"'Cause She's The Music MEISTER!!!"

Comic-Con is always a good time, but some years are less fun than others. 2010 was the unlucky year this time around.

I enjoyed myself, and saw some great stuff, but for a lot of it, I just felt like I was going through the motions. Let’s take it day-by-day, shall we?

Join me after the break.

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Oh boy… here we go again. To say that One More Day was a controversial Spider-Man story is like saying that Sarah Palin is just somewhat misguided about her political views. OMD brought the comic book world crashing to its knees and crushed the hopes and dreams of an entire generation of nerds. I mean, if Spidey’s marriage can’t survive a little meddling from the devil, what chance do any of us have? However, you are almost able to forgive Joe Quesada for the bastardization of Spidey canon (I don’t acknowledge that JMS had anything to do with that story) because Brand New Day has been, for the most part, an enjoyable ride. ASM has, since OMD, been a pretty damn good comic book. And to find that kind of consistency from a large group of writers working on one book, pushing it out 3 times a month, is rather astonishing.

And then Quesada decided to pick at that slowly healing scab. Enter One Moment In Time. Even the title brings up horrific, sleepless nights caused by OMD. But enough introduction. Let’s see how the first issue of this thing holds up.

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More info on what’s reviewed after the jump!
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...Or like this?

Show of hands: Next year, do you think Wonder Woman will be dressed like this...?

Let’s get the elephant out of the room right now:  I loathe the new costume. Call me a rigid traditionalist if you must, but if DC is going to update an admittedly impractical and anachronistic costume, they should replace it with something less bland and more modern. I can just imagine Tim Gunn seeing it for the first time: “Biker jackets and black tights? Is it 1994 again already?”

Now that we’re past the publicity stunt, let’s talk about the issue itself. Like Superman #700 from a few weeks ago, this comic consists of short stories and pin-ups, begins with a story by the outgoing writer, and ends with a prologue of J. Michael Stracyznski’s upcoming story arc. Expect a few spoilers, and maybe some more whining about the costume after the break…

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A face only a comics fan can love...

What Has Come Before: A hideously scarred bounty hunter roams the Wild West and kills outlaws in a manner that is usually ironic, always gruesome, and often awesome.

I am a recent convert to Jonah Hex. I absolutely love what Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti are doing with this title. Nearly every issue is a self-contained story (with an occasional two or three parter). The rotation of artists forces the writers to tell stories that play to the strengths of that month’s artist, which helps to keep the title from feeling stale. And each issue is full of action, violence,  and some wonderfully twisted humor.

Since DC is expecting an influx of new readers due to the upcoming movie (and this review, of course), they commissioned Palmiotti and Gray to write an original graphic novel that touches on the past of this mysterious gunslinger. To draw this book, they hired Tony DeZuniga, who co-created Hex back in the 70s. The result is something truly special.

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I will follow these heroes into Hell itself.

What has come before: Six years worth of comics that had the name Avengers on the cover, but bore no resemblance to the 40 years of Avengers comics that came before those.

Deserved or not, I’ve given Brian Bendis a fair amount of grief for his Marvel output in the last few years. Sure, Siege may have been underwhelming, but at least it tied off some of Marvel’s more annoying plot points (Goodbye Lex Luthor-lite, aka Norman Osborn), and freed us all from any more comics starring the Sentry (for now). I say the end justifies the means, especially if that end is Avengers #1.

This is the Avengers comic I have been waiting six years for. It features a team of A-list heroes fighting epic battles against the biggest threats to the Marvel Universe (Welcome back, Kang; how I’ve missed you). It is new reader friendly, with plenty of bits for longtime fans to chew on (the spread on pages 4-5 are a shout out to both Avengers fans AND Bendis fans). And the art. Oh my God, the art.

John Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson are arguably the highest profile art team at Marvel. By placing them on this title, Marvel appears to have committed to making Avengers their flagship title. And they definitely brought their “A” game. Romita draws as if he was possessed by the ghost of Jack Kirby himself, creating highly stylized work that still tells a clear story. And Janson (Romita’s longtime inker) makes it all “pop”. Throw in Dean White’s bold primary color palette (eye-catching without being garish) and the end result is a comic that feels like the comics I remember falling in love with.

So the slate is clean, Bendis. I’m back in. Don’t abuse my trust.

Me (left) & the girlfriend (right) Photo: opacity

6 hours of driving, 4 hotel rooms, 120+ comic books, TPBs, autographs, standing in line, eating fast food, ordering pizza, sleeping, coffee, Slim Jims, panels, disappointment, anxiety, awesomeness, and lots of damn walking.

That was C2E2 for me.

It began on a Friday, ended on a Sunday, and I wouldn’t change a minute of it. I met a ton of awesome people (writers, artists, web comic dudes, and other random people) and I realized–like I always do at comic conventions–that I love comics with all of my damn heart.

Do I have comic news? Not really. Do I have some cool stories? Definitely.

Check more after the break.

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Joss Whedon, director of "CHUD 2099"

As you’ve no doubt already read on Twitter, Facebook, various RSS feeds, and half the Internet at large, Joss Whedon is in final talks to direct Marvel’s upcoming “Avengers” movie, slated for release May 4 2012.

Whedon is, of course, well known for his various Whedonverse series’, as well as his runs on Astonishing X-Men and Runaways. Rumors abound of his potentially reworking the Avengers script to some extent, as well.

Geeks are rending their shirts like pre-pubescent Beatles fans. I, for one, am one part excited, one part hedging my bets completely.

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When I read about what the premise of Turf was going to be 3 months back, I thought, “HELL YES! Tommy Lee Edwards is on another book! Man I loved Marvel 1985!!”

Wait. Stop. Let’s get things in order here:

Turf appealed to me back in February when I was looking through my Previews book. It was a story being told to be about the mafia in New York City paired with none other than vampires and aliens. How cool is that? And then I saw that Tommy Lee Edwards was on the book and got all excited. I looked at the author (Jonathan Ross) and shrugged. “This could be a great comic,” I thought. “It’ll be cool looking, at least.”

Three months pass.

I walk into my local comic shop and this is in my stack. I open it up and get anxious to read it as it looks real wordy. Oh well, the art is fantastic. When I finally sat down to read this comic I was not even close to being prepared to taking in it’s brilliance. Somehow I survived.

More after the break. *mild spoilers abound, dear reader*

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He wasn't actually here for WonderCon; he wandered in off the street. The homeless problem in SF is staggering...

WonderCon is the middle child of the Comic-Con family. If San Diego is the overachieving oldest child, and APE is the free-spirited art school student, WonderCon is the slacker that is perfectly happy just doing its own thing. And I, for one, prefer it that way.

For one, I was pleasantly surprised that most of the panels were actually comics-related. Sure, I saw a panel about Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and got to see the Series 5 premiere of Doctor Who (which was exceptional), but almost all other panels had comics as their primary focus.

Plus, unlike Comic-Con, I was only unable to get into one of the panels I wanted to see. People may have complained about how crowded it was on Saturday, but it was a leisurely stroll compared to the lightest day of Comic-Con foot traffic. And San Francisco was not ground to a halt in the wake of WonderCon, although I do feel a small amount of power knowing that my people and I control an entire city for a week.

Anyway, on to the highlights:

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