This is the only time I ever copy and paste the same post year after year (and the way things are going, it may be the only time I post anything). But this is important and some of you may be new to my blog and haven't seen it before.

Alright. It's marathon time at WFMU. For those of you who have not heard, WFMU is the coolest radio station in the world. It's completely free form and completely listener sponsored . Seriously, if there's another station that plays both The Melvins and Tom Jones, I'd like know about it. If you've never listened, check it out:

http://www.wfmu.org/

Cowboy Baby

This is a really great miniseries that wrapped up a few weeks ago. Written and drawn by Geof Darrow, Shaolin Cowboy is one of the best-looking comicbooks to come out in a long time. The first issue of this miniseries has about (I can go look it up, but won't) two pages of prose in very very small type (which is hilarious) and the rest of the series barely has any words at all. In fact, not much happens in the four issues of this series. Decompression is something that I usually complain about, but the art in this is so detailed and the story is presented in such a unique way that I really enjoyed and loved every panel. If you missed it, it shouldn't be too hard to find. Check it out.

Against My Better Judgement

I'll start the year off with a column that I would like to call popular, but would be a bit of a stretch even by the largest amount of the imagination. Although I do know that one of my friends likes it a lot and would like more. Maybe I'll get back on track with more regular updates. I don't know. Here we go.

Justice League 3000

I gave this the benefit of the doubt because I loved everything that Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis have collaboratively written since 1987.

This goes against my better judgement because it is simply awful after two issues, and I do not buy awful books.  Yet I'm continuing to buy this for as long as I can stand. The reason being that I don't think it's Giffen's and DeMatteis's fault that this is bad. There are obviously editorial changes since longtime collaborator Kevin Maguire was fired from the book last minute. And you can tell that a lot of the first issue was written for him. There's a two page spread of 18 panels (not sure if that technically qualifies as a spread) of dialog and facial closeups. 

Also the plot should be a lot funnier: The wonder twins (Terri and Terry) clone the Justice League with DNA stolen from Cadmus. Although they fuck up and the clones are brain damaged and their powers don't all work right. Also, Batman and Superman bicker a lot.

This is classic Giffen and DeMatteis humor and it all falls way flat. What keeps me holding out hope is that DC did not want both Justice League and Justice League Europe to be humorous, and within a year or two of each series, they turned full vaudeville and bwa ha ha. I'm also happy to see that Howard Porter is not penciling issue five. He's still on the series as far as I know but at least he can't do more than four consecutive issues even with lead time. I'm not sure what kind of terms Magure left under, but maybe they'll get him back on at some point.

What you should get instead if you don't want to wait it out like me (And you don't have to. I'll update if JL3000 gets better) is Larfleeze.  Giffen and DeMatteis with Scott Kollins (and sometimes Giffen) on art. Though not their best work, this is classic dialog and snappy humor. This is my favorite DC book right now (although I am only reading three and I hate one of them). Very enjoyable.

Never Forget

Man I Needed TV

I covered a lot of the Marvel and DC relaunches when they started. I haven't really mentioned any of these books lately (and haven't really mentioned much of anything at all here recently for that matter). I've narrowed my Marvel list down to three books (maybe one by the end of the year), but there is one book that I love month after month. Mark Waid is absolutely killing it on Hulk.

Let me tell you how awesome this title is: The new arc is a time travel arc where the timestream is fucked up and the only one strong enough to pull it together is the Hulk. So each issue of this arc puts the Hulk in a different time period. I open this issue up, and the first page introduces three classic Western Marvel characters. I turn the page to see a two-page splash of the Hulk punching a dinosaur in the face. And not just any pussy dinosaur but a T-Rex. If you want anything more from a comicbook than this, you're a dick.

JMS

 I've never really been a fan of Straczynski, but I guess I just never read the right stuff. I never read Midnight Nation or Rising Stars, his early creator owned books. I read a few sparse issues of various corporate superhero books and wasn't that impressed. Recently, he returned to his creator owned Joe's Comics imprint to go back to original content. I mentioned a couple months back that I tried out Ten Grand because of artist Ben Templesmith and really enjoyed it. So I figured, why not try out his new one Sidekick with artist Tom Mandrake. I might like this one even better.

I was a little skeptical on this because it's a superhero book. I've got a stigma. They're overdone and really hold back comic books as an art form. I read some Marvel and DC books, but that's more because I've already accepted those characters. I'm not saying that those are poorly written, (some are) because there are some good ones, but it's nothing new. And I'm not saying that people aren't doing innovative things with an old genre. Joe Casey in particular. Although I wasn't impressed by Sex or The Bounce, Catalyst Comix is pretty good and Butcher Baker, the Righteous Maker and Godland (who's final issue was just solicited) were spectacular.

Anyway, back on track, Sidekick takes place in a world with Superheroes but reads more like a story of a washed up child star. There are some pretty dark and uncomfortable scenes. Check it out.

The Melvins cover

Nov 5th

Enjoy

Boston Weak

I know this happened over a week ago, but I haven't had time and I wasn't going to not put this up.

Also, it's been a while since I've had an excuse to post this abortion. Enjoy:

Horns

One thing I'm realizing about writing reviews for every book that I read is that you all are going to see how narrow my reading list has become. 99% of the books I read are either about monsters or criminals. If werewolf noir was a genre, it would be all I'd ever read.

Anyway, I've never read anything by Joe Hill but have heard nothing but amazing things about Lock and Key. Maybe now that that's finishing up, I'll read it when I'm done with Scalped. I figured I'd start with a non-graphic novel. Horns is really good. The basic premise is that a guy wakes up hungover with a pair of devil horns growing out of his head, and everyone he encounters acts pretty fucked up. It's funny but also dark and uncomfortable. I liked it a lot. Check it out.

So I guess some studio musician who worked with Weird Al died.