11 O’Clock Comics

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After some very well-deserved props to Chris Ryall and IDW, the four feisty fools launch salvos on Batman and Robin #1 by Morrison, Quitely, and Sinclair (put his name on the cover, DC!), the hubbub concerning Captain America #600, a merry mutant round-up spotlighting New Mutants #1, X-Force: Angels and Demons, Wolverine, X-23, and more (including actual contributions by Chris…hold me!), Project Superpowers Chapter 2 #0 from Dynamite, Green Lantern Corps #38, the upcoming Kamandi episode of the fantabulous Brave and the Bold ‘toon, our current comic buying strategies, more Episode #52 questions from the fine 11 O’C forumites, a blitzkrieg of bonus Hotline calls, and mucho mas!

Tags: Batman and Robin, Captain America, Chris Ryall, Cyclops, Frank Quitely, Grant Morrison, Green Lantern, New Mutants, Transformers, X-Force, X-Men

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Dear diary, this week on 11 O’Clock Comics, we talked about the Printer’s Row Book Fair (Chris Ware, Chipp Kidd, and some guy named Gaiman), MoCCA (Gary Panter, PictureBox, and more), the new 11 O’Clock Action Word, Morrison and Quitely’s Batman and Robin #1 (briefly…almost not at all…really…), Light of thy Countenance from Avatar, Project: Superpowers and The Black Terror miniseries from Dynamite, Jeremy Bastain’s Cursed Pirate Girl #1 from Olympian Publishing, Jason Aaron and Tony Moore’s landmark Ghost Rider #33-35, Herogasm #1 (didja get any onya?), Hercules: Love and War, crossovers and events (yes, again.), Wooode’s lightning strike during the Marvel stockholder presentation conference thing, The Unknown #1, ComicZeal for the iPhone, and Chris made my heart sing when he admitted that, yes, manga does have some merit. It was a good day, diary. Oh, yeah, and a bunch of really good guys called the Hotline and we all had a really good time. I hope they never change. P.S. I think David is cute. But don’t tell him. I’d simply DIE! XOXOXO

Tags: Cursed Pirate Girl, Fred Ban Lente, Ghost Rider, Greg Pak, Hercules, Herogasm, Jason Aaron, Marvel, MoCCA, Printer's Row Book Fair, Tony Moore

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Throw yo’ panties at your iPod! We try to straighten up and fly right by discussing Cameron Stewart’s response to our cursory look at the first issue of Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye, Fantagraphics’ Blazing Combat collection, G.I. Joe: Cobra #3, Wolverine #73, Hulk: Red & Green and the majesty of Art Adams and Frank Cho, Marvel Mystery Comics #1, Chris’ opinion of Abrams’ Star Trek, the Invincible Ultimate Collection volume four, Road to War of Kings TPB, Oracle: The Cure #3, Blackest Night and event miniseries, R.E.B.E.L.S. #4, Paul Cornell, Johnny Hiro from AdHouse, the Love and Rockets FCBD book, and much more!

Tags: Art Adams, Blazing Combat, Cameron Stewart, Frank Cho, G.I. Joe, Jeph Loeb, Johnny Hiro, Love and Rockets, Paul Cornell

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The Sign of Four: all present and accounted for as we throw down on Abrams‘ Star Trek (no spoilers), Viz’s GYO by horror manga maestro Junji Ito, rating systems, Bernie Wrightson, Bill Mantlo and Cloak and Dagger, Grant Morrison’s Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye, Jonathan Hickman (Secret Warriors, Dark Reign: Fantastic Four, and more), Flash: Rebirth #2, forum questions, and lots more! As always, Hotline messages abound!

Tags: Bill Mantlo, GYO, Jonathan Hickman, Junji Ito

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Sitting in for an absent David Price, Tom (Vs. the Flash, Around Comics) Katers and Skottie (Wizard of Oz) Young help us wander our way through topics like Picturebox’s upcoming pair of graphic novels from CF and Brian Chippendale, Tony Stark and why hating him may be a “good thing”, Wednesday Comics, Batman Confidential, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Free Comic Book Day, Concrete, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, G.I. Joe: Cobra #2, World of New Krypton #3, The Losers, Reborn, Final Crisis Aftermath: Run, Flash: Rebirth #2, Tom talks about paper (!), European graphic albums, Wizard of Oz, Tom Fowler, Nic Klein and Viking #1, and much, much more! Go see Star Trek (if only to knock that cantankerous Canuck down a few pegs)!

Tags: Concrete, Skottie Young, Tom Katers, Wednesday Comics, Wizard of Oz, World of New Krypton

This is the first issue of Exiles I have ever read.  Which is great because it’s the first issue of the new Exiles series, so it all works out.  I’ll tell you this right up front: I recommend this book heartily.

It’s no secret that I’m a big Jeff Parker fan.  With this issue he not only gets you up to speed on what this is all about, but you get introduced to the team in a way where no one gets shortchanged.  Salva Espin first popped up on my radar with the Wolverine: First Class series and I think Salva’s linework complements Jeff’s words perfectly.  Anthony Washington’s colors enhance the art and Simon Bowland’s letters are perfect in the sense that they aren’t distracting with balloons and caption boxes placed in unfortunate spots and of course are easy to read.

As stated, this issue is a great jumping on point.  Having no knowledge of the previous volumes, but aware of their existence, at no time did I feel cheated or out of the loop with the title’s history.  The team consists of Polaris (from Earth-8149), Beast (Earth-763), Earth-1119’s Panther (not once referenced as Black Panther), Forge (Earth-2814), Earth-8823’s Witch (sans the Scarlet label), and Blink.  We’re introduced to each member (save for Blink) right as they are about to face certain death, plucked from their reality and facing Morph, who gives them a rundown of what the Exiles are designed to do.  Have I mentioned how accessible this issue is?

What I found interesting is that we haven’t been old Panther’s real name yet.  The character doesn’t ‘read’ like the T’Challa we’re used to in the 616 and Beast mentions that he doesn’t sound like the Black Panther from his earth.  Everything else appears to be the same.  Polaris and Witch are half-sisters, Forge is Forge (and married), Beast, while Hank McCoy, looks a little more beastly and seems to have a bit of a violent streak if his introduction is any indication.  Blink, who I know from Age of Apocalypse and the other Exiles series, is the only one without an introduction, but we get brought up to speed fairly quickly.

And the last page?  If I wasn’t coming back for the second issue based on the first twenty-one pages, the last page would have sealed the deal.

Seriously, this is a must have.  I’m delighted to be along for this ride.

Exiles #1 “Deja Vu”
Writer: Jeff Parker
Art: Salva Espin
Colors: Anthony Washington
Letters: Simon Bowland
Cover: Bullock, Irwin, and Washington
Editor: Mark Paniccia
$3.99, 40 pgs

Tags: Dave Bullock, Exiles, Jeff Parker, Salva Espin

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The spectre of the Walkin’ Dude looms large as we tear through tangents on RASL, Alien Legion, Twitter, Andy Kuhn, Sleepy’s, Blazing Combat, Wired and Paul Pope, Deadpool: Merc with a Lot of Trees Killed in His Name, Atomika, Breach, Hard Time and Steve Gerber, Thor #601 and Doctor Doom(bot), Brian Hurtt, The Stand: Captain Trips and Stephen King adaptations, Project: Superpowers and Masquerade, The Twelve, Agents of Atlas #3, Jack of Fables, Chris’ 100 Bullets in 100 Days project, Tom Strong and America’s Best Comics, 1963 from Image, Tony Fleecs, and much more! Bonus! Even more Hotline weirdness!

Links: Magnificent Mike D’s Grimrod, another Grimrod, and Deadpool

Tags: Atomika, Blazing Combat, Brian Hurtt, Paul Pope, Project: Superpowers, Steve Gerber, The Stand: Captain Trips, The Twelve, Thor, Tony Fleecs, Vigilante

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Things return to what passes for normal as we drop a dime on Ivan Brandon and Nic Klein’s Viking from Image Comics, Bendis‘ Tweets and Marvel’s FCBD offering, Amazing Spider-Man, Action Comics #876, Supergirl, Messiah War (X-Force #13, Messiah War One Shot, Cable #13, and X-Force #14), The Outsiders, Yuusaku Hanakuma and Tokyo Zombie, Warlord, Exiles, Starjammers, Ignition City #1 from Avatar, the Marvel Saga freebies, Thor, listener email, and much more! Bonus! Felipe Massafera leads the Hotline assault!

Tags: Action Comics, Amazing Spider-Man, Ivan Brandon, Lee Garbett, Messiah War, Mutants, Nic Klein, Tokyo Zombie, Viking

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It’s our one-year anniversary celebration where we field questions from out fabulous forumites! Topics include: Wolverine (sigh), Civil War, Alpha Flight, Secret Invasion, story pacing, Tom Fowler, Steve Bryant, Dave Wachter, C.F. and Picturebox, Theo Ellsworth and Capacity, Gabriel Hardman, Abnett and Lanning, cement mixers, Devil Dinosaur, the Great Lakes Avengers, Plastic Man, Aquaman, Mike Ploog, Rick Veitch, Dogs both Wild and Law, Alien Legion, Fletcher Hanks, S. Clay Wilson, Amazing Spider-Man (with a HYPHEN!), Robert Williams, The Boys, Locke & Key, Jack Kirby, Mage: The Hero Discovered, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Moebius, Eddie Campbell, Alan Moore, Enki Bilal, Kuti, comic conventions, RASL, Herr Stark, Frank Robbins, Howard Chaykin, Dave Cockrum, Comix Book, Franks Quitely and Zappa, William Burroughs, Snakes and Ladders, Doktor Sleepless, Proof, Captain Britain and MI13, Fables, Miracleman, Tom Strong, Jim Starlin, John Byrne, Rob Liefeld, Twitter, Secret Wars II, Deadpool, Mark D. Bright, spaghetti sauce, the cancer, truffles, steak, the Monkees, and a WHOLE MESS MORE! Plus, more Hotline calls than ever before!

Tags: Lots o' Stuff!

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This time around, we talk about archive editions and the people that purchase them, Wizard’s acquisition of the Big Apple Con, DC’s new 40-page, $3.99 titles with special “co-features”, G. I. Joe #4, Flash: Rebirth #1, Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter DVD, Alan Moore’s Light of thy Countenance from the fine folks at Avatar, Len Wein, Frank Springer, Air from Vertigo, Evan Dorkin, a Beanworld nut shot, and much more! Yes, there are Hotline messages aplenty!

Tags: Alan Moore, Flash: Rebirth, Frank Springer, G.I. Joe