people?

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I’ve long been fascinated by Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, one of the crazier  sounding comic book crossovers and one of those books you hear about and see the cover of all the time but—if, like me, you didn’t start reading comic books until about 15 years after its 1978 release—you probably haven’t ever had a chance to sit down and read.

Well, DC is apparently going to make one of my minor comic book dreams come true, as they’ll be reprinting the book in two different trade formats. Here’s their Source blog announcement. There aren’t a whole lot of details included, but for now I’m just happy to hear the publisher will be giving me a chance to check it out without having to seek it out in back-issue bins or buy it off a store wall somehwere.

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Special Caleb Slept In So This is Super-Late Edition!

And you thought Earth-Prime had a rough decade…: If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Graeme McMillan’s “The Most Important Events of 2000-2009, Comic Style,” a sort of timeline listing all of the various world-threatening crises to impact the WildStorm, Marvel and DC Universes in comics published during those years. So 2000 began with “Part of America literally becomes city of the future thanks to time-traveling evil robot” and ends with “Lex Luthor becomes President of the United States of America”…and those are among the calmest, least traumatic experiences.

I got exhausted by around 2001 or so, but the list is well worth a read (or at least a scan), if only to try imagine actually living in one of those places for a civilian (And it also serves a nice reminder that all of those message board posters who say things like “Dr. Light should rape because that’s totally realistic” should probably just shut up about realism in their super-comics). I’m not sure which universe is a worse one to be a citizen of—the DCU or the Marvel Universe. The scale of the problems facing the former are much greater—all of reality was re-written several times this decade there, while only Spider-Man and those who knew him had their realities re-written in the MU—which makes it seem more stressful. But then, on the other hand, reality being rewritten seems like a handy excuse. Like, “Hi boss, sorry I’m late. When history was re-written yesterday, I no longer worked here, and it took a while for my memories to return after Superman and his gang recreated the universe” or “No honey, you’ve got it all wrong! She was my wife on Earth-2, and now our continuities have all been merged!”

“Still here? Good, because now it gets more complicated”: The sales analysis at The Beat is always worth a read for super-comics fans, but Marc-Oliver Frisch’s look at DC Comics sales for November of 2009 is particularly fascinating, if only to watch Frisch wrestle with DC’s plastic lantern ring promotion in an attempt to discern how much they boosted sales, or even if they did so at all (evidence seems to suggest that Blackest Night itself did a bunch of the sales-boosting, rings or no rings). Also, holy crap did that work! Some of the books more than doubled their sales. That’s great news for DC, but for some reason I don’t think it bodes well for comics, given the industry’s habit of noting something works inexplicably well, and then repeating it until it’s stopped working and started hurting.

“Historical look and gay stereotypes in comic books and cartoon strips”: Metro Weekly picked up on Jeet Heer’s essay from earlier in the month about the early portrayal of gays in the comics. R. Fiore responded at The Comics Journal, and a conversation broke out in the comments.

“For some reason, the comic-book character Tintin, beloved just about everywhere else, has never quite caught on in America”: That’s the lead in a New York Times books section piece about Hergé: The Man Who Created Tintin. That would make Tintin the comic book equivalent of soccer then, huh?

Attach some faces to some of your favorite bylines: Sure you’ve always enjoyed the work of David Mazzucchelli and Hope Larson, but did you know what a dapper dreser the former was, and how cute the latter’s haircut is? Find out, in Calvin Reid and Heidi MacDonald’s photo round-up. (Link via Dirk Deppey)

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Them Nav’is are taking our jerbs!! Or at least, that’s the message of Avatar Wars, a new mashup by the Black 20 guys that is either funny or frighteningly prescient.

[Hat tip to Topless Robot for this]

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And now, in recognition of the holiday season, A Christmas Gift for all of you.

Okay, so it’s not from me. I’m regifting.

No, not like those guys.

I’m regifting in the sense that I’m sharing something awesome with you, which had been passed along to me as a member of veteran comics writer J.M. DeMatteis’ e-mail list. The writer behind “Kraven’s Last Hunt” and The Life and Times of Savior 28 has written a short story, called “The Truth About Santa Claws,” which is available for free on his blog.

While you’re at it, pick yourselves up a copy of the recently-released collected edition of The Life and Times of Savior 28 from IDW, which quotes yours truly on the front cover–which is itself a pretty awesome cover featuring new art by series artist Mike Cavallaro.

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Like comic books? Like Twitter? Then check this sucker out!

Dark Horse is holding a Twitter contest today, and the winner will win a copy of Hellboy Library Edition Vol. 3!

Entering is pretty simple:

1) Follow Dark Horse Comics on Twitter.com, winners must be “following” Dark Horse Comics to be eligible.

2) Use the tag “#newcomicday” and direct it to “@darkhorsecomics” to show your support. Winners must use “#newcomicday” and “@darkhorsecomics” to be eligible.

3) Wait to see who wins!

That’s about it. Then keep an eye on Dark Horse for today, and if you win, they’ll ask you to DM them your address and the like. Want to know more? Want to read the legalese? I bet you do. Click here for more.

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When it comes to comics and their readership, there have been a few burning questions in everyone’s minds: What constitutes accessibility? What constitutes appropriateness? How do you bring in new readers in an otherwise closed-off industry? One of the answers to that question — at least for me — was the superlative Marvel Adventures lineup. The only problem? Looking at the Marvel March solicitations, it seems like that that all-ages line is going to be a thing of the past, with Marvel focusing on its Super Hero Squad book as its gateway book for young readers.

In certain ways — assuming that the Marvel Adventures line doesn’t get some sort of reboot on its own later on — I can understand Marvel’s rationale. If Marvel focuses purely on the Super Hero Squad — almost as an answer to DC’s equally blocky Super-Friends kids book — it targets fans of the Cartoon Network show (and the toy line that inspired it). Why have two lines designated for the same core audience? Indeed, Super Hero Squad does currently outsell the Marvel Adventures Super Heroes book, with 4,384 copies versus 3,308 copies — so having two competing publications for the same target could be problematic, so why not strike while the iron is hot?

In other ways, however, I can also see it as potential further ghettoization of the young comic-reading crowd. If there’s anything kids hate, it’s being talked down to — and the Super Hero Squad (as well as its Super-Friendly counterpart at DC) does aim for a much younger audience than, say, the David Micheline Spider-Man ever did. The question, to refer back to the earlier one, is this: Why have two lines designated for the same core audience? To play Devil’s Advocate, I would ask — what if there are two different audiences here? One audience that could be inoculated early via the Super Hero Squad, and another audience that demanded a tone that was closer in style to the original source material?

For me, I feel like Marvel Adventures really was the spiritual successor to earlier works of Marvel’s that could be read by kids as well as adults. Growing up in the ’90s, we didn’t have a “kids line” — we had Spider-Man, the X-Men, Captain America (he said, waving his cane around angrily until someone brought him prune juice). Of course, there was certainly some violence back in the day — Wolverine did get his skeleton ripped out — but it was done with a degree of distance that it wasn’t overwhelming to my eight-year-old sensibilities. Things are a little bit different today — and why, I would argue, the Marvel Adventures line filled a necessary niche to Marvel’s publishing lineup.

With the company’s main titles getting more adult in their tone due to evolving storytelling — regardless of the merits of the book, it’s tough to hand out a copy of Amazing Spider-Man to a seven-year-old if Pete’s waking up after a one-night stand with his roommate — Marvel Adventures allowed readers to get a sense of what Spider-Man, at its core, was all about, while nudging away crossover mandates, continuity pains, as well as the edgier swerves of the main book. Even as its take on the Avengers was a bit more cartoony than the mainstream Avengers books — and thus, similar to the Super Hero Squad book — it combined humor, characterization, and action with a look that would allow young readers to “graduate” to the main books.

In the end, what can be done with the Marvel Adventures line? In certain ways, if Marvel decided to reboot it, bringing it “back to basics” is a smart move. What do I mean? When Marvel Adventures was in its infancy, they would print out small trade paperbacks, collecting Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, even the Runaways. One of the many ways companies are looking to expand is via the bookstore chains, and most reliable bit of currency for comics publishers in those arenas are trade paperbacks. Yet while making these trades normal-sized would give them a bit more edge at book stores, another question remains — what do you do about single issues? Do you let them go, and cut your losses? Do you go the original graphic novel route? Or do you focus your energies on the population you know will buy your books, and keep running with Spider-Man and Wolverine, even if you couldn’t hand them to a kid?

At any rate, the answer is unclear. There is a ray of hope, of course — Paul Tobin on his Twitter feed did write that this was “a ’stay-tuned’ sort of announcement” — but the question of what is the most successful method of youth-oriented storytelling is very much up in the air. (Not to mention all those gorgeous Skottie Young Spider-Man covers. That’s a shame that half the kids in the room might not appreciate how beautiful they all are.) What do you think, Rama readers? Should Marvel Adventures stick around? Or are we living in a Super Hero Squad world?

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Find out more about Global Freezing here on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays or at ComicsByEgg.com.

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My latest borrowing from the New York Public Library:

Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!
Written & Illustrated by Scott Morse
Published by AdHouse Books

I find myself wondering if the title of this book borrows from Kipling’s “Tiger! Tiger!,” though the tiger in Morse’s book comes through in significantly better health than Mowgli’s foe. Providing a philosophy on life does tie both stories together, however. Morse’s tiger, looking very similar to the protagonist of his Southpaw book, is actually Morse himself.

Taking the outward form of a children’s book with large dimensions, a sturdy hardcover and colorful pages, Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! provides a window into the inspirations for Morse’s own comics and work. Within these pages, Morse explains and examines his outlook on life, including his ability to “go inside his head” and how daily rituals such a jury duty (the bad ones) and fatherhood (the good ones) support and confirm his philosophy.

Morse’s key to life and creativity is to always keep a place within for the innocence of youth, retain the ability and willingness to daydream, and follow the threads of those mental wanderings to see where they take you and what connections develop between them. It’s not entirely profound and Morse presents his dissertation in form and manner intended for readers of any age, but it’s nonetheless a wise book.

Continuing with his traditionally angular, water colored style, Morse illustrates each page as a whole image, embedded panels throughout that support the structure and overall message. While he and his son appear as tigers, others throughout the book are depicted as humans, caught up in a web of worries and responsibilities.

As he spends his days working at Pixar, it’s no surprise that Morse is supremely effective at pacing pages and breathing unique life into his characters.  He balances the internal narration against evocative and impressive renderings that keep the reader engaged on multiple levels.

Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! examines Morse’s ability to disconnect from the world in order to find his creativity.  The book is an engaging, enjoyable journey through one man’s philosophical outlook, presented in a large, well-designed hardcover.  And, best of all, many readers should be able to find it at their local library, as I did!

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Everything old is new again at DC.

It’s been years in the making, but Barry Allen is back in the saddle as The Flash, and while all the company’s comments and reports until yesterday had indicated that Barry would be the lead feature in The Flash, while Barry’s successor/predecessor Wally West would take the backup feature and the recently-resurrected Bart Allen/Kid Flash would have his own title, Dan DiDio announced during his “20 Questions” feature on the Newsarama main page that both of those features are on hold, essentially resetting the status quo for The Flash as a character back to what it was before the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Not only is this just the latest in a long line of DC moves that seem to be focused on rolling back character and plot development to the ’80s, but it begs the question: Why bring back Bart?

I loved the Impulse series by Mark Waid and Todd Dezago as much as the next guy, but as a Booster Gold reader, one of the conversations I often find myself having with regard to Ted Kord is–why bring him back if there’s no plan for what to do with him once we have him? WIth a Kid Flash series imminent, bringing Bart back made sense. Now, all we can expect is to see him cluttering up the backgrounds in Teen Titans or whatever unnamed series it is that Jaime Reyes will be appearing in. Frankly, that kind of coverage hardly seems worth cheapening his death (and by extension all other DC Universe deaths) for.

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I suppose there isn’t much chance that that’s what Fall of the Hulks: Gamma #1 will be about, huh? The various Hulks all raking leaves, going for hay rides, hanging out at the high school football games and getting ready for the big dance? No, I think it’s probably simply the next part of the prelude to the next Hulk event, by regular Hulk writer Jeph Loeb and artist John Romita Jr. It’s $4, probably over-sized and, based on the cover, oughta feature just about every character in the Marvel Universe that you can loosely fit under the umbrella term of “Hulk.”

What else will be in shops on this, the last real New Comic Book Day of 2009? Let’s take a look, after the jump.

Agents of Atlas: Dark Reign: Hey Marvel Zombies who haven’t jumped on the Agents of Atlas bandwagon we online critics have been dragging around yet, this looks like a great chance to do so! This $20, 185-page trade paper back is stuffed with the first five issues of the recently hiatus-ed AoA series, plus an online comic Wolverine: Agent of Atlas (which was published in AoA #1, plus material from a couple of anthology one-shots. The events tie in to the Secret Invasion/Dark Reign state of affairs pretty heavily, which might help sell it to those digging the Marvel Universe in general, but it fits in so perfectly with the original AoA premise (good guys pretending to be bad guys) that if you’re completely agnostic of Dark Reign, it’s still accessible. Okay, pitch over.

Batman: The Wrath: The 2008 Tony Bedard/Rags Morales Batman Confidential arc “Wrath Child” was sort of headscratching in its choice of subject matter—it was as sequel of sorts to a 1984 one-shot where Batman was faced with one of those occasional evil opposite Batmen-types, and it was itself set somewhere in Batman’s past, as one dates Batman’s career based on what he and his sidekicks are wearing. Bedard’s story was quite serviceable though, offering the sorts of old-school, straightforward, publishing event-free entertainment that one used to be able to count on from books in which Batman appeared. And, thanks to Morales’ superior skills with a pencil, it was one of the better looking Batman stories published in the last few years. Anyway, this 145-page, $18 trade paperback collects their four issue arc, and includes the original Mike Barr/Michael Golden Batman Special #1 that introduced the Wrath character, which, as I recall from The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told, was pretty good for a 1984 Batman comic.

Blackest Night: JSA #1: This is the latest “Oh hey, Blackest Night is turning out to be a hit, let’s tie-in more books, huh?” miniseries, from the BN: Superman creative team of James Robinson and Eddy Barrows. I didn’t care for that one at all, and liked Robinson’s JLoA tie-arc even less, so I don’t have high hope for this one—but given how many dead Golden Age characters there are to bring back to life, who knows? Maybe there will be a zomibe Red Bee commanding pet zombie bees, and that will make it all worthwhile. According to the solicitation, Dr. Midnite, Mr. Terriffic and Sand will be fighting their dead namesakes. For original flavor JSA, this week also sees the release of JSoA #34 by regular writer Bill Willingham and guest artist Travis Moore.

Brian Michael Bendis: 10 Years at Marvel: This is sort of weird. Bendis has unquestionably influenced the direction of the Marvel Universe, and the company’s publishing line in general, whether for good or ill (Me, I’d say for good and ill) more than any other single creator over the course of the last decade. But does everyone get a special 10 Years at Marvel sampler anthology like this? Will Mark Millar? If not, is he going to be jealous? Here’s part of the solicitation copy, which just makes me sort of sad:

Writing as many as five Marvel titles simultaneously, Bendis has become one of the company’s most prolific creators during the past decade; his multiple Eisner Awards testify to quality that rivals such quantity. In 2000, the crime-noir veteran re-created Marvel’s most vital character for modern audiences in Ultimate Spider-Man, harbinger of the growing Ultimate universe and still thriving as it eclipses 100 issues. He shook the world of Daredevil by revealing the hero’s secret identity, setting into motion storylines whose repercussions will far outlast his departure. He next de- and re-constructed the Avengers, paving the way for the House of M crossover, which rocked the foundations of the Marvel Universe. And then he shook up the status quo again, unleashing a Secret Invasion of alien shapeshifters on the Marvel heroes.

That was obviously some big stuff, and Marvel owes the guy a lot, but, I don’t know…after all that great work on Ultimate Spider-Man, by far Bendis’ best and most consistent work for Marvel, what happened to the book, the line? And House of M may have launched the modern era of Marvel crossovers, but what did it really do for the quality of storytelling in the Marvel Universe since? (House of M in particular…it seems like all it did was erect certain fences that each X-Men writer has to jump over before telling their X-Men stories).

Wow, jeez, sorry, where was I? Oh yeah, this trade. It’s sort of a greatest hits-that-will-fit-into-a-single-trade collection, including some Ultimate Spider-Man and X-Men, Avengers of the New and Dark variety and Alias. Bendis has almost always worked with pretty solid art collaborators, so you know this is going to look nice. Mark Bagley, Mark Brooks, Frank Cho, Michael Gaydos, Jim Mahfood, Alex Maleev and Leinil Francis Yu are among those contributing. It will run you about $35, and weighs in at a whopping 370-pages

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season 8: Willow: Hmm, I’m not sure how a one-shot fits into the TV-season-as-comic book series—Is it the equivalent of an episode focusing on a single character? A spin-off? The pilot for a new Willow show?—but Joss Whedon himself is scripting this, so I imagine it will be one Buffy fans will want to be sure to check out. Karl Moline handles the art and one of the covers; the other cover is by Jo Chen, who seems to only be basing Willow on Alyson Hannigan’s likeness from the neck up. Preview here.

Captain America: Who Will Wield The Shield? #1: Well, the returned-to-life original Captain America Steve Rogers has already started appearing in Avengers comics, even though Captain America: Reborn hasn’t wrapped up yet, so sure, why not publish a one-shot set after the final issue of Reborn? This is by Ed Brubkaer, Alan Davis and Butch Guice. For Bucky Barnes fan Rachelle Goguen’s sake, I hope the question of who gets to wield the shield is resolved by a shirtless wrestling match.

Garth Ennis’ Battlefields: Happy Valley #1: I’ve been reading these in trade, and I’ve liked them all so far. If you’re reading ‘em in singles, this kicks off the next one. Ennis will be collaborating with artist Paul Jason Holden, and the particular battlefield this time is Germany’s Ruhr Valley, which an Austrailian bombing crew is helping the British air force atack. For a little more on the book, our own Troy Brownfield chatted with Ennis about the next cycle of Battlefields miniseries here.

Great Anti-War Cartoons: The latest, quite welcome book edited by the very busy Craig Yoe is a $25, 190-page collection of anti-war cartoons of all forms reacting to over 200 years worth of different wars. You can take a closer look here.

Green Lantern #49: Your most-likely-to-be-most-relevant Blackest Night tie-in of the week, this issue is by Geoff Johns and guest artist—ugh—Ed Benes and will focus on John Stewart. You know, it seems to me the John Stewart sub-plot has been moving bizarrely slow so far. Like, think of all the places Hal Jordan has been and all the things he’s done during Blackest Night so far, whereas all John Stewart has done is descend from orbit around the planet Xanshi on to the surface of Xanshi.

Hellboy: Bride of Hell: Another of Dark Horse’s welcome program of one-shots, this one features a creative team to be reckoned with—writer/cover artist Mike Mignola and artist Richard Corben. If you read their Hellboy: The Crooked Man, then you already know what this will look like. If not, check out a preview here.

Incredible Hercules: The Mighty Thorcules: You may have heard that Incredible Hercules is an awesome comic book, and that this particular arc, in which Hercules disguises himself as Thor, is a particularly awesome one. You may have also heard that the climactic battle between Hercules in Thor, in which Hercules-disguised-as-Thor fights Thor-disguised-as-Hercules in the way in which he’d like Thor to fight him while trying to get Thor to fight him the way he himself would fight Thor if he weren’t disguised as Thor (I think I got that right) is one of the best goddam fight scenes in a superhero comic book ever. And if you haven’t heard it before, I just said it now. Anyway, this hardcover collection includes six issues, the complete “Thorcules” saga and the secret origin of Amadeus Cho. It’s $20 for 150-pages pages…I’d wait for the trade paperback version if I were you, though. The couple bucks you save on not buying the hardcover can be spent on something else, like, say, the monthly issues of Inc Herc, one of which is also out this week.

Last Days of American Crime #1: The title of this new series from Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini is intriguingly literal—in the near future, the U.S. has developed a high-tech way to completely erradicate crime commission. It’s set to go live in just a week, which means the career criminal protagonist has exactly one last chance to shoot for the one last big score brass ring. It’s $5.

The More Than Complete Action Philosophers!: It is with some regret that I must inform you that I long ago used up all of the different ways I could think of to describe how great Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey’s Action Philosophers! comic book series is. So I guess I’ll just have to say that if for some reason you haven’t checked it out in singles or previous trades, you must get and/or read this—a $25, 320-page collection of all nine issues, plus four new stories. If you like philosophy or comics, it’s a must-read, and if you like both, well then, may I present you with the ideal book.

Sub-Life Vol. 2: I was so excited about John Pham’s one-person anthology, that I’ve already mentioned it and raved about in in passing here before. This is a reminder that it should be in shops this week; do yourself a favor and check it out (and be sure to stroke the back cover). It’s $8 for 48 sturdy, 8.5-by-7-inch rectangular pages. Take a look.

WinterWorld: A new black and white collection of a 1980s comic from Chuck Dixon and Jorge Zaffino about…let’s see, just based on the cover here…I’m gonna say a buddy cop movie in which one of the buddies is a badger. Maybe? It’s $20, 150-pages and includes a never-before-published sequel.