LETHARGIC LAD 2011...

Above: Cover to Greg Hyland’s LETHARGiC LAD 2011. Lethargic Lad and all other prominent Lethargic Lad characters are TM and © 2012 Greg Hyland.

Tired of comics that are reboots? Annoyed with comics that are the "New" that, or "Next" this, or full of "52" crap? Then, it’s time you gave up on corporate super-hero comics and paid more attention to super-hero comics that are fun.

Today, my mailbox gave me LETHARGiC LAD 2011. The book was signed, numbered, and included a keen "Holy Crap" Lethargic Lad cover sketch by cartoonist Greg Hyland. LETHARGiC LAD 2011 is nicely printed, and the widescreen format is brilliant (as always). (Greg is still very smart.)

Greg’s writing is hysterical and his artwork is sharp. (Nice inking, Mr. Hyland.) And Greg’s annotations are entertaining and informative.

With LETHARGiC LAD 2011, Greg mocks WIZARD magazine (and who really doesn’t want to?), Rebecca Black (I forget who she is), super-hero deaths in comics, DC’s ‘New 52’, and Frank Miller’s HOLY TERROR (My favorite part of the book. But unlike Greg, I did enjoy HOLY TERROR.).

If you want to read comics that are witty and fun, then you’ll love LETHARGiC LAD 2011. I did.

To order the limited edition LETHARGiC LAD 2011 and to read new weekly LETHARGiC LAD webcomics, stop by the LETHARGiC LAD website.

I give LETHARGiC LAD 2011 four out of five NM’s:

ZOOTANAPUSS #1: The Al Nickerson Edition...

Above: Cover to Dave Sim’s ZOOTANAPUSS #1. TM and © 2012 Dave Sim.

Today, my mailbox gave me a nice surprise, a signed copy of Dave Sim’s ZOOTANAPUSS #1. Dave signed it with "Al Nickerson Edition #1/1." I thought that funny. As it turns out, ZOOTANAPUSS #1 is the incentive variant cover to GLAMOURPUSS #22.



I liked Dave’s mentioning of Will Eisner’s definitions between "graphic narratives" and "graphic novels." I enjoyed the Frank Miller ("For Al Gore and Mother Gaia!")and Todd McFarlane ("Die, Violator Bunny!") parodies. Hee-hee.

Also, as Dave Sim mentioned somewhere else:

We have Glamourpuss 22 coming out and you’ll notice that instead of it being the fourth annual swimsuit issue, it’s not the fourth annual swimsuit issue and that’s because I’ve decided to go off in a completely different direction. I’m doing a Zatanna parody, Zootanapuss.

There’s also a Glamourpuss 22 incentive cover and this is probably very destructive of the comic book field, but we’re all just trying to keep ourselves alive. So, for the Zootanapuss number one cover you gotta buy four of the regular ones to even get the number one cover. Now is that absolutely evil or is that absolutely evil?

LETHARGIC LAD 2010...

Above: Cover artwork to Greg Hyland’s LETHARGiC LAD 2010. Lethargic Lad and all other prominent Lethargic Lad characters are TM and © 2011 Greg Hyland.

About a week or two ago, my mailbox gave me LETHARGiC LAD 2010. The book was signed, numbered, and included a Lethargic Lad cover sketch by his creator, Greg Hyland.

LETHARGiC LAD 2010 is nicely printed, and the widescreen format is brilliant. Greg is so smart.



Above: Super-hero buddies, Nihilist-Man and Lethargic Lad, cover sketch by famed cartoonist, Greg Hyland. Nihilist-Man TM and © 2011 by me.

LETHARGiC LAD 2010 has something new. Greg added "joke-ruining annotations" to the strips. Hopefully, this will now be Lethargic Lad tradition. With his commentaries, I am reminded of how much I’ve always enjoyed reading Greg’s comments about the comics industry and pop culture.

My favorite strips in LETHARGiC LAD 2010 include the return of Lethargic Lad (after being frozen in a block of ice), Greg’s true life convention and store-signing stories, and when Evil Cyborg Lethargic Lad kills his past self,… or was that his future self?

Of course, Evil Cyborg Lethargic Lad IS the most popular Lethargic Lad character; everyone knows that. It’s nice to see that Jim Lee’s redesign of Wonder Woman’s outfit is now irrelevant. Who knew that Sentinels say "Skwark" when they croak? (They sorta do. Just check out UNCANNY X-MEN #141 and #142.) And, hey, "Rocky Raccoon" ain’t so bad. It’s better than "Within You Without You."

To order the limited edition LETHARGiC LAD 2010 and to read new weekly LETHARGiC LAD webcomics, stop by the LETHARGiC LAD website.

I give LETHARGiC LAD 2010 four out of five NM’s:

This week in comics...

I love drawing comics. I love writing about comics. I love teaching how to create comics. And I love reading comics. Here’s what I picked up this week. But, be warned, there be SPOILERS ahead!



Above: Chris Bachalo’s cover artwork for WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #2. Inks by Tim Townsend.

It doesn’t seem to make sense that a claw-waving berserker like Wolverine would make a good headmaster at any school. Is this because the character is more popular than (the obvious choice of) Cyclops?



Above: In WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #2, Bobby Drake makes smoochies with Kitty Pride… I think.

Chris Bachelo’s storytelling in WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #2 seems confusing at times. Maybe he should stick with THE AVENGERS.

The main problem with WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #2 is that even though this is only issue two, I don’t know who half of these characters are. Marvel editorial needs to do a better job with getting new readers up to date with their books.

I give WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #2 two out of five NM’s:




Above: Cory Walker’s cover to INVINCIBLE #85.

INVINCIBLE co-creator and original artist, Cory Walker, returns (for a little while, anyway) with INVINCIBLE #85.



Above: In INVINCIBLE #85, Omni-Man and the Mrs. arrive at Talescria, the capital of the Coalition of Planets. Will Allen the Alien use the Scourge Virus to eradicate the remaining Viltrumites living on Earth? And if so, how will the virus affect humans?

I give INVINCIBLE #85 three out of five NM’s:




Above: THE ROCKETEER JETPACK TREASURY EDITION by Dave Stevens.

You remember the Rocketeer? "The Rock-a-who?", you may ask. You know, the late Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer.

THE ROCKETEER JETPACK TREASURY EDITION looks absolutely beautiful. This book collects Dave Stevens’ original serialized Rocketeer story. The artwork is a bit racy for younger readers, though.



Above: Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer flies into action.

I give THE ROCKETEER JETPACK TREASURY EDITION four out of five NM’s:

Comics versus Terrorism: Frank Miller’s HOLY TERROR...

Above: The cover to Frank Miller’s HOLY TERROR. HOLY TERROR is Copyright © 2011 Frank Miller, Inc.

Comics have the potential to be a powerful medium. This is a form of literature and entertainment that should say some things. Frank Miller addresses a certain something, Islamic terrorism, in his graphic novel, HOLY TERROR.

I could have done without the harsh language, though. Naughty words make me squeamish.



Frank Miller posted on his website:

My new comic book (or "graphic novel", I suppose it should be called, because it’s square bound) is naked propaganda.

And…

3000 of my neighbors were murdered. My country was, utterly unprovoked, savagely attacked. I wish all those responsible for the Atrocity of 9/11 to burn in hell. I’m too old to serve my country in any other way. Otherwise, I’d gladly be pulling the trigger myself.



In 2006, at the WonderCon convention in San Francisco, Miller shared a bit about how politics have played a role in comics:

It is, not to put too fine a point on it, a piece of propaganda... Superman punched out Hitler. So did Captain America. That's one of the things they're there for.



In an interview with NPR, Miller stated:

I schooled myself in the writings of Madison and Franklin and Adams and Jefferson. I came to love those noble, indestructible ideas. They were ideas, to my young mind, of rebellion and independence, not of idolatry.

And…

Then came that sunny September morning when airplanes crashed into towers a very few miles from my home and thousands of my neighbors were ruthlessly incinerated — reduced to ash.

And…

For the first time in my life, I know how it feels to face an existential menace. They want us to die. All of a sudden I realize what my parents were talking about all those years. Patriotism, I now believe, isn't some sentimental, old conceit. It's self-preservation. I believe patriotism is central to a nation's survival. Ben Franklin said it: "If we don't all hang together, we all hang separately." Just like you have to fight to protect your friends and family, and you count on them to watch your own back.

What's going on in comics?

I haven’t blogged in a bunch of days. I’ve been busy drawing comics and preparing for teaching this Fall.

Anyway… I like drawing comics and I like reading them. Well, some of them, anyway. And I like to keep up with the latest news in comics. So, what is going on in comics? (Mind you, there are some spoilers.)

Well, the San Diego Comic-Con International came and went. I didn’t go. But, all the news I’ve read and heard from the Con just seemed like a bunch of uninteresting hype. How can such an enormous amount of non-news be new news? (Although, I was waiting to hear about what was going on with the revised First Comics and E-Man, but I heard no news about that.)

Is it really news when a publisher is renumbering or rebooting their titles? Is it really news when a publisher is going to tell the same sort of stories over and over again? Count me out.



Above: Artwork from Frank Miller’s HOLY TERROR.

Now, Frank Miller’s HOLY TERROR looks interesting. It’s nice to see creators address important issues like (as in this case) terrorism.



Above: No one escapes Steve Bissette’s the Fury.

The great Steve Bissette is bringing back THE FURY! I can’t wait for this one.

From srbissette.com:

It’s official: I’ve now signed contracts with a publisher for a return to color comics of… The Fury!

As far as reading comics, I picked up X-MEN: SCHISM #2. I really do enjoy Frank Cho’s artwork, but this issue was very dull, even the art. (I miss LIBERTY MEADOWS.)

Oh no! The Sentinels have been reactivated (again), and are about to stomp all over those poor mutants (again). Oh no! Cyclops and Wolverine are gonna argue (again). Can anyone in the X-offices come up with some new story ideas?

But, (and I liked this part) Kitty Pride tells Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad where to go…



Above: Artwork from X-MEN: SCHISM #2 by Frank Cho. Colors by Jason Keith.

The best line from X-MEN: SCHISM #2 was: "Liberals are nothing if not predictable." I thought that that was funny. One doesn’t customarily see Liberalism mocked in the comics industry.

I give X-MEN: SCHISM #2 two out of five NM’s:




Above: Partial artwork from the cover to INVINCIBLE #81 by Ryan Ottley.

I don’t often say this sort of thing, but INVINCIBLE #81 was kinda dull, too. FCO Plascencia has got to come back to coloring INVINCIBLE. The previous issue was quite awesome, though.

In this issue’s letter column (Penvincipals), I found it interesting reading the letters concerning abortion. (See INVINCIBLE #79 about why.)

I give INVINCIBLE #81 three out of five NM’s:




Above: Chris Bachalo’s artwork from AVENGERS #15. (Don't know who inked this, though.)

AVENGERS #15 is excellent! For the last several years, I haven’t been much of a Marvel Comics reader, but I really dig Chris Bachalo’s AVENGERS. Brian Michael Bendis’ writing reminds me of why I loved the Avengers as a kid. In AVENGERS #15, some of the Avengers fight the hammer-wielding Asgardian Hulk. Plus, Hawkeye and Spider-Woman make smoochies.

I give AVENGERS #15 four and a half out of five NM’s:

"How do you come back from that?"

Above: Cover to INVINCIBLE #80.

INVINCIBLE #80 came out today. "The best super-hero comic book in the Universe" is just that. Anyway,… enough of my hype.

INVINCIBLE #80 touched upon a couple of things that have been happening in comics.

Mark Grayson picked up some books at Night Flight Comics where he then shared his thoughts about comic book series renumbering back to "#1".

I totally agree with Mark, by the way.

And,… a surprising catastrophic event occured in INVINCIBLE #80, as well.



Above: Invincible meets Gravitator in INVINCIBLE #80.

Lately, Joey B and I have had several conversations in which we discuss how comic book stories are becoming more extreme, more vulgar, and more outrageous. Daredevil becomes the leader of an evil Ninja clan. The Capital Building is blown up by a hammer-wielding gal and her nazi soldiers. Crazy Amazons attack the male population of England. Superman renounces Truth, Justice, and the American way. Crazy stuff like that.

During these conversations, Joey B would state something like: "How do you come back from that?"

And my answer is usually: "You don’t."

I don’t know why many of the large comic book publishes think they have to rely on earth-shattering events to grab a reader’s attention. But, if so, then move foreword with it. If you’re going to take a character down the road of great change (like revealing his secret identity to the world), or if you blow up a landmark, or if you’re going to kill off a character, then move forward with that. Don’t reboot or don’t retcon, just create great stories with great artwork.

Anyway, back to INVINCIBLE #80, which was quite good. I give this issue three and a half out of five NM’s: