Usually when I sit down to figure out my weekly blog, it takes me a while to scan through the world of comics and find my inspiration. As I was perusing the usual places, it slowly dawned on me that there is an inordinate amount of comic related madness out and about this week. From strange to silly to triflin’, the comic book news cycle was just a bit off. Don’t believe me? Let me share a few tidbits with you:

Lil Obama? A while back, Image comics and Robert Kirkman put out some pretty hilarious teaser images poking fun at Marvel’s AVENGERS promo for the upcoming GUARDIANS OF THE GLOBE book. The images depicted increasingly ridiculous characters joining the team, from Spawn to Barack Obama, to a very Harry Potter-like child (you can check em out here). Well, it turns out that these images were so popular that Image will now feature the team in a series of one page back up stories. The characters will also be cute-ified, as you can see from the cover above. When I saw this, I couldn’t help but think, “Why?” Was the world calling for lil’ Spawn? You can get the official press release over at Image’s Website.

IRON MAN double dipping? Last Friday, Marvel Comics announced that on June 30th INVINCIBLE IRON MAN ANNUAL #1 would be released simultaneously in comic book stores and on their ipad/iphone/ipod app, the first comic to be released in such a fashion. I know that Marvel has been on the forefront of digital distribution, and that your average digital reader might not be your average LCS shopper, but doesn’t this seem kind of, I don’t know, ho-ish? When I read this, I just felt bad for the comic shop guys. Yes, it’s only one comic, but it is still money out of retailer pockets. I guess I’m just amazed that Marvel would treat retailers (who kept them in business through many a rough year) with such disdain. Boo to you Marvel. You can read the press release on Newsarama.

X-men vs. vampires? Sticking with Marvel, the X-franchise has a new issue #1 coming out, with the mighty mutants taking on… vampires? I’m taken aback. Admittedly, I haven’t read an X-book in a little while, but doesn’t this seem kind of out of left field? Out of all the characters in the Marvel U, the X-men don’t really seem like the group to go undead hunting. There’s preview art for you if you are into that sort of thing over at Marvel.

90s trading cards? I came across this small piece of madness over on Comics Alliance and it boggled my mind. For those who don’t feel like following links, let me sum up; in the 1990’s Eclipse Entertainment actually made trading cards for comic book creators. Not characters, creators. Now, I think it’s great that Jack Kirby got his own trading card, but Shirtless McFarlane in the skinny jeans? No, with a side of no. I have often harped on the silliness of the 1990’s comic book scene, and this just proves me right. (On a side note, if you do click over to the main article, how scary is the resemblance between Clive Barker and Adam Sandler?)

World Record? Last week Melbourne, Australia broke the Guinness world record for… get ready for it… “largest number of people in superhero costumes gathered in one place”. That’s got to be one of the strangest world records I’ve ever heard of that didn’t involve some sort of bodily growth. The Aussies snagged the record with a whopping 1245 people in costume, beating previous record holder London, England by a scant 154 people (only one week after London had gained the title). Thanks again to Comics Alliance for filling me in on the craziness.

Super-Dwight? Yesterday, Adidas announced that they would team with Warner Brothers to produce a line of shoes and Apparel featuring Superman and Orlando Magic Center Dwight Howard (pictured above). I’m all for cross-promotion, but what Brad Globe of Warner Bros. had a quote in the article that made me groan. I’m sure you want to see the quote:

“Superman is the universal symbol of strength and speed, not to mention he has one heck of a vertical leap. Dwight’s super heroic feats on the court make this partnership with Adidas an ideal collaboration for basketball and comic book fans alike.”

The article goes on to talk about the history of Superman and the achievements of Howard. The more I read, the odder the pairing seemed. That being said, more power to DC and Warner Bros. for pimping out Supes like a cheap trick, he needed to be taken down a notch. Thanks to comic book resources for the story.

CSI: Mortal Kombat? Weird can work sometimes though as well. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out this re-imagining of Mortal Kombat:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Pretty interesting. This short was put together in the hopes of landing a full length feature, and while parts of it are kind of silly (a former plastic surgeon becomes a martial arts master?), it seems like a shot in the arm for what has become a tired franchise. Given that my only memory of the original Mortal Kombat movie is laughing at Christopher Lambert as a lightning god, I’m rooting for this one to get made.

So, as you can see, it was an odd week for comic book news. Thanks for letting me rant, folks. Check back in tomorrow for the latest from Dr. Cellus. Have a great Thursday!

As we head into the weekend (yay Super Bowl!), it is time for another edition of Odds and Ends. Let’s see what’s going on in the world of comics:

Super Sunday: Comics Alliance is ramping up for the big game in their own way, throwing out rosters for a would-be DC/Marvel Super Bowl. It’s odd but funny.

Catching Up: IGN runs down the last decade of X-Men continuity to get you ready for this year’s X-event. Thanks IGN!

Worse Than The Clone Saga: For all you cinephiles out there, The Razzies have announced their nominations for the worst of 2009. As a special treat to commemorate the new decade, this year’s Razzies actually include categories for worst of the decade.

Waxing Marvel: Jason Karouac and Lee Rodriguez from Panels on Pages sit down for an interview with Marvel’s Uber-editor Tom Brevoort. The whole interview is available for your listening pleasure here.

Why Haven’t You Read This?: Semantink put out it’s latest MYTHOI comic, MYTHOI Birth: YUKI. Why have you not read it? There are Yetis and scantily clad women kicking butt.

Thanks for stopping in folks, have a great weekend, and check back tomorrow for Geek of The Week!

Now the People’s Choice Awards claims to be a unique show in that they listen to fans (taken from their website):  The People’s Choice Awards celebrates fan favorites in music, movies and television and is the only major awards show where real people — not industry insiders — determine the nominees and winners, setting it apart from other awards shows.

That’s not entirely true…  You see, they don’t speak to all the fans, or go off of a movie’s gross ticket sales, or a TV show’s ratings, or anything like that — they just let people go to the site and vote.  Seems simple and fair, right?  No.  It’s not.  You see, the overwhleming demographic of voters are pre-teens in braces with a hankering to be loud and obnoxious — the rest of us are working or don’t care.  What irks me is that the celebrities who leave with these awards may actually believe they are the “people’s choice.”  SO, in an effort to make things perfectly clear, I’ve decided to go through and address each winner (in the film category only — sorry TV and music, I can’t stomach to even look at you), to let them know whether or not they were chosen by people or mindless, pre-pubescent, acne-ridden germ-incubators, overloaded on hormones teens.

Favorite MOVIE ACTOR
Johnny Depp

No problem, whatsoever, here.  Johnny Depp is one of the most talented actors around.  As far as I’m concerned this guy can’t win enough awards.  He has reinvented himself again and again and again.  My only complaint with Mr. Depp is thus: Maybe a little less Burton — I know you two love each other and I think you make a great team but the formula’s getting a little tired.  I’m sure you’ll be a fantastic Mad Hatter, but it’s just not new anymore.  We get it, you’re both eccentric…

Favorite MOVIE ACTRESS
Sandra Bullock

Sorry Sandie — no can do.  You may have been a qwerky kind of hot in Demolition Man and Speed, but something happened…  Somewhere along the way you started banking off your comedic acting and not your sexiness, which is fine, but you’re not funny.  I’m sure that women across the world would fight against me to defend you, but I’m going to say what all (non-gay) men are thinking: Please stop making movies our ladies want to see.  We’re running out of excuses to miss them.  And “Favorite Movie Actress?”  Not in a million.  You’re just below Tina Fey and barely above that ugly girl from Twilight.

Favorite ACTION STAR
Hugh Jackman

Oh Hugh, you silly bitch.  I want to love you, I really do.  You brought Wolverine to the big screen and for that I will always be eternally grateful.  But your action movies since the two X-Men films have all been, well, crappy: Swordfish?  Van Helsing?  Ex-Men 3?  Ex-Men Origins: (Not-so) Wolverine?  Sorry bud, but you’re not an action star — not yet.  I would give you the People’s Choice for “Best Manly Actor Who Is Probably Gay.”  Action stars are men like Arnold S, Sylvester S, Jean-Claude Van D, and Bruce W.  You’re nowhere near them.

Favorite COMEDIC STAR
Jim Carrey

Apparently Jim made a movie called Yes Man which isn’t so bad, but that’s the problem with this guy lately — all of his movies are not so bad.  None of them are good.  Remember Ace Ventura?  The Mask?  Hell, even Liar, Liar was giggle-inducing.  Somewhere along the line Mr. Carrey went all Eddie Murphy on your fans and forgot what funny was.  Do us all a favor and take a few years off, find your comedic-qi and get back in the haha-saddle.  Jim, you just won a “Best Comedic Star” award on the People’s Choice Awards — that should tell you you’re probably not funny.

Favorite BREAKOUT MOVIE ACTRESS
Miley Cyrus

I have nothing to say about this little attention whore.  I don’t know what movie she was in that helped her “breakout” (apparently she wasn’t famous before), but nobody in their right mind takes her seriously.  Nobody.

Favorite BREAKOUT MOVIE ACTOR
Taylor Lautner

First of all, he was in Twilight.  If that doesn’t establish this farce of an award show, then maybe the competition he “beat” will:  Chris Pine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sam Worthington, Zachary Quinto.  Any one of those men deserves ten times the success of Lautner, if for no other reason than this: they were not in a Twilight movie.

Favorite INDEPENDENT MOVIE
Inglourious Basterds

This movie should win every award it can — it was one of the BEST movies of 2009.  But Independent?  I dunno…  From Wikipedia (which is the most reliable site EVER) “An independent film, or indie film, is a film that is produced mostly outside of a major film studio. The term also refers to art films which differ markedly from most mass marketed films.”  Best film?  Yes, I’d be on board with that.  But Tarantino hasn’t done indie since Reservoir Dogs…

Favorite Comedy MOVIE
The Proposal

This movie beat The Hangover.  If you haven’t seen The Hangover then do yourself a favor and stop reading this immediately, go buy it and enjoy.  If you have seen it but didn’t like it, you’re an idiot.  If you saw it and saw this and thought this was better you probably produce unhealthy levels of estrogen and lack pubic hair.

Favorite MOVIE
Twilight

Fuck these films.

Now I encourage, as always, you to tell me what you think.  Since most of our readers are not drooling morons in high school, I want to know what you think about the “winners” from last night.  I have a serious sense of dread that our retirement homes will be full of Meyers books, Miley music and models-turned actors — the youth of America scare the shit out of me.

The Future of America…

Mr. Wolff

Back to Semantink

Before we get too far away from the last ten years, I wanted to do a retrospective on the the decade that was in comics. It was a very interesting ten years for the medium, with plenty of great moments, and some pretty terrible events transpiring as well. I’m going to break this into two parts over the next two days (2000–2004 and 2005–2009) so put on your reading glasses, grab a refreshing beverage, and join me on my trip through the early otts!

200o

Nu-Marvel: When the new millennium started, Marvel was hurting. Product quality was down, sales were bad, and the company had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy only 3 years earlier. Marvel needed new blood and that is exactly what the company got in hiring Joe Quesada as editor-in-chief and Bill Jemas as publisher.

Bringing in Quesada was a risky move; he had had a small measure of success with Marvel Knights, but before that, he was known only as a penciller. The move paid large dividends almost immediately. Creators respected Quesada as an industry professional, and he was able to bring big names to Marvel that the company would not have been able to get a few years earlier.

Bill Jemas came to Marvel in the 1990s but it wasn’t until he became publisher and joined with Quesada that he started to make waves in the comic book community.

Upon taking over, Jemas and Quesada remade Marvel. They created a new rating system for Marvel comics, so that the company would no longer have to rely on the comic code authority. They started the Ultimate Marvel and MAX comic book lines. Perhaps most importantly, the pair established a trade paperback program that set the standard for the industry.

Not everything that they did worked (Marville, Marvel Tsunami), but it’s safe to say that Marvel would not be anywhere near as successful today without the contributions of the pair.

He never did get to kick that ball: Charles Shulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip, passed away in early 2000 from cancer. Shulz only took one vacation from the strip in 50 years. Peanuts appeared in 2,500 newspapers, in 75 different countries, as well as having several animated specials.

Schulz had been asked if, for his final Peanuts strip, Charlie Brown would finally get to kick that football after so many decades. His response: “Oh, no! Definitely not! I couldn’t have Charlie Brown kick that football; that would be a terrible disservice to him after nearly half a century.”

X marks the spot: X-men was released in theaters. Bryan Singer directed the story of Marvel’s merry mutants, which grossed just under $300 million, not bad considering the film cost $75 million dollars to make.

The success of the X-men movie lead to a flood of comic based movies over the rest of the decade. While the film had plenty of flaws it paved the way for some great films in the latter half of the decade.

Making the grade: In early 2000, CGC, or Comics Guarantee LLC, started doing business. CGC is an independent grading service for comic books. CGC retains a panel of five experts that inspect books in a temperature and heat controlled room, and rate books on a scale of .5 to 10. The book is then sealed in hard plastic.

Why is this important? It set a standard for collectors for what is considered mint as opposed to near mint and so on. Not everyone agrees on the CGC rules, but everyone across the industry respects them.

Dollah Dollah bills y’all: Comics jumped to $2.25 from $1.99. This jump was the first price hike for comics in the decade, but it wouldn’t be the last.

2001

Do you want a revolution?: In 2001, Marvel was trying to capitalize on the success of the X-men movie put out in 2000, but the X-franchise was not in a good place, so they tried something drastic. Marvel brought in Grant Morrison, Joe Casey, Ian Churchill and Frank Quitely and completely changed the X-franchise. Gone was the spandex and the monthly bad guy, in came crazy new concepts and cool leather outfits (or depending on your point of view, cool S&M togs).

Casey and Churchill’s experiment on UNCANNY X-MEN didn’t go well; the art was atrocious, and Casey could never quite find the right voice for the book. However, Morrison and Quitely put together one of the greatest runs in X-history on NEW X-MEN. NEW wasn’t without it’s flaws (the fill-in art made me want to poke my eyes out) , but it set the X-men franchise up for success throughout the rest of the decade.

Well that was a let down: Ever since his creation in the 1970’s, Wolverine was a character shrouded in mystery (and hair). Over the next 30 years plenty of clues were given as to the tiny candaians secret history, but there were never any concrete answers. In 2001, Paul Jenkins and Andy Kubert set out to tell the origin of Wolverine (in the appropriately named ORIGIN), and the results were… meh.

The story the Paul Jenkins laid out was not terrible or preposterous, just boring, which was almost worse. Over the years, it’s been hinted that Wolverine was a government spy, a crime lord, heck, one writer hinted he was a mutated wolverine, but no one hinted he was a prissy farm boy who always wore a nightgown.

ORIGIN was not without it’s high points though. The art by Kubert and colorist Richard Isanove was beautiful, and featured a digital inking technique from Isanove that would become very popular later in the decade. The story also kept plenty of room open for more early Wolverine stories to be told at a later  date (which Daniel Way has taken advantage of in the title WOLVERINE ORIGINS).

Perhaps the most amazing thing about ORIGIN was that as bland as it was, it didn’t affect Wolverine’s popularity at all. I suppose the moral of the story is if you are angry and hairy, people will like you no matter what.

2002

Hooray Spandex: In 2002 spandex made a come back on the big screen. Sony Pictures  and director Sam Raimi brought Spider-man to the big screen. The movie told the origin of Marvel’s web-slinger and featured Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe and Kirsten Dunst. The movie was a financial success, grossing over $800 million worldwide.

Spider-man showed that spandex could indeed work in a movie. While the movie had it’s share of flaws (power ranger green goblin), Tobey Maguire perfectly captured the character of Peter Parker, and the movie was a ton of fun.

Who doesn’t like free stuff?: 2002 saw the birth of the annual Free comic book day event. This event is great for small creators who want to get their work increased exposure, and big companies who want to get people excited over upcoming projects. And everyone gets free comics! Ha cha cha!

Unmanned:In 2002 Vertigo comics put out the first issue of Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra’s  Y: THE LAST MAN. While this might not be historically relevant, this was one of the best comics to be put out throughout the decade.

Oh, the horror!: 30 DAYS OF NIGHT also saw it’s first issue released in 2002. While the book itself was great, the success it garnered was even more important.

The high sales of the IDW published vampire story showed that horror books had a place in the market. Without 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, there would be no WALKING DEAD, or any other small press horror book out there today (and there are tons).

2003

Who woulda thought?: In an event no one would  have thought possible, Marvel and DC teamed up to produce a JLA/ Avengers crossover, written by Kurt Busiek, with art from George Perez.

Plenty of conflicts arose during the project, and while we probably wont be seeing Marvel and DC working together again any time soon, it was pretty awesome to see Perez draw all those characters together.

Righting the ship: With Joe Quesada and Marvel comics exploding in popularity in the early part of the decade, DC had to do something. The DC answer to Quesada came in the form of Dan Didio.

Just like his Marvel comics counterpart, Didio came in and immediately started to change the direction of the company. Didio focused on a tighter continuity, and a return to what had worked for the company in the past.

Didio is the reason that DC has put out two CRISIS books in the latter part of the decade, as well as the man behind weekly books like 52 becoming a reality.

Many have criticized Didio for making DC a darker place, which it might be, but it is also more entertaining.

2004

The end of an era: 2004 saw the end of one of the longest running independent books in comic book history: CEREBUS.

CEREBUS, created by Dave Sim, began publication in 1977 (!) and ran 300 issues. While the book was on a steady decline in terms of quality by the end, the longevity of the book, and it’s titular character (a talking aardvark) are something to be marveled at. (Thanks to Margaret @ cerebusfangirl.com for the heads up on Cerebus’ completion date!)

Give ‘em hell!: With the success of Spider-man and X-men in theaters, comic book movies had proved themselves as a viable money maker. The next comic to make a splash on the big screen was Hellboy.

Hellboy didn’t achieve the financial success of other comic book films, bringing in just under $100 million world-wide, but it’s lead character was far more obscure than the X-men or Spider-man. Hellboy did, however, rock.

Director Guillermo Del Toro and star Ron Perlman perfectly encapsulated everything that is great about the comic book series. The movie was fun and exceptionally faithful to the source material, far more so than earlier comic-to film translations.

It was worth a shot: CrossGen comics, only six years after getting into comics, folded, declaring for bankruptcy, and ceasing all publication of comic books.

CrossGen had a novel concept for comic book publication: Keep all talent in house, not spread out throughout the country (or countries).  The idea behind this was that the talent could inspire one another better in an enclosed environment, and deadlines could be better controlled. The Florida-based publisher hired some top names at the start and was dedicated to high quality work on a month to month basis.

The only problem with CrossGen was that the man in charge, Mark Alessi, was by all accounts a douche. Creators began to complain about the company, and work quality suffered. Then sales suffered. By the end of 2003 there were complaints that people weren’t getting paid. CrossGen finally folded in 2004, showing the world that no matter how great an idea is, a douchebag can ruin it.

All right folks, that takes us to the end of the first half of the decade, and this was the slow half! Check back in tomorrow for my recap on the latter half of the decade that was in comics!

Happy Sunday folks.

For today’s spotlight, we are going to be covering one of the most prolific franchises in all of comics, The X-men. Let’s get started shall we?

The X-men were created in September of 1963, debuting in X-MEN #1, which was written by Stan Lee, with art by Jack Kirby. The original name for the series was THE MERRY MUTANTS, which Martin Goodman (the publisher of Marvel Comics at the time) rejected, stating that no one would know what a mutant was. The X in X-men stands for the “x-gene” which is what separates mutants from regular humans, giving them special powers. The idea behind the series is that Professor Charles Xavier recruits a small group of young mutants to help them defend a world that hates and fears them. Professor Xavier runs the Xavier institute of higher learning, a school that is set up to teach and train young mutants, under the guise of being a boarding school. The original group of X-men was comprised of five members: Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman, and Marvel Girl. When the series launched in the early 1960’s, the main threat to the X-men came in form of Magneto and his brotherhood of evil mutants. While the series had the usual comic book battles, the early issues of X-MEN dealt heavily with the ideas of racism and prejudice. Over the first few years of the series, there were very few roster changes, with only one new member, Mimic, being added, and he left shortly after joining.

The end of the 1960’s saw Lee and Kirby leave the title, and Roy Thomas and Neal Adams took the reins of the title. Thomas added two members to the team, Havok (the younger brother of Cyclops), and Polaris. In 1969 the X-MEN title was not selling enough copies to warrant new stories, so from issue #67–93 the book just reprinted earlier stories. As crazy as the idea of simply reprinting old issues may sound today, this was a fairly standard practice in the late sixties for comics.

In 1975, the X-men were given new life in GIANT SIZE X-MEN #1 by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum. Wein and Cockrum introduced an all new line-up that reinvigorated the franchise and the adventures of this new X-team began in issue #94. This new team featured characters from a variety of nationalities and age groups, giving the team a much more diverse flavor. The new team of X-men consisted of Cyclops, Jean Grey (formally Marvel Girl), Storm, Night Crawler, Colossus, Banshee, Sunfire, Thunderbird, and Wolverine, who would become the breakout character of the series. While many of the original X-cast didn’t make it onto the new roster, they would often make guest appearances.

Soon after X-MEN was relaunched, scripting duties for the title moved from Wein to a young writer named Chris Claremont. Claremont stayed on-board with the X-men for a while, lasting from 1975 until 1991. Art chores would pass from Cockrum to John Byrne in 1977 with issue #108. Claremont and Byrne put X-men on the map, crafting stories like “The Phoenix Saga” and “Days of Future Past”. The title would also change names in issue #94, becoming THE UNCANNY X-MEN.

The X-men increased steadily in popularity, and as a result, the series began to spawn a number of spin-off titles such as EXCALIBUR, X-FACTOR, ALPHA FLIGHT, THE NEW MUTANTS, and a solo WOLVERINE title. In 1986, there were enough X-titles to have a mutant-specific crossover, MUTANT MASSACRE. This was the first crossover to feature mutants specifically, and the first of many “X-overs” to come over the next few years.

The cast of the X-men continued to grow throughout the 1980’s as well, intorducing new characters such as Dazzler, Longshot, Forge, and Psylocke, as well as a whole new alien race, the Shi’ar. As the 1980’s came to a close, the X-men had gone from a series on the edge of extinction to a major comic franchise. Many of the artists who would go on to start Image comics were working on X-titles at the end of the 80’s, including Rob Liefeld, Marc Silvestri, Jim Lee, and Whilce Portacio.

In 1991, UNCANNY X-MEN was so popular Marvel comics launched a second X-men specific title. This new comic would be known simply as X-MEN. The title was scripted by Claremont, and penciled by Jim Lee. X-MEN #1 sold a ridiculous 8 million copies. Creative differences between Lee and Claremont would eventually lead to Claremont’s departure from the X-titles.

The 1990’s would see the X-franchise continue to grow in popularity and size. More spin-offs would come as well as more crossovers. Some notable new characters from the 1990’s included Bishop, Cable, Deadpool, and (inexplicably) Gambit. As popular as the X-men were, the end of the Millenium saw the X-men’s popularity begin to dwindle.

In 2001, the X-franchise got a shot in the arm from writer Grant Morrison. Morrison took over X-MEN with artist Frank Quitely and set about changing the image of the X-men. The team moved from spandex to leather, and a new status quo was set up. The title of X-MEN was changed to NEW X-MEN. In 2005, the number of Mutants in the X-verse was greatly diminished due to the HOUSE OF M crossover, which saw the Scarlet Witch de-power all but 198 mutants. Currently the X-men have moved to an island off the coast of San Francsisco, and set up a home for all the remaining mutants.

The X-men have also had a place in Hollywood, with three X-MEN movies being made, as well as a solo WOLVERINE movie. The First X-men movie was released by Fox in 2000 with Bryan Singer directing. Singer directed the Sequel in 2003, a story loosely based on the 1982 graphic novel GOD LOVES, MAN KILLS. Brett Ratner directed the third installment of the series, which flat out sucked.

The X-men has always been a platform for social issues. Given the genetic and racial make-up of the characters, themes like diversity, racism and equality have been an easy fit for the comic. The difference in ideologies between Xavier and Magneto has often been seen as an allegory for the difference between civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Stories like GOD LOVES, MAN KILLS focus on the dangers of religious fanaticism, and groups like the purifiers are analogous to the KKK.

From a writing standpoint, the X-men are different from other team books. While most teams might have protagonists gathered together to fight a common enemy, the members of the X-men are gathered together for protection. There has often been a soap opera-style approach to writing the x-men, with Chris Claremont using romantic subplots to great effect. Another strength in the x-writing has been the ability to utilize the whole family of mutant characters to keep the series fresh. The rotating cast of characters has also been a drawback at times, as the books will sometimes become overcrowded and confusing. Writers like Joe Casey and Peter Milligan (both of whom are very good comic book writers) have often struggled to find a coherent voice with such a large cast of characters.

The art in X-MEN has long been a strong point of the series. In the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s, the book had constantly solid, if not dynamic art from comic book hall-of-famers. Since John Byrne left the art chores on the book, in the early 1980’s, X-MEN has been a showcase for rising stars and industry hotshots. There was a good 15 year period where one could find the next big artist in comic books by picking up the latest issue. John Romita Jr got his start on the series. Marc Silvestri had a sketchy, angular style that was visually arresting. Joe Mad made manga cool. Jim Lee was Jim Lee. With the wide array of characters and locales in X-MEN artists have a chance to flex their creative muscles. Not every artist on the X-men has hit the mark however; Ron Garney was bland, Ian Churchill couldn’t handle deadlines, and Igor Kordey failed on every level an artist can fail on (except for hitting deadlines). Not every artist is cut out for a book with a large cast, and some artists can’t handle the pressure of producing on a monthly basis.

Throughout the ups and downs of the series, the X-men have always been a book about evolution: The evolution of man, the evolution of the team concept, evolution of ideas and art styles. There is at least one X-men story out there for everyone, the question is, what’s yours?

As Mr. Wolff so eloquently pointed out yesterday, Halloween is fast approaching. The time for dressing up and garnering free candy for yourself is indeed at hand. Everybody loves free candy right?

With that in mind, I have a special Halloween-themed list for today. Now, you could make a case that in super-hero comics, everyday is Halloween, but there have been special occasions throughout the years where these characters have decided that the usual spandex just isn’t enough, and another costume must be donned. Today’s list is ten super-people who have had their own, special, Halloween parties. Let the fun begin!

1) Batman dresses up as Dracula: This one makes a whole lot of sense. Batman dresses up like a bat, Dracula turns into a bat. Ok, so there was a story behind this, but it was as simple as “Batman gets bit by a vampire, and gets exrta creepy”. Presto! Sparkle magic Batman!

2) The Punisher dresses up as Boo-Berry (?): Ok, Frank might not have dressed up like the weird ghost thing that hocks cereal, but he wasn’t far off. At one point The Punisher dies, only to come back as a ghost hunting ghost. Like a sell-out Ghostbuster. Boo to you Frank.

3) The Marvel universe dresses up as Zombies: Zombies are hot right now, so why not have a comic where everyone is a zombie? This is why Marvel sells more books than anyone.

4) The Thing dresses up as a pirate: What would you do if you were made of rock and wanted to fit in? Would you go back in time, don a fake beard and play pirate? If you were The Thing you would. Strong work Benjy!

5) The X-men dress up as aliens: So the X-men didn’t dress up as aliens so much as get infected and turn into aliens, but you get the drift. Work with me here.

6) Spider-man dresses up as a Transformer (several times!): Spidey has a serious Transformer fetish. Every few years, he decides to try out a new robo-costume, each one as more suck-tacular then the last.

7) Kang dresses up as a pharaoh: The dapper gent with the blue face is Kang, a man from the future with an invisible chair. What does Kang do with his vast technological superiority, time travel skills, and nifty costume? He dresses up like a Pharaoh, goes back to ancient Egypt, and hopes that no one notices he is the only white guy for miles around. Oh Kang, you silly beotch.

Superman dresses up as a communist: In an Elseworlds special called RED SON, Superman lands in communist Russia instead of America. The big difference between worlds? Superman wears drab clothing. And probably has to share his super-powers with everyone.

9) Speedball dresses up like an S&M creeper: For those that don’t know who Speedball is, he’s the rather silly looking man with the bubble trail. Well, a while back, Speedball felt rather contrite about some shenanigans he had gotten into and decided that the best way to pay for his sins was to dress up like a human pin cushion. Good choice Speedy!

10) Power Man dresses up like a Pretty, Pretty, Princess: Luke Cage. The baddest bad man on the streets. Superfly wishes he were this cool. Shaft dreams of being Power Man. Sho Nuff (The shogun of Harlem) has nightmares about getting his @$$ kicked somethin’ fierce by the Hero for Hire. But no one can explain why this man wore a tiara, bracelets and and flowing shirt for over a decade.

That’s it for today folks, thanks for stopping in and have a great weekend!

So, for anyone that hasn’t heard yet, MYTHOI #1 has been released and is on sale now! If you are looking for a copy in your local comic store, but can’t find a copy, it is because MYTHOI isn’t in stores… yet. Have faith though, because you can buy it here.

In honor of the release of MYTHOI’s first issue, I am going to be doing a special top 10 list today. This is actually two top 10 lists, a best and worst. The category? The best AND worst first comic book issue #1s that I have ever read. Let’s get started:

THE BEST: Some comics just suck you in. They exceed your expectations, or come out of nowhere to surprise you. These comics make you wish it was next month already so you can grab issue two. These are my 10 favorite premiere issues of all time.

1) PLANETARY: From my first meeting with Elijah Snow, to having my mind blown by the idea of a multiversal supercomputer, PLANETARY had rocked me like a hurricane. The art, the story, everything about this book was perfect.

2) POWERS: This was my first exposure to Brian Bendis and Michael Oeming, and they left a very good impression. The idea for the story was fresh (at least to me) and Oeming’s angular, shadowy work complimented Bendis’ writing perfectly.

3) NEGATION: This was the first Crossgen title that really clicked for me. Paul Pelletier’s are was expressive and easy to read. It was like THE DIRTY DOZEN in space. It was a great read, and had me hooked until the series’ end.

4) NEXTWAVE: Bar none, the funniest book I have ever read. The first issue put me right in the middle of the action, and left my robot brain craving beer.

5) WILDCATS 3.0: This one might not have made the list if I hadn’t read the previous iterations of this book. Joe Casey took previously one dimensional characters and fleshed them out immediately. Dustin Nguyen’s art was a perfect fit, and the first issue, which took superheroes and put them in a corporate setting, intrigued and excited me. A great first issue.

6)BATMAN– THE LONG HALLOWEEN: Tim Sale’s dark and moody art set the tone for this book from the first page. The (much maligned) Jeph Loeb not only did a sparkling job on dialogue, but crafted a murder mystery that had me guessing whodunit right away.

7) THE ULTIMATES: The other Ultimate universe titles hadn’t done much for me. Spider-man was a teen again. Big whoop. The X-men were teens again. Big whoop. Then came the ULTIMATES. The first issue was only about Captain America, but I knew it was special. After all, it made me think Captain America was cool (no easy feat). The action was akin to a summer blockbuster movie. This showed how great the Ultimate universe could be.

ASTONISHING X-MEN: No one has ever gotten the X-men so completely right as Joss Whedon. Having John Cassaday on art didn’t hurt either.

9) THE INHUMANS: This book caught me by surprise. I had no idea who Paul Jenkins was. I knew Jae Lee was the guy who couldn’t draw Namor a few years earlier. I knew the Inhumans only from my Marvel Universe Handbooks. I had no idea upon picking this book up that I would get such a beautiful family story, or that the art could make me flip through the book so many times that the corners of the book would fray. I love surprises.

10) TOM STRONG: How can you go wrong with Alan Moore? The constant art changes on this title caused me to drop it after a dozen issues or so, but I loved the first issue of this great pulp character.

THE WORST: So everyone knows, I grew up mainly in the 1990’s. Why do I bring that up? I just wanted to apologize ahead of time for bringing up the bad memories that are to follow.

1) FORCE WORKS: When I was young, I liked the Avengers West Coast. When the AWC disbanded, and reformed into a proactive super-team (a concept that always spells comic book disaster) I was excited. My excitement lasted until the U.S. Agent got his cool new laser shield. Sigh.

2) Urth 4: A sad sad knock off of the fantastic four. Please note that the Air elemental guy has a porn star mustache.

3) ANNEX: In the early 1990’s Marvel comics had an event where they introduced a brand new character into each of their summer annuals. This event gave us characters like Bantam, a chemically enhanced Latino boxer, and Annex, a war vet with a missing leg, who had a suit that could make legs, and weapons. When Annex got his own series, I thought he was cool, until I opened the book, and realized I couldn’t care less. The art was serviceable, but the story was so bland, at one point, I threw pepper on the book in an attempt to spice it up.

4) BLOODSHOT: The man has a target on his chest, need I say more?

5) THE COMET: Just look at the cover. Tom Lyle has done some good work over the years, but this was not one of his finer moments.

6) BRIGADE: The first time I read this, I thought I had accidentally bought a second printing of YOUNGBLOOD (eeeeep!), then I re-read it, and it was worse than YOUNGBLOOD. WORSE THAN YOUNGBLOOD! Oh, and is that Booster Gold in the bottom left corner?

7) SLUDGE: I really like a lot of the Ultraverse titles. PRIME was great. THE STRANGERS was a fun read. SLUDGE, however, was a boring, sloppy mess. The main character gets shot, blown up, and has toxic waste thrown on him. Even at 10 years old I was able to recognize overkill when I saw it.

COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS: 52 was such a great series, I was all set for the next weekly comic from DC to be equally fantastic, especially since this series had Paul Dini involved. Sadly, this first issue was everything that 52 was not, which is to say, this issue (and all the other issues in this series) was bad.

9) RAVAGE 2099: The first new Stan Lee creation in years wasn’t very good. In fact, it was downright hard to read. The art was lackluster as well. This book stood out as extra bad to me because of how good the other 2099 titles were.

10) ARMAGEDDON 2001: I was lost from page 1 and it never got better. That takes skill. Not a skill anyone wants, but it does take skill.

Well folks, two lists for you all in honor of MYTHOI. I hope you enjoyed them, and as always, let me know if you disagree (or agree for that matter).

I will be up at the Long Beach Comic Convention all Weekend with James Ninness, the man who wrote MYTHOI, helping to introduce people to our company and our comic. If you are in the area, stop by and say hello, chat us up a bit, or get your copy of MYTHOI, as we will have a few on hand. I will be putting updates on the site nightly as to our Semantink shenanigans, so feel free to tune in if you are interested.

Thanks for stopping in, See you all next time.