2006-02-13 WELCOME BACK MY FRIENDS, TO THE SHOW THAT NEVER ENDS
So glad you could attend, come inside, come inside.
Here we are. Welcome to the brand-spanking-new Comics 101.com. Thanks for making the trip over to the new digs. We’ve been getting tons of mail about the move, so while we’re still getting unpacked, I thought we’d take this week to answer a few Frequently Asked Questions about the All-New/All-Different But Mostly the Same Comics 101.
What’s going to happen to the Archives?
As you should be able to see by now, the Archives are staying right here with the column where they belong. If all the past columns aren’t here by now, they soon will be.
So what’s the real story about why you guys left Movie Poop Shoot? There had to be a real scoop, so what’s the inside dirt?
Sorry, there’s no dirt to be found here. Kevin Smith hosted us honorably and well for more than three years over at the Poop, and we remain grateful for the experience.
Are things going to change with the new site and all?
For the most part, absolutely not. All of the columnists will be doing exactly what they’ve always done with their work: essentially, whatever they want, with the same level of insight and skill behind the keyboard that you have come to expect.
Just as in the past, we’ll be trying to keep to a daily update schedule, but since we won’t be doing news here, that won’t be quite as ironclad as it used to be. Regardless, you can count on at least 3 to 4 new columns in a week, with the current schedule being as follows:
Mondays: Chris Ryall’s TV RECOMMENDATIONS Tuesdays: Joshua Jabcuga’s SQUIB CENTRAL Wednesdays: my COMICS 101 Thursdays: Scott Bowden’s KENTUCKY FRIED RASSLIN’ Fridays: The COMICS 101 MAILBAG and Chris Ryall’s ONE HAND CLAPPING
Well, then, what’s new?
Most obviously, our surroundings. And let’s hear it for our designer and Webmaster extraordinaire, Ron Twoeagle, who has labored long into the night to create this site practically from thin air under incredible time constraints. We’re still putting a fresh coat of paint on the joint, so expect to see some more minor changes as time goes on.
Also new around these parts is our new partner Earth-2 Comics, who stepped up immediately when the word came out that Comics 101 was looking for a new home, and we couldn’t be happier with the new arrangement. And this is the best part for you, the reader – the one thing that was always missing from the Comics 101 experience. I’ve gotten hundreds of e-mails in the last three years from folks who don’t have a quality comic shop in their hometown, and were looking for someplace to pick up the books we discuss here in the column, whether it’s brand-new graphic novels or collections or hard-to-find back issues. Now, if something in the column intrigues you and you’re looking to pick it up, you can click right over to our sister site and place an order, from a dependable, honest retailer (and one whom I can vouch for, having dealt with Earth-2 for all my comics and action-figure ordering for over three years). Not only that, but buying comics and toys through Earth-2 helps support Comics 101.com as well, so really, everybody wins.
(And just as a side note: readers can rest assured that, despite our new partnership with Earth-2, Comics 101 will remain completely independent from an editorial standpoint. You won’t see me recommending books that I don’t like, in order to move some product and sell some books. The goal of the column remains the same: to spread the word about good books out there, both old and new, and get more people reading comics. Now I can just send people in the right direction to buy from a retailer I know they can trust.)
What can we expect to see next?
Well, starting next week, we’ll be getting right back to our discussion of the Grant Morrison JLA run, and that should keep us busy for at least three or four weeks. In the months to come, you can expect our long-awaited look at some all-time classics like WATCHMEN and KINGDOM COME, some coverage of non-cape-and-tights material like UNCLE SCROOGE and CEREBUS, and we’ll finally get around to the long-promised discussion of James Robinson and Tony Harris’ sublime STARMAN series. We’ll probably also dip our toes in more current waters once things resolve themselves in the wake of INFINITE CRISIS. We’ll also head back to the Video Vault with a look at the successors to BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES: SUPERMAN, BATMAN BEYOND, JUSTICE LEAGUE and JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED. And finally, since those topics are otherwise undiscussed here in our new surroundings, I may devote a bit more time to action-figures and video games (at least those with a comic-book connection).
And finally, since the crushing weight of daily newsgathering for the Poop is now off my shoulders, I may find myself with a bit more free time to discuss some briefer topics every now and then, which will be appearing under the none-too-original moniker of …
ODDS AND ENDS
Head and Shoulders Above the Rest
So I was at Toys R Us this weekend and spotted the new batch of X-Men action figures from Toy Biz. After disappointing sales for the toys from the last X-MEN movie, (a situation I chalk up to poor distribution and character selection – important characters like Iceman, Rogue and Magneto were barely available, while the shelves were glutted with Wolverine after Wolverine) Toy Biz instead decided to release several new series of action figures with a more comic-book-influenced look, featuring the characters expected to play a large role in this summer’s X3. For the most part, I’d expected to pass on these, most of which are a little more kid-oriented with lots of action features and odd costumes like “Ninja Wolverine” and “Quartz Armor Cyclops.”
However, the “Stealth Beast” figure caught my eye, when I realized that Toy Biz had unexpectedly included a variant head-sculpt. There’s the traditional Beast likeness, which is closer to what we’ll be seeing in the movie, and a second version with Beast’s new “lion face,” which he’s been sporting since Grant Morrison did him over in his NEW X-MEN run a few years back. While I’ve never been a fan of this look and much prefer the classic Beast, this is probably the only time this version will ever see the inside of a toy store, so any Morrison fans out there might want to grab this one up.
And speaking of Toy Biz, 2006 may be their last year in charge of the Marvel toy license before Hasbro takes over in ’07, but by god, they’re going out in style, if this week’s showing at the International Toy Fair in New York is any indication. With an absolutely amazing array of characters scheduled for production, including obscure gems like Baron Zemo, MODOK, Jigsaw, Baron Von Strucker, Beta Ray Bill and a whole mess of Avengers, including Ant-Man, Wasp, Giant-Man, Falcon, Warbird, Moon Knight, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman and Sentry, it almost seems as if Toy Biz is looking to go for a “scorched-earth” policy, exhausting the Marvel market before Hasbro takes over in ’07. You can check out all the new Marvel figures for yourself over at www.figures.com. It’s gonna be an expensive year…
It’s About Time
After months and months of waiting, Cartoon Network finally began showing new episodes of JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED, despite having new episodes in the can for quite some time, and bewilderingly refusing to run any of the JUSTICE LEAGUE episodes in reruns. It’s almost as if they don’t want that show to succeed.
Regardless, last week’s episode, “Flash and Substance,” gave us a long-overdue Flash spotlight, as Wally’s celebration at Central City’s new Flash Museum is interrupted by an attack by his Rogues’ Gallery. It was a fun if not terribly noteworthy offering, with lots of eye candy for the hardcore DC fan, including a visit to the local supervillain watering hole, with everyone from Abra Kadabra to Mr. Alchemy in attendance. And, was it just me, or did they really go out of their way to make the Trickster resemble Mark Hamill (whom it was good to have back on the air, since his Joker can no longer appear due to the embargo on Batman characters). Next week, “Dead Reckoning,” featuring the animated debut of Arnold Drake and Carmine Infantino’s Deadman. Don’t miss it.
Scott Tipton is enjoying his new HQ immensely. If you’ve got questions about comics, or thoughts and feedback about the new site, please send ‘em to stipton99x@comics101.com.
