Second Printing's Weekly Question (#3 in a series)

What is your comics guilty pleasure?

Graig:
I absolutely love, love, love !mpact Comics, the short-lived imprint from the early 1990's where DC licensed the Archie/Red Circle super-heroes and reinvented them for a less than receptive audience. Mark Waid was a writer and editor on the line and has hung his head in shame over his involvement with it from time to time. Through my rose-colored glasses I can't see why. The initial impetus for !mpact was to make new and younger-reader friendly comics without dumbing them down. I was about 15 when the line hit and was intrigued by most of the books but only saw The Fly (by Len Strazewski and the late, great Mike Parobeck) through to its finish. When the line was threatened with cancellation there was a brief flirtation with making it darker, grim'n'gritty, which completely betrayed the line's impetus, so after the six-issue Crucible finished, it was unceremoniously cancelled. I've since collected the entire line, with the exception of a couple missing issues of the Black Hood and the final issue of Crucible. I'm oddly proud of this.

Devon:
I know it's not the sexiest of answers but it's X-Force 1-5. Not too long ago, I was putting books together to give away and came across them again. I put them in the "give-away" pile. I had put down childish things, after all.

That was until I looked through them. God, they were as terrible as I remember but the feeling of "youth" these comics had to them was undeniable. They were just so insane and the feeling they gave me was just pure adrenaline. Needless to say, I had to pull them out of the fire. I can't even look at them but there's just something to them that makes me smile.

Big Mike:
Two things:

1) My guilty pleasure is Marvel's early 90's cosmic books. Infinity Gauntlet / Watch / War / Crusade... got 'em all... love 'em all. Jim Starlin, I'm sad to say, is a huge influence on my life. As a kid, I was fascinated with Adam Warlock and his weird orange skin. It's probably why I eventually got into Legion, and it's definitely why I own everything with the word Annihilation in it.

2)As a corollary to Devon's guilty pleasure, I would be a bad friend if I didn't point out that in order to complete his X-Force 1-5 collection, he also needs Spider-Man #16 because it bridges the gap between X-Force #3 and #4 (in the aptly named crossover 'X-Over'). Oh, what's that you say, Devon? You don't have Spider-Man #16? Two words: MONEY DAY!

Graig:
I should add I have two copies of Spider-Man #16, and for real, Devon, you can have one. Hell, take both, see if I care. I won't even charge postage. Sorry Mike, didn't mean to poch block ya. (poch = POcket CHange, and yes, I just made that up)

Devon:
Ummm... What makes you all think that I don't already have three copies of Spider-Man #16?

Jon:
Rom: Spaceknight. That book got a shapeshifting alien space invasion RIGHT. And the right way involves the sun turning into a black hole and building a giant power-negating laser into a satellite. Also Ditko.


(Hey, Second Printers, plug your answers in the comments)

Starman: An Appreciation

This is nothing more than what it is: an appreciation.

An appreciation of what was, what is and what will be.

I just got done re-reading James Robinson's Starman and man, was it worth it!

I'd never realized it up until now just how amazing and good this series was. It so many things on so many levels. One, it introduced us to, of course, Jack Knight, arguably, the greatest of Starmen.

Two, it introduced us to sprawling art deco metropolis, Opal City and the very idea that in the DC Universe, the city is every bit the star as its lead character.

Until this series hit, I'd never thought of Gotham or Metropolis as having a rhythm, a pulse that drives its movement. One that its hero is keenly attuned to. I never thought of the city and its hero as intertwined. I'd never seen it as integral. Starman helped me re-discover the DC Universe.

Thirdly and most importantly, it introduced us to a concept and term we'd never thought of as a collective before:

Legacy.

Before Starman, few comics writers had bothered to explore the subject of "legacy." Before, if DC were to introduce a new character, the character was simply a re-branding, a way to sometimes even, re-establish copyright with little or no regard to what came before.

Before Starman, there was no such term as "The Legacy Hero."

Before Starman, the most popular exploration of legacy came from Marvel in the form of a virus.

Before that, superhero connections to their predecessors were something to be explained away with. If DC decided to create a new Firebrand, they simply were parking on the name, not the legacy. Before Starman, legacy, largely, was a thing to be damned.

With Starman, legacy wasn't something to be ignored or forgotten, it was a thing to be explored and even honored.

Under Robinson, threads were pulled together, continuity was explained and the tapestry was explored. Starman explored the idea that the hero is only as great as the obstacles put before him. From this, we saw the re-emergence of The Shade and Solomon Grundy. From these pages we were given our comics history back. As readers, we were to become this story. We were asked to visit a city, explore it and its hero's origins and explore the things it gained in the fire.

Because of Starman, we have the DCU landscape that we have today. Because of Starman, we have his spiritual predecessor, Stargirl. Because of Starman, we still have The Justice Society of America. Because of James Robinson's Starman, we were introduced to the DC Universe's master architect, Geoff Johns. Because of Starman, we explore the legacies and origins of the DCU with events such as Final Crisis.

The argument could be made that Starman, good or bad, has become the cornerstone on which the modern DC Universe has been built. Regardless of how one feels, there's little doubt that Starman was and still is, what any comic should be.

Good.

Ad blast from the past

DC had a very, very short lived ad campaign in the mid-1990s where they decked out real people/male models in costumes to promote their new series' The Ray and Damage. I'm not sure why they didn't do more of them, because as a teenager, I thought they were the coolest thing, and 15 years later, I still think they're pretty awesome. Something about them sparks the imagination, like teasing that superheroes are real, or that live-action versions of all super-heroes are possible. But ultimately these were the first and last images we saw in the campaign. I would love to know more about the process DC went through to make these ads and their marketing department's thoughts on the success (and/or failure) of them.
(sorry for the image quality, I don't have a scanner, so I took photos instead)



Looking at that Damage ad though, something struck me as... familiar...
No, not just the fact that I knew these ads from before, but ... there was something... smarmy... about that Damage... you know, dick-ish


hmm...


GAH! BLAGO!
Damage is notorious ex-Illinois governor/jagoff Milorad "Rod" Blagojevich.
Okay, not really, but the resemblance is uncanny.

Second Printing's Weekly Question #2

This week's question:

How do you keep your comics?
Follow up: do you keep records of your collection, and if so, how?

Devon:
Oh, God, no.

I gave up about years back. They're just sitting in longboxes in alphabetical order with no bags or boards. The older I get, the less I care. Now, they're more about the stories contained within than the condition or somesuch. Hell, I don't even feel the need to complete runs like I used to.

It's weird but it all coincided with the end of the letter columns in the backs of DC's comics. I started feeling less propriety in my collection.

As far as records go, I used to keep these insane handwritten-on-notebook paper records of every comic I bought. Now, I just sort of laugh at my former anal retentiveness.

I miss those days.

Jon:
Mine're half in a longbox - sorted as best as I can manage by title and number - and half all over the bloody place. I'm not terrifically good at, y'know, "collecting." Aces at reading, though.


Big Mike:
I try to keep things in order, but I inevitably fall of the wagon. I have a set of long boxes that are in perfect alphabetical and numerical order, but then I have several short boxes that are completely unsorted. My whole collection is in a storage unit in my building, but I do keep a few comics in a small box at the top of my closet... this is for the comics that I would not be okay with losing in the event of a flood, fire, etc. They're not worth much or anything... just sentimental value. Highlights include the whole Lonely Place of Dying arc, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, and Chroma Tick.

Graig:
I keep my (actually "our", given that I've merged my collection with my wife's) comics primarily in alphabetical order on bookshelves in the basement. I use comic boards, positioned sideways to separate the titles (each letter has a "miscellaneous" section for small runs and random issues). There are also about 18 other long boxes, 6 of which are major character/team runs (Batman, Superman, X-Men), the rest having been recently conscripted to "discard duty", meaning about half the collection is getting positioned for sale. I used to have everything individually bagged and boarded, now it's a mix of individual bag'n'board and multiple issues in the same bag. I've become rather lax about bagging of late, but only the worst of condition books are left permanently un-bagged.

I started about a year ago inventorying all my comics on an spreadsheet. It's kind of a pain to maintain but has been very useful for knowing what I have, what I want to get rid of, how many books are in the collection, that sort of thing.

Detective: Comics: Who Am I?

I have been driven to madness and denied you.

I have embraced you and given you opportunity.

We are family yet we share no blood.

I have fought side-by-side with soldiers and peacemakers.

I have risen above you while walking beside you.

I have been inspired and been an inspiration.

WHO AM I?

Second Printing's Weekly Question- Updated!

NEW FEATURE! Every week, we will pose (and [some of us will] answer) a question. In future weeks we'll even start taking questions. You too can play along on your own blog or in the comments section.

What were the last three trades you bought? Recommended or no?


Big Mike:
Walking Dead Vol. 8: Made to Suffer - Simply put, one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever read. I needed a drink after finishing this one. Recommended.
Fables Vol. 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers - I am way late to the party on Fables. While I enjoyed the first three trades, it wasn't until this one that I understood why people seem to worship this book. Great story. I recommend it big time.
The Legion of Super-Heroes: The Beginning of Tomorrow - This is the only volume of the Post-Zero Hour Legion that I can find in trade. If you're a fan of that particular Legion, recommended. If not, get therapy.

Graig:
The Incredible Hercules vol.1: Against the World - fun charming stuff, the wife liked it too. Definitely recommended
Immortal Iron Fist vol. 3: Book of the Iron Fist - not recommended (unless you're really into Iron Fist mythology), not that it's bad but the first two volumes contain the meat, this is the extracurricular.
Nova vol 3: Secret Invasion - haven't finished reading it yet, but the Galactus story was flippin' cool. Recommended.

Jon Carey:

Scud: The Whole Shebang- I bought the first trade when I was in eighth grade, oh some years gone, wanted to see the end. I can't say I'd recommend it unless you were wallowing in nostalgia, honestly.

All of Annihilation- Thanks to judicious use of coupons and buy-one-get-one-half-off deals, I got all three trades for like twenty bucks. I read the first couple trades of Nova prior to this and liked those way better- I'm kinda failing to see what the big deal was, I guess. The Ronan mini read like a weird Transformers filler issue starring, like, that Pretender that looked like a whaler, but I suppose that's just Furman for you.

Ares: God of War- Plan A is lighting yourself on fire and having Hercules throe you at stuff? Sign me the fuck up.

Devon Sanders:

Daredevil: Born Again- Loved the hell out of it when I was fourteen and loved it even more at *cough*. I was just as enthralled by its pacing. This time around, what I was struck by was the logical abruptness of its ending. Still the best comic I ever read, though. Highly recommended.

The Death of Captain America: The Man Who Bought America: Vol. 3- Jason Bourne meets superhero comics. What's not to love?

Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe: Vol. 5- Took it behind the CHUD bleachers and made out with it.

Leaked Footage From Bret Ratner's YOUNGBLOOD

You read that right, true believers - Bret Ratner's Youngblood. I thought it was an elaborate prank played on people with eyes by the inscrutable monsters over at Variety, but then I chanced across this uncut footage from the set:


My sources say that's Troll.