Comic Book Candy

Talk of DC's relaunch and the "New 52" have continuously dominated mainstream comic news cycles, whether it be about the various changes made to characters origins and designs, to rumblings about the lack of female creators . Lost amongst the shuffle were the recent announcements concerning the end of two of Vertigo's best titles, House of Mystery and Scalped . During San Diego Comic Con last month, it was announced that Jason Aaron and R. M. Guera plan to end their long running series with the 60th issue. For those that read it in trade, that's only 7 issues left. Aaron was not available at the show to comment, but has since confirmed on his blog that this was not an editorial decision but has always been the plan. The book has never been a big seller in individual issue form, though I count myself among its enthusiastic fan base. It is a series that I recommend on a near weekly basis for fans of crime / noir comics.  Fan enthusiasm for House of Mystery nev...

Here we are, another year older, wiser, and with lighter pockets. Twenty-ten brought a lot of changes to the industry, and this year will surely be remembered as a turning point. All major publishers are now offering an outlet for digital comics, and the growing popularity of the iPad and other digital tablets is a game changer with results yet to be seen. Many months posted lower direct market sales than last year, proving that no industry is recession proof, and that giant crossover events do help individual issue sales after all. Without Blackest Night to make many DC titles “must reads”, sales have slumped, a theory that I myself support considering I dropped all tie in books upon the crossover’s end. The return of Bruce Wayne hasn’t resulted in any shake-ups either, in stories or sales. (It might’ve helped DC if readers did not see this predictable non-event coming). Despite gimmick after gimmick (the new and vague Heroic Age , enough Deadpool titles to rival the X-books, vampi...

Here we are on the verge of a new decade, and we’re all burdened with the obligatory self-reflection that comes with the glorified holiday that is New Year’s. For many, the only change that will last is the hangover, and even that will hopefully be short lived. I’ll put aside my other posts for another day, and acknowledge the elephant in the room. Enter the obligatory “Top ______ of the Year” list! Since I’m not a huge fan of overrated milestones, or randomly ranking things, this post may come off more snarky than usual. I promise to be back to my chipper self in about 5 days. And my apologies for the lack of images, I'm in Australia, it's 90 degrees, I'm melting.   (Images Updated, 1/1/10) Enjoy! Top 9 Books of 2009 I Would Pay You to Read 9. Detective Comics Publisher: DC Writer: Greg Rucka Artist: J. H. Williams III I can’t plug this book enough ( previous Detective review ). Batwoman’s days in Detective are numbered, as I’ve already seen promo shots of the ...

Whether you have a subscription pull list at your local store, keep a mental note of the books you are reading, or just buy randomly every Wednesday depending on what strikes your fancy, you have a list of comic books you don't want to miss. The books that you frantically worry about selling out before you get a chance to make a stop at the store. These are the keepers. Here's what I currently enthusiastically read: Blackest Night The Boys Criminal Fables Green Lantern Green Lantern Corps House of Mystery Incognito Powers Scalped Walking Dead Wednesday Comics Wolverine (at least until Old Man Logan ends) X-Factor Now, a few of these series are obviously on hiatus (Criminal and Powers, oddly both are my Noir fixes) but I will patiently await their returns. Both of these series are rumored to be relaunching as early as this fall.  And The Boys I still have to read the last trade to catch up, but I can't wait for the chance to buy this series book to book, as ...