Ben Templesmith is AWESOME!

A little over a month ago I posted a review of Ben Templesmith's latest Wormwood story, Wormwood: Down The Pub. And again, if you haven't read Wormwood, you are missing out. Templesmith is a master storyteller and his art is outstanding. Not like anything you've seen or read. Highly recommended.

Well, when I bought the Down The Pub issue, I ordered 10 copies of the regular cover, so that I could get one of the special 10-to-1 variant covers. But, when my retailer got the issue in, there was no variant to be found. Diamond was unresponsive and never gave an answer for where the variant was. I was very disappointed, but Templesmith responded to a tweet and said to let him know what happened with the issue. Well, after a month of nothing happening at Diamond, Templesmith sent me this e-mail:

Heya Bill,

Send me your address, am having one sent off to you TODAY.

Cheers!

-Ben

I am so excited! Thank you, Ben Templesmith!

Blogs and social networks like Twitter have done incredible things for bringing fans and creators closer than ever before. I'm lov'n it!

You can follow Ben Templesmith on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/Templesmith

Shopping list - 1/7/09

Comics arrive in stores on Wednesday this week - we're back to the regular Wednesday schedule again. Yay!

Here's what I'm getting:

• Hellboy Wild Hunt #2
• Detective Comics #852
• Amazing Spider-Man #582
• X-Men Noir #2

Small week. Exciting though. I haven't read an Amazing Spider-Man issue since December 17th. For a comic that comes out 3 times monthly, that's a long time ;-) Hellboy Wild Hunt left with a cliffhanger ending, so I can't wait to see what happens next. X-Men Noir #1 was good, it will be fun to see where they go next with the story. 

(You can always get the full shipping list of comics from Diamond's website every Monday)

Batman Cacophony #2

Well, after the disaster of issue #1 of this series, I was not expecting much going into issue #2. But, I tried to put my qualms with the first issue behind me and look at this new material objectively.

I don't know if it was Walter Flanagan's laughably bad drawing of Batman or if it was Kevin Smith's equally laughable (but also raunchy) depiction of the Joker... but whatever it was, I was done with it after the first panel of page 8 (Batman kicks the Joker between the legs and the Joker has the line, "Oooohhh... the twins didn't like that..."). I finished reading the comic, but I don't know why. This is issue #2 of 3 and there is no way I'm going to waste any more money just to collect the last issue or see how the story ends up. Yes, it was that bad.

Stay away. Very far away. This is poorly written and drawn even worse. I love Batman. I can usually even enjoy the bad Batman stories simply because they are Batman, but this is worse. I didn't want to write a review based on the first issue alone, so I waited until after this issue. Well, it didn't get better, it got worse.

I don't like giving negative reviews. Usually, if I don't like an issue, I just won't review it, but this deserved a post. The best thing about this issue is the Adam Kubert cover. If Kubert were doing the interior art, this book might be worth buying just for that. I would love to see him drawing a Batman book... but he's not.

Okay, I need to stop. Anyone else already read this? Am I off my rocker for hating it so badly? Is there something I'm missing?

Kevin Smith should stick to doing movies and stay out of comics.

Marvels: Eye Of Camera #2

Okay, I reviewed the first issue here, so I won't go into the background again now =o)  I really don't want to spoil any part of the story either, because I'm giving this a high recommendation as well. So, this "review" is going to be short.

This is a great issue. It is issue #2 of 6. If you didn't pick up the first issue, I recommend trying to get a copy and then get this one too. This continuation of the Marvels story is great. Or, if you prefer trades, I'm sure this will be collected in a trade and sit right next to the original Marvels on many fans' shelves. If it stays this good, I'll be buying the trade also.

Kurt Busiek, alternate/different look at the Marvel universe, fun, excitement, wonderful art, all-ages content... what's not to like about this? Go get it today!

Incognito #1

Wow! Two Icon/Marvel titles the same week - and both of them stellar issues!

I first became familiar with Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips with their book Sleeper. Then, I started reading Criminal. I really enjoy Criminal and Sleeper was great, so naturally, when I saw a new series by the same creative team, my ears perked.

Incognito is a story about an ex-super-villain who is now in some sort of witness protection program and his struggle to stay content living a normal life. He works as a file clerk, hates his job, can't make friends, his parole officer is being replaced by a new guy who is a real jerk...

We learn a little about his past in flashbacks that fit surprisingly well in the story. The timeline of the story jumps around a lot, but I never felt confused or thought the flashbacks were out of place. It worked very well in the story. This was a great first issue of introduction. I can't wait to see what Brubaker does with this character in this world. I'm sold.

This is another Icon published title due to the content, so just know that going into it. If you have read Criminal, you know what to expect ;-)

Kick-Ass #5

Sitting down to read this issue, I had to think back to try and remember where the story was. Issue 4 came out about 5 months ago I think. That is ridiculous. That's like All-Star Batman and Robin bad as far as release schedule. Sheesh! 5 months between issues? Really? I don't care if there is a movie being made or creators are busy or whatever - that is TOO long to wait between issues.

Release schedule aside, this is a great issue that continues a great series. Mark Millar keeps surprising me and this issue is no exception. But in case you are not familiar with the series, let me tell you a little about it without ruining the surprises.

Dave Lizewski is just a normal geeky kid. He becomes tired of just reading about superheroes in his comic books and decides that the world could use real people stepping up and being heroes. So he does. He puts on a ski suit and goes out to fight crime. It doesn't start well and goes from bad to worse - much like you would expect it to if this were real life. Things get better, he makes friends, pretends to be gay so he can get closer to a girl he likes, and continues his superhero journey.

This is a very unique blend between the real world and the world of comics and superheroes. Marvel decided to publish this title under their Icon imprint with a rating of "Max: Explicit Content" because Mark Millar is not exactly family friendly. Yeah, this is far from an all-ages title. John Romita Jr.'s art is fabulous! He really brings the story to life like nobody else could.

Aside from a moment in the 1st or 2nd issue (been too long to remember which it was in), this issue was my favorite. I highly recommend this book. Since the previous issues are so old now it might be hard to find back issues. And, at the rate they are being released, it might be years before we see a trade paperback of the collected series. So, if you can get your hands on it, read it! You won't be disappointed. This is a very fresh and fun story. A+!

1/2/09 - Actually purchased

This is embarrassing... so naturally, I'm going to post it for the entire world to see - LOL. Monday I posted my "shopping list" for today's new comics. Well, here is what I actually ended up with:

• Batman #684
  
• Batman Cacophony #2
  
• Green Lantern #36
  
• Justice League of America #28
  
• Justice Society of America #22
  
• World of Warcraft #14  (both covers)
  
• World of Warcraft Ashbringer #3
  
• Marvels Eye of the Camera #2
  
• Kick-Ass #5
• Incognito #1
• Superman #683
• Avengers Invaders #7
• Wizard Magazine - January 2009
• Queen & Country Definitive Edition Volume 1

Kick-Ass was not on the original shipping list, it was added after I made my list. I heard about Incognito after Monday as well. Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips? Yes, I must read. And then Superman and Avengers Invaders had Alex Ross covers. I'm a sucker for Alex Ross art. I know it's silly to buy a comic that I probably will not read solely for the cover, but... it's Alex Ross! The Wizard magazine is featuring the Watchmen movie and I'm soaking up as much as I can about that, so I did it... I purchased my first Wizard magazine. The Queen and Country book was one I'd been meaning to pick up. I like Greg Rucka and I've heard great things about the book.

And now I sit down and read until my eyes bleed. Good thing tomorrow is Saturday, I have WAY too much to try and read in one night. I'll be lucky to have these all read before next new comic book day! I'll try and post reviews of what I read, but I don't think I'm a very good review writer.