happy holidays!

batman #683
invincible #57
the astounding wolf-man #11
new avengers #48
ultimate spider-man #129
daredevil #114
thor #12
the immortal iron fist #21
unknown soldier #3
trinity #30
maelstrom #4
flash #247
umbrella academy #2
secret invasion requiem
punisher war zone #3
runaways #5
billy batson and the magic of shazam #3
mome vol. 13

batman #683: final crisis #6 now now now!

invincible/wolf-man crossover: the astounding wolf-man tries to convince invincible to be his friend; robert kirkman tries to convince invincible's readers to read astounding wolf-man. though shamelessly obvious, it was a pretty good read.

the flash #247: dc puts this book out of it's misery. i'm gonna miss ya wally. too bad your book has been shit recently.

the monster inside me is getting bigger!

ex machina #40
the walking dead #56
supergirl #36
doktor sleepless #10
mighty avengers #20
uncanny x-men #505
x-men legacy #219
x-factor #38
avengers initiative #19
invincible iron man #8
thunderbolts #127
dark reign new nation
trinity #29
hellblazer #250
punisher war zone #2
thor god size
madman #12
conan the cimmerian #6
zorro #9
dc holiday special
ultimate fantastic four #59
superman past and future

and...
monster vol. 18! the final volume! Monster is an epic crime thriller following dr. kenzo tenma, who throws away his medical career by saving the life of a young boy instead of operating on a celebreity. soon after, several members of the hospital staff are found dead and the boy has dissapeared. years pass and a conspiricy is reavealed as tenma becomes obssessed with apprehending and understanding the young serial killer whose life he saved!

ex machina #40- best single issue story of the year. hear me eisners?

dc christmas special- the bastards got me with the quietly cover. fuck!

i also reccomend checking out dc's zuda comics, particularly one called The Accountants. a crime story with a genuinly new twist on anthromprphic characters and it's free to read! it's by rob osbourne, the man behind the nearly infamous zango and sunset city. check it out, and if you like it as i do, sigh up and vote for its continued existance.
http://www.zudacomics.com/node/910

-go neg man go!

Doktor Sleepless #10 (and other things I will be purchasing today - 12/17/08)

Not *super* excited about this weeks pull list, but I'm always happy to have a new Warren Ellis comic to read. When it's one of his Avatar books, I'm even happier. Doktor Sleepless #10 is this weeks most anticipated.

Check out this wrap cover:


Immanentising the eschaton, indeed.

This series has been solid from the first issue. If you are even a general fan of Ellis or near futurism ideals...or shit, just a good story that easily falls outside of the "mainstream" comics world then you should give this a try.

What else am I getting? Hey look! Punisher War Zone #2. Spider-Man Noir looks like it could be a good one as well.

The list:

Ghost Rider #30
Invincible Iron Man #8
Mighty Avengers #20
Punisher #65
Punisher War Zone #2 (of 6)
Spider-Man Noir #1 (of 4)
Thor God Sized #1

Happy reading.

- TFM

Y?!

From Sci Fi Wire:

"Yorick's sister, Hero, is in the script at this point, but she is not as much of a character as she was in the first draft," Caruso said. "Right now, she's sprinkled throughout, but she's not a major, major character."

Caruso added: "The 711 character is in it, and she's insane. She does teach [Yorick] a life lesson or two in a very interesting way. It's a comedic, yet horrifying, scene. She's very cool."

As for rumors that singer-turned-actress Alicia Keys is up for the key role of Agent 355? "It's too early to talk about who we're going to cast, and it's nice that the fanboys and fans are talking about it, but we haven't talked to her about it yet," Caruso said. "If we don't get Alicia Keys, though, I'm sure I'll make a pretty good choice."

*Sigh*.

- TFM

Okay, this looks awesome...

While I was over thiefing (read: borrowing) the Wolverine trailer from CBR, I noticed this new still from the Whiteout movie:


Yes please.

- TFM

X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailer

You've already seen it everywhere else, so why not watch it again here. Right? WATCH IT!

- TFM

Phonogram & Punisher (and other things I will be buying today - 12/10/08)

I know I said yesterday that the first issue in the second Phonogram series is my most anticipated this week and it remains as such. A VERY close second is Punisher War Zone #1 by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillion.

Garth- you've been sorely missed on the monthly Punisher book since you left and I can't wait to see what you and Steve have in store for Frank in this weekly (yes-WEEKLY) six issue mini.

Here's what else I will be picking up. Hey- new Final Crisis!

Booster Gold #15
Final Crisis #5 (of 7)
Justice League of America #27
Young Liars #10
Phonogram: The Singles Club #1 (of 7) (editors note: !!!)
Astonishing X-Men Ghost Boxes #2 (of 2)
Secret Invasion Dark Reign (editors note: maybe)

And that about does it.

Please note: House of Mystery has been booted this week. That thing started out with a lot of promise and went flat very quickly.

In other comics news: BOOOOOOOOO!

- TFM

Phil Noto at Secret Headquarters this Friday

So my bitchin' LCS, The Secret Headquarters, is having some new Phil Noto pieces showing from December 12th through January 11th.

This Friday starting at 8 pm they will have a little party to celebrate and Phil will be in attendance. If you are in the area come on down, grab a cold one, check out some art and say hi.

I mean, look at this stuff. It's amazing, right? Anyone have $1,000 I can have...er, borrow?

Secret Headquarters is at 3817 W. Sunset Blvd in Silver Lake.




- TFM

Highly Anticipated: Incognito #1

Criminal might be on hiatus again, but don't think for a second Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips will leave us hangin'.

Incognito is being billed as noir meets superheros. It's about a super villain who is in the Witness Protection program, but he can't stop thinking about the glory days when he was free to rob banks and blow things up. What do you think will happen? Judging by the cover, my guess is banks will get robbed and shit will get blown up. Then the dude will light his stogie with a Benjamin. Wahoo!

This time the preview comes via CBR, and you can check it out here. Maybe one day Spoilerz Plz will be big enough to get exclusive previews. Brub- if you're reading this, call me!

Looks like this is scheduled for release the first week in January, but I could have sworn that it was supposed to come out in December. Either way, be on the look out.

- TFM

Phonogram: The Singles Club #1 in stores tomorrow!

One of my favorite minis from the last year or two was Phonogram, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie. It had all of the things that I love: magic, music, snarky characters...and Britpop!

Phonogram (FINALLY) starts up again this week. To say this is my most anticipated book this week is an understatement. I haven't even looked at what else is coming out, but it doesn't matter. The first series was so much fun that I can't wait to delve back into the world of phonomancers.

Phonogram: The Singles Clubs is seven issues, each told from a different characters point of view and each taking place in the same club on the same night. Since the night in question is December 23rd, 2006 I'm guessing the Britpop references will be at a minimum, but no matter. Kieron's writing and Jamie's art (especially when colored!) is a glorious thing to behold and I'm sure this will be my first read every week that it comes out.

Newsarama has a six page preview of the first issue up right now. Click on over and find out what it's all about.

Also- look for an upcoming interview with Kieron, if I can finally tear myself away from my Xbox controller and my stack of unread comics.

- TFM

"but thats the thing about batman."

criminal 7
secret invasion 8
batman 682
jsa 21
the boys 25
the sword 13
new avengers 47
immortal iron fist 20
marvels eye of the camera 1
cable 9
punisher xmas
x-men manifest destiny 4
sandman the dream hunters 2
trinity 27
haunted tank 1
army @ love 5
superman/supergirl maelstrom
solomon kane 3
fight or run

batman 682: personally, i'm more of a superman guy. i've rarely been excited about batman. there's just something about how he always pulls the solution out of his utility belt, or has already anticipated every possible outcome of an unpredictable situation, that deflates the drama for me. but thats the thing about grant morrison. he wrote an epic about batman facing a foe he could never suspect or plan against, only to reveal that he had suspected as much and had a plan for it all along. the line"but thats the thing about batman" on the first page of 681 is the defining moment in r.i.p. for me and made me smile more than any comic in recent memory. when he took off his cowl, jumped on the helicopter and disappeared in the explosion, i just smiled again. thats the thing about batman. no matter how it looks, he has a plan.
so here we are with batman 682. now we're treading water. it was an enjoyable issue, bringing bat continuity up to speed with the rest of dc, tying into final crisis and rewriting the history of the character at the same time. whats next? i'm not excited about battle for the cowl or the o'neil issues. i'm hoping for great things from neil gaiman's "whatever happened to the caped crusader?", but in light of his marvel comics projects over the last couple of years, i don't consider it a sure thing. what i want is to see the next part of batman, and grants, plan.

punisher xmas: fuck right floronic man.

secret invasion 8: grade b. good wrap up to the story, but with a little to much bullshit. mockingbird is back? what? norman osborne gets a massive promotion for shooting someone wolverine was a split second away from killing? the cabal group is a pretty cool idea, i just hope this isn't a return to evil for emma. and as much as i appreciate a change everything epic, i'd pay anything to read a comic about dr. octopus robbing a bank or something. event fatigue for fucking real.

-the neg man

Better late than never (or how I learned to stop being a douche and loved The Umbrella Academy)

So after trying my best to ignore the above comic book (and doing a damn fine job of it until recently), I finally gave in to all the glowing things I'd been hearing about it and purchased it.

Why was I so resistant, you might ask?

Well, it's quite simple. I don't like the music author Gerard Way makes with his band My Chemical Romance.

"But TFM," you say. "Music and comics are two totally separate mediums!"

And you're absolutely right. They are indeed. And Gerard seems like a really nice person and he's a fellow comics nerd like myself and he's obviously very creative.

But I just couldn't get past it. Sure Gerard is creative, but his musical creativeness doesn't speak to me in particular. Therefore why should his comics be any different?

It turns out his comics are different than his music. Or different enough from my perspective. Because it turns out that this collection of the first Umbrella Academy story arc is one of the most creative, refreshing and intriguing stories I have read in recent memory. And I enjoyed almost every single panel of it.

I could take the time to go into plot details and tell you what it's about and why it works so well, but I feel like I'm one of the last people out there to discover how enjoyable it is. Most comic readers I know have read it and thought it was rad and that's what finally convinced me to buy it.

However, let me end with this. If you haven't read The Umbrella Academy yet, for whatever reason. If you were skeptical, or if you were just prioritizing and didn't have enough budget to fit it in, or if it somehow just passed you by altogether: do yourself a tremendous favor and pick it up the next chance you get. I think you will find that it's pleasantly surprising and rewarding.

I'm looking forward to many more future adventures with The Umbrella Academy.

Well done, Mr. Way. I'm sorry I ever doubted you.

P.S. Gabriel Ba's art is a lot of fun as well.

- TFM

New Batman: Arkham Asylum trailer

What a great idea for a Batman video game. Will it be scarier than Dead Space? Probably not. That game gives me the creeps!

Batman: Arkham Asylum is still listed as "Coming Soon" on the offical site, but stay tuned for a solid release date. Probably Q1 2009? That should give me plenty of time to beat the stack of games I have piled up by my console.

- TFM

Fables: The Show?

Crazy! Word on the street is that ABC is looking to make Fables into a TV show! From Hollywood Reporter:

The network has handed out a put pilot commitment to the fantasy project, based on the comic book created by Bill Willingham and published by DC's Vertigo imprint.

"Six Degrees" creators/executive producers Stu Zicherman and Raven Metzner are penning the script for the hourlong drama set at Warner Bros. TV.

David Semel has come on board to direct "Fables," which revolves around characters from fairy tales and folklore living in exile in modern-day New York.
...
Zicherman and Metzner wouldn't elaborate which fairy tale characters will be featured in the TV series, but noted that Big Bad Wolf and Snow White, who are central to the comics, will have a similar role on the show.

Sounds interesting. I'm a moderate fan of the book, but I will definitely check out the show if it ends up happening.


-AR

R.I.P

Sad day; to try and save money, I had to cull my comics herd and delete books from my subscription list.

Goodbye: The Authority
Astonishing X-Men (at least until I hear that it's getting really good.)
BPRD
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Lone Ranger
Top Ten (ugh, I might rethink that one.)

That's all I had the heart to get rid of. Young Liars and Fantastic Four are on the chopping block, but they can stay for now.


In happier news, my pull list this week:

Secret Invasion #8
The Boys #25
Criminal 2 #7
Immortal Iron Fist #20
Crossed #2


-AR

Wow

That's the pencils for the cover of issue #1 of the new Warren Ellis / Gianluca Pagliarani project entitled Ignition City. Inspired by Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and Deadwood. Tenatively set for a spring release.

Wow. Is it spring yet?

Join the discussion and stay updated over at the Whitechapel thread.

- TFM

It's beginning to look a lot like X-Mas...

Fuck yes!

If there is anyone that can even come close to being a worthy successor to Garth Ennis on The Punisher, it would hands down be one Mr. Jason Aaron. And I'm as giddy as a school boy that Jason makes his Punisher debut this very week with the holiday one-shot Punisher MAX X-Mas Special.

Here's what Jason told CBR:

"...it's got a couple of the darkest scenes I've ever written,” Aaron stated. “ There's no way I could ever even attempted a story like this in the Marvel Universe. Axel Alonso would've had me drawn and quartered. And he could do it, too.”

As any good little Scalped fan knows, thats a pretty lofty promise from ol' J. But I think I just might believe him.

If you are so inclined, CBR also has a preview of the first few pages at that same link. As for me, this is one holiday treat that I am going to need to enjoy all in one sitting.

Here's hoping this thing sells a gazillion copies and they put him on the ongoing series toute suite and el permanente.

- TFM

Batman #682 out this Thursday

So the mindfuck that was Batman R.I.P. ended on a good note for me (see below post), so I'm extra excited that Batman #682 will be in my pull THIS WEEK.

Newsarama has a preview up of the first few pages. And guess what? It's kinda strange. Go figure!

Check it out here.

- TFM

Review: Batman #681

Like a lot of other faithful Batman readers, I've been back and forth on how I feel about the Batman R.I.P. storyline. Mostly I've disliked it. Mostly I've disliked Grant Morrison's entire run. I feel like it's been rushed and disconnected and a little confusing (I know, I know...Grant and confusing usually go hand in hand). However, Batman #681 ends the R.I.P. arc and I actually feel like it has redeemed not only the last few issues but maybe everything I didn't like since Morrison hopped on board.

Most anyone who truly cares has either read the issue already or read the spoilers that are out and about out there. The biggest "reveal" is Doctor Hurt claims to be Thomas Wayne and that he hired Joe Chill to kill Bruce and his mother. Chill loses his nerve when it comes to killing a kid and leaves Bruce alive. Thomas Wayne fakes his death and changes identities. Bruce doesn't buy this and neither do I, but it's an excellent plot element.

The issue ends with Batman attacking the helicoptor that Hurt is using to getaway and the whole thing crashing into a fiery mess into the Gotham river. There's a nice full page of Nightwing holding the cowl in his hand with the flames in the background. Things fast forward to six months later and aside from a few rumors floating about, Batman hasn't been seen since the helicoptor crash. Le Bossu is torturing a Gotham City police officer discussing this with some thugs when they are suddenly flooded with light from the Bat-Signal.

There's a lot of hate out there on the message boards for Batman R.I.P. and that's completely understandable. Grant set out to shake things up in the Batman universe and mission accomplished. People are pissed about the Thomas Wayne thing and I will be as well if it holds to be true, but I really don't think it will. Either way, I'm really looking forward to the next few arcs of my favorite comic character. I think what Grant has done is exactly what was needed to freshen things up. It should prove to be very interesting.

- TFM