Rest in Peace Mike

June 28, 2008 – 7:36 am by Schley Andrew Kutz

I have not posted in a long time, and it is with great sadness that a post like this is what begs me to log in and do so.

Michael Turner passed away this morning, finally succumbing to his long-fought bout with cancer. He was a polarizing figure, but so are many of the greats in comics who end up making some money at it: Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, Alex Ross, etc. He did what he loved, he loved what he did, and he was successful. More power to him. With all respect I hope that a few of his peers (of which there not many) will produce a few variant head stones. It would be fitting : )

We’ll miss you Mike. If you’re not in heaven, you’re under the waves somewhere…

Next Week’s Comics Are Up

June 27, 2008 – 3:22 pm by Derek

And Mich is excited! Why, you ask? Because Fables #73, House of Mysery #3 and Buffy #16 are coming out, of course! Me, myself, I’m really looking forward to the 3rd installment of Batman RIP, Cable #5 and The Sword #9 (my personal favorite right now).

Check the whole list out by clicking the ‘Upcoming Comics’ link, or by reading the rest of this post.

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Preview of Avengers/Invaders #3

June 26, 2008 – 5:48 pm by Derek

Here’s a preview of issue #3 of Alex Ross’ Avengers/Invaders. I think this is one of the more underrated books out there right now, being lost in the whirlwind of Secret Invasion cross-over madness. It takes place before said Invasion and is about the WWII era Invaders crossing over into (new) Civil War era, and meeting up with the New Avengers. It does a great job of portraying what that experience would be like for the Invaders, and how they would react to the strange world around them. A definite must read!

Preview of Astonishing X-Men #25

June 26, 2008 – 5:34 pm by Derek

Here’s a preview of Warren Ellis’ first issue of Astonishing X-Men. If you didn’t know, the previous 24 issues had been written by Joss Whedon and had enjoyed the rabid fan base that comes with it. There’s a lot riding on these first few issues of transition, and I’d say from this preview, things look like they’re going to be A-OK. Bianchi’s pencils looks nice (although I’m not a huge fan of the colors), and it seems like Ellis is already trying to work out some of the sillier aspects of Whedon’s run (Armor Girl). The full thing will be released on July 2nd!

Marvel Apes: Why Not?

June 25, 2008 – 8:30 pm by Derek

I like monkeys. They’re funny. They think they’re people, but they’re not. Marvel must know this, because they made a new mini-series just for me! Complete with tons of variant covers! Yee-haw!

Here’s the solicit:

Punisher Ape!“Flingin’ feces, True Believer– the entire Marvel Universe has gone APE! Just when he thinks life can’t get any worse or weirder, Marty Blank – a.k.a. that lovable loser, the Gibbon — finds himself and the brilliant-and-beautiful Dr. Fiona Fitzhugh transported to a world where monkeys rule and humans don’t exist! SEE the spectacular simian city of Monkhattan! MEET the hominoid heroes and villains – SPIDER-MONKEY! DOC OOK! IRON MANDRILL! SIMIAN TORCH! THE APE-VENGERS! And more! THRILL to the return of Speedball! CONTAINS No-Ads, as we are thrilled to present you backup tales exploring the Apeiverse! LEARN the dark secret of the primate planet! WORRY that the fate of the entire universe is in the hands of the Gibbon! Not a hoax, not a dream, not an imaginary story - just the most not-to-be-missed mini-series of the season! If you only buy one (well, two) comics this month about super-powered, intelligent apes-in-capes, it must be MARVEL APES! ”

Doc Ook? SOLD. And here’s some pictures of the variant covers, my favorite of which is contained in this post, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. Adorable!

Preview of Uncanny X-Men #500

June 25, 2008 – 8:15 pm by Derek

Here’s a Greg Land-a-licious preview of Uncanny X-Men #500. Looks lovely! With Matt Fraction sharing writing duties, this looks to be a must read.

Preview of Madame Xanadu #1

June 24, 2008 – 4:01 pm by Derek

Here’s a preview of Madame Xanadu #1, a new Vertigo monthly by Matt Wagner of Grendel fame. Looks pretty awesome!

This Week’s Books Are Up!

June 24, 2008 – 12:40 pm by Derek

And apparently Marvel picked this week to release just about everything they put out! There’s some great stuff coming out, including Final Crisis #2, Hulk #4, Marvel 1985 #2, Mighty Avengers #15, New Avengers #42, Runaways #30, Secret Invastion Runaways/Young Avengers #1 and Ultimates 3 #4, just to name a few! (gasp)

Check the rest of this post or the Upcoming Comics link to check the full list!

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Preview of War Heroes #1

June 22, 2008 – 10:45 pm by Derek

Here’s a preview of the first few pages of War Heroes #1 by Millar and Hitch. It’s mostly just setting up the book’s world, but it still looks very promising.

Ultimate Origins #1

June 6, 2008 – 2:51 pm by Greg Webster

Ultimate Origins #1So, in case you hadn’t heard, Ultimate Origins is finally out. While you may not believe this, it isn’t ENTIRELY about Wolverine. While the title suggests it might be the Ultimate version of Wolverine’s origins ala ORIGINS, what this book really is about is combining every element of the Ultimate universe. I was blown away by this first issue, going from a sceptic to fan in the first few pages, where they show Wilson Fisk (Kingpin), Nick Fury and James Howlett (Wolverine) in WW2 together. It goes on to set the stage for an epic crossover story that really will change some of the perceptions of the Ultimate U. I don’t want to spoil anything, but this is a big one. I don’t know that much about the Ultimate books, beside The Ultimates (which is glorious and hilarious if you haven’t read it). This book takes all the Ultimate books and makes them totally unique and much more different from the normal Marvel universe than you ever realized. Check it out, I give two Skrull thumbs up!