Wizard World Philly: Boy I'm Glad I Didn't Go!

Wizard's new tagline for the convention (if/)when it returns next year:

Wizard World Philadelphia: We're Stuck Between NYCC and Wizard World Chicago...Please Come & Pretend Anything Exciting Is Happening Here

Or at least that's what I think it will be. There's a lot of "wait and see" being shared at the con this year, with the answers more likely to be given at a WWC or SDCC. Anything not being saved for those was likely shared in NYCC.

J.G. Jones On Final Crisis: The pace picks up immediately with issue #3

Over on Newsarama's WWPhilly coverage:

A fan expressed some disappointment with the first issue of Final Crisis. In response both Jones and Sattler said “Don’t worry.” J.G. added that “The pace picks up immediately with issue #3. Grant structures his stories in such a specific way, and you will see why the first issue has so much set up. It all pays off!”

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is a 7 issue mini-series, right? And there's a month break after issue #3, right?

Major company events are supposed to have a bit of summer popcorn movie to them. There should be some manner of POP early on to grab the reader. Something. But there really isn't a POP in the first issue. It's quite possible that there isn't one in the second issue, if we're getting a "just you wait until #3!"

I'm sure there's some payoff in this mini, though (even if Grant hasn't had a spotless record on endings). I get that Grant is an artist, but company events tend to be weighted more toward the commerical aspect than the artistic angle. So you normally would want to get some SIZZLE into that first issue.

By the way: "don't worry"? Your customer expresses disappointment in the book and they're told "don't worry"? I'm hoping there was something not captured in the fan's question by the reporter. If not...that's a bit off as an answer.

Quesada Still Saying Its Magic

From the Wizard World Philly coverage of the BND panel over on Newsarama:

Asked if the "missing time" between OMD and BND will also address what was going on with Spider-Man in other titles, Quesada said that the more detail that you go into, the more complicated things can become. As a result, the plan is to keep things as clean and as simple as they can.

If that doesn't reaffirm JMS's statements that Quesada wanted to fall back on "it's magic, we don't have to explain it", I don't know what does.

There continues to be inconsistency in their statements regarding the Spider-Man changes...inconsistencies that only get worse with each time they open their mouth to answer questions.

I think they've taken the worst approach possible in their attempts to have their cake and eat it, too.

Marvel decided they wanted to make some significant changes to the character. That's great. That's their right. Take it and run with it.

But when you make significant changes like this, you're going to invalidate some stuff that went before and piss off some fans. Accept that as the cost of doing business instead of trying to say everything happened (when it couldn't possibly) and that you didn't really change anything other than the wedding not happening (when, again, that isn't possible).

As long as they continue to try to make it be everything to everyone even when that flies in the face of logic, they're going to find that this continues to be thorn in their side. Just make what sense of it that you can...cutting out what really can't fit in continuity...and move on.

And, for God's sake, don't try to compare the unanswered Spidey questions to how things are done in LOST...

Encore: NYC SCHWAPP!!!: Passing A Message To Grant

Given that Final Crisis just dropped today, I thought I'd post this again while everyone's talking about Grant Morrison



Before hitting the road to NYCC, my friend Aaron asked me to pass personal messages from him to Grant Morrison and Jenna Jameson. While I wasn't able to get the message to Jenna, I did deliver his message to Grant. It was a little more impersonal than he may have desired...

SCHWAPP!!!: Beats Of The Week Volume 1

Introducing a new vlog angle. I'm going to attempt to just touch upon the story "beats" of the week, both good and bad. It will, unfortunately, never be all inclusive of what comes out in a given week. I can only read so much. If something big happens that I haven't already bought and read, I'll definitely try to get my hands on it.

Without further ado...

Fun With Press Releases

WIZARD WORLD PHILADELPHIA SELLS OUT FLOOR!

The Pop Culture Extravaganza Is Packed With A Record-Breaking Number Of Exhibitors, Retailers and Creators.

Congers, NY (May 28, 2008) – Wizard World Philadelphia’s floor has sold out. All 301 exhibitor and retailer booths and 174 tables in Artist Alley have been taken, leading to 135,000 completely sold out square feet of floor space. Even though the floor is completely sold out, there is a first come first serve waiting list for those still itching to get in on the biggest Wizard World Philadelphia in history. To get on the waiting list, contact James Ross at 917-270-0121.

“With the show floor packed with retailers, attendees will have the best opportunity they’ve ever had to find and buy everything they’ve been looking for,” said Wizard Vice President of Business Development Stephen Shamus. “On top of that, the guest list is more robust than ever and offers a wide spectrum of talent from the worlds of sci-fi, toys, comic books, wrestling, and gaming.” Guests and events at Wizard World Philadelphia include Katee Sackhoff from “Battlestar Galactica,” guest of honor J.G. Jones, comic creators Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon and Ethan Van Sciver, the first annual ToyFare Hall of Fame Awards, toy sculpting lessons from the Shiflett Brothers, Robert Tonner and Clay Moore and wrestler Kevin Nash.

For tickets and more information about the 2008 Wizard World Philadelphia show and about registration for the 2009 Wizard World Philadelphia show, please visit www.wizardworld.com. The Wizard World comic convention is coming to Philadelphia from May 30th to June 1st.

Am I wrong or does it seem a little "special" to be bragging about a sellout that didn't occur until less than two days before the show?

Pardon My Digression...

Maxim has named what they feel are the WORLD'S FUNNIEST WOMEN. I think nine out of the ten they name are solid picks (won't say who I think should be dropped), but one of those nine sticks out in my mind because I completely agree with their blurb assessment of her:

7. Aisha Tyler

The former Talk Soup host and Balls of Fury star isn't the "mugging for laughs" type, instead she just has this laid-back funny vibe that allows her to shrug off even her occasional bombs like it ain't no thing. But she's criminally underused; we wouldn't mind seeing a lot more Aisha around.

Emphasis is all mine. Selfish as it might be on my part, her attempts to have more of a mainstream career (her work on dramas like CSI and the such) are pissing me off since they've kept me from enjoying her comedic skills.

Open Letter To Valerie D'Orazio

http://occasionalsuperheroine.blogspot.com/2008/05/monday-morning-meditation.html

OK, so most people know I'm not a fan of Valerie D'Orazio. But I'm really trying to look at her declaration that she's going to give up blogging on certain comic book topics from a less-biased position.

She's indicated she's going to stop blogging so much about mainstream comics news because she's tired of people being mean to her. Whatever side she comes down on an issue, invariably there's some internet jerk out there giving her an inordinate amount of grief about it.

I can get that frustration. I really can. But that was supposedly why she put all her blog comments under moderation: because she wanted to prevent purely flaming/trolling comments from appearing on her page. Now she's abandoning whole topics because of it?

Valerie is the head of the Friends of Lulu. Whatever problems I have with how she personally carries herself, I am not aware of anyone who has major problems with how she does that job. But I can't imagine that cutting and running from internet bullies is what people want to see from a leader. I think declining to share your opinion on the issues of the day as they pertain to the most popular comic books because people shout at you about it isn't what people want to see in their leader.

I still attribute negative motivations to her clamping down on comments in her blogs, but I'm obviously aware that an argument can be made that there are ethically-sound reasons to want to moderate. But publicly announcing that you are now going to avoid certain topics because you can't suffer the verbal slings and arrows of your less civil opponents doesn't demonstrate the strength of will and character that I think an organization such as the Friends of Lulu needs at the top.

Here's hoping that Valerie reconsiders her decision. Everyone is entitled to get sick of it all and want to get away from the noise, but leaders don't really get to indulge in that luxury. If you can't take the pressure, then it would seem that there'd have to be someone better suited to lead.

Final Defecations On Countdown Vier

As we continue, it looks like the Counting Down columns aren't always as long as the first few. Might actually be able to dissect several per blog, which is great since I don't want this to go on longer than the actual series did.

NRAMA: The Monitor's conference - there's a point that's been raised among fans - why kill the aberrations? Why not capture and relocate them?

MM: Some of the more zealous Monitors would argue that simply capturing and relocating the aberrations wouldn’t solve the problem...in their eyes, the damage caused by these multiversally displaced individuals might not necessarily be done...it might just be getting started.

NRAMA: Okay, so as the Monitors point out Alexander Luthor as being the worst case scenario of dimension hopping...wasn't he just a one in a million occurrence? MM: Perhaps he was...but at the present time, the Monitors may not be entirely concerned with how these individuals became aberrations...for now, their main focus seems to be on the fact that there are aberrations...many of them.

NRAMA: So - the other aberrations the Monitors point out - run 'em down for us...

MM: Duela Dent—the Joker’s Daughter—is the first aberration we come across. At the beginning of Countdown we know she’s out of place, hanging out in the wrong universe. Will we ever learn what universe she came from? Maybe... Then there are a few other characters that the Monitors have labeled as “problems”...individuals who for whatever reason are responsible for “hiccups” in the Multiverse: Donna Troy, Jason Todd, Kyle Rayner, Supergirl, Nightwing... That’s four to start us off...but there are more.

NRAMA: So when will we see that aspect of Countdown pick up, that is, the "hunting of the aberrations?"

MM: It’s a theme which carries throughout the entire series, but readers will see one of the first “hunts” occur about the second week of June. And this hunt will result in the kicking off of one of Countdown primary storylines.

OK, besides the fact that there's a math problem there (he named five characters, not four), there's the little problem that they almost completely ignored both Supergirl & Nightwing for the entirety of the series. This is the editor of the year long event that is privy to all the pre-planning. I'm guessing that there was a mid-series decision not to increase the scope of how many characters were given a turd coating by this Countdown thread. It is obvious that they weren't ever meant to be part of the "Challengers of the Multiverse" or what have you, but to drop them as anomalies and have the Monitors give them nearly zero attention?

Just to make certain that we drill this point home as much as possible before picking apart Carlin's inability to keep shit straight later:

NRAMA: Time-wise - next week, we'll be four issues into Countdown - will that roughly correlate to one month's worth of time in the DCU?

MM: Yes.

Remember that, folks.

And that, above, was all of the stuff from Countdown #49's weekly treatment. See what I mean about shorter stuff? And on to issue 48...

Newsarama: Let's start with Mary's issues here - take us inside her head a little. Why's she so eager to get back into the game of super-heroing? There seems to be a desperation...towards an addiction going on here…

Mike Marts: See, that’s the thing...Mary’s desperation isn’t necessarily about getting back into super-heroing....it’s more about feeling the painful loss of her powers. She had her super powers for so long—trusted them, relied on them, perhaps even took them for granted...and now they’re gone, seemingly forever. And Mary’s finding this extremely difficult to live with. She’s lost her sense of purpose, her sense of self. She feels backed into a corner. And now—who knows—she might try anything to get her powers back.

NRAMA: Anything?

MM: Anything.

Wow...I just now realized that Brady's "addiction" angle seems to be prophetic about where she'd go. So addicted to power that, once she even had her old powers back, she wanted more. But...according to the editor...that didn't seem to be anything planned for the character. Maybe the complete reinvention of Mary got brewed up after Mike "I just make sure it's out on time" Carlin took over.

Which is kinda funny given:

NRAMA: On that front, and time-wise, when's Countdown taking place compared to Trials of Shazam?

MM: The events of Countdown and Trials of Shazam may not line up perfectly...but for the most part Trials happens before Countdown and then concurrently - at least, according to Trials editor Mike Carlin. And he knows everything, so he must be right!

Heh...oh, Mike...if you only knew how unreliable Carlin is with keeping even things he has edited straight...

Not to beat a dead horse, but:

NRAMA: Okay – over to Jimmy...Perry now knows that Jason Todd is Red Hood, so, by default, the entire Daily Planet now knows?

MM: No, not necessarily...as hinted last week, there is a story behind the connection between Jimmy Olsen and Jason Todd. A story that will be told within the pages of Countdown.

Yeah...anyone remember that story?

Oh, boy are these things going fast and furious now. We're on to Counting Down for #47. To be fair, since I've recently taken to pointing out the subliminal pornography of certain comic book artwork:



Money shot!

Now, on to the interview:

NRAMA: Back to Black Adam - his word was "sorry?" Captain Marvel changed it to that? And he has the wisdom of Solomon? I mean - wasn't that, or wouldn't that have been one of the first words he said or at least a really likely one if say, he visited Isis' grave?

MM: Did you read the end of 52 or World War III? Did you see what Black Adam is capable of? Still think the word “sorry” is even in his vernacular?

NRAMA: In that he’s sorry Isis and Osiris are dead because he went the wrong way, probably…

MM: Well - but Black Adam editor Michael Siglain assures me that there are still one or two big pieces to Black Adam’s puzzle to be discovered in his upcoming August mini-series.

I would think that calming the whiny masses (which I may have been part of; I can't remember) by saying, "no, we didn't give away the secret word, folks...keep reading," might have made sense. I'm guessing that there may not have been much information sharing going on.

NRAMA: Oh - one question on tie-ins...The Joker was in this week's Detective, and apparently has been around for a while. Er...how? Is that the Joker, the Joker, or "a" Joker...or...who? Just seems kind of strange as he was locked up securely in Arkham recently...

MM: The Joker appearing in Detective #833 and #834 is “the” Joker...er, “our” Joker. The real Joker. You know what I mean!

NRAMA: Yeah…but then who was the Joker securely locked up in Arkham in #50?

MM: The Joker.

NRAMA: “Our” Joker?

MM: Yes.

NRAMA: Not “a” Joker?

MM: He’s the Joker.

NRAMA: Wait – who’s the Joker?

MM: The guy on first – he’s the Joker.

NRAMA: I’m figuring that’s the extent of the clarification we’re going to get on that one, so over to you for the tease of issue #46…hit it.

That's a good spine of the DC Universe, eh? Five weeks into this event and DC editorial already had the wheels coming off their cohesive universe (which is the point of having a "spine" to it). That's not saying any of it was Marts' fault.

OK...that's a few of the weekly columns dissected in this edition, so that's it for going over Countdown.

Over Countdown?

No, I don't imagine I'll ever be over Countdown...

Of Late Comic Books & General Gripes

Before the thread regarding Mike Choi's personal loss and dedication to his work gets to far away from its original intent, I'd like to allow any griping to move to this blog, instead.

That can include:

Shouldn't contracts allow for artists to have some time off during the year?
How hard are publishers trying to spin the late comic book deal as a service to the fan?
What is up with Secret Invasion costing $4 with the only "added value" being a cardstock cover?
And anything else one might want to gripe about...

For Those That Bitch & Moan About Late Comics...

Over on his blog, Mike Choi talks about the drawbacks of being an artist. After mentioning how taking a traditional vacation is pretty much impossible, he shares the following:

But it's all good. I've worked on the last five Thanksgivings. However, something opened my eyes slightly today to the idea that something might be wrong in my prioritizing when work is involved.

I woke up at 2 pm, after four hours of sleep. I had two voicemail messages. the first was from the VP of editorial at Marvel, and the second was from my mom, who told me that my uncle had died. I called Marvel back first.

The funeral is this Wednesday, and the book is due Thursday (for me). I won't be calling my editors for an extension, because a) I know I won't get it, because issue 500 NEEDS to be on time understandably, b) measures have been taken to avoid lateness already, measures I wish hadn't been taken but were absolutely necessary, and c) so help me, if Nick called me right now and said, we'll make the books late so you can have an extension, or we can get someone to fill-in for you, I would turn him down.

I hope you join me in sending your thoughts and prayers along to Mike and the rest of the Choi family.

NYCC SCHWAPP!!!: Passing A Message To Grant

Before hitting the road to NYCC, my friend Aaron asked me to pass personal messages from him to Grant Morrison and Jenna Jameson. While I wasn't able to get the message to Jenna, I did deliver his message to Grant. It was a little more impersonal than he may have desired...

Kirby, Bliss, & Homage Etiquette

The great and wise JK Parkin is covering this over on Blog@Newsarama, but I wanted to add my two cents. Apparently, a university professor has identified a New Yorker caption contest piece as a Kirby swipe, with Jeff Trexler and Mark Evanier (recognized authority on all things Kirby) jumping up to defend it as being so obvious an homage as to not have been any sort of lapse in ethics.

I really don't see why some are playing favorites with this artist. Yes, I'm sure his intentions were fine...but it takes nothing to put an "After Kirby" in there to acknowledge for the world that it is an homage. There was a time that people went nuts anytime there was an homage cover ON A COMIC BOOK (where, you know, everyone points out that we'd recognize an obvious Kirby homage) without an "After ____" on it.

If the artist can sign his own name to it (as you can see in the New Yorker image), then he could have put an AFTER KIRBY and told the world it was an homage instead of just letting it be a cool little secret between him and people familiar with the source material.

I mean...I know 95% of the New Yorker audience are comic book fans, right? So he'd only be doing it for that 5%, but it'd still be the right thing to do...

Oh, there was eventually an AFTER KIRBY added to its posting on the internet, by the way...after the professor bitched and moaned about it, I believe.

I'm not saying it was a huge deal. But pissing on the professor for pointing out that it was an unacknowledged homage (which, by normal definitions, means you can classify it as a swipe) by the legal and comic book scholars just isn't right. How is the professor to know what the artist's intentions were if the artist didn't do anything proper to publicly demonstrate those intentions?

Terry Two-Fer...ummm...Thursday

Terry Dodson has shared two upcoming X-Men covers he put together.

Secret Invasion X-Men #1


Young X-Men #5

SCHWAPP!!!@TheMovies: Indiana Jones & The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull

ASM BRAND NEW DAY SPOILERS: Dig? Thumbing Of The Nose? Or Just Being Cute?

As discussed, the last page and a quarter plays on the JMS saying that Quesada's answer for everything OMD was, "it's magic; we don't have to explain it!"

Is it a dig at him? Is it kind of thumbing their nose at the situation? Or is it just meta-cute?

You make the call!

The New Runaways Team?

Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos are doing the rounds to publicize their new Runaways work. But you know what? I care more about what Christina strain has to say about it to Vaneta Rogers back in March:

"I'm very excited about it because Humberto's work looks fantastic," she said. "He's drawing it similar to how he was doing X-Men, but he's doing a really good job of getting the characters' personalities down. Everybody's really distinctive. He captured their personalities really well. So I'm very excited, and I have some interesting ideas about how I'm going to do it. And I'm kind of referencing Carlos Meglia for the coloring stuff. So I'm going to go for this kind of animated look."

Strain is a hold over from all of the previous Runaway "regimes"...and a valuable one at that. She's quickly become one of the colorists you can quickly spot the work of.

SCHWAPP!!! Comics Week 28: Secret Invasion #2

Has Anyone Else Brought This Up?

DC really only seems to make a habit of releasing TPBs or Showcases of their less-than-blockbuster properties when there is some sort of new release related to them that might help them sell some copies. The Batman & The Outsiders Showcases were coordinated with the relaunch of Batman & The Outsiders. They put out the DC Special issues to showcase stories that will be important coming up.

So...Grant Morrison (and Mark Millar) creation, Aztek, just had a TPB released. Grant Morrison is writing Final Crisis. Aztek was a legacy character (the memories of all who had worn the helmet were stored in the helmet itself). Aztek had been sent out to deal with a great evil.

Could a new Aztek be sent out to deal with an evil so great that we're apparently going to see the day it won?

The Wikipedia entry reminds us:

A younger black female Aztek was seen in Grant Morrison's run on JLA during "The Rock of Ages" storyline in which the JLA traveled to an alternate future overrun by Darkseid.

Hmmm...

THE 99: Tolerance Through Comics & Theme Parks

You know...I've read THE 99...and it really doesn't grab me. But I'm not the most important target audience for it.

You see, while I am Muslim, I'm still probably more defined by my Western upbringing than my choice of religion. I don't read comic books and wonder why there isn't someone I can identify with in them (even if I did pitch an embarrassingly bad attempt at a Muslim-starring mini-series to Dan Raspler in 1997).

No, I really think this is geared toward Muslim kids born into the religion and possibly only first generation citizens (at least when we're talking US-based audience).

Quite obviously, the Middle Eastern audience is obviously the biggest target...as evidenced by the theme park they're opening in Kuwait.

That's good stuff. It is great that the property is working out for them to the point that it seems marketable as a theme park. Theme parks and comic books have the opportunity to leave an amazing mark on the lives of children. Maybe it can really make a difference in the world.

SCHWAPP!!!@TheMovies: REDBELT

Brand New Slott

Back in March, Dan Slott said the following over on Spider-Man Crawlspace:

On a personal note, I want to profusely thank jeffgamer for his support around the net. Back in December, jeffgamer's internet-wide dissent of OMD got the notice of NEW YORK POST writer Dareh Gregorian, who wrote an online piece about it: "Spidey Swings". http://www.nypost.com/seven/12292007/news/nationalnews/spidey_swings__153114.htm The article even wrapped up with a quote by jeffgamer: "jeffgamer, wrote: 'The Spider-Man I've loved and read about for 34 years is dead now. No matter how well written or well drawn what comes next may or may not be, it is being built upon the corpse of something that I, and many other readers, cared about deeply.'" That put this phenomenon on Mr. Gregorian's radar. And on January 7th, Mr. Gregorian wrote a follow up story which appeared on PAGE 3 of the actual NEW YORK POST, "Spidey's Smooch Scandal", which showcased the cover to the first BND issue, #546, and plugged it two days before its release! You can't BUY publicity like that! The next day USA TODAY, the wire, and, in turn, local papers around the country picked up the story. The USA TODAY piece was what caught the attention of Howard Stern. The buzz from there grew and led to BND stories on ABC, CBS, CNN, NEWSWEEK, and local evening news shows around the country. So to jeffgamer I say "THANK YOU!". You might just be the butterfly who flapped his wings on the internet, caused a hurricane in the real world, and gave ASM #546 the attention it needed to spike and reach the #1 spot in January! You might just be the guy who brought new readers in off the street, helped major retail chains sell out, and made us go back to press for a second printing on #546! Keep up the good work!

After some negative reactions from posters on the board (which really wasn't worse than anything Joe Quesada used to say on New Joe Fridays), he followed it up a week later by deleting that message and replacing it with the following:

It's been pointed out to me how "snarky" my original post sounded. And if that's the case, then I'm sorry. At the same time, I'd also ask for a little understanding and for you to try to imagine how things look from this side of the equation. After a few months of being on a book like ASM , I'm starting to understand how this works. Passions are always going to run high with fans-- both for & against. Here on the internet it can get pretty vocal. And in the past, I've seen myself as a fan too-- able to spout off just as much as any of you guys. I think I get it now-- that's NOT the case. I get paid to do this. I get the privilege of working in this industry. And part of being a "professional" is that you have to act like one. You guys can say whatever you want and goof up from time to time-- and no one's going to shine a light on it. The trade off is-- I don't get to do that anymore. I think I can live with that. So again... Sorry for being a little too "human" back there. It won't happen again. In the future, when posting here and around the net, I'll strive to take a more professional attitude-- one that you, as consumers, deserve from the people whose work you support.

In another thread on that board, he doesn't seem to deal well with a BND colleague getting praise where he isn't receiving the same:

Seriously? If you liked Zeb's issues of ASM (which kicked much ass), something to keep in mind, was that Zeb got to play with BND when all the pieces on the board were already set up.

Funny that backhanded compliment thing there. Or, if you prefer, trying to make an excuse as for why people might think Zeb's arc kicked more ass. There is the fact that, from what I'm aware of, the arc didn't really have anything that would make it stand out as being a BRAND NEW DAY story versus a plain ol' Spidey story.

Shame that Zeb wound up off the book and never seemed to have been highlight in the promotions for BRAND NEW DAY as much as the others involved in the book.

I think that comment came before Slott's epiphany about watching his words over the internet. Of course, I have documented irrational behavior from him directed at me after his supposedly coming to the understanding of how a professional is supposed to act. Professional or not, he does slyly try to invite people from that board to come over to his spot on 606studios.com (where he can, you know, delete or edit anything he doesn't like).

This ain't exactly bitching and moaning with fans, but it's a bit unprofessional to try to defend your own work from poor reviews that you suggest came from people just flipping through in the store and then slide a few digs in at a competitor's book and the creators involved.

From his message board on 606studios.com:

Thought for the day...

---

Reading a comic in the store is like trying to watch an entire movie on the display monitor at Blockbusters. Reading a comic in the store on Comic Day is like trying to watch an entire movie on the display monitor at a crowded and noisy Blockbusters. Reading a comic in the store when the store owner or manager is there... (Because you KNOW they don't like you doing it. And NO, you're not their favorite customer that they have a "special relationship" with. And No, they're not cool with it. That's an urban myth. Like your girlfriend from... Canada.) ...well, reading it like that means that you're reading it as quickly as humanly possible. Wonderful. Now you're the guy who's not only trying to watch an entire movie on the display monitor at Blockbusters, you're also the guy who's flipped open the control panel, hit the FAST FORWARD button and is watching that movie at 16X speed. Awesome. I'm sure you're totally following the plot, the snappy dialogue, and all of the extra little touches. Meanwhile... On the same trip, you've purchased a copy of ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #whenever-Grant-Morrison-and-Frank-Quitely-felt-like-finishing-it. But with this book you've cradled it in your arms all the way home, read it in your Queen Anne chair in front of a roaring fire, and all while enjoying your snifter of port. Jeepers, I really wonder which comic you're going to like more?

Yeah...people enjoy someone else's work more than yours because of the ambiance. Right.

I've heard about a little bit that will be appearing on the last page of tomorrow's Amazing Spider-Man. It comes off as a dig at JMS's recounting of how Quesada said OMD made sense (it's magic), from what my sources say. This points out that either the full script went in after a certain date or scripting was done after the finished art.

That's important because I thought for a second the following panel was taken from my interaction with Slott...then I said, "nah...the script had to have been in long before that!" Maybe not...

That's something that was expressed to me by Dan several times. Like when he was stalking me for a phone call and I indicated I'd only call him if I could record it and put it up on the blog (because he was trying to twist anything he could to attack Newsarama at the time and continues to try to twist facts in any argument). But maybe there are other people he had a mad-on for that he said the same to...given how far gone he was for a month or so there.

SCHWAPP!!!@TheMovies: Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Marvel Loves Sexually Controversial Images

Yeah...THIS won't get a lot of negative attention (that will likely just help Marvel advertise it). I've run this by a few friends and the general consensus is the fourth panel (top right) is meant to evoke images of a facial/money shot. That doesn't even get into the potentially sensual depiction of all the girls gathering around to "help" in the rest of the panels...

Why I Despise Greg Land's Artwork Reason 139

Because somewhere out there, there is a pornstar receiving a facial that has Pixie's smile in the scene/picture. Friggin' Land and his crutches...

SCHWAPP!!!@TheMovies: Iron Man