On Hiatus...

Taking a break.

Be back next year.

When come back, bring pie.

What I Like About Marvel's Incredible Hercules...

...besides the fun script and cool looking art? The sound effects. I especially love the sound effects.





and my personal favourite:
This one reminds me of Shooting Stars whenever Reeves and Mortimer introduce Ulrika Jonsson, "Ulrikakakakakakaka". What can I say. I'm easily amused.

I wouldn't have thought Incredible Hercules could wow me so much. Coming out from the ashes of World War Hulk, I thought Marvel lost the plot when they gave Hulk's book to Hercules of all people. But it's been a great read so far. Even the Secret Invasion tie-in is interesting. 'God Squad'. Hah! Almost made me want to read the actual Secret Invasion mini series. Almost.

The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (Del Rey, 2008)

Ten years ago, Star Wars uber-fan Steve Sansweet and Timothy Zahn wrote the Star Wars Encyclopedia, a comprehensive primer to everything Star Wars. Everything Star Wars in one 300+ page book. This was in 1998 and since then there have been the prequels, the Cartoon Network Clone Wars, the video games, more comics and even more novels. So obviously the encyclopedia needs an upgrade and here it is:

That is the slipcase that holds the three volume Star Wars encyclopedia.

Some notable Darths. I don't even know half of them. Must have appeared in the comics and novels.

The volumes contain just about every character and events that happened in the movies, comics, novels and video games. The Skywalkers and the Solos get a lot of column inches obviously but that Imperial commander standing behind Vader's right shoulder in that scene in Empire Strikes Back also gets an entry. So that's nice.

Even this guy gets an entry. He was one of the ceremonial guards at the rebel's Yavin base during the medal ceremony. His mom must be so proud.

All in all, it's a very entertaining set of books for the Star Wars nerd. Though if you can't afford it, there's always Wookieepedia.

Friday Night Fights: KA-POW!! round 4

This week's fight is from G.I. JOE #84 (Marvel, 1989, by Larry Hama, Marshall Rogers & Randy Emberlin). The scene: Cobra Commander approaches Zartan for the first time in a biker bar. It was the beginning of a long and not so beautiful relationship.





By the end of that issue we discover that Zartan became Zartan that we know because of Snake-Eyes. Cobra Commander set up terrorist organisation COBRA in part because, in his mind, he blames Snake-Eyes for the death of his brother. And G.I. Joe existed to combat COBRA. So it was all Snake-Eyes fault!

Wanna know who else blames Snake-Eyes for their problems? Check out Spacebooger.com

I Guess This Was Normal Behaviour Back In The 40s

So we catch Bruce Wayne give his ward Dick Grayson six of the best one morning...

Look at Bruce's face. The guy's enjoying this.

Seriously, what the hell?? I bet you Jason Todd would have kicked Bruce Wayne in the balls if he had so much looked at Jason funny. And people were shocked, shocked!, at All Star Batman.

From The Batman Chronicles vol. 6

Watching the Watchmen HC (DC, 2008)

Watching the Watchmen is a retrospective look by the guy who illustrated the ground breaking limited series, Dave Gibbons. What with the movie version scheduled to hit the screens in 2009 and Alan Moore more or less having burned his bridges with DC, it's up to his collaborator to pony up some stuff to fill a 250+ page coffee table book. And I fell for it. Now don't get me wrong. Watching the Watchmen isn't a complete waste of money. Gibbons shares with the reader some trips down memory lane: his first meeting with Alan Moore, the genesis of Watchmen, his and Alan Moore's status from nobodies in the world of American comics to superstars after the success of Watchmen among other tidbits. Intersperse that with pictures of Watchmen merchandise, Alan Moore's first draft and a lot of preliminary sketches of the Watchmen characters, and you get a quite interesting book even if you, like me, don't really care about sketches.

But then we reach the bulk of the book: a "dissection" of Watchmen issue by issue. Unfortunately, it is nothing more than Gibbons rummaging through his files and giving us a look of his thumbnail sketches of each issue. And Watchmen was a 12-issue series. So a lot of page after page of rough pencils that were later inked, coloured and lettered. Big whoop.

Okay, the book was advertised as an art book and Dave Gibbons is primarily an illustrator and serves me right for hoping to read about a comic book's history in an art book but dude...valuable trees were chopped down just to print Dave Gibbons test pencils of Watchmen before he actually sat down and drew it for real?? Even a budding artist would find that boring.

Wait till next year after the movie has ended its run. I guarantee you this book will be in the bargain bins by then. Get it then if you still want it.

(The book comes with two different covers. The more commonly advertised one with Dr. Manhattan and the one you see at the top, with the Comedian's mug leering at you. That's the version I bought. Other than that there are no other differences).

Because Sometimes...

...you just need to see Batman & Robin take a ride on an inflatable giant hand.

From Showcase Presents World's Finest vol. 2

Beetle Bailey: The First Years 1950-1952 HC (Checker, 2008)

Looks like Fantagraphics started a trend in the American comics industry when they started collecting Peanuts strips in chronological order and wrapping them between hardcovers. Every classic comic strip from Dick Tracy to Popeye to Dennis the Menace to Pogo has been or will be collected for fans and new readers to enjoy. Thanks to the folks at Checker Book Publishing, Mort Walker's Beetle Bailey is the latest cartoon strip to be collected in hardbound format.

I used to read Beetle Bailey in the local rag back when I was still reading the local rags and whilst it was occasionally mildly amusing, most of the time it was just lame. So it was with a bit of trepidation that I picked up this book collecting the first two years of Bettle Bailey's 'life' and I'm glad I did. This book is a treasure and its present incarnation is just a far paler shadow of what it used to be.

I was surprised to discover that the strip did not begin with Beetle already in the U.S Army but instead in college. In fact it was the Korean War that prompted Mort Walker to shift locales and make Beetle a private at Camp Swampy where he has remained ever since. It is in Camp Swampy that we are first introduced to the regular supporting cast of the Beetle Bailey strip: Sarge (thinner here), General Halftrack, Cookie and Casanova wannabe, 'Killer'. Walker and his readers didn't know it then but all these characters would still be featured in the strip 50 years later.

Beetle Bailey's adventures are the same then as they are today: he puts his hat over his eyes so he can sleep undetected, tries to pick up girls and basically survive Army life while doing as little work as possible. So why is he so not funny today? Honestly, I don't know.

Also included is brief biography on Mort Walker and some rejected strips including one where Beetle's eyes are revealed.

All in all, this is a very good collection and I hope to collect any and all future collections up until the 1970s strips. That's when the strip jumped the shark, in my opinion.

Friday Night Fights: KA-POW!! round 2

Three days ago, we were shocked to discover here in DGR that not only was Dredd taken down by a punk with mad martial arts skills, Dredd was taken down by a punk with mad martial arts skills called Stan Lee! Stan Lee got away then but fool must have forgotten to take his smart pills because he came back to Mega City One.

And Dredd wants a rematch. It is on, boyo! Though Stan Lee gets first crack on Judge Dredd with the old 'kick-them-through-the-restaurant-signboard' maneuver...


...Dredd quickly comes back and whapps him one with a right hook.


And then just for shits and giggles, he makes sure the poser stays down with a good crunnkk upside Stan's face.

In Mega City One, police brutality is the law! Much like Spacebooger on Friday Nights.

From Judge Dredd Case Files 11 trade paperback by John Wagner, Alan Grant & Barry Kitson

Bush Gives Medal to The Man

Stan Lee gets a medal from the National Endowment for the Arts. Congratulations, sir!

Suck it, Ditko! Suck it hard!

Dredd Doesn't Know Kung Fu

Swede has been getting too big for Clubland. Time to cut him down to size by 'Iron Fist' here. Too bad Judge Dredd was patrolling nearby. No problem, just throw some shurikens at his chest.


Dredd can give as well as he can receive...


...but this new guy is just too good, Drokdamnit!

So who was the mystery assailant who took down the baddest Judge of Mega City One?

Stan Lee?! Dredd got served by a punk named Stan Lee!!

So will we, Dredd. So will we.

From Judge Dredd Complete Case Files 10 trade paperback.

Friday Night Fights: KA-POW!! round 1

It begins again. Only this time, Friday Night Fights has a new home. Bahlactus has left so all ass kicking will take place at Spacebooger's place.

DGR's contender: The Incredible Hulk. He KWOMS that sucka Marvel so bad, boy actually yelps like the dirty dog that he is!

From Incredible Hulk #246 or the Heart of the Atom HC collection, whichever you prefer. Bill Mantlo & Sal Buscema, the talents.

Well, At Least I Have the Trades

Well some sucky news...DC will cancel Blue Beetle with issue #36. I wasn't shocked when I heard it. This book has been threatened with cancellation practically since it's first year. DC did everything they could to boost sales: guest appearances by Batman and Superman, included the book in the mega popular Sinestro Corp War, giving Beetle a guest appearance in The Brave & The Bold and making him one of the Teen Titans. DC did everything they could but sales just would not jump.

As a wait-for-the-trade guy I admit my disappointment is hypocritical. If I loved the book so much why wait 6 months for the collection? Okay, I give you that. BUT, there are way more readers out there who buy the monthly comics than there are us "wait for the trade" people. I'm not blaming anyone (though it looks like I am) but if they had picked up Blue Beetle and see what a cool, fun comic it is along with their usual Batman or X-Men comics then maybe, just maybe DC would have had more faith in the title. But it's a business and at the end of the day they look at the numbers and the numbers stink.

What attracted me to this new Beetle? Well, for starters Blue Beetle is an Hispanic teen named Jaime Reyes (that's "Hey-me" Reyes and not "Jay-me" Reyes). Most superheroes can trace their ancenstry back to when the Anglos met the Saxons and they live in fictional places like Keystone City, Gotham, Metropolis and Atlantis. Jaime lives in the real city of El Paso, Texas. Plus, Jaime didn't become a superhero to avenge his parents' death or to right the wrongs of the world. In fact he wished he never picked up the damn blue scarab in the first place but now that he did he's making sure he'll put it to good use...while making some mistakes and some tough decisions on the way. Far cry from the uber-perfection of the more established superheroes who never seem to put a foot wrong. Long story short, Jaime Reyes could be one of us and the last time comic book readers could say that was when Lee and Ditko created Spider-Man over forty years ago!

Oh well, all this is academic. It was a fun ride while it lasted. I still have the trades if I ever miss reading his adventures and I recommend everyone who never picked up the book to read the trades. Four books so far, with the final fifth volume no doubt coming out next year.

Adios, Jaime. See you whenever.

And don't get me started on Manhunter...

Hulk: Heart of the Atom HC (Marvel, 2008)

Remember the time when Greg Pak wrote that cool storyline where Hulk was blasted off into space by Iron Man and Reed Richards because they didn't want him to go rampaging all across the Midwest ever again but unfortunately the shuttle the Hulk was in veered off course and landed on an inhabited planet with warring factions and he quickly became the leader of the losing side and kicked the butt of the ruling class, appointed as the new ruler, fell in love, got married and then lost everything to a bomb because one of his new friends betrayed him? Yeah, Heart of the Atom is actually nothing like that.

It shares some similarities, though, but instead of outer space the Hulk travels down to microscopic level where he discovers the existence of a medieval-like civilization. The inhabitants embrace him after he shoos away some rampaging creatures that look like wild boars from destroying their castle. Plus, they also have green skin so they immediately accept Hulk as their own. If Spider-Man had saved them instead of the Hulk, they would probably shoot their arrows at him. Bastards! Anyway...

Hulk is brought to Jarella, Empress of this microscopic world, who orders her three sorcerers (two of whom are called Holi and Moli, I kid you not) to make the Hulk understand their language so that they can communicate. Not only did the magic spell work it also resulted in the Hulk having Bruce Banner's intelligence as well. One quick marriage with Jarella and the defeat of a jealous would-be usurper later, the Hulk is happy in his new role as King but this being Hulk, happy things don't stay too long. He is soon snatched back into the regular-sized world leaving behind a distraught bride who has no idea why her new husband grew to ginormous size.

Hulk visited the micro world a few more times over the years but it would end the same every time: something would compel him to leave his wife and her sub-atomic world. Things get really interesting when Jarella is transported back to Earth along with Hulk and she ends up getting killed. No, that's not a spoiler. You know things won't end well with her the moment she set eyes on Hulk. It's a given. It is also when Sal Buscema took over pencilling chores and I like his rendition of Hulk with the ever gaping mouth and spittle. Sal Buscema's Hulk never, ever looks dumb. He's just very angry and that's the way I like it.

Heart of the Atom collects all the relevant issues (11 in all) plus What If? #23 which asked what if Jarella hadn't died. All in all, it's a good collection on an often forgotten part of the Hulk mythos. No doubt it would claim credit for inspiring Greg Pak's Planet Hulk story (heck, the inside cover flap of the book practically said so) but there's nothing wrong with that. When you have been telling stories of the same character practically non-stop for the past 40 years it's kinda hard to come up with something new and fresh. Just read the back issues for ideas and try to cater it to the modern audience. Every writer does that. If you've read Planet Hulk and thought it was great, read Heart of the Atom. Greg Pak obviously did.

Oh, by the way, the cover above is the cover of one of the issues collected within and not the cover of the collection itself. The hardcover has dark green lettering on a black background and it didn't scan well. At least not on my cheap scanner.

Seconds Out...

Just warming up before this week's opening Friday Night Fights at the new ring over at Spacebooger.

Page from Bat-Manga, as if you didn't know.