"'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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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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More powerful than an oversized logo...

What has come before:
“Rocketed to Earth from a dying planet, he was born with powers far beyond those of mortal man. Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Able to bend steel with his bare hands and change the course of mighty rivers. Who, disguised as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, fights a never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.”

That’s all you really need to know to enjoy this one-shot, containing a handful of short stories by various writers and artists that I have never heard of. Most of the stories are “man on the street” stories where the average person crosses paths with the Man of Steel. Others feature flashbacks to Clark’s childhood, or Clark taking care of Lois while she’s home sick. It’s certainly not action-packed, but the stories are mostly poignant, often touching, and sometimes very funny. Plus, it gives some fresh, upcoming voices in the industry a chance to play with the shiniest toy in the DC toybox.

Highly Recommended.

Do you buy comic books?

That’s my question for you today. Do you buy comic books? If so, why? What keeps you coming back each month to each book you buy?

I’ve stated on many occasions that I’m an avid X-Men fan and each month I come back to my X-books knowing that the story is going to go forward to something great–and also, small hopes that Gambit will make an appearance. Marvel has (pretty much) had solid writing on the part of X-Men for the last 10 years or so and since I started picking up single issues instead of trades (which started roughly a year and a half ago) I’ve been buying at least one X-book a month because they’re that good. Of course, as of right now I’m buying almost all the X-books (Uncanny X-Men, X-Force, X-Factor, X-Men: Legacy, Cable)… because I’m a super nerd.

But I also pick up a lot of non-X-books.

Invincible Iron Man, for instance, is a book I’ve been buying since I read the first issue of “World’s Most Wanted.” Combining the art of Salvador Larroca and the writing of Matt Fraction, the 12 issue story arc has kept me wanting more and more each month. Both the plot and the art are above and beyond what I ever thought possible for a story focused on Iron Man. This is one of the books I’m going to classify as “I’m glad I started reading/buying when I did.”

Incredible Hercules. I have been reading Incredible Hercules since it’s first issue after World War Hulk, but I didn’t start buying it until issue #125 or so. Since then, I have bought the back issues of the comic (back to #112). This is a comic that when I read it, I don’t want it to end. The story and the writing in general is simply fantastic. It drives the comic beyond what I would ever expect from a Marvel comic. It’s strange to say, but this comic is so good, I’m surprised it hasn’t been canceled yet. Do you know what I mean?

Marvel aside, I do grab some DC/Vertigo comics as well as some independents.

Detective Comics. This is the one comic book I never thought I’d see myself reading a year ago. To me Detective Comics and Action Comics are the definitive DC comics and a year ago I wanted nothing to do with DC. I was a fool. On a whim I picked up Detective Comics #854 after a buddy of mine recommended it to me. This is another one of those “I’m glad I started reading/buying when I did” comics as I can not stop loving every piece of this comic. The art alone keeps me coming back each month.

The Vertigo comic I read right now that keeps me wanting more each month is DMZ. A comic I started buying back around issue #35, I wish I owned #1-34 because Brian Wood‘s story is just fan-flipping-tastic. This is probably the best non-super-hero comic I have ever read in my life. Period.

Outside of Robert Kirkman‘s plethora of sexy-time comic books, I read some random independent comics because I always like to try out the indie publishers here and there to see if there is greatness out there. Warren Ellis‘ torrent of comics that he releases tend to keep me buying every month (most recently Supergod and Ignition City), Garth Ennis‘ Crossed, and Mark Waid‘s Irredeemable keep me wanting more every month. With these indie comics, it’s a sick hunger I get for more story each month. Wendigo style.

There are a few others in there I buy but the comics above are the ones I always look forward to the most. But again, I have to know, why do you buy comics? What keeps you coming back to your favorite titles? Let me know in the comments.

The World's Second Finest Duo...

What has come before: Connor Kent (aka Kon-El aka Superboy) has recently returned from the dead. Shortly before his death, he was cloned from both Superman and Lex Luthor. He is now trying to figure out his place in the world, and which of his “fathers” paths to follow…

This comic worked for me on a couple of levels. On the one hand, it was a self-contained story that had some really nice character development between Connor and Tim Drake (formerly Robin, now Red Robin). It was a little light on action, but had genuinely touching moments and an intriguing cliffhanger.

On the other hand, the events in this series are tightly woven into current events in DC Continuity (this title is one of many written by the prolific Geoff Johns). As Superboy reacquaints himself with the world, it also allows the reader to discover what’s going on in the DCU.

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More info about this video after the break.

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More info on what’s reviewed after the jump!
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Alright, so here’s the deal. I attended the DC Nation panel at Chicago Comic-Con on Friday completely ready with my laptop to take notes and give you guys a great rundown of what DC announced at CCC and all of the spectacle that comes with these kinds of panels.

Except… I can’t do that. Because for some reason, DC decided that this year, they don’t want to talk about shit. I started off the panel taking notes of everything that was said, but about 10 minutes in, I realized that nothing was being said. All DC was giving us was a rundown of all the books that they are publishing. That’s it. So I stopped taking notes.

Now, I’m not here to rag on DC and say anything bad about them, but seriously, when  you come to a major comic book convention, you have to come with a least something to get people excited. I can’t say that Marvel really announced a lot of stuff at their panels, but at least they gave fans something, instead of just saying that you should buy their books.

And then, to make matters worse, the Q&A portion of the panel turned into the moderator bashing the fans asking questions because they were asking for spoilers. Yes, they may have been asking for hints at what was coming in the big DC storylines, but that’s no reason to bash them. And then other fans started to yell at each other for asking dumb questions.

Bottom line, this panel was a mess. It put a terrible taste in my mouth. I decided to skip the Sunday Conversation because of this panel and am not sure if I will ever attend another DC panel at a convention.

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DC’s big summer crossover for 2009 is here at last. Geoff Johns has teased this comic since 2007, since the end of The Sinestro Corps War, and appears to have laid the groundwork for it since 2004′s Green Lantern:  Rebirth. Issue #1 finally made it to the stands, as did the first issue of the Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps miniseries. So how were they?

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Short Pants No More!

For the past few years, the issues of Detective Comics written by Paul Dini were at the top of my “to read” pile the Wednesday they came out. Gritty, snarky, and new-reader friendly, Detective was everything that a comic book should be. As his run continued, he did have to accommodate the occasional editorially-mandated crossover (such as “The Resurrection of Ras Al Ghul”), but immediately returned to his previous “done in one” method of storytelling. During the “Batman R.I.P.” event, he had written the uncharacteristically long 5-part “Heart of Hush” arc, which I would have liked a lot more had it been two issues shorter and about anyone but Hush, a character that I have little to no interest in. Then the Bat-Titles took a break, in order to get back on schedule.
Anyway, despite shaking the Batman titles to their very foundation, DC decided to keep Dini and Grant Morrison around to write the adventures of the new Dynamic Duo. Can Dini get great stories out of Dick Grayson like he did out of Bruce Wayne?
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