Freak Comics

4 #26

THE STORY: Sacrifices have been made, dark forces are gathering like storm clouds over Whisper Hill—the abandoned home of the deceased witch Agatha Harkness—and the Fantastic Four’s powers are short-circuiting. With the malevolent Salem Seven about to open a portal to the land of the dead, can the FF afford to stay away?

Daredevil Vs. Punisher

It’s wall-to-wall David Lapham (Stray Bullets) as the Eisner Award-winner and indy sensation writes, pencils and inks two of Marvel’s biggest icons! Daredevil and the Punisher vie for the soul of Hell’s Kitchen as half the East Coast’s underworld — in chaos since Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime, was deposed—scramble for a shot at the big chair. And as the city descends into chaos—as murder and intimidation become the staples of the day—Daredevil and the Punisher each seek to restore order in their own unique way. For Daredevil—who’s anointed himself the city’s new “Kingpin”—this means dispensing justice at the end of a billy club. But for the Punisher, justice at the end of a billy club isn’t justice at all. For the Punisher, justice for these animals is at the end of a shotgun. Featuring more Marvel villains than you can shake a stick at—including Hammerhead and the return of the nefarious…Jackal! Collects DAREDEVIL VS. PUNISHER #1-6.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man #4

THE SPIDER-MAN CROSSOVER EVENT OF THE DECADE ENDS HERE!
The fourth and final month of “The Other,” a startling super-story spanning four months that has turned the wall-crawler’s world upside down! The next stage in Spidey’s history starts here, True Believer! Peter has been pushed farther than he ever has been before. Farther than anyone should. So what changes are in store for him and, indeed, those he loves most? Can he go back to who he was? Does he want to?

Generation M #3

DECIMATION! Reporter Sally Floyd tells the story of those rocked by the decimating effects of House of M. One such story is that of Frederick J. Dukes, A.K.A. The Blob! There’s someone out there that doesn’t want these stories to be told and is willing to do anything to silence those who are talking…

Incredible Hulk #91

“PEACE IN OUR TIME”
It’s Rock vs. Hard Place, as The HULK goes toe-to-toe with a construct capable of adapting to the strength of any opponent. But doesn’t HULK get stronger as he gets madder? Something’s gotta give, and you won’t BELIEVE the killer ending! This is the issue that catapults HULK into Marvel’s biggest story line of 2006! Part 4 (of 4)

Iron Man: Inevitable #2

The Spymaster makes his first move — which means it’s the armored Avenger vs. the Ghost! Classic enemies are emerging with all-new agendas as Tony Stark fights to survive. Pulse-pounding action in the mighty Marvel manner! This is the Iron Man you’ve been waiting for!

Marvel Adventures Flip Magazine #8

Marvel Heroes Flip Magazine #8

Marvel Knights Spider-man #22

THE SPIDER-MAN CROSSOVER EVENT OF THE DECADE ENDS HERE!
The fourth and final month of “The Other,” a startling super-story spanning four months that has turned the wall-crawler’s world upside down, and set the stage for the year to come, uniting the creative talents behind all three Spider-Man titles! With great power must come great responsibility…but what comes with great understanding? In the past few months, Peter Parker has traveled to places he never has before. No

Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk Vol.3

Brace yourself, True Believer, Hulk is smashing his way into another marvelous monster-sized Masterworks! The batty bullpen declareth that you’d better hide behind a Hulk-Buster because it’s not a happy Hulk who faces off against the likes of bombastic Boomerang, the android Hulk-Killer and the one and only Abomination in his classic first appearance by Stan “The Man” and Gil Kane! That’s only the warm up, though! The cosmos itself shudders when the strongest man-like being in the Marvel U. goes toe-to-toe with the Silver Surfer, Prince Namor and the Mighty Thor himself!
Grab a crash helmet, bunker down and prepare yourself to be Hulk-inued this January!
Collecting TALES TO ASTONISH #80-101 and INCREDIBLE HULK (Vol. 2) #102

New Mangaverse #1

“RINGS OF FATE”
The story they said would never be told! It’s been a dark time since we last saw the Mangaverse. Most of the heroes (both human and mutant) have been driven underground. Nick Fury has vanished, leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. to fall into ruin. And now—someone’s killing super heroes! Join writer C.B. Cebulski (writer and consultant on the original Mangaverse comics) and artist Tommy Ohtsuka (from the super-popular manga and animé series Slayers and Rescue Angels) for five issues of nonstop action! Whether you’re a fan of the original Mangaverse series, or just a fan of exciting comics—the New Mangaverse is the place to be!

Punisher Vs. Bullseye #3

“Massacre on 34th Street”: Marvel’s top two relentless psychopaths square off – and pity the fool who gets between them. Like, say, mobster Nico Patrillo, who’s sprawled on the floor of a five-ton city bus that’s careening down Sixth Avenue, with Bullseye behind the wheel, the Punisher in hot pursuit, and virtually the entire NYPD converging on them all. This is gonna hurt.

Runaways #12

Good-bye, New York City! It’s the stunning conclusion to East Coast/West Coast, as the Runaways finally come face-to-face with the New Avengers AND the mystery villain who framed Cloak and attacked Dagger. See why Entertainment Weekly considers this series a MUST!

Sentinel Squad O*n*e #1

A DECIMATION tie-in! Discover the origin of the Sentinel Squad! How did they come together and become the elite group of soldiers to pilot the Sentinels that have made their presence known at the Xavier Institute?

Spider-girl Vol. 5: Endgame

The daughter of Spider-Man vs. the son of Wolverine! And that’s only one of the fights Spider-Girl faces when her deadliest enemies join forces as the Savage Six (or is it Seven?)! But even with the help of rival/critic heroes like Darkdevil and the Buzz, can she deal with the sudden loss of her super-powers? Featuring A-Next, the Fantastic Five and more! Collects SPIDER-GIRL #22-27.

Spider-woman: Origin #2

The epic mini-series continues! Young Jessica Drew’s life takes a scary turn as she joins forces with shadowy Hydra, a terrorist organization bent on world domination! Eisner Award-winning scribe Brian Michael Bendis (NEW AVENGERS) and red-hot Marvel newcomer Brian Reed (ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN video game) join forces with the fantastic visuals of The Luna Brothers (ULTRA, GIRLS) to continue the spine-tingling saga of Spider-Woman’s early years!

Uncanny X-men #468

“GREY’S END”
DECIMATION Tie-In!
Marvel Girl’s entire family has been placed on the intergalactic wanted list! The X-Men are the only thing that stands between the Greys and their extraterrestrial executioners! Part 2 (of 3)

Weapon X: Days Of Future Now

Weapon X is back! The War of the Programs is over; now, Director Malcolm Colcord is ready to take his plans to the next level! It’s the Weapon X you love — only now, all bets are off. Witness the beginning of the end of Frank Tieri’s Weapon X saga! Starring Agent Zero, Fantomex, Sublime, Chamber and, of course, Wolverine! Collects WEAPON X: DAYS OF FUTURE NOW #1-5.

X-men: Deadly Genesis #3

Everything that could go wrong has and now the X-Men are caught between a bizarre and powerful villain and the U.S. government. Cyclops and Marvel Girl remain in the hands of this mysterious new threat, and elsewhere, in the wreckage of a disaster, Professor X’s long-held secret finally begins to come to light. The white-hot creative team of Ed Brubaker and Trevor Hairsine continue to put the X-Men through the wringer in this special 30th Anniversary event, which also features a back-up tale written by Brubaker and drawn by Pete Woods.

X-men: Kitty Pryde- Shadow & Flame

A deadly mystery draws Kitty Pryde and her fire-breathing friend Lockheed from ASTONISHING X-MEN to the shores of Japan. Ninjas and dragons will be the least of their worries! Featuring art by legendary X-Men illustrator Paul Smith and written by Age of Apocalypse scribe Akira Yoshida!

X-statix Presents: Dead Girl #1

It’s hard to keep a good girl down…especially when she’s Dead! That’s right, True Believers, hold onto you’re freaking hats! After a brief hiatus caused by their, ahem, deaths, everyone’s favorite mutants are back! And this time, they’re bringing a host of…questions with them. Like why do some heroes and villains keep on dying, only to return from the dead? And why do other heroes and villains bite the bullet, only to remain dead? Who decides on this craziness? Is it some karmic wheel in the sky? Some fickle finger of fate? Or is it just some guy in the marketing department? Well, one such deceased villain, named The Pitiful One, is going to find out. When the Pitiful One decides that he’s tired of being dead, he assembles a posse of Marvel’s deadest villains to attack the world of the living. And it’s up to Doctor Strange to stop him and his evil cohorts—but he needs help from…well, you know. With Kraven the Hunter, Tike Alicar, and a few other surprise, dead guests.

ACTION COMICS #835

Livewire, the shocking villain from Superman: The Animated Series, jumps into the DCU with deadly results as she gets amped up to take out the Man of Steel!

ALL STAR SUPERMAN #2

The most recognizable icon in comics continues to get the ALL STAR treatment from creative powerhouses Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely! After the startling events of the first issue, Superman retreats with Lois Lane to his Arctic sanctuary. Find out what mystery haunts Superman’s girlfriend as she spends her birthday in the strangest place on earth — the Fortress of Solitude!

BATGIRL #72

A mystery in Batgirl’s past that has been building for years is about to be revealed! Who is Batgirl’s mother? Batgirl is about to find out, but her mind will be on other things, as she’s trapped in a life-and-death struggle with her animalistic “brother” Mad Dog! And when we say “life-and-death,” we mean it! No tricks. No jokes. One of these characters will die at the hands of the other!

BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #73

Featuring guest art by Diego Olmos (CATWOMAN)! Hush had better watch his back, because the Joker has returned looking for revenge! When last we saw him, the Clown Prince of Crime had been beaten by Hush, barely escaping with his life. Now he’s back, and he has the upper hand!

BIRDS OF PREY #90

Calculator’s quest to unmask Oracle turns super-deadly as Deathstroke joins the hunt!

DC UNIVERSE: THE STORIES OF ALAN MOORE

Don’t miss this exhaustive collection featuring the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes as interpreted by one of the most acclaimed authors in comics! The work of Alan Moore (WATCHMEN, V FOR VENDETTA, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN) in the DCU during the 1980s is considered a benchmark for great stories with fresh approaches to iconic characters. Collected in this volume are all of Moore’s Superman and Batman stories, including the long out-of-print “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” as well as, for the first time in trade paperback, BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE (illustrated by Brian Bolland, who provides a new cover).

This volume — which no comics fan should be without — collects stories from ACTION COMICS #583, BATMAN ANNUAL #11, BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE, DC COMICS PRESENTS #85, DETECTIVE COMICS #549-550, GREEN LANTERN #188, THE OMEGA MEN #26-27, SECRET ORIGINS #10, SUPERMAN #423, TALES OF THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS ANNUAL #2 & 3, SUPERMAN ANNUAL #11 and VIGILANTE #17-18.

THE FLASH #230

Vandal Savage may be successful in his ambition to bring about the end of mankind’s days on planet Earth. Can Wally West save him, or are these his final days as well?

THE FLASH: ROGUE WAR

A new volume collecting THE FLASH #1/2, 212 and 218-225! The brewing contest between the original rogues gallery and the newest rogues ignites into a conflagration that may result in the destruction of Keystone City and the death of the Scarlet Speedster!

GREEN LANTERN CORPS: RECHARGE #4 (OF 5)

On the run for their lives in the forbidden Vega System, the Lanterns discover a secret that threatens the future of Oa!

HI HI PUFFY AMIYUMI SPECIAL

Turn two real-life Japanese pop stars into hypercool cartoon characters, and you’ve got pure rock ‘n’ roll adventure! The hilarious comics debut of the hit Cartoon Network show features bandmates and best friends Ami and Yumi as they cope with magic guitars, space aliens and their greedy manager Kaz in this fun-packed one-shot!

INFINITE CRISIS #4 (OF 7)

The Crisis continues to explode across the DCU as a great power is unleashed. But whose side is it on? Witness a shocking confrontation between Batman and Nightwing, a vicious battle that threatens to tear the heroes of the DCU further apart, and a startling change to the recently deceased. Plus, guest appearances by more characters than we can list!

JSA CLASSIFIED #7

Concluding the 3-part “Honor Among Thieves!” A flurry of betrayals, an overwhelming show of force, and the loss of a teammate threaten all hope the Injustice Society might have of saving their friend and their own skins!

THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #13

The dramatic endgame of the intergalactic invasion leads the team to the Fifth Dimension where Lemnos and Terror Firma make a final, deadly stand!

MANHUNTER #18

An old foe returns to settle the score with Manhunter — and this time Phobia’s got love on her side. The doctor is in…

NIGHTWING #116

The full scope of Deathstroke’s fury is revealed! Dick Grayson has been “on the inside” for a long time, but to what end? Who’s watching whom? And who will pay the price when lives are on the line? You simply can’t miss the explosive secrets revealed in this issue!

SEVEN SOLDIERS: MISTER MIRACLE #3 (OF 4)

There’s a new Super Escape Artist in town! Baron Bedlam is here to steal Mister Miracle’s thunder with a death-defying act that must be seen to be believed! What is the secret of the Living Waveform? Who are the Plastic People? Shilo Norman faces the dark night of the soul when he finally confronts Dark Side! With the most shocking conclusion you will see in a comic this year, you must not miss MISTER MIRACLE #3!

SGT. ROCK: THE PROPHECY #1 (OF 6)

Comics legend Joe Kubert returns to DC’s legendary unit in the all-new 6-issue miniseries SGT. ROCK: THE PROPHECY, based on a true story!

From North Africa to the Rhine, Sgt. Rock and the combat-happy Joes of Easy Company have faced insurmountable odds thrown at them by the Axis powers and lived to tell the tale. But when they find themselves caught in the No Man’s Land of the Balkans searching for a religious prize that could ultimately decide the outcome of WWII, have our heroes finally been given a mission that will stop them in their tracks?

It’s 1943, and World War II has reached fever pitch. Somewhere deep within a smoldering, war-torn village in Nazi-occupied Lithuania hides a secret treasure that must be found and returned to the U.S. — unharmed — by any means necessary.

It’s up to the trusted G.I.s of Easy to save the day. But once they discover what the “prize” really is, will they be able to follow through with the mission? More important, will they
want to?

Join Rock, Ice Cream Soldier, Bulldozer, Little Sure Shot and the rest of Easy this month for this hard-hitting and provocative tale told as only Joe Kubert could deliver it!

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: GREEN ARROW VOL. 1

The Emerald Archer’s Silver Age adventures get the spotlight! This volume reprints stories from ADVENTURE COMICS #250-266, 268-269, THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #50, 71, 85, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #4, and WORLD’S FINEST #95-140. Along with his sidekick Speedy, see Green Arrow take on all manner of crime in Star City!

TEEN TITANS/OUTSIDERS: INSIDERS

An amazing new volume collecting TEEN TITANS #24-26 and OUTSIDERS #24, 25 and 28! When Nightwing and Speedy figure out there’s a traitor in their midst, secrets come to the fore, including Superboy’s ultimate corruption by his genetic father, Lex Luthor!

The next time you take a trip in to space, and the signal goes dead on your Virgin Mobile phone, perhaps you could open up your Virgin Comic.
Virgin Comics is the latest Virgin venture, as announced by Sir Richard Branson.

Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Books Limited today announced a new entertainment partnership with worldrenowned author Deepak Chopra, acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and South Asia’s leading publisher of comic magazines, Gotham Entertainment Group LLC . The partnership will launch two new Virgin branded companies, Virgin Comics LLC , based in NYC and Virgin Animation Private Limited , based in Bangalore , India , focused on creating original comic books and character properties for a global audience.

The Company believes that in the next decade, Asia will become one of the largest producers, as well as the largest consumers, of entertainment products. Virgin Comics intends to look to Asia, and India in particular, as both a growing market for consumers of entertainment products and also a source for unique, innovative content to be brought to the world in comics and licensing into movies, animation, toys, video games and consumer products.

The images on the site are fairly cool, but not really my style. I highly doubt I’ll be interested in picking up any Virgin Comics.

You would think that after bombs such as Daredevil and Electra Marvel would be slowing down production of movies based on their comic books. However according to Marvel’s 2005 third quarter results we can expect plenty more bombs from the company who needs to concentrate on maintaining a higher level of comic books, rather than a higher level of cash in their giant money bin.

In 2006 we can expect at least 3 financial disasters to be played out on the big screen:

X-Men 3

May 26, 2006 (Currently filming): This will surely be the worst of the X-Men trilogy. Of course if I were a positive person I would say it has the potential of being the best: new director, new characters, new writers. But I doubt this is going to do X-Men 3 any good. After all the people lined up for production of this flick aren’t the cream of the crop. You can read my full rant on the matter if you’d like.

Ghost Rider

July 24, 2006 (filming completed): A lesser known character, Ghost Rider has the potential to be rather intereseting, but will no doubt crash and burn (big pun intended).

The Punisher 2

Fall 2006: There was a Punisher 1?? No seriously, I can’t believe Lions Gate and Marvel would waste their time on this one.

Next year there are 2 movies definitely slotted for a release:

Spider-Man 3

May 4, 2007: I know a lot of people are most likely looking forward to this movie. I am not one of them. The first Spider-Man was great, despite changing various aspects of the story from that of the comic book. The second movie was a disaster in my mind. The scenes of Peter Parker’s happy fun-time walk to school after losing his powers destroyed any seriousness the movie had attempted to build… or was it the elevator scene that ruined it? Or perhaps the fact that Doc Oc had the freakin’ sun in his lab?!

Fantastic Four 2

July 4, 2007: The first movie was terrible… one of the worst Marvel movies ever made. I can’t imagine what warrants a second try.

More movies that are in the pipeline, but don’t have release dates yet include the following:

Silver Surfer

I’m actually looking forward to this one. Silver Surfer is a character with a lot of depth and could make for a very interesting movie. The problem is Galactus will undoubtedly be computer generated and end up attacking New York or Tokyo.

Wolverine

Yep, Wolverine… an actual full length movie dedicated to the most over-used X-Men character. Count me out for this one.

Deathlok

You’re kidding, right? A Deathlok movie? Well, why not. After all they’re planning on making…

Black Widow

This should be released as a double feature along side Deathlok at select drive-in theaters. That way people could at least make out during them rather than just fall asleep or walk out.

Hulk 2

Because the first one was such a success?

Namor

This could be cool if it’s done correctly… but it won’t be. There will most likely be some kind of Green Peace sponsored message behind the over all theme of the movie.

Iron Man

Now this will be a good movie, provided they set it up the same way the original story was set up: in the vietnam war. Iron Man is a cool character with a cool theme. Just don’t screw it up, Marvel!

Thor

This could really go either way. At first though Thor sounds like a great idea, but I just can’t get the image to the left out of my mind. If it goes the way of the 70’s it’s doomed to failure.

The list above, according to Marvel is only in part, which means there could be plenty more chances to waste your money on box office flops. People wonder why the movie industry is faltering. They blame it on pirating and big screen TVs. Before pointing the finger Holywood needs to look in the mirror. Let’s get less sequels and more innovative storylines. Just because a few comic book movies were a success (Batman Begins, Spider-Man 1) doesn’t mean that you should run out making movies out of obscure characters that no one cares about.

A while back Bill, Travis and I sat down to record our fifth podcast. It was a nightmare from the beginning.

We had the bright idea of putting Travis (pictured above) in charge of the show as the host. The problem is, Travis isn’t too talkative, to say the least. He also doesn’t know much about comic books because he rarely (if ever) reads them.

This was never meant to escape my computer, however after giving it another listen it’s actually pretty funny.

Also, be sure to take a few minutes and fill out our listener survey The site featuring this survey is no longer active.

Listen to the Lost Podcast via Fruitcast.com.

Although I am enjoying the Infinite Crisis events, I’m getting tired of the way DC is doing the crossovers. Sometimes the problems can be blamed on writing, other times it’s due to the release dates.

For instance, in Aquaman #37 we find out that Atlantis is destroyed by the specter. However Infinite Crisis #3 opens by showing the battle for Atlantis on the first few pages, and the Specter bursting out of the water. A teaser that should lead in to Aquaman #37. The problem is, Aquaman #36 was released at the beginning of the month.

Directly following the Atlantis battle, and throughout the issue we witness Wonder Woman’s battle at Paradise Island. Eventually the battle ends with the amazons retreat and Paradise Island being transported away. The month after the Infinite Crisis release, Wonder Woman #224 was released, which shows the battle in more detail… and ends with the retreat of the Amazons and the transportation of Paradise Island. Since Wonder Woman #224 has the identical ending as was shown in Infinite Crisis, why bother putting it in Infinite Crisis at all? I feel completely ripped off.

On the other hand, Superman #224 leads directly in to the Infinite Crisis comic by showing Luthor’s journey in to Alaska and then his findings in Infinite Crisis #3. Well done. If you are going to write a cross over or a tie-in, then do so. Don’t just write a re-telling. And if your cross over takes the brief scenes shown in Infinite Crisis a step further, then please release it after Infinite Crisis is released.

Because of the afore mentioned problems the crossovers can feel a little disjointed and confusing. It also gets frustrating to map out the correct order in which to read your comics only to discover that you’ve gone about it all wrong.

Anyone who reads comic books knows that death is not the end of the road, but simply a short break before your triumphant return to fighting evil. Loads of characters have been seemingly (or actually) killed off, only to return at a later date, much to the shock and awe of their unsuspecting comrades and enemies.

Superman fell at the hands of Doomsday, and Doomsday at the hands of Superman in 1993… each of whom returned several months later… where Doomsday died again. Doomsday returned and seemingly died around four times… the last of which Superman died again, but this time in the future where Doomsday (this time a highly intelligent hero) is given the chance to go back and save Superman… a chance he takes and Superman returns to life again.

In X-Men, the mutant Colossus gave his life to activate a cure for the Legacy virus… but had his body abducted by an alien named Ord and was revived. He recently made his return to comics.

Cypher and Warlock both died. Warlock was eventually brought back to life… with Cypher’s memory.

And the list goes on and on: Green Arrow, Jason Todd (Robin) and Charles Xavier have all been dead… and have all returned.

It’s not that surprising that comic creators can’t pull the trigger on their beloved characters once and for all. How could they leave their creation (aka: money maker) stiff in the ground? I just want to know why other characters are shocked when another character returns from the dead. It’s a common occurrence that should be expected at this point.
I’m also curious as to whether or not the writers actually expect the audience to be surprised to see someone return from the dead. Killing a character off feels like a cheap marketing ploy at this point. Everyone runs out to grab the death issue, the following grieving issues, and the subsequent return to life issue.

Although I believe that some writers actually intend to let their characters rest in peace. The problem lies in new writers taking the reigns and reviving that lost character, or in the case of DC and Marvel comics, an executive decision is sometimes made to resurrect a fallen character.

In the future I would like to see the dead stay in their home. No more cheap death / resurrection thrills. It has become an insult to the reader’s intelligence, and I for one am sick of it.