Quote from: irishmoxie on June 15, 2017, 08:12:52 PM
Looking forward to your starred reviews. How are you going to review the coloring book? Did you buy some colored pencils?

Well, I can't review the interactive experience of coloring the pages, because that would be unique to each person who buys the book.

I can however, review what's IN the book, and the various choices that were made both in the selection of artwork, and what they DID with the artwork selected.

JEM & THE HOLOGRAMS #24-26 – "Outragreous" – I really wanted to like this comic more than I actually did. This 3-part story was pretty slow-moving and really not much fun. I suspect that the problem here is that the author wants to treat the characters as "realistic" (one of the main problems I have with New Riverdale comics), not as just a fun, funny, or adventure-type story. It really felt like it dragged down the pace of the story because the author insists on cramming so much dialogue on every page. Things do happen, but very slowly, because the focus is not on what's happening, it's about the characters all talking about what's happening – how they feel about everything that's going on, which is way too angst-y for my taste. The characters really don't seem like they're having fun being in a band, instead it's all about dealing with this problem and that. There are a couple of brief scenes where they actually perform where it looks like they might be having fun, but they're so brief, it's over in a page or three. I really don't know much about the original JEM cartoon series, but I doubt it was anything like this. I'm going to guess that realism is not what people wanted in a JEM comic book, or it wouldn't be cancelled. Unfortunately some nice art by Gisele can't save the story from being kind of a drag. I'd like to see IDW just do a straight adaptation of the original cartoon – not updated (taking place in the '80s), not 'realistic', just a fun adventure with some comedy to it. Nothing to do with the problems of being in a band, just the fantasy of it, the glitz, the glamor, and the adventure, and crazy oddball happenings.

WEEK OF 06-14-17:
THE COMPLEAT TERMINAL CITY TP
JEM & THE HOLOGRAMS #26 (of 26)*
THANOS #8
X-MEN BLUE #5
DONALD DUCK #388
BETTY & VERONICA #3*
JIMMY'S BASTARDS #1
KILL THE MINOTAUR #1
THE DAMNED #2
FREEWAY FIGHTER #2 (of 4)
SPACE RIDERS: GALAXY OF BRUTALITY #2
DARK DAYS: THE FORGE #1 (of 1)
DETECTIVE COMICS #958
WONDER WOMAN #24
WORLD OF ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #69*
ARCHIE'S COLORING BOOK*
HARVEY HITS #1*
BUG: THE ADVENTURES OF FORAGER #2 (of 6)
MARTIAN MANHUNTER/MARVIN THE MARTIAN SPECIAL #1 (of 1)*
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES/BUGS BUNNY SPECIAL #1 (of 1)*
PLANET OF APES/GREEN LANTERN #5 (of 6)
PREDATOR VS JUDGE DREDD VS ALIENS #4 (of 4)
STREET FIGHTER VS DARKSTALKERS #2 (of 8 )
SPOOKHOUSE #5
THE INFERNALS (1 of 1)
ZOMBIES ASSEMBLE #3 (of 4)
ALL TIME COMICS: ATLAS #1

*Reviews to follow later on my review thread.

Quote from: irishmoxie on June 11, 2017, 03:30:07 PM
How's Mighty Mouse? And Looney Tunes? Would I like them? I want to start reading Looney Tunes and Simpsons comics since I like old fashioned humor but I don't know where to start. I liked the Simpsons and Mighty Mouse comics I got for FCBD but not the Sponge Bob one.

How's Kiss Vampirella? I liked the Kiss dystopian series that came out recently.

Dynamite's Mighty Mouse comic isn't a straightforward revival, like AMP's Underdog comic... it's a story where a real-world kid who is picked on by bullies but likes to draw and watch cartoons somehow brings the cartoon Mighty Mouse into the 'real' world. I liked it less when I discovered that, but I'm giving the story a chance because I like the writing of Sholly Fisch, who also writes Scooby-Doo Team-Up for DC, and he really impressed me with clever scripting on that book. I don't know that I'd recommend Mighty Mouse at this point, but I'm taking a wait-and-see attitude. I'll let you know how I feel about subsequent issues.

Like you, I'm late picking up on Looney Tunes. The 100-Page Super-Spec reprints a miniseries from 2000 which I'd ignored. I didn't like it as much as I'd hoped, despite Mark Evanier's writing it. Evanier's writing of animated comic book adaptations (mostly on Hanna-Barbera characters) goes all the way back to the 1970s comics published by Whitman/Western Publishing. It wasn't as funny as I'd hoped, so I hope those one-shot specials coming up (beginning next week) from DC crossing the Looney Tunes characters with the DC characters are better. The regular ongoing Looney Tunes comic book is a different story. The best place to start with those would just be to pick up any of the recent issues, or these two collections:



Volume 1 reprints Looney Tunes #34-40 (1997-98) and Vol. 2 reprints Looney Tunes #41-47 (1998). Judging by the page count, it looks like it more or less reprints those issues in their entirety. So why begin with #34, and why "greatest hits" if it's a straight collection of consecutive issues? Your guess is as good as mine. I have these and have flipped through them, read just a few of the short stories, but was hoping to get them read in the coming week. The stories look good at a glance-through.

Kiss/Vampirella has a story that takes place in the 1970s, and seems to be in continuity with the original b&w Warren magazine version of Vampirella, taking place for Vampi just a few years since she's arrived on Earth from the planet Drakulon (Vampirella #1, 1969), which I liked, and for Kiss it takes place just after they've recorded their album Hotter Than Hell. I really appreciate when writers pay attention to those kind of details to give the story a little verisimilitude. On the other hand, there are some odd bits like having Vampi be in a band ('Witchkraft') as a sort of an undercover ID for her searching out the usual sort of demonic/monstrous menaces she fights. She's out of her usual costume for most of this issue (except for some short flashbacks), which I didn't like, because she's not really recognizable without it. On the other hand, I like that Kiss in this comic is treated as an actual band and not some sort of superpowered demigods like they are in other Kiss comics. The title characters of the comic book do not actually meet in issue #1.

WEEK OF 06-07-17:
THE SEARCHERS VOL. 01: THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME TP
ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN #3
RICK & MORTY #26
FALL AND RISE OF CAPTAIN ATOM #6 (of 6)
A BULLETPROOF COFFIN ONE-SHOT! THE 1000 YARD STARE
MIGHTY MOUSE #1
KISS/VAMPIRELLA #1 (of 5)
GWAR: ORGASMAGEDDON #1 (of 4)
ARCHIE COMICS DOUBLE DIGEST #279
WONDER WOMAN: STEVE TREVOR SPECIAL #1
DARK KNIGHT III: MASTER RACE #9 (of 9)
IRON FIST #4
LOST FLEET: CORSAIR #1
BLOOD BOWL: MORE GUTS, MORE GLORY! #1 (of 4)
PLEASE TELL ME! GALKO-CHAN VOL 03 TP
BATMAN/WILDCAT TP
DC/LOONEY TUNES 100-PAGE SUPER SPECTACULAR: SUPERMAN & BUGS BUNNY #1 (Collects Superman & Bugs Bunny #1-4, 2000)
PREDATOR HUNTERS #2 (of 5)
STAR TREK NEW VISIONS #16: "TIME OUT OF JOINT"
ZOMBIES ASSEMBLE #2 (of 4)
ROM #11
THE DIVIDED STATES OF HYSTERIA #1
MISTER X: THE ARCHIVES VOL. 1 TP

Quote from: steveinthecity on June 09, 2017, 01:40:21 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on June 09, 2017, 04:01:31 AM
Another web-bot. 

How about this:


Eunsindore =  Die non user!   


A bit harsh, I know.

"You cannot kill what does not live!" -- Judge Death

(At best you can seal it within the miracle polymer Boing®, which in addition to its super-elastic properties is both air-permeable and yet non-permeable to ectoplasm ... while an interesting factoid, probably useless to contain web-bots.)   

Quote from: steveinthecity on June 09, 2017, 01:56:37 PM
Does Sega have another publisher to turn to in the event ACP doesn't renew?

Hard to say, but both IDW and Boom Studios publish kids' comics lines, into which Sonic could conceivably fit comfortably. Arguably IDW would be the better fit, since Sonic qualifies as both kid-friendly and as a nostalgia property. Are either of those companies interested? Who knows.

DC also publishes a small line of kids' titles, but it's been some years since DC actually licensed any properties for kids -- parent company Warner already has plenty of kid-targeted IPs.

From the Bleeding Cool website (May 9th, 2017):

Quote...an Archie Comics spokesperson told us "We are aware of the questions regarding Sonic. Archie and SEGA are in communication and we hope to have some news soon. We thank the fans for their patience."

Another web-bot. 

Quote from: steveinthecity on June 07, 2017, 07:20:44 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on June 07, 2017, 01:41:36 AM

- Betty has gone from being LEFT-handed on #14 to RIGHT-handed on #15!

I think by then the CCA discouraged showing any left handed characters.

Then again, it may be a presumption for me to assume Betty's left-handed on the cover of #14.

Note that neither Reggie (on either cover) nor Betty (on issue #14's cover) is gripping the racket as if ready to play -- only on the cover of #15 is Betty properly gripping the racket (right-handed) lower on the handle. On the cover of #14, we could allow that she's merely holding the racket (for whatever reason) in her left hand.

On the other hand (er... so to speak), it's frequently the case where you'll find that artists have concentrated merely on the composition of the drawing, without stopping to consider such details as whether a character would be left- or right- handed, since it's not important to the joke.

One more difference in the two covers which I forgot to note earlier:

- on #14's cover, Archie and Veronica are sitting on the bench in their tennis togs, Archie with racket in hand, awaiting their turn on the court, suggesting a competition -- is it Reggie & Archie vs. B&V, or Archie & Betty vs. Reggie & Veronica? (the latter suggestion tends to make the joke more interesting).

- on #15's cover, there's no indication that Archie & Veronica are involved in playing tennis, they might just be walking by the court for all we can tell.

It's interesting to compare what's the same and what's different in the two covers above.

THE SAME:
- the joke's identical; dialogue is word-for-word
- Reggie's pose is identical
- Betty's pose is almost identical (one arm with elbow bent, hand on hip; the other holding her tennis racket) - the two are mirror images except for the direction in which Betty is looking

DIFFERENT:
- On #14, Betty is foreground central and the largest figure
- On #15, Archie & Veronica are the largest figures, foreground left
- On #14, Archie & Veronica are the smallest figures, but perspective lines and the direction of Betty's line of sight both lead the viewer's eye
- Betty has gone from being LEFT-handed on #14 to RIGHT-handed on #15!

Quote from: Fernando Ruiz on June 06, 2017, 02:32:20 AM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on June 01, 2017, 08:44:20 AM
The only character on that cover I don't recognize is the little girl with brown hair and a topknot wearing a purple swimsuit on a purple raft...

That's Little Audrey.

I guess I should have figured that out by a process of elimination. On the other hand, Little Audrey's hair is normally colored more  of a reddish-brown, and her little bow is at the front, tying her upswept bangs. You have to admit it does look an awful lot like Jellybean as drawn by Dan.

If you ever checked out the WILBUR reprint section in ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST in the past, or in the last couple of issues of WORLD OF ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST, then you'll probably remember this image, which the digests use as a "title page" for the Wilbur stories section.

It's taken from the cover of WILBUR #89 (Oct. 1964) -  art by Samm Schwartz:


And here we have the cover of WILBUR #79 (July 1958) - cover art by Harry Lucey:

WEEK OF 05-30-17:

KILL OR BE KILLED #9
THANOS #7
DONALD DUCK #387
WALT DISNEY'S COMICS & STORIES #738

LOONEY TUNES #237 - A fun issue with stories featuring Duck Dodgers in the 24 & 1/2th Century and Eager Young Space Cadet Porky (who in this story gets promoted to Eager Young Space Commander, much to Dodgers' dismay); and Foghorn Leghorn is abducted by Marvin the Martian to help repopulate the birdlike Martian minions.

DC SUPER HERO GIRLS WONDER WOMAN DAY SPECIAL EDITION #1 - Only a month ago there was a FCBD issue with a chapter excerpted from the kids' graphic novel DC Super Hero Girls: Summer Olympus, and now here is another chapter. Of course you don't get to see how the young Wonder Woman's summer vacation from Super Hero High ends, but between the two free issues, that's an entire third of the 128-page graphic novel. TBH, I'm not that crazy about this version of the DC characters, so I'm not about to spend $10 for the graphic novels. It's a pleasant enough story for free, though.

WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #1
MAN-THING #4 (of 5)
CABLE #1
DOLLFACE #5
JUDGE DREDD: FUNKO UNIVERSE #1 (one-shot)
KISS FOREVER 48-PAGE SPECIAL (one-shot)
ALIENS: DEAD ORBIT #2 (of 4)
LOBSTER JOHNSON: THE PIRATE'S GHOST #3 (of 3)
DOC SAVAGE: THE RING OF FIRE #3 (of 4)
ANNO DRACULA #3 (of 5)
MICRONAUTS: WRATH OF KARZA #2 (of 5)
STAR TREK: WAYPOINT #5 (of 6)
TRANSFORMERS VS GI JOE MOVIE ADAPTATION

CARtoons MAGAZINE #9 - From the revived magazine's website:

QuoteWhat is CARtoons Magazine?
CARtoons Magazine came out in the late 50's and was published/distributed bi-monthly up until the early 90's. The magazine was based on comic strip stories, how to draw and illustrations from various top name artists reflecting humour within the automotive industry. Basically your comic book for automotive enthusiasts worldwide.

I guess they just started publishing this again, after a few decades. Fun retro-toons about kustom kulture and Rockabilly/Surf vibes; cartooning with a 'Rat Fink' sensibility. Probably for old dudes only.  Pretty cool.

MISTY TP - Reprints two stories, "Moonchild" and "The Four Faces of Eve" from the supernatural gothic girls' British comic, MISTY.

Quote from: irishmoxie on June 04, 2017, 10:37:38 AM
Anyone have any better ideas than long boxes to organize comics? I'm in the process of moving (again...ugh) and some of the plastic tubs I was storing my comics in got crushed in the last move. Thankfully the comics survived unharmed. I have them in those thick cardboard book boxes from U-Haul right now. I find those long/short boxes from comic book shops unwieldy. It's very difficult to flip through comics easily to find what you want if the box is overstuffed. And if it's not overstuffed the comics fall over. I'm asking more for my new place...how to display and easily find comics in a large collection.

The long ones I can understand. But the SHORT ones? How much smaller can the box be and still be useful? There are a couple of solutions. You can make your own (you'll need LOTS of thick corrugated cardboard) spacers for the boxes. Simply take a BIG LONG piece of corrugated cardboard, and cut the height to a little shorter than comic book height, 8"-9"; but you need to leave plenty of length (how much is up to you and the thickness of the cardboard), because you are going to be folding the thing like a zigzag accordion, in sections the same approximate width of a comic (6"-7"), folding it back and forth in alternating directions. This works best with the really thick, double-corrugated cardboard, because you're depending on the cardboard wanting to spring back and expand from a flattened multi-folded zigzag, after you place it in the empty space behind the comics themselves. You'll have to experiment to see how many folds you need to make, depending on the resistance of the cardboard to staying flattened. Start taking groceries home in cardboard boxes instead of bags, and experiment with cutting those up. Those usually have to be pretty strong to hold liquid containers, glass jars, and metal cans. You can always add multiple pieces depending on the amount of space in the box you have to fill. Works pretty well with the short boxes, but they need to be at least half to 2/3rds full of comics. If the cardboard you use still isn't thick enough to be "springy", try overlapping the entire length on itself before you start folding the zigzags to give it a double-thickness to start with. Also, whenever it's feasible (depending how big a piece of cardboard you start with), don't align the folds with the direction of the corrugation -- fold "against the grain".

The other solution is to just to use the short boxes (personally, I gave up on the long ones ten years ago), but you'll have to give up on the idea of being able to flip through the comics. Fill them with comics laid FLAT, and then you don't need to make them any heavier (= "unwieldy") than you want them, but then you're going to need another empty box whenever you want to take them ALL out and look through them, just standing them on end for as long as you're playing around looking for something.

They make those corrugated plastic ones too (same