said the shotgun to the head
-Maybe this is unfair (it isn’t), but if you only ever talk about what’s wrong with race in comics, and never what’s good, I don’t care about anything you have to say. It’s like–congrats, man, you can recognize something so obvious that children can see it. I’m not gonna congratulate you for doing something you should be doing anyway. I’m tired of reading or being linked to know-nothing junior varsity scrubs armed with an at best theoretical understanding of racial politics that they got from some college or the rest of the internet. Real talk beats jargon any day. Do better.

-Brian Michael Bendis was talking greasy about comics journalism last week. I felt some kind of way about it and responded on Twitter more than I should have, when what I really should have said was this:

-Did you guys see that X-Men: Curse of the Mutants Saga came out on ComiXology’s digital comics service this week? For two bucks? That comic was free in stores. C’mon, son. That’s just clown shoes.

-Greg Burgas reviewed Top Cow’s First Look over at Comics Should Be Good!. I liked the Genius story in there and honestly have yet to read the rest. That’s beside the point, though. Burgas makes a reference to Top Cow’s checkered past (specifically: “Mysterious Ways is the third story in the collection, and it’s really what you think of when you think of a stereotypical “Top Cow” comic.”) and manages to piss off both Ron Marz and Atom!, who is Top Cow’s new “Direct Market Liason” guy.

They pop up to explain that, hey, that isn’t Top Cow, you’re working from old data, and things just devolve from there. I figured I’d do us all the favor of pulling some covers from the recent past, including Artifacts, one of the books that Marz and Atom! are telling us we shouldn’t be judging.

I’m not even being disingenuous and cherrypicking here–these are the covers to some fairly high profile series starring Boobs Goesfast, Razor Cleavage, Nightgown Lass, Thinly Disguised Alien Guy, and… I don’t have any dismissive and/or clever supranyms ((c) Adam Warren) for Aphrodite IX and the angel chick with the massive wings (Sexy Seraphim?) but they look like the same old Top Cow crap we used to eat up back before the internet existed.

Look–Top Cow is better than it was ten years ago. That’s obvious. Witchblade wears more clothes, for one thing, and what I’ve read of Phil Hester’s The Darkness was pretty swift. But- Witchblade Takeru still exists and this sort of thing still happens:

It’s cool you changed or whatever, but if you’re the guy who gets blackout drunk and turns into a douchebag every time he goes out, and you’re that guy for years, don’t be surprised if people go “Whoa whoa whoa, did that guy just behave himself?” when you go out, behave yourself, cover the tip, and bid a nice lady a chaste goodnight. That’s your bad. You earned that rep.

If Top Cow spent the past decade and a half pumping out critically acclaimed books, and then suddenly started producing crap, the response would be equally as confused. If Donna Troy suddenly magically lost her ability to put me right to sleep, I’d react with surprise, just like Burgas did.

-In the interest of semi-fairness, this cover for the aborted Joe Casey/Chriscross Velocity is super dope.

the inevitable rise and liberation of niggy tardust
-Comics Alliance stuff: video game censorship, why Wildstorm/Zuda/CMX bit it, a Hetalia image gallery, and an interview with all-star colorist Dave Stewart.

-Amazon stuff: Saving money as I come into the orbit of NYCC, so all I got was Shanna, the She-Devil: Survival of the Fittest (for Khari Evans), Love and Rockets: New Stories because everyone says it’s the best, and Die Hard Collection because if you don’t like Bruce Willis, you’re no friend of mine.

-I read Bulletproof Coffin #1 and caught up on Chew on ComiXology. Both are really solid works, especially BC.

the dead emcee scrolls
Fear Not Of David: Amazing Spider-Man 644, Atlas 05
Esther Says: Definite: Action Comics 893 Maybe: The Brave and the Bold 21, Detective Comics 869, First Wave 4
Know Gavin: Time Masters: Vanishing Point 03, Atlas 05, Captain America 610, Franken-Castle 21, Namor, Secret Warriors 20

Quick hits!

–Shadow of the DAMNED trailer is heat rocks. Suda51 is dope, Shinji Mikami is pretty straight, and Akira Yamaoka is cool, so I’m basically on-board day one, and I don’t even really care about video games any more.

-Did anybody else look at that Shadowland: Blood on the Streets book the other week? I flipped through it, got to like page four and was like “nope.” Why?

Yeah, naw, I’m good man. You go on and take that somewhere else.

–Shadowland: Daughters of the Dragon is similarly wack. Look at the soft batch of an action scene in this preview. Everything about it is a turn-off–the way they just hop off the motorcycles, the stiff art, the absurd fight in a truck that is also a shapechanging warehouse, whatever whatever. Gross.

-I’ve been paying more and more attention to fight choreo in comics. It’s such a basic thing, and I’m growing increasingly certain that getting it wrong is absolutely ridiculous. It’s one-two-three-four–first this, then this, then this, and then this. A lot of superhero artists tend to do it the other way, pinup-pinup-pose-pinup, instead, and it looks like crap every time. It’s sequential art, right? Then it follows that the images we see should be in sequence, rather than a loose collection of images where people are maybe kinda sorta fighting/dancing. This is like drawing cross-eyed people or one leg noticeably longer than the other. C’mon, son. Do better.

-That new John Legend & The Roots? Wake Up!? It’s a cover album and it’s fantastic. That eleven minute version of “I Can’t Write Left Handed”, one of my favorite Vietnam songs, goes hard. Legend divas it up some, but I’m digging it. It’s basically a tribute to the ’70s, and Legend does really well.

-Grant Morrison wrote the superhero comic Bible when he wrote Flex Mentallo. I can’t even imagine why someone wouldn’t like it or what it says about cape comics and superheroes themselves.

-My launch PS2 still works and Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 is still basically the illest game on the system. I’m playing it again after a break of a year and some change. I’m in Rise’s striptease dungeon, but I think that Kanji’s gay bath house takes the prize for greatest stage of all time.

Stuff I Read, Stuff You Should Buy
-I got a big box of books from Vertical, and I’ve made it through 7 Billion Needles (review coming here soon), and Chi’s Sweet Home 1, 2, and 3. I’m currently reading The Crimson Labyrinth and I finished Parasite Eve late last week. They’re all good to great, which is astounding. I know I read a lot of Viz, and for good reason, but Vertical, Inc is pumping out some great stuff while nobody’s looking. Parasite Eve was deeply weird and I never thought I’d say this, but I definitely read a scene where mitochondria masturbated.

–Empowered 6, huh? How good was that book? Sistah Spooky is killing me over here.

-Guess what’s on sale? Scott Pilgrim is on sale! The entire series! For fire sale prices! Links: Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life, Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World (v. 2), Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness (v. 3), Scott Pilgrim, Vol 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe, Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour

-Comics Alliance: we beat up on a crappy interview from The Atlantic, I review Empowered, Wildstorm is dead, and here’s some Marvel comics you should read.

I read your comic, now I break weed up on it
“The Immortal” David Brothers, brother!: This week, there’s nathan, but penetra-er, I’ve got no comics this week, but I might buy Matt Fraction and Pasqual Ferry’s Thor because John Workman lettered it.
Miss Esthlizabeth: I tried to find a title that Esther’d never read, like maybe Prison Pit or Preacher, but eh… effort.
“Macho Man” Gavin Jasper: Green Lantern Corps, Justice League Generation Lost, Avengers Academy 04, Avengers 05, Deadpool Team-Up 889, Hit-Monkey 03, Hulk 25, Secret Avengers 05, Darkwing Duck 04

Anything worth reading this week?

miscellany
-You know what’s weird? I’m actually kinda curious about X-23 this week. I like Marjorie Liu, so, y’know, maybe? But four bucks… ehhhh.

–Prison Pit: Book Two is this week. It opens with a dude pooping. The cover is blood-soaked. There’s a strap-on at some point in the book. I’m new to Johnny Ryan, but this book is repulsive and attractive and awful and fascinating all at once. It’s vile, man, and I’m ready to read some more.

-This week in Brightest Day, we find out what the deal is with Aqualad. I kind of feel like everyone who popped up with “Oh, so the black character can’t swim, huh? Way to be racist, DC Comics!” is feeling pretty dumb right about now, yeah? The presence of a stereotype is not necessarily an indicator of racism or stereotyping. It’s cool to throw a jaundiced eye at cape comics, but c’mon. Context and understanding is just as important as playing watchdog. I mean, his name is Aqualad, he lives in one of the driest places in the country, and has a mysterious past. C’mon, son. Y’all got to do better, this is basic.

-I bought Black Milk’s Album Of The Year and Rah Digga’s Classic today. Digga is one of my favorite rappers (Dirty Harriet is dope, miss me if you disagree) and This Ain’t No Lil Kid Rap is dope. The remix with Redman is hard, too. Black Milk is a dope producer out of Detroit, and his last joint was heat rocks, so Album of the Year was definitely getting purchased.

-The cover to Classic instantly shot up to my top five favorite album covers, too. It’s on par with Illmatic.

-I love how iTunes likes to just wipe my iPod without even asking me. I had it on manually manage for a couple weeks (which sucks) and flicked it back over to auto since iTunes 10 is New and Improved. Mistake, ’cause the first thing the all-new iTunes did was wipe my whole iPod right before I left for work. Thanks for that.

–Machete was dope.

elsewhere
–I talk about how much of a piece of crap OMIT was and some crazies come calling, post a sneak preview of Darwyn Cooke’s The Outfit, and talk about Butch Guice paying homage to Kirby and Steranko in Captain America.

-Over Moviefone way, I talk Marvel and Pixar.
comics are for children
Black King David: Amazing Spider-Man 643, Hellblazer 271, Joe the Barbarian 7, New Mutants 17, Thunderbolts 148
Esther Waller: Tiny Titans 32, Birds of Prey 5
White King Gavin: Azrael 12, Joe The Barbarian 7, Astonishing Spider-Man Wolverine 3, Avengers And The Infinity Gauntlet 2, Deadpool 27, Incredible Hulks 613, Marvel Universe vs The Punisher 4, Shadowland Power Man 2, Steve Rogers Super-Soldier 3, Thunderbolts 148

–Links! There’s this thing going on that’s kind of a big deal I guess, have you read it? Of course you have. I have more thoughts, specifically on the point of legacy heroes, but I am at work, starving, and trying to bang this post out in ten minutes so I can go and grab some lunch. Hopefully my fellow 4liens aren’t buying several dozen comic books for me to format…

-Comics Alliance: I wrote some stuff. Stuff about Rafael Grampa being dope, One Piece selling 20 milli, Matt Bors going to Afghanistan, the death of Satoshi Kon, Deviant Art beefing with inkers, what it’s like in the post-apocalyptic wasteland that is the manga industry (slight exaggeration), rappercomics, the ten best Marvel books for November, and influential manga pioneer Moto Hagio. I also talked a little about how the comics industry just needs to get it over with and cheat on retailers with digital comics already. There’s nothing wrong with creeping, and really, digital comics are all about it. Just, y’know, go back behind the bleachers or into the janitor’s closet or something.

–Reading: A lot. I’m getting ready to start banging out reviews of all the books I’ve been reading, so look forward to that. Maybe I’ll group that under a series of posts or something, I dunno. Anyway, I haven’t hit a comic shop since the last time I did one of these, so I barely even know what’s new.

-The Only Amazon I Care About Is .com: I had to order another set of the best pair of headphones I’ve ever used because I messed around and lost an earbud on my bike ride home yesterday and didn’t realize it until I’d gotten home, done some laundry, and then went to plug in my iPod. I read Takehiko Inoue’s Real 7, Kenichi Sonoda’s Gunsmith Cats Revised Edition, Volume 1 over the past couple weeks (among others) and the UPS guy just brought Peyo’s The Smurfs #1: The Purple Smurfs over. I’m pretty excited about The Purple Smurfs, even if they should be black and crass racism turned them purple because what a smurf can’t be black i’ll smurf you up you smurfing–

–Buy Stuff To Keep Us In Hookers and Coke: Pardon my capitalism, and also tell me if this stuff bugs you, but Janelle Monae’s The ArchAndroid (one of the top three albums this year, How I Got Over and Sir Lucious Left Foot…The Son Of Chico Dusty are the other two), UGK’s final record UGK 4 Life, Freddie Gibbs’s Str8 Killa EP, and The Gorillaz’s Demon Days are five bucks this month on AmazonMP3.

Janelle you should know by now, but she’s exactly the kind of Black Future… what, icon? Person? Personality? That I pimped here back in February. Her album is smooth as silk, and I absolutely love the way it’s been mixed. UGK 4 Life is the final UGK album, and I dunno if you’re from the south or not, but UGK is an institution. It can be pretty racist/sexist/violent/etc, but I mean… I grew up on these guys. Gangsta Gibbs is a lot like UGK in a way, but he’s from Gary, Indiana, and one of the few emcees I’ve ever heard that’s clearly profoundly influenced by Tupac without being a wack copycat. But yeah, he can be pretty questionable in terms of content, too. I’m still praying that him and Pill drop an EP stat, though. That would be the gangsterest thing since Marilyn Monroe sang “Happy Birthday” to JFK. (“Girl, my wife is right here…”)

David Yesterday: King City 11, Unknown Soldier number whatever it was last week
Estherella: Definitely: Secret Six #25, Maybe: Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #2, Batman Confidential #48 Almost no chance, but perhaps: Red Hood: The Lost Days #4
Super Vok (the best one of the three!): Secret Six #25, Deadpool Pulp, Franken-Castle, Gorilla Man, Hawkeye & Mockingbird, Incredible Hulks, MU vs. Punisher, Taskmaster, Young Allies, Incorruptible, WWE Heroes

Why can’t I work with comics snobs like me who secretly hate all comics? This took forever. And if King City 11 didn’t actually ship this week I am going to cut my own throat and pull my head off on live tv. :negativeman:

Stuff What I Wrote: SLG needs legal help, Deathlok demolishes, and BPRD brings Hell to Earth.

Music What I Bought:
Curren$y – Pilot Talk: I like Spitta, but dude seriously needs to start switching up his flow and subject matter some. I like weed, slow flows, and other people’s (pause) as much as the next dude, but an album full of it was unexpectedly draining. Curren$y varies from into it to lethargic from song to song, and sometimes the production vastly outshines him. This one isn’t bad, but I’m not sure if I’ll still be spinning it in a couple weeks. I think what it is is that I don’t like it as much as How Fly, his mixtape with Wiz Khalifa. Still, the production is dope, the guest spots are ill… this album is straight. Video: King Kong.

Kassin+2 – Futurismo: I’m fully unqualified to actually discuss this album in terms of technique or artistic merit, but The +2s are dope and make this kind of really funky, relaxed, hype, dance music. That doesn’t make any sense, but listen to “Ponto Final” and a few other cuts. You can sit around reading to this stuff, or shake it like a salt shaker. Kassin+2 also did the music for Michiko e Hatchin, one of the dopest shows out that has yet to actually get licensed for release.

Gorillaz – Plastic Beach: I bought this one on Graeme‘s recommendation and was left pretty pleased. I liked the Gorillaz in high school (though apparently the song goes “I ain’t happy,” not “Iiii’m happy”) and this kicked off this whole thing where I’m spending all of my time listening to the Gorillaz and figuring out what I like about it. Right now, it’s “I like the range and versatility.” Later, it may be something else. I’ll tell you what, though. I’m really interested in theatricality and gimmicks and narrative, and Gorillaz are all of that rolled up into one. Video: Stylo (with Mos Def and Bobby Womack [!!!!])

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack): Do you know how often I buy movie or tv show soundtracks? Almost never, that’s how often. I liked the music in the movie enough to grab the soundtrack, though, and I left pretty dang pleased. I hadn’t heard Metric before, but I like the way that sounds. The in-movie stuff, the Sex Bob-omb songs? Those sound great, too. “Garbage Truck” is fantastic. I could do without the chiptunes song, tho. Bleah. Black Sheep (featurette)

Stuff What I Been Reading: Shade (finally started book 3 after a few false starts), other stuff

Stuff What We Gonna Buy:
David Days: Amazing Spider-Man 640, Atlas 4, Hellblazer 270, King City 11, New Mutants 16, Thunderbolts 147
Esther Planet We Reach is Dead: Tiny Titans 31, Streets of Gotham 15, Power Girl 15
Don’t Gavin Lost In Heaven: Authority The Lost Year 12, Azrael 11, Green Lantern Corps 51, Age Of Heroes 4, Atlas 4, Avengers Academy 3, Avengers And The Infinity Gauntlet 1, Deadpool Corps 5, Deadpool 26, Marvel Universe vs The Punisher 2, New Avengers 3, Secret Avengers 4, Shadowland Power Man 1, Thunderbolts 147, Darkwing Duck The Duck Knight Returns 3

Stuff What Is A Drag:
This OMIT story in Amazing Spidey. Extremely pretty, but extremely who cares. Should’ve just kept on going with the status quo instead of explaining something boring.

-Hey, I wrote some stuff. Maybe you missed it. I reviewed the Scott Pilgrim game, heaped some pro-black/pro-fessional praise on Marc Bernardin, Adam Freeman, and Afua Richardson’s Genius, and wrote a surprisingly well-received piece on manga piracy.

-I didn’t do it, but this comic about a bee by Raina Telgemeier is fantastic.

-I’m still reading Shade (I’m up to volume 3, which I’m starting this weekend), but I also picked up Chi’s Sweet Home and Peepo Choo from Vertical, Inc. Jormungand 4 gets in today, I think, and it’ll probably remain my favorite funny action comic book about child soldiers.

–Unforgiven on Blu-ray for eight bucks? That was Purchase On Sight. Wow.

-The countdown isn’t over. There’s one left. 1 Reader, maybe, or 1 Love.

Oh, what, comics come out today? Okay I guess we can talk about that.

David Easterman: Who cares about comical books? (but if that Green Lantern book Gav is buying is The Shield in Space, I might have to start picking that up).
Esther Cobblepot: Definitely: Batgirl 13 Maybe: Birds of Prey 4, Zatanna 4, Doc Savage 5
Jacob Gavin, Jr.: Buzzard 3, Booster Gold 35, Green Lantern Emerald Warriors 1, Justice League Generation Lost 7, Welcome To Tranquility One Foot In The Grave 2, Dark Wolverine 89, Invincible Iron Man 29, Steve Rogers Super-Soldier 2, Ultimate Comics Avengers 3 1

“I’m tryna get to this place that my grandpa told me bout as a child/ Told me only a few could make it and the fakest aint allowed/ Be a star out your game and aim above the clouds/ and if you miss, youll at least be amongst your own crowd”

Slightly different this week! Music recommendations, none of which are probably endorsed at all by Gav and Esther (Est?). Amazon is doing this 1000 albums at $5 deal, and I found some stuff I like. Here’s some recs.

Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill: L Boogie is nice, and this was probably her peak. A little more R&B than rap, but a rap album nonetheless. Before I wanted to marry Erykah Badu, I wanted to marry Lauryn Hill, and this album is pretty much the reason why. Samples: Doo Wop, Ex-Factor, Everything Is Everything
D’Angelo – Brown Sugar: Way before he dropped his naked video and instantly made an enemy of every young black male around my age and gave every young black girl around my age whiplash, D’Angelo dropped Brown Sugar, a dope R&B album that was profane, beautiful, and pretty much immaculate. Also: “Brown Sugar” is about smoking weed. Samples: Cruisin, Lady, Brown Sugar
NERD – In Search Of…: I’ve loved this record since high school. It’s upbeat, melancholy, has some ill punchlines, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to do the entire album at karaoke at some point. “It’s the kinda high that got me leanin’, 120 speedin’ in the rain, meaning of a hydroplane.” Samples: Lapdance (NSFW), Rock Star, Provider
A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders: One of the top five greatest albums of all time. If you don’t like this, we can’t get along. If you like Low End Theory over Midnight Marauders… we’re gonna fight, but we can be friends. Samples: Award Tour, Electric Relaxation
The Roots – How I Got Over: It’s only five bucks. Go watch Dear God 2.0 and then just buy it already. You need this in your life.
OutKast – Stankonia: Awright awright awright arrararawright… OutKast is the greatest rap group of all time and this is one of several high watermarks for the group. Toilet Tisha is another ill spoken word/instrumental track, Stanklove is heavy, So Fresh So Clean is a certified classic, and all the music videos rule. Plus Kast is one of the few groups that’ll let a song breathe, just because it sounds dope. Samples: B.O.B., Ms Jackson
Blu & Exile – Below the Heavens: I like Blu a whole lot. I think he might be the rapper most in line with where I’m at right now, if that makes sense. Atmosphere defined one era of my life, Cannibal Ox/Company Flow/Aes Rock another, and so on. There’s probably some examination that needs to be done in there. Anyway, dude should make more music more often. I’m a big fan. Samples: Blu Collar Workers, So(ul) Amazing (maybe it’s the MOP sample, but this jawn reminds me of Premo a whole lot)

David David David David Banner: Amazing Spider-Man 639, Hellboy: The Storm 2, Baltimore: The Plague Ships 1, The Boys 45
All Eyez on Esther: Definitely: Secret Six 24, Red Robin 15 Maybe: Batman Odyssey 2, Superman: The Last Family of Krypton 1
Gavinmatic: Magog, Secret Six 24, Avengers: The Origin 5, Avengers Prime 2, Captain America 608, Deadpool 1000, Doomwar 6, Gorilla Man 2, Hawkeye and Mockingbird 3, Hit-Monkey 2, Punisher vs. MU 1 (maybe), SHIELD 3, Secret Warriors 18, Young Allies 3, Irredeemable 16

Return of Bruce Wayne 4, words by Grant Morrison, pencils by Georges Jeanty, inks by Walden Wong, colors by Tony Aviña, letters by Travis Lanham. Preview

Cowboy Batman! Maybe I should’ve let Esther write this one, I know she was looking forward to it. I don’t even really have anything clever to say!

Book-wise, I got a few from San Diego, B.P.R.D 13: 1947 from Amazon today, and I’m about 15 pages from the end of Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour. SP is kind of interesting. I like it, but I don’t love it. I respect Bryan Lee O’Malley for getting it done and having it become some kind of crazy ill success, too. I’m slowly working through my stack and decompressing from a hectic San Diego, so I’ll have better words next week.

I gotta buy last week’s comics this week, too. Bleah.

The David: Unknown Soldier 22
The Esther: Definitely: Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne 4 Maybe: Batman: The Brave and the Bold 19, Detective Comics 867, First Wave 3, Green Arrow 2
and The Gavin Authority: The Lost Year 11, Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne 4, Green Lantern 56, Green Lantern Corps 50, Justice League: Generation Lost 6, Deadpool Team-Up 891, Franken-Castle 19, Weapon X Noir, Incorruptible 8, WWE Heroes 5

Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour, Bryan Lee O’Malley. Here’s a preview for the first volume.

The big dog is finally here. I haven’t read the fifth volume yet, but I picked up 5 and 6 to read on the plane to San Diego for Comic-con. Why not, right? I mostly enjoyed the first four, might as well go back to them, and what better time than now? We’ve got the last volume, the video game (which is pretty fun in an old school beat-em-up sort of way), and the movie. It all looks pretty good, and I’m honestly pretty happy for Bryan Lee O’Malley. Like, he’s made it, hasn’t he? Super popular series, a comic movie that looks good (with Chris Evans in his, what, fifteen comic book role?), and the entire internet is talking about him today. That’s worthy of respect.

Whatever happened to Sharknife? I feel like there was a time when Coreyyy Lewis and Bryan Lee O’Malley just ran comics and then Lewis faded in the public eye. I know he has a new book coming out of Image I should check out, Seedless, but Sharknife was like lightning out of heaven to me.

Anyway, like I said, I’m in San Diego for the week doing what I do best. Updates will continue as usual, of course, but I won’t be able to pick up my comics until… well probably next week sometime. Ouch. I’ve got Scott Pilgrims for the plane, Shade the Changing Man: Edge of Vision, and my holy grail comic for the week, the one stands over and above all others, Vagabond 8. As far as comics go… this week is pretty dope.

David vs The World: Amazing Spider-Man 638, Atlas 3, Hellblazer 269, Thunderbolts 146
Esther Gets It Together: Tiny Titans 30, Superman/Batman 74. Maybe: Supergirl 54, Power Girl 14
Gavin’s Finest Hour: Azrael 10, Welcome To Tranquility One Foot In The Grave 1, Age Of Heroes 3, Atlas 3, Avengers 3, Dark Wolverine 88, Deadpool Merc With A Mouth 13, Deadpool 25, Heroic Age Prince Of Power 3, Lady Deadpool 1, Marvel Zombies 5 5, Marvelous Land Of Oz 8, New Avengers 2, Thunderbolts 146, Ultimate Comics Avengers 2 5, Darkstalkers The Night Warriors 3, Darkwing Duck The Duck Knight Returns 2, Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet 6

Mary Choi gave a killer interview about Lady Deadpool on Comics Alliance. My man Jamaal is writing over at FBB again, too. Go read that so we can collectively make sure he keeps writing.

What’re you reading this week? Looking forward to anything out of San Diego?

Amazing Spider-Man 637. Words by Joe Kelly, pictures by Michael Lark and maybe Stefano Gaudiano.

You’re not reading this? You’re missing out. Amazing Spider-Man: Grim Hunt has been fantastic. If you’re still holding a grudge over One More Day… get over yourself and read some good comics.

Book-wise, this week is light for me. I got a preview copy of Matt Kindt’s Revolver and burned through that in one sitting. Review coming soon on Comics Alliance, but the short version is “That was a good’un.” Art’s good, story’s interesting, hook’s cool, go on ahead and get that one. I’m also working my way through Takehiko Inoue’s wheelchair basketball drama Real. Trying to keep my consumption to a couple volumes a month. I finished the fourth volume last night, so I’ll probably read Real 5 before bed tonight. This is another one that’s full of good stuff. Great characters, great art, blah blah blah. Read Real if you aren’t. The bulk of my reading right now are older books for this 6 Writers thing I’ve been doing. Next week may be a little different.

Oh, next week is San Diego Comic-con. So much for getting any reading done there.

Speaking of Good Comics
David: Amazing Spider-Man 637, Captain America/Black Panther 4
Gavin: Authority: Lost Year 10, Batman 701, Booster Gold 34, JL: Generation Lost 5, Magog 11, Astonishing Spider-Man and Wolverine 2, Avengers Academy 2, Deadpool Corps 4, Gorilla Man 1, Invincible Iron Man 28, Iron Man Noir 4, X-Men Origins: Deadpool
Esther: Definitely: Batgirl 12. Maybe: Batman 701, Brave and the Bold 35, Doc Savage 4, Power Girl 14, Superman 701