Previews Blogging: October Edition

Every month, I go through Diamond's Previews to figure out what I want. From now until, I will blog about what I see that catches my attention. Keep in mind that most of my comic buying consist of #1s, collected editions (hardcovers or TPBs), or OGN (original graphic novels). I buy #1s to see if it's something that I will get later in a collected edition

Marvel
Because Marvel is still outside of the main Previews book, I'll start with them.

Page 8: Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield?
32 pages for $4 and it's a one shot. It's pricier than I care to spend, and I'm sure it will be collected someone, so I'll pass. However, my money's on Rogers returning as Captain America and Bucky soldiering on in another non-Winter Soldier identity. Maybe Marvel will revive the Captain and let Bucky run around with that nifty blank shield that Rogers used during the era after Captain America #332.

Page 9: Halo: Blood Line #1
I have no interest in Halo, however it's worthy to note that Bendis and Maleev are no longer on this title.

Page 21: Spider-Man and the Secret Wars #1
Marvel seems intent on mining past events with the Spidey Clone title and now this Secret Wars book. I'm not sure there is much interest in revisiting these events, but it's nice to see Patrick Scherberger art again.

Page 25: Daredevil #503
I always happy to see de la Torre on another Marvel book. I think he's an excellent talent and he's made a great (yet quiet) progression from Ms. Marvel to Iron Man and now to Daredevil. I hear that Quesada is quite the fan of de la Torre's work and it's a shame that Quesada doesn't hype it more often.

For that don't know de la Torre did some early work for Warmageddon that directly led to his first Marvel work.

Page 29 Dr: Voodoo: The Origin of Jericho Drumm
With the Dr. Voodoo series on #3, it seems like an odd time to put a reprint of his origins on the market. I think a better time would have been either a week or 2 before his new series hit the shelves would have been a better time with maybe a preview of the upcoming series to whet the appetite. 64 pages for $5, it's too bad a deal.

Page 30: Black Widow & the Marvel Girls #1 and #2
I'm not sure who this book is marketed towards, but I HATE new books that have covers by any one other than the interior artists when they don't show the interior pages. DC usually shows an excerpt of the interior pages, but Marvel is becoming notorious for not showing the interiors. #1 is not a problem, it's #2 (of 4 issues) that drawn by a different artist. I'm also left wondering why the initial artist different complete all 4 issues of the story.

Page 43: Origins of the Siege
This is noted as free to the retailers that distribute it on the 30 Dec 2009. What about the retailers that don't? Due to holidays and the UPS delivery schedules, Diamond is unable to deliver books that last week of the year, I suspect that this book will ship early and retailers will be asked to honor the street date. Those the break the street date may find themselves billed at normal costs for this book.

Page 53: What If? Secret Invasion
I worked with artist, Pow Rodrix, on Fist of Justice #5. Shortly after that he was picked up by Marvel. I assume this is his first Marvel project. I hope to see more of him in the future.

Page 64: X-Force Annual #1
This is written by Robert Kirkman. I thought he gave up on work-for-hire comics after his creator-owned manifesto. Maybe this is an inventory story that he wrote or maybe it's be waiting this long for Pearson and Barberi to draw it. Jason Pearson isn't a creator known for his speed.

Page 80: Ed Hannigan : Covered
There aren't many times when I think Marvel is doing the right thing, but Marvel is stepping up to help Ed Hannigan to cover the cost of his fight against MS. Even at $6 for 48 pages, I gladly support this.

Page 99: Runaways: True Believers Premeire HC
If I didn't already have this in the first hardcover collections of the Runaways (Volumes 1-3), I would be buying it. This is one of the best new superhero series from Marvel and DC.

Page 100: Mini Marvels Ultimate Collection GN-TPB
I think Giarrusso's Mini Marvels are cute and clever. I'm buying this for myself, but I'm sure the kids will enjoy it as well.

Page 108: Fantastic Four: The Master of Doom TPB
After all the hype surrounding Hitch and Millar on FF, they ended with a whimper and they were quickly ushered off stage. I read the first issue of their run and I'm interested in reading the entire run, so I think I'll wait for the hardcover of the entire which Amazon says is coming in February 2010.

And now to the main events... October 2009 Previews!

Dark Horse
Page 23: Hellboy : The Bride of Hell
I'm sure this will be reprinted eventually in the Hellboy Library Editions. However, it's been a while since I've read a new Hellboy story, so I'm slapping down the $3.50 to get this one shot by Mignola and Corben.

Page 24: Conan the Cimmerian : The Weight of the Crown
See the paragraph above? Copy it and replace Hellboy with Conan. Replace Mignola and Corben with Darick Robertson.

Page 26: Empowered
See the paragraph above? Copy it and replace Conan with Empowered . ReplaceDarick Robertson with Adam Warren.

Page 28: Martian Go Home #1
I've been watching the progress of this book on Mike Manley's blog wondering when it would see the light of day. This solicitation of the first issue means that I'm mere months away from the collection of what looks to be a very fun sci-fi mini series.

Page 38: Creepy Archives Volume 6
I eagerly await these Warren magazine collections and wish that someone would honor Vampirella with a similar treatment.


DC Comics
Wow! I went through the entire DC Universe section and not one item caught my fancy. I'm not really interested in Blackest Night and I'm patiently waiting from the Batwoman and Batman and Robin collections.

Page 105: World of Warcraft Special #1
I'm a fan of sword and sorcery and i'm interested in seeing what Pop Mhan will bring artistically to Warcraft.

Page 107: Daytripper #1
I'm not sire what it is about Moon and Ba's story, but for now they ahve me interested enough to check out this first issue.

Page 113: Preacher Book Two HC
I've read and since sold Preacher in single and TPB format. I've been waiting for years for it to be released in HC format, so I eagerly await the release of each book, so I can read this epic once again.

Page 117: The Unwritten Volume 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity TP
I've been hooked on this series since the first issue and have been patiently waiting for this TPB. Now my wait is just a few months away.


Image
Page 144: Tank Girl: Dark Nuggets
Rather than a black and white one-shot for $4. I'd rather see quality reprint collections. $4 seems to be a bit much for a 32-paged black and white book from Image. Maybe at $2.50-$3, i would ahve bought this with no problem.

What's funny is I have a Tanl Girl TPB from the library sitting on my right. I picked it up yesterday and it's the first Tank Girl comic, I've ever read.

Page 160: Savage Dragon #155
What's there not to love about an evil army of Dragon's?

and now everything else in the back of the book!

Page 188: Chimichanga #1 (Albatross Exploding Funny Book)
I glad to see Eric Powell do something outside the Goon. It should be interesting and I wholly support it.

Page 194: Artesia Beseiged #5
Artesia's back and I can't wait to get the new HC (whenever it's released)!

Page 195: Mouse Guard Volume 2: Winter 1152 Black and White Edition
I'm sure this will be just as beautiful as the first volume's black and white edition. However, I think it's a mistake to showcase them here side by side. The most glaring thing is the $50 price different for essentially the same book. Petersen says volume 2 had more vellum overlays, but that was my least favorite part of the first edition, so paying $50 more because it on the second decision is not something I plan to do.

Page 269: Tales of the TMNT #65
I'm working the grays for this issue of tales form the TMNT right now, so make sure you order and buy it as Jamal needs a need computer.


And that's it for this month.

Comic Lettering: How To and How Not To!

Comic book lettering is the art of putting those neat little words that you read into the neat little balloons so that you can read them. It's mostly design and like all design sometimes it's done well and A LOT of the the time it's done poorly. Good lettering should be seen, but not noticed. If something about the lettering or balloons is pulling you away from the story, then the letterer has failed to do his job correctly.

Almost all lettering done today in comics is done digitally using computer fonts. There are 2 major places dedicated to producing high quality comic book related fonts. These 2 places are Comicraft founded by Richard Starkings and Blambot founded by Nate Piekos. Both places provide high quality fonts as well as articles about lettering. Those articles can be augmented by the lettering videos available at NinjaLettering.com. If you still find yourself with questions, then head over to the lettering forum at Digital Webbing. Some of the top letterers working in the current industry can be found at Digital Webbing including (but not limited to) Nate Piekos, Clem Robins, Tom Orzechowski.

Now while we can not all be professional letterers, we can all be better than sub standard letterers. Those you SHOULD NOT listen to are those that offer tutorials for lettering using anything other the Illustrator. While you can use other tools, they are undersuited for the job at hand. If you MUST use those tools, then you should do so mimicking the Illustrator method as much as possible.

If you don't think lettering is that important, then contact me and I'll get my youngest to letter for you. Otherwise, learn to letter well (I did) or hire a letterer (I'm generally available).

PVP Awesomology: Truth in Advertising

Scott Kurtz (of PVP fame) posted the following in his blog :

Image wanted to me to let you know that you’re time to nab a signed and numbered edition is running out. We are only printing 300 of our signed and numbered edition. These come with a full color tip-in sheet signed and numbered by ME. We’ve already sold through half of those editions and that’s not including our offline orders. Both editions are being sold at a reduced price online. These will cost more if you wait for them to hit stores or pick one up at a local retailer or book shop, so act now while you can.

The bold area immediately caught my attention and I immediately went to check out the great pricing. Kurtz is offering the $99.99 AWESOMOLOGY for $85. That's a 15% discount. Of course, there is still shipping which turns out to be $10 to me via the cheapest method. So the $99.99 book would cost me a grand total of $95.00. My saving $5 (5%).

Most comic books shops offer some sort of discount. Even a 5% discount is the same as buying it direct from Scott AND it has the added benefit of supporting a local business.

So much for truth in advertising. If you're a student in Durham, stop by any of the Ultimate Comics stores and you receive an automatic 10% discount. Become a subscriber and you can get a 10-25% discount (based on sales).

Furthermore, all Image collections end up on Amazon. Amazon will most likely give you at least a 10% discount AND free shipping. The Awesomology is very similar to the DC Absolutes (in pricing and size). Amazon offers those at 35%+ discounts AND FREE SHIPPING.

Overstock.com has it for $61.90 with a best online price match guarantee. If you find it anywhere cheaper before you buy it, they will match the price. If you find it cheaper after you buy, they will give you $500 is in store credit.

Tales of Wonder has it for $69.99

As a comic book creator, I think you should support creators directly as much as possible. However as a creator, I'm not going to say something is such a great deal when in fact it's not. Come on, Scott, you can do better.