Messages

I see what you mean (Wicked and Divine, Uber, even if I do enjoy those books), though his Darth Vader and Doctor Aphra were I think exceptions. Largely because it's Star Wars and every character had at least as many dimensions as the movies managed.

I think Die might be a little different due to its premise, but we'll see.

I read the first two issues the other day and really enjoyed them. Gillen's stuff is a bit hit and miss for me. I really like Uber and his Star Wars comics but Wicked&Divine and Phonogram don't do it for me. I've always put it down to different musical tastes!

The first two issues of Ennis and Parlov's Punisher: The Platoon are absolutely fantastic. I'm not sure there's been any other writer who gets The Punisher as well as Ennis does. Top notch stuff.

Also recently enjoyed Declan Shalvey and Philip Barrett's Savage Town. Hopefully sales are strong enough that we get a sequel.

That artist on Copperhead 

That Scarlet Traces news is pretty dismaying.

Not because Scarlet Traces isn't wonderful - it is, especially The Great Game - but because what had been a creator-owned series has now been snaffled by a corporation.

I know that not everybody really cares about creator rights, but personally I think it's shocking that something like this can still happen.

Seems clear enough from the press blurb that the creators in question are supportive of this move. If they want to sell it to a corporation, then they can. Like Gaiman with the Angela character.

As for renumbering, I'm agin' it.

Just rename 2000AD to Future Stories & Junk Prog 1. With a space spinner.

[Captain Britain and the Mighty Defenders]

Whoa whoa whoa, hold yer horses. I've been pretty on board with Marvel's big Secret Wars event this summer. Both the main title and it's shedload of ancillary titles are all worth checking out, with Spurrier's Marvel Zombies first issue being a highlight.

But that mischievous Ewing droid just pulled off the biggest of Big Jobs. Has anyone else read Captain Britain and the Mighty Defenders and noticed a few familiar faces?

Hopefully this won't lead to Marvel suing Rebellion in a few years for copyright infringement

[so many]

As much as I love Image these days, I do kind of wish they'd focus a little more on promoting their ongoing titles these days. There are so many new series, it's getting kind of intimidating and overwhelming.

[Finally, I'm hearing rumors that there will be a bit of a delay for "Secret Wars" #4 and it's related titles. Is that true? Can you comment on that at all?]

Just as a quick aside, Hickman's interview today went into some detail about those delays :: http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/hickman-talks-secret-wars-3-battleworlds-key-players

Finally, I'm hearing rumors that there will be a bit of a delay for "Secret Wars" #4 and it's related titles. Is that true? Can you comment on that at all?

Sure, happy to. Esad is cruising through this stuff, but the problem of course is that the first issues needed to be a certain size. So we got a little bit behind at the beginning. The big thing that happened though is that we kind of changed the sequencing of the story. Issue #5 was originally going to be issue #4. So the story changed and we had the flexibility in the schedule to move some books around, and to specifically move issues of "Secret Wars" around.

I think the original plan was two issues the first month. Two issues the next month and two issues the month after that. Then one issue in both the following months. What we did was we stretched it out in the middle because of some stuff that happens in the story, and then we ship the end of it in a more compressed manner.

I believe the other thing that has happened is this is selling so well we may go longer. All of the books are doing so well that, I think, the entire event is spreading out into an additional month. This is not going to come as a shock to anyone, but Marvel is okay with making a little bit more money, and stores are okay with selling a little bit more comics, and creators are okay with a little more royalties. Some people, of course, will not be happy with this so I guess I owe them an ice cream sandwich or something.

I know a couple of folks are getting Secret Wars so just in case people haven't seen some lateness abounds.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/06/08/more-on-secret-wars-lateness/

Now I've returned to be used to things being late having largely moved from the big two over the last couple of years, but it seemed something (the odd exception aside, hello Hawkeye where are you?) that the big two seemed to have had quite a good grip on.

Lateness on this scale we've not seem for some time. Mind someone pointed out elsewhere that all this actually means is that Secret Wars is now shipping monthly (is that right?) so its not too bad!

As I understand it, it's the main Secret Wars issues that are running a bit behind and that's dragging all the interlocking series along with it for fear of spoiling events that occur in the main event. It's understandable enough given Ribic's amazing art. Having to balance Hickman's necessary blocks of exposition and world-building with the required spectacle and 'shock and awe' required by an event series must be a tough task.

Saying all that, Marvel editorial policy of double-shipping was probably a bit idealistic on their part. Hopefully the delays will give them a little breathing room to really nail down the 'new' Marvel universe when Secret Wars ends.

By the way, I'm kind of loving this Secret Wars thing. I was only reading a small number of tertiary Marvel titles before this (Hawkeye, She-Hulk, Howard the Duck) but this event has got me in a rather lovely nostalgic loop. It's quite fun.

Invisible Republic 3 - I've been really enjoying this. Lovely artwork and it's got a nice 2000AD vibe to it too.

Funny enough, I've literally just finished reading Secret Wars #2 (the introduction of Battleworld) and it is hugely better than #1, by an extremely wide margin. They really should have started with this one.

Ditto. I was pretty underwhelmed by the first issue but #2 is really very good indeed. I haven't read any of Hickman's Marvel work (other than his SHIELD series from years ago that was never finished) but I'm a huge fan of his Image work. I only read a few of the smaller, weirder 'Hawkeye' genre Marvel titles (Howard the Duck, Black Widow, She-Hulk, Ant-Man) and none of the Avengers/X-Men/Spidey stuff.

In spite of all that, I thought Secret Wars #2 was absolutely fantastic. It's large-scale world-building familiar to anyone who has read his Image material, with hints of Astro City, Kingdom Come and Gaiman's 1602. I followed it without any trouble whatsoever and Ribic's art is really impressive to behold.

According to a CBR interview with Hickman, this issue was written first, with #1 written as a sort of prologue to tie up the 616/Ultimate threads. I highly recommend giving #2 a go.

[From Hell]

I've had From Hell sat on the book-shelf for two years now slightly nervous about it after seeing the film a few times.

I now have much more confidence in reading it as a Stand-alone Moore peice of fiction - thanks guys, look forward to it!



Si

The film and comic share subject matter and title but pretty much nothing else.

I remember seeing an interview with Johnny Depp at the time. The interviewer asked him if he could remake any movie from his career, which one would it be and he replied "this one"

So there's that 

You're spot on there Preacher, but with From Hell I still suffer from guilt that I'm enjoying the circus every bit as much as the parasitic proto-tabloid/rolling news audience. And this entertainment exists because of the murders of real highly marginalised people.

I think that lurid fascination with death is inside everyone but it's definitely true that it comes out stronger in people when the victims are from marginalised sections of society. As long as it's happening to 'them' and not 'us'. Moore definitely plays around with that idea; the fact that you are at least aware of it and feel guilty about it probably puts you a rung above those tabloiders though 

[From Hell]

So true.  I love From Hell, and it rewards repeated readings, but it's such a consuming experience I have to space them out.  By the time we get to that night Miller's Court, I'm usually totally freaked out, and by the time Druitt has bricks in his pockets I'm convinced by the whole premise (as opposed to the 'solution'). Stepping away from it all, in the cold light of day, it's rather silly and not a little hypocritical (can we really say that it doesn't exploit those human tragedies for entertainment and ideological shenanigans?), but while I'm reading it, it's far too real.

From Hell absolutely has those elements but I always felt it was grounded in its respect for the victims of the Ripper. That humanism is at the very core of the book and is, for me, the thing that stays with you long after you've finished reading.

Moore did a similar thing in Lost Girls, where the erotia/pornographic element was the window dressing through which he could tell a profoundly human story about love, passion, war and the loss of innocence.

Really? I don't read the letters pages, they seem interminable. An artist is the 'perfect choice' (to write Howard) ?

Howard is very cool, if 'out there'. Will definitely follow any new book.

Well, he's a writer/artist. Or artist/writer. Some of the letters can definitely be heavy on the emo side of things but Zdarsky cuts through that stuff quite brilliantly. I genuinely can't think of anyone who might be a better choice for Howard in comics today (let's just hope it lives up to expectations now!)

Chip Zdarsky, the artist of Sex Criminals, is writing the new Howard the Duck book. He's the perfect choice; I'll be interested in seeing how far Marvel let him go. His responses in the Sex Criminals letters page are probably the funniest thing I read every month (or whenever that book ships)