW in the production of "anti-art"...but they keep on bringing me back with their reprints!

• I love the Omnibus format with it's larger size. Marvel comics have never looked so good and I picked up both the Miller Daredevil and Uncanny X-Men (where's volume 2?) volumes. Now two of my favorites are in hardback and look real pretty up on the sagging bookshelf! The Spider-Man Omnibus is to be recommended, as well, since it features Ditko's complete run on the strip.
• Kudos also for bringing back into print some of the Masterworks volumes...now I have the complete Kirby Fantastic Four up on the sagging bookshelf, as well.
• Boo and hiss to Marvel, however, for re-mastering some of the Masterworks and moving the contents around. Their change in the X-Men forced me to buy the Omnibus (which I did enjoy, just didn't like having to be forced into doing it.)
• Marvel also proved themselves to be a triple threat and not only brought out reprints of Golden Age material, but proved that there was good stuff in the 50s (the first Atlas Heroes Masterworks) and continued to reprint their Silver Age material.
• The Essentials may have reached an end, more's the pity, and, like DC, Marvel has refused to try any Golden Age material in an affordable, black and white format.

SANCTUM PRODUCTIONS

Yeah, I know they don't produce comics, but if you haven't tried the adventures of The Shadow or Doc Savage, you are denying yourself some of the best pulp adventures ever produced and are missing out on the stories that influenced the comic books of the Golden Age. You have been warned!

TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

Again, not a comic publisher per se, but TwoMorrows features more in-depth material about comics than any other publisher on the market. Their interviews are always informative and they probably have more material about Jack Kirby in their catalog than any other publisher. They also entered into the realm of digital publishing last year and their efforts in that area are worth a squint.

Well, those are the items that stuck in my mind this last year. Obviously, I had a couple of axes to grind, but, on an optimistic note, I'm hoping for better comics in 2008, so I can have something to talk about when it comes to mainstream comics.

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The Bottom Line

by Ryan Riley

1/18/08

Versus - 2007 Year in Review

2007 has been a very good year at the box office for comic book-based properties. There have been an unprecedented amount of comic movies released, and the streak looks to be continued into 2008. I covered a few of them in detail in my previous Versus columns for the movies 300, Ghost Rider & Spider-Man 3, and since I'm standing by what I said then I won't rehash them in this article. But there were a couple of movies that I was either too busy or too broke (movie theaters charge too damn much) to go see. On top of that, there has been a slew of animated comic book movies released straight-to-DVD this year. This year-in-review column will give you either a fond reminiscence of what you have seen or a preview of what you haven't seen.

So without any further ado, here is a brief (and for the most part non-judgemental) breakdown of the rest of last year's comic-book movie adaptations.

30 Days of Night

The plot:

Vampires learn about a town in Alaska called Barrow that experiences a straight month of total darkness during winter and see an opportunity to feast without having to worry about hiding during the daytime.

Starring:

Josh Hartnett (Sin City), Melissa George (Alias), Ben Foster (X-Men: The Last Stand)

Does it stack up to the comic?

The premise of the movie is pretty foolproof. The most notable changes to the comic script are what were not included, namely the characters of Vicente the vampire elder & the young vampire hunter sent to Barrow to obtain irrefutable evidence that vampires exist. Romantic tension was added to the movie by way of having married protagonists Eben (Hartnett) & his wife Stella (Melissa) in the midst of a separation.

Is it worth seeing?

I would definitely give this one the benefit of the doubt. The story of the comic broke new ground in the horror genre and I don't see why that wouldn't translate to the big-screen.

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem

The plot:

A starship carrying a fallen Predator and several Alien face-hugger eggs crash-lands in a small town in Colorado. One of the predators manages to send a distress signal before being killed, which is received by a veteran Predator hunter who journeys to Earth to contain the Alien outbreak and any unfortunate human witnesses.

Starring:

Steven Pasquale (Rescue Me), Ian Whyte (Alien vs. Predator), Reiko Aylesworth (24)

Does it stack up to the comic?

This story isn't based on any particular comic book story. On the downside this sci-fi/horror/action movie was set in a small rural town. On the plus side, we get introduced to a Predator-Alien hybrid, created from a face-hugger embryo stashed within the dead body of the fallen Predator. I was fairly disappointed with the original Aliens vs. Predator, and aside from the novelty of a different-looking Alien this one looks to be another so-so installment.

Is it worth seeing?

As much as I'd like to give this movie the benefit of the doubt, the only reason I would want to sit through this movie is to see what an Alien grown from a Predator looks like. Since I can probably see that on Youtube, I think I'll pass.

Dr. Strange (animated, DVD)

The plot:

Dr. Stephen Strange, a top-notch (and extremely selfish) neurosurgeon, gets into a car accident and sustains an injury to his hands that ends his medical career. After frittering away most of his fortune searching for a way to heal his hands he investigates the rumors of a powerful sorcerer in Tibet that might be able to cure him. The sorcerer, the Ancient One, trains Strange in the mystic arts and starts him on the path to becoming the Sorcerer Supreme, the magical protector of Earth.

Starring:

Bryce Johnson (Justice League Heroes), Jonathan Adams (Bones), Phil Lamarr (Samurai Jack)

Does it stack up to the comic?

The origin story of Dr. Strange is for the most part intact. The changes to the Dr. Strange mythology are pretty benign. Mordo looks (and acts) more Asian than European, Wong is promoted from manservant to full-fledged sorcerer, and a back story involving Strange's guilt over his dead sister dying on his operating table is added to give an explanation for the chip on his shoulder.

Is it worth seeing?

Having actually seen this flick, I would say that it is overall it is a pretty faithful translation of the original comic. If you don't want to pony up the $15 to buy the DVD they have it available at Blockbuster. It's at least worth renting.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

The plot:

This sequel has the titular Silver Surfer arriving on Earth to prepare the planet for consumption by his master, the world-devouring Galactus. All this is happening as Mr. Fantastic & the Invisible Woman plan for their impending nuptials and Dr. Doom plots to steal the cosmic power stored within the Surfer.

Starring:

Jessica Alba (Good Luck Chuck), Michael Chiklis (The Shield), Ioan Gruffudd (King Arthur), Chris Evans (Cellular).

Does it stack up to the comic?

Only the most rudimentary aspects of Stan & Jack's first Galactus story survive intact in this movie translation. The Silver Surfer does come to Earth ahead of Galactus to prepare for his coming. Also, the Surfer turns against his master as he prepares to destroy Earth because his own humanity is reawakened after a heart-to-heart conversation with a human woman (Alicia Masters in the comic, Sue Storm in the movie). They threw in another popular aspect of the Surfer's history with Dr. Doom's plot to steal the Surfer's Power Cosmic.

Is it worth seeing?

I had such high hopes for this movie. I will say this: they could not have gotten a more perfect ensemble together to play the Fantastic Four. Even Jessica Alba, who I had reservations about when I heard she was playing Sue Storm, does a pretty good job. Their chemistry was fabulous in both films. That being said, my gripes about this film are many. I'm not crazy about how Doom is portrayed in either FF film. I don't like how the Surfer's powers are linked to his being in contact with his board. And I especially didn't like how they turned Galactus into a cloud of cosmic gas. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the goofy armor Galactus sports in the comic would have worked either, but I really think they could have come up with a much more imaginative and visually striking translation of the planet eating menace.

Hellboy: Blood & Iron (animated, DVD)

The plot:

In 1939 Professor Broom clashed with a female vampire named Erzsebet Ondrushko, which ended with Broom destroying her. In the present, an ailing Broom takes his BPRD team consisting of demon-offspring Hellboy, pyrokinetic Liz Sherman & the amphibious Abe Sapien to investigate a haunting in Long Island. The ghosts turn out to be the spirits of innocent victims of the vampire Erzsebet, whose servants are laboring to resurrect her. It's up to Hellboy and the gang to stop her.

Starring:

Ron Perlman (Blade II), Selma Blair (The Sweetest Thing), Doug Jones (Men in Black II)

Does it stack up to the comic?

As with its predecessor, Hellboy: Sword of Storms, the story was created specifically for the movie and not taken from a comic tale. As Hellboy creator Mike Mignola is involved with the project, it's pretty much a given that it will be pretty faithful to the original source material.

Is it worth seeing?

I'm not the biggest Hellboy fan in the world, but I liked the live-action Hellboy movie and I enjoyed Hellboy: Sword of Storms, so I think I can safely recommend checking out this latest DVD.

The Invincible Iron Man (animated, DVD)

The plot:

Billionaire inventor Tony Stark sponsors an excavation in China. The excavation uncovers an ancient Chinese city, and the events that follow the discovery lead up to the resurrection of the Mandarin, a sinister, powerful entity that ruled China in the past. Tony creates a suit of armor to save his own life from a life-threatening injury and to use as a weapon to defeat the Mandarin and his enforcers The Elementals.

Starring:

Marc Worden (Ultimate Avengers), Gwendoline Yeo (Night Skies), Fred Tatasciore (Beowulf)

Does it stack up to the comic?

Other than the motivation for creating the Iron Man armor, only the characters remain basically the same. A new script was made to intertwine the origin of Iron Man with the emergence of who is arguably his most dangerous enemy, the Mandarin. We'll just have to wait until the live-action Iron Man film comes out in May of 2008 to see a more faithful adaptation.

Is it worth seeing?

The movie is made by the same animation studio that gave us the Ultimate Avengers & Dr. Strange animated movies, and it looks like the screenplay is on par with those other films, so if you enjoyed the other films you should probably check it out.

Superman: Doomsday (animated, DVD)

The plot:

When an alien starship is uncovered by Lex Luthor's team of scientists, they open up the vessel and unwitting release an alien creature. The creature (the titular Doomsday) embarks on a spree of destruction as it makes its way toward Metropolis. Superman intervenes and seemingly dies after the brutal battle with Doomsday is concluded.

Starring:

Adam Baldwin (Serenity), Anne Heche (Men in Trees), James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Does it stack up to the comic?

The original story of Superman's death and eventual rebirth unfolded over the better part of an entire year in multiple issues of 4 separate Superman comic books. This movie attempts to tell this story accomplish in a little over an hour. There is no way in hell that even half of what was in the original comic was going to make it. The comic story gave us 4 pretenders to the throne (Steel, Superboy, The Eradicator & The Cyborg) before Big Blue's return, whereas the movie gives us a fully-grown clone of Superman that fills the slot of both Superboy (the clone) and the Superman gone rogue (a combination of traits from The Eradicator & The Cyborg).

Is it worth seeing?

Let's see, a streamlined retelling of one of the most memorable comic book stories of all time written & produced by Bruce Timm (who has been involved in DC Animated series ranging from the original Batman Animated to Teen Titans). I would say it is definitely worth seeing. Now if only I could get my wife and daughter to agree…

Well, that's the year 2007 in a nutshell. It looks like a comparable amount of comic-based films will be released in 2008. I especially look forward to checking out the live-action Iron Man film, to see how Marvel makes a film based on one of its properties without interference from an outside movie studio (No more Emo-Spidey, please!).

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Mainstream Mania

by Mike Guardabascio

01/09/08

Mike's Mainstream Mania Year End Best/Worst ofs

We interrupt your regularly scheduled weekly column to welcome you once again to the Mikey awards. This is the third or fourth time I've done them-or something--and this years were definitely the hardest to choose. It was a shaky year for comics, and unfortunately the next one looks shakier. Cross your fingers and hope that the Upside award winners are doing more, and that we see a lot less of the downside in the next 12 months. Also, if you're looking for my thoughts on last week's conclusion to One More day, you'll find them below, squarely entrenched in the downside section. Spoiler Alert for anyone who hasn't read comics in the last 12 months.

The Upside:

Best Writer: Ed Brubaker, Greg Pak

No question about it, nobody turned in more solid performances than these two guys this year, in mainstream books at least. Greg Pak changed the tenor of big events with his universe-spanning Planet Hulk epic, followed by the spectacular World War Hulk, which was marketed as its own event but which reads much better as a sequel to PH. Pak did an event with characters true to their cores (unlike Civil War), that improved a major character without retconning or changing him too much. Pak's Hulk is spectacular, and not to be missed.

While Pak is being recognized for his work on one character, Ed Brubaker has been putting together quite the oeuvre for the last year. His work on Daredevil has been very solid, with strokes of greatness, following up Bendis' run effectively without changing the tenor of the series. His Iron Fist relaunch has been all over the place, and usually in a very good way, and he also launched Criminal with Sean Phillips, a critically acclaimed rarity: a creator-owned Marvel series. But the masterpiece in Bru's collection this year has been Captain America. Not only did he write the death of the icon with subtlety and class (one of the only comic deaths that doesn't read exploitative), but he continued his historic run on the Cap title without the title character. Not only that, but he elevated it, showing the strength he'd developed in ancillary characters over the last few years. Not a lot of guys could make a book better while it features only secondary characters for a while, but Bru did. Let's just hope our 'new' Cap next month doesn't toss this book, kicking and screaming, over the shark.

Writer to Watch: Peter Tomasi

Young buck Peter Tomasi is in fact anything but: the guy's been in comics for a while, and at DC for over 15 years as an editor before stepping down (or up') into a creative role. But with an incredibly strong Black Adam miniseries this year, and big projects on the horizon (including taking over Nightwing with Rags Morales on art in January), DC will look to use their least-and-most experienced exclusive writer as much as possible. I predict a big year, maybe not on the big event books, but a big year nonetheless.

Event of the Year: Sinestro Corps

2007 was a year of events, and with Final Crisis and Secret Invasion looming, 2008 looks to be the same. Marvel took the headlines with WWH this last year, but by far the best event of the year was Geoff Johns' Sinestro Corps. Granted, I would have liked it better if they'd stuck to Johns' original vision of a small, contained event instead of trying to milk every last cent out of a great story, but it remained a great story nonetheless. Great writing, usually great art--I already can't wait to buy this in trade--however they decide to collect it.

Go Buy This Book! The Spirit

Seriously, not nearly enough mainstream readers I know are reading this book, despite the fact that it has everything you want: history, nostalgia, a full story every time you read it, great mood and humor, and freaking Darwyn Cooke writing and drawing. What more do you want, people? This also gets my nod for crossover book of the year: give this to your indie friends, they'll dig it.

Artist of the Year: Jae Lee/Richard Isanove

No doubt about it, Jae Lee and the just-now-getting-the-recognition-he's-always-deserved Richard Isanove took their own styles to another level on the Dark Tower book. In doing so, they elevated comic art as well. I read this hardcover once for the story, then spent twice as long just drooling over every panel. Beautiful to look at, and it also ends up being a great crossover book: plenty of people I know that don't read comics had their eyes caught by the juxtaposition of Isanove's gorgeous backgrounds and palette with Lee's darkly inked characters.

Biggest Moment:

This was a year of big moments for comics, but to me nothing resonated more than the death of Captain America. I thought Marvel handled this classily, not hitting us over the head too much with the political symbolism (no, the media handled that on its own), and recognizing that this character meant something to the nation, as well as themselves as a company. It was the first comic death in a long time that actually felt like a death. Perhaps Jeph Loeb's Fallen Son miniseries, taking us through the different stages of grief, contribute to that. Anyway, five years from now we'll be giving the worst moment of the year award to Mephisto's resurrection of Captain America, but until then, hats off to the creators.

Book of the Year: Spirit, Captain America

Hands down. I've covered both these books already, so suffice it to say that these books were both important to comics. Both showed the direction their companies need to head, both featured impressive updates to their fabled title characters, and both featured great art and writing on every panel. I reread a few issues, and I really couldn't find a single word or pencil line out of place. At the heart of these spectacular reads is a craftsmanship and attention to detail that's rapidly fading from the Big Two.

The…Less Upside

Worst Comic Ever Forever: Countdown

There has never been a worse comic than Countdown. Not Superman boxing a Predator, not anything Image published, not a teamup between Spider-Man and the Noid. All of those things were, on some level, supposed to be bad. This was supposed to be the creative nexus of the DC Universe. It's been so bad that people are beginning to actually believe that 52 was good (which, seriously, it really isn't). It's been so bad that puppies are dying at the doors of comic shops nationwide. It's been so bad I don't want to watch old cartoon episodes of the Batman Animated Series because it's starting to ruin Paul Dini for me. Really, it's really bad, both the writing, and the art, which has been so sloppy that a cell phone has looked like a vibrator, and mouths are sometimes in the wrong places.

Worst Editorial Hijacking: One More Day

A late entry, this takes the cake as the worst thing I've read in comics in a long time. Two months ago, it would have been nearly incomprehensible to me that DC wouldn't win this award, but…well, that's how bad this book is. First, I honestly hadn't believe this was going to happen, I thought that Joe Q's ramblings were a massive misdirect, a la Speedball, that would lead to this issue being a touching and beautiful sendoff to Aunt May, a character who is important historically, but who's had her time. I thought maybe May would rise from her death bed to tell Peter and MJ not to make the stupid decision to ruin their lives so she could live an extra two months (Not once in the book did either character consider May's viewpoint, of course).

This comic is proof that the editorial side of comics is bankrupting the art form, becoming to comics what artists were in the 90s. Joe Q made a personal decision that the marriage kept Spidey from being relatable (as someone who grew up in the married Spidey era, with him as my favorite character, I clearly disagree). Because of that decision, decades of character development has been killed for the sake of nostalgia.

Biggest Disappointment: The Kuberts

For years, all the headlines have focused on Marvel raiding DC's talent stables to bolster their own. Finally, finally, DC got somebody back: the Kubert brothers, who they immediately placed on two high-profile books, Action Comics and Batman, where they proceeded to derail the shipping schedules within a few weeks. Seriously, I was looking forward to their books, and now I'm left wondering if Marvel didn't send them over as sabotage? Let's hope Mark Bagley can hold on a little longer before fading out.

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