the vynsane asylum

Mr Scootles came in the mail today. Though they're fast and cheap, I wouldn't recommend B&N if you're anal about condition. I'm not, so I'll keep using them.

I'll try to get through that and the first volume of Invincible I've had for a while, and let you know what I think of both within a day or so.

God damn you, vyn, this is an ongoing!

Pretty good book. The story is unique, the artwork is strong, the layouts are pretty freaking spectacular given that he's not exactly a household name. And it's quite impressive that he did the lettering by hand. The only incredibly minor things I could say that aren't positive are there are a few spelling errors, but actually fewer than I've seen in some big-name publisher books that have much larger editorial budgets. At first, I thought the story should've been longer than it was, but realized on the last page that this is setting up something further, so more than five issues would've been a hella long origin story to not even have the main character out of Hell yet.

D'ya know when (hopefully not if) further volumes are coming?

hahaha... it's not really an ongoing, though. it's a complete story. i don't have any idea when he's going to do the next chapter.

EDIT: i forgot to list yesterday's books...

in the store
Jack of Fables 33
Ex Machina 41
Buck Rogers 0 (i dunno... it really seems like it's trying to be 'fear agent' which i wouldn't have known unless i had begun reading 'fear agent' last month or so...)
Invincible 61(godDAMN this book is awesome. millions dead, that's all i'll say.)
Savage Dragon 147
Kick-Ass 6

in the mail
Amazing Spider-man 592
Daredevil 118
Mighty Avengers 24
New Avengers 52

anyway, glad you dug scootles. for his first-ever publication, i think it's really spectacular. he also has another book, 'Vincent'. you can see more at his site, http://www.hcnoel.com

Last Week:
The Punisher #4 - I'm loving the homages to classic Punisher covers.
Incognito #3 - Just like Criminal, I love it. And this series will probably read better collected or in one sitting (like Criminal).

This week:
Kick-Ass #6
Daredevil #118
And 5 of DC's "After Watchmen" set:
-Saga of the Swamp Thing #21
-Preacher #1
-Identity Crisis #1
-Planetary #1
-Transmetropolitan #1
Even though none of the ones I've read haven't grabbed me, you can't go wrong for 1 a pop.

Purchased today (April 24):

Marvels: Eye of the Camera 5
GI Joe/Cobra 2
GI Joe 2 (had been missed previously), 4
Xmen Legacy 223
Wolverine Origins 35
Uncanny 508
Thor 601
New Avengers 52
Mighty Avengers 24
KickAss 6
Hulk 11
DD 118
Cap 49
Spidey 590,591 592

vynsane wrote:also, he's going to be launching a new weekly webcomic sometime in april, apparently.

which i totally forgot about, and he did:

http://www.taranormal.com/?cat=1

also, wow... haven't updated in a while...

April 29:
Literals 1
Masquerade 3
Astounding Wolf-man 15
Madman Atomic Comics 15
Amazing Spider-man Family 5
Avengers/Invaders 10
Dark Avengers 4
War Machine 5

May 6:
Astro City: The Dark Age Book 3 #1
Amazing Spider-man 593
Daredevil Noir 2
Invincible Iron Man 13
Destroyer 2
Atomic Robo and the Shadow From Beyond Time 1

May 13
BPRD: The Black Goddess 5
Umbrella Academy: Dallas 6
Fables 84
Savage Dragon 148 (even though i already got it on FCBD... this one has the letters' column and the backup story.)
The Walking Dead 61

May 20
The Incredibles: Family Matters 2
Cars: The Rookie 2
Jack of Fables 34
Ex Machina 42
The Black Terror 4
Invincible 62
Olympus 1
Amazing Spider-man Family 6
Amazing Spider-man 594


also, regarding FCBD, i have to say: the guys at 'red 5 comics' (yes, named after luke skywalker's call sign, because the two founders of the company used to work for lucasfilm) are REALLY cool. while i didn't get to go to FCBD this year as i was working on the house, my wife went for me to the store i used to go to on long island, since she was there for a baby shower. well, they didn't order the 'atomic robo' FCBD issue. that was the one i was looking forward to the most! they put the pages online at http://www.red5comics.com a few days later, so i got to read it, but i really felt like it was a hole in my collection, so i emailed them hoping they might have some leftovers for just such an occasion. i told them my sob story and that if at all possible, if i could receive two copies as my daughter was like 'THAT'S A ROBOT FIGHTING A DRAGON!!!' when i was previewing this year's offerings on FCBD.com - well, they responded within like, an hour and said 'send your address along and we can send you a few copies' - they sent it priority, i got them on monday, and they even threw in the #1 issues of two of their other series, 'neozoic' and 'abyss'!!!

seriously, give them a shot, because they are really cool people and atomic robo kicks all kinds of ass! i haven't had the chance to read the other books they sent, but flipped through them. neozoic is interesting - the comet or asteroid or whatever killed the dinosaurs - well, in their reality it was knocked out of its trajectory by another asteroid, so eventually humans evolved in a world where dinosaurs still exist. 'abyss' is apparently about a super-villain who died or something. the first cover looks like the cover to superman #75, but with the bad guy's cape there instead of the superman one.

DEADPOOL # idk why? cuz i'm a motherlover. and robbie L

May 28th

Literals 2
Starcraft 1
Astounding Wolf-man 16
Amazing Spider-man 595
Avengers/Invaders 11
New Avengers 53
Spider-man: The Short Halloween 1
War Machine 6

June 3
Batman and Robin 1
Astro City The Dark Age Book 3 2
Amazing Spider-man 596
Daredevil Noir 3
Dark Avengers 5
Mighty Avengers 25
Atomic Robo and the Shadow From Beyond Time 2

June 10
BPRD: War on Frogs 3
Fables 85
Buck Rogers 1
Savage Dragon 149
The Walking Dead 62
Amazing Spider-man 597

on a rather astounding side-note, my list for next week is a staggering $46! WTF??? i may have to pare that down a bit... top of the chopping block is 'amazing spider-man family'. at $5 an issue, it's a bit hard to swallow, though it is a rather thick book. i might axe 'dark reign: mister negative' as well, as it's another mini series at $3.99 and i'm more interested in the upcoming 'dark reign: the sinister spider-man' mini (which will also be $3.99...) although my store discount kicked in only $2.58 this week, meaning the rest of the $20 is taken off next week, bringing it down to $28.20 taking into account the two subscription issues coming out as well. i dunno...

well, my math was somehow way off... i also nixed 'amazing spider-man family' which i haven't read a single actual issue of, so at $4.99 just to buy spidey comics that i didn't even read, it became a no-brainer. literally, as i just totally glazed over and forgot to pick it up.

all in all, this week's haul was $40.92 but with the discount i paid $17.52. that was for

Jack of Fables 35 (the penultimate chapter of the 'great fables crossover')
Ex Machina 43
Masquerade 4
Project Superpowers Ch. 2 #0
Invincible 63 (the heartbreaker issue)
Madman Atomic Comics 16
Olympus 2
Dark Reign: Mister Negative 1
Invincible Iron Man 14
Mighty Avengers 26
War Machine 7
Destroyer MAX 3
Incognito 4

so... marvel's biggest week of the year so far in terms of sheer volume of titles released (39), and i bought three of them in the store. wow. that kinda reflects poorly on them.

Literals 3 (chapter the last of 'the great fables crossover' and the 'the literals' mini-series)
Amazing Spider-man 598 (in the mail)
Avengers/Invaders 12 (eh... but now it's over. overall there were some cool parts, but ultimately it was a diversion at best)
Daredevil 119 (in the mail)
Dark Avengers 6 (cool comic, but the cover oversteps misleading into completely incongruous - noh varr isn't even in the book, much less fighting gargan-venom)
Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-man 1 (the first ever mini-series featuring gargan-venom, and the first time ever where he's impersonating the actual spider-man. and the title is great.)
New Avengers 54 (in the mail)

EDIT: also: where the fuck is everyone else in this thread topic!

vynsane wrote:EDIT: also: where the fuck is everyone else in this thread topic!

Waiting for trade paperbacks since the nearest comic shop is 30 minutes away, and the nearest comic shop staffed by actual humans with souls is almost an hour away.

Seriously, man, traditional comics are like traditional newspapers--they'll likely die out in the next ten years, but not because (like everyone seems to think) people don't want them. Comics are just too hard to get for so many people right now thanks to Diamond and the Justice Department.

anarky wrote: Waiting for trade paperbacks since the nearest comic shop is 30 minutes away, and the nearest comic shop staffed by actual humans with souls is almost an hour away.

www.dcbservice.com

Seriously, man, traditional comics are like traditional newspapers--they'll likely die out in the next ten years, but not because (like everyone seems to think) people don't want them. Comics are just too hard to get for so many people right now thanks to Diamond and the Justice Department.

wow... what? i guess i'm spoiled being that midtown comics stocks basically everything that comes out, but really? the justice department? where does that come from?

They're the ones who ruled ten years ago that Diamond was not a monopoly since, although they monopolize the distribution of comic books, they don't have a monopoly on all books. They're the ones who essentially gave Diamond free reign to run the industry into the ground.

DCB looks pretty good, but the shipping is prohibitive for small orders. Also, am I understanding the shipping terms correctly in that there's a $5.95 charge per order, plus a $5.95 charge if you want twice-monthly shipments (as opposed to weekly for $11.95)? That seems like it's got to be a typo.

anarky wrote:They're the ones who ruled ten years ago that Diamond was not a monopoly since, although they monopolize the distribution of comic books, they don't have a monopoly on all books. They're the ones who essentially gave Diamond free reign to run the industry into the ground.

ah... see, as it happened 10 years ago, i didn't think the JD were still actively responsible so much as diamond is for abusing their position.

DCB looks pretty good, but the shipping is prohibitive for small orders. Also, am I understanding the shipping terms correctly in that there's a $5.95 charge per order, plus a $5.95 charge if you want twice-monthly shipments (as opposed to weekly for $11.95)? That seems like it's got to be a typo.

i can't say i've actually used them at all, save for some TPB orders at their satellite site, www.instocktrades.com, which was a fine experience.

could also check out www.heavyink.com