The Pitch: X-Men meets BPRD (at the World's Columbian Exposition?). via Project Rooftop

The report from New Comic Night

• Ambush Bug Year None #2 — less a collection of continuity-heavy in-jokes (like last time) and more a disjointed, unfunny mess. I'll drop it next issue if it doesn't pick up.
  
• Guerillas #1 — caught the the ad in Previews (which gave away the last panel) and didn't know what to make of this, what the tone would be. After reading it, still don't. But I'm going to give this tough look at the Vietnam War — apparently with monkeys — another chance. And, Image: you're one of the biggest comics publishers — hire a proofreader for this. It's embarrassing.
  
• For me at least, The Immortal Iron Fist has passed the make-or-break issue with the new team. Several good plot threads going that kind of follow in the "how did they not think of this already?" vein that characterized the series so far. Just pick up the pace and I might stop picking on the art.
  
• Hawksmoor concluded less like the detective noir I was wanting (?) to see, but with a good fight scene and a satisfying bringing together of the various plotlines in different timelines. Plus, a Midnighter page that was almost worth the price of admission alone.

A couple months back, I caught an ad for The Foundation series from Boom! Studios, which seemed right up my alley with its conspiracy story; by the time I asked the LCS about it, it was already over. They put in an order for the trade, though, and that arrived this week. A little torn — it's a big investment for a total unknown, and the Boom! stuff I've read has been … workmanlike, I guess would be the term, and felt like the pitch for the movie/TV show. On the other hand, how many trades have I bought without having read reviews or individual issues, basically going in knowing what to expect? So, hopefully will read it this long weekend and report.

Fusion, new abstract figurative paintings by our friend and collaborator Jamie Chase, will have its artists reception at the Deloney Newkirk Galleries tomorrow night.

Seems that Max Ink has his site going (and has for a while), though I'm just learning about it. Just went to the store for the latest Blink.

A while back, Richard at Midnight Fiction invited me to particpate in an interview — and now the full article on PDFs and independent publishing is posted.

I got all wordy again.

It's Trajan! The Movie Font! via Making Light (but is it
innaworld?)

In just a little while Bubonicion 40 begins. We'll be at the 7000 BC table for most of the day on Saturday, with plenty of comics from group members, including Bubonicon guest Andy Kuhn. Jamie's going to be at the table next to us with comics and some new art and posters.

7000 BC will be hosting Con Suite on Saturday, 3:00-5:00, as well as working all weekend on a group illustration to be raffled off at the end of the show.

And for those curious about the followup to Death, Cold As Steel, we'll have a special preview.

Evan, an old buddy from the DCC, will be premiering a new book at SPX (which we will, reluctantly, be missing this year).

I've never hidden what a favorite Sleeper is here at Squirrel Central, and what a huge influence its mix of real world and traditional superhero is on our book (so you can imagine how great it is to be mentioned alongside it).

So this just fills me with apprehension. Not that I don't think Mr. Brubaker should get a fat payday for this work. But still.

Ah, time again for the winners of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. For my money, the best stuff is in the "Miscellaneous Dishonorable Mentions."

The report from New Comic Night (way, way late):

• Manhunter again (still?) threatens to be dragged down in a mire of guest stars (such as the rest of the Birds of Prey, as if they're not together enough in, well, that book). The jumping around in chronology is back, looks great, the fight (when it finally happened) was well done. But I'm bugged by using the murders in Juarez as a supervillain plot device.
  
• Just last week was wondering when The Killer would have another issue. It's been so long…luckily, this one was wordy enough to explain everything I'd forgotten. Great setup, let's see where this arc goes.
  
• Criminal looks to be back to the same format as the first arcs. There's a definite style to this series, and if you're on board with it, it's an amazing read. Strong start to this one.
  
• Patsy Walker, Hellcat — sure, we made it through steps 2 and 3 of the hero's journey, but it was a wordy one. Though nice looking. And luckily, the last few pages start to show more of the tone that made issue 1 so appealing.
  
• And The Invincible Iron Man didn't deliver on the smackdown I was hoping for, despite what the cover leads you to believe. Sure, some great exchanges, but a whole wordless page showing the transfer of a package at the bus station? This thing's so decompressed, I got the bends.
  
• Comic Book Comics is really a well-thought-out work of scholarship of so much overlooked history disguised in an awfully fun package.

Matt, our old friend from the DCC, has been working with Andrew on a weekly comic strip — and now the complete Spadefoot is available at Wowio. If he gets enough people checking it out, there's a publisher lined up to print it. But don't feel you should read it because of that — you should be reading it 'cause it's a great space opera adventure starring a frog that's a fun story with some terrific art.

For you aficionados of the daily comics page: Protectors of the Earth Episode 1 and Episode 2. Via The Comics Curmudgeon.

Forgot to mention, string #6 is available for download.

No New Comic Night last night; the price you pay for epic weeks like last Friday. Went through a couple TPBs from the odd assortment of new arrivals from the library. And then later, finished off the Bill Mauldin bio I've been reading for the past week.

Ordinarily, I don't read biographies; not interested in the minutiae and have a tough time when the author starts drawing conclusions and assessing motivation based on conjecture. But this one — which I was, as a real fan of Mauldin's, predisposed to like — didn't fall into either. It all only heightened my appreciation for his work, learning the conditions it was produced under and of the larger context surrounding it, as well as his career as a cartoonist and journalist after the war. It was also pretty amazing to think about what he produced despite the Army — and even more, with the blessing of the Army.