Today in Comics History, February 26: Happy birthday, Johnny Cash!

cover of Daredevil (1964 series) #284 (Marvel, September 1990), pencils by Lee Weeks, inks by Al Williamson
Why, he's Johnny Cash, born on this day in 1932! Yes, Johnny Cash, the great American singer, songwriter, actor, and comic book star!


cover of Hello, I'm Johnny Cash one-shot (Revell, 1976), pencils and inks by Al Hartley
Johnny was the star of this Spire Christian Comics autobiographical comic focusing on his life, career, and spirituality, focusing on his descent into drinking, drugs, and behavior Jesus would tsk his tongue over, until he is saved by his belief in Christ and, oh yeah, stopping with the boozing, pills, and womanizing. Well, I coulda told ya that, Johnny; you didn't have to bother Jesus about it. Despite its moral messages, though, it'a actually a fun comic, and doesn't back off from showing some of Johnny's badass moments.




from Hello, I'm Johnny Cash one-shot (Revell, 1976); script by Billy Zeoli; pencils, inks, and letters by Al Hartley
Not a lot of people know that (copyright ©1966 Michael Caine) Johnny starred in a comic as an old-timey Western star back in the 1950s!




from "His Lasso and the Law!" in Apache Trail #3 (Farrell, February 1958), pencils by Charles Sultan
Naw, I tell a little fib (copyright ©2021 Bully). This is actually the adventures of Johnny Lash, reprinted from Crack Western which is Whack Western #75 from Quality Comics in 1951, but the hero has been re-named Cash (maybe because of rights issues) and the story is re-lettered in this reprint! The narration and dialogue is rewritten as well.




from "Hangnoose Sunrise!" in Crack Western #75 (Quality, November 1951), pencils by Charles Sultan
But can't ya picture the real Johnny Cash actually having these adventures? i can, because I have a vivid, action-packed cinematic imagination that often stars Johnny Cash.



from Apache Trail #3
These been a few very good Cash comics biographies over the past few years. I especially like this one:


from Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness (Abrams, 2009), script and art by Reinhold Kleist
So, we wish you a happy birthday, Johnny Cash! You're no longer here, but your music — and your legend — is still with us! Thanks, Man in Black!


from Gumby (2006 series) #2 (Wildcard, November 2006), pencils and inks by Rick Geary, colors by Steve Oliff

Mystery Science Monday: Gumby in "Robot Rumpus"

"Robot Rumpus," a Gumby cartoon (1956), this riffed version from Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode #912 (1998), featuring Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy

Fun Fifty of 2006, Part 5 of 5

You know how sometimes you invest many hours or maybe even an entire Fourth of July weekend listening to "Power 98's One Thousand Most Rockin' Songs," just waiting for them to get up to number one, where they've got be playin' "Stairway to Heaven," there's no other choice, any fool worth his drumsticks knows it's all building up to the Stairway, and then at 11:53 PM on the last day before you have to go back to school, they reach number one and it turns out it's Van Halen's "Panama"?

Yeah, it's gonna be like that.

(Everything that led up to this moment: #50-41 • #40-31 • #30-21 • #20-11)

10. SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL: Scheming supervillains. Erupting volcanoes. His first encounter with deadly kryptonite. Any one of these would leave you or me hiding under the couch, but Superman steps right up to the plate against 'em. So what's his real Achilles' heel? A spunky, classy, unpredictable woman named Lois Lane. This beauty of a story arc by Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale features gorgeous art and design (#2's juxtaposition of Kal fighting molten lava while Lois gets ready for a date is absolutely, affectingly sublime), tack-sharp dialogue and characterization (a wonderful scene where Clark expresses to Pa Kent his terror at trying to save people) and that element of the Superman mythology that makes it universal to all of us: the love of a man from another world for a woman who's so close and yet worlds away. The introductory kryptonite subplot at first seems secondary to the love story until I realized it wasn't secondary: it was parallel—in this story we see through Superman's eyes the two centers of his world: the literal world (a glowing green rock) and the spiritual one (fast-talking and sassy). Both are his greatest weaknesses.


9. 52: I woulda bet my piggybank fulla dimes that it couldn't be done: a weekly series that never got off schedule, never missed an issue, never brought a company's entire line screeching to a halt—and more important, a weekly series that entertained the heck outta me. While the big three take a year's sabbatical, DC's second and third bananas step up to the plate in seemingly-separate but gradually-intertwining storylines, gently spiraling towards reshaping the DC Universe in a slow but steady process the likes of which we've not seen before in superhero comics. The sheer number of issues has led to a handful of dud subplots and who-cares stories, but week after week there's some sheer entertainment value here, and while many of the mysteries are far from being solved, half the fun is the journey. My favorite issue has to be Week 24 (with hyper-aware Ambush Bug shouting directly to us about "52" and his relationship with Julie Schwartz), but this series has also made me like and appreciate Renee Montoya, the never-named Question, Black Adam and his clan, and even evil, evil Skeets in ways I'd never felt before. There's a lot of endgame work to be done in the last few months of the series and I've got my hooves crossed they don't drop the ball, but it's been a heckuva ride so far. Fifty-two!


8. RUNAWAYS: In a year where DC and Marvel heroes were getting knocked off left-and-right, incinerated by flying nuclear submarines or punctuated by Norse code, the most affecting and touching death was that of Gert Yorkes in the pages of Runaways. This death has colored the entire year as it spins into final arc of creator Brian K. Vaughan, but though the mood is somber this is still one of the most life-affirming and joyous superhero comics on the market. I've long said that Runaways needs to be the flagship in Marvel's outreach to get new young adults and teens on board with comic books, and this storyline is no exception. With the exception of repackaging issues in digest format, however, I don't see any marketing geared for the manga-fan crowd. That's a pity and a shame, and a wasted opportunity. Maybe new marketing to the next generation of readers will take more of a precedence once Joss Whedon comes on board, but even if Runaways never becomes the crossover hit it so richly deserves, it's still provided us discerning comics fans with one of the finest and realistic portrayals in comics of teens. With, uh, evil parents and superpowers. And a pet dinosaur.


7. COMIC STRIP REPRINTS: Everything I said about this being the best of all possible times to be a comics fan because of the extensive comic book reprint programs goes double for being a fan of comic strips in 2006, where the recent growing trend in beautifully designed and reproduced collections of classic strips really began coming into their own. Peanuts and Dennis the Menace got new volumes continuing their adventures, Gasoline Alley and Dick Tracy began definitive reprint projects...even the Moomins came back in comic strip-in-book form! My pers'nal favorite is the big-as-the-2001-monolith Popeye from Fantagraphics (an amazing design crammed with more high adventure strips than a donkey who's eaten Milt Caniff's portfolio), and there's much, much more to come: 2007 looks to be another powerful year with announcements of new editions of the works of Lynda Barry plus new volumes of most of the above. And scuttlebutt in the publishing world tells this little stuffed ear to the ground there's much more classic stuff to come, so start saving your dimes...truly this is the beginning of the Age of Classic Strip Reprints!


6. GUMBY: The most fun you can have with America's favorite clayboy without ever touching a rubbery toy! Bob Burden and Rick Geary's two issues of surrealism, whimsy, and fun are the perfect all-ages comics in the truest sense of the word: not just for kids but for everyone who's a fan of fun comics. Gumby falls in love, joins the circus, does the sombrero dance, thwarts the plans of evil clowns, gets turned into a golem, and summons of the spirit of Johnny Cash...all without wearing any pants! The joy and exuberance of these comics is contagious and infectious; I dare you not to crack a smile readin' 'em, and Geary's beautifully toned and suitably rubber artwork is spot-perfect for Gumby and Pokey. Sure, buy 'em for your kids...but you'll wanna read 'em too!


5. THE SPIRIT: This comic hits a high spot on my Festival of Fun '06 on the strength of...count it...one issue. As a long-time Eisner fan, I certainly was holding my breath that Darwyn Cooke would do right by Denny Colt, and hoo boy! he exceeded my wildest hopes on every single page. This beautifully illustrated and smartly-written update of one of the finest comics of all time captures the elements that made the Spirit a classic: innovative and intricate design, casual and believable humorous dialogue, breakneck action, a gorgeous dame with an improbable name, and even the Eisner trademark splash-page representation of the Spirit's name in the artwork, brought smack-dab up to the twenty-first century by blazing it not across city buildings but in the shimmering pixels of a television screen. But Cooke's successfully pulled off an even more incredible update: Ebony is no longer a character we as fans feel we need to be ashamed of or defend with embarrassment. I know it's a cliché to say "Will Eisner would be proud"...but heck, I'll say it. I bet he's looking down from his drawing board up there and nodding in approval.


4. AGENTS OF ATLAS: It sometimes seems like there's a rogue division at Marvel slyly and stealthily sneaking comic books into publication which are so innovative and different from the normal company line that surely Joe Quesadilla doesn't even know they're doing it. That's the impression Agents of Atlas gives me, because who'da thought that in today's Civil War-ridden Marvel Universe populated by fewer than 200 mutants, a maskless Spidey and a long golden hair all grown up from a test tube, there'd be a market for a six-issue miniseries about secret heroes of the 1950s whose most significant story was a thirty year old issue of What If? Not me, that's for sure, but I'm happily on the Atlas bandwagon as Jimmy Woo and company untangle the Mystery of the Missing Ike, The Stereotypical Asian Villain and how Miss Venus manages to walk around without a top. It's sheer joyful fun that had me from the moment Gorilla Man barreled down a hallway with a gun in each hand...and foot. The I-never-woulda-figgered-it-out, wonderful and sublime puzzle-box ending was one of the finest conclusions a miniseries could have: a definitive end with a promise of more potential future adventures. Even if any future Atlas action is merely in my head and not on the page, this is a miniseries that made me oh-so-glad to be a Marvel Fanbull.


3. ALL STAR SUPERMAN: Grant Morrison knows. There's no other way to put it: he knows what we loved about the Silver Age. He knows what we love about comics today. And he puts 'em in a pot and stirs 'em around and adds a dash of absinthe when his mom's not lookin' and serves up one of the finest reinventions of Superman, ever. On the surface he and the wonderfully quirky Frank Quitely are simply retelling tales of the fifties: Super-Lois! Jimmy in drag! Krypto! But it's tinted with twenty-first century nanotechnology and hyperawareness of the tropes in comics that make the fur on the back of your neck stand up and tingle, in a comic that rewards re-reading like none other. Pay attention to the details: Clark's casual, uncostumed, cause-and-effect superdeeds in the background have a Rube Goldberg joy and brilliance to that makes this little stuffed reader giggle in glee. All Star has also given us this year one of the best Luthor tales in modern comics, a wonderfully kinetic updating of The Desperate Ones in which a never-supersuited-Clark and an arrogantly crowing Lex work their way through a riot-ridden prison, the signs of his safety right in front of Lex's burnt-off eyebrow, if only he'd look closely enough. The crown jewel of a great year for DC, and never mind the schedule: I'll gladly wait months for this.


2. SERGIO ARAGONÈS: SOLO: Permit me the indulgence of quoting myself and my original review: "not only the most fun comic of the week but will surely be on my year-end list of The Most Fun Comics of 2006!" (Hey, that guy's good!!) I mourn the passing of Solo for every one of its inventive and innovative issues that uncharacteristically for floppy comics, focused upon and celebrated the creators that make DC great. There was no more gleefully enjoyable issue in the series, though, than this fun-fest by MAD's manic Mexican master, a collection of several stories that didn't contain a weak panel in the lot 'of 'em: from confessing his murder of Marty Feldman to a wonderful autobiographical sketch of how he broke into American cartooning, Aragonés hits the heights every time, even in a goofball Batman story that's more MAD than the modern MAD magazine itself. Sheer brilliance from an amazing talent we don't see enough of these days. Hey Mark Evanier, bring back Groo!


1. NEXTWAVE: You sum it in one sentence and it sounds like a snoozefest, or worse yet, a 1980s Image comic: disillusioned superhumans working for a government agency discover their boss is a homicidal madman, and they turn against their employer and vow to take him down. But. This comic is super-caffeinated with over-the-top, outrageously gleeful violence, smartass dialogue, cheerfully irreverent reinventions of Marvel sacred cows, crab cyborgs, Broadway-dancin' Mindless Ones, Captain America's pee, Elvis M.O.D.O.K.s, and the most deadly version of Forbush-Man ever seen outside your Nyquil-fueled fever dreams. Politically-incorrect as all get-out. Widescreen in ways that would make the Authority weep. The best introduction page month-after-month. Gloriously intense artwork by Stuart Immonen, including cover designs that break the mortal bounds of comic book design and look like they would be well at home on the front of books from "real-world" paperback publishers. Warren Ellis's script and concepts gives unapologetic the Marvel Universe fanboys half-nelsons, and if there is one proof that this comic broke all boundaries, it's in the next-to-final issue #11 where half of the issue is two-page spreads (get a second issue so you can cut it up and paste 'em all end-to-end): I normally object to splash pages or two-splashes in comics as they advance the story precisely only one panel, but I spent more time examining and giggling over the Where's Waldo-on-speed brilliance of those big-ass panels than I do reading the entire length of some books. We've got one more big bang of an issue in 2007 before Nextwave goes bye-bye, but I, and you, are all the richer for a 2006 filled with its rich, nougaty, zomg-filled goodness. That's why NEXTWAVE is the most fun comic of 2006 and this is the The Best Line of the Year:


No, Miz Bloodstone: I think it stands for enormous fun.

Whew! When I started thinking about my Fun for 2006 list waaaay back around the time I picked up Solo #11 and Gumby #1, I pretty much had in mind a list of ten, or maybe a baker's dozen. When I sat down in late December with a pile of comics and a stack of notes and printouts of reviews it became clear my job of narrowing down that field to a mere hoof-ful was gonna be uphill work. The list became 20...and then 25...and oh no, I left out this one and that one, and like Topsy, the list grew and grew...until it became a Fun Fifty, and if I'd thought about it s'more I prob'bly coulda beefed (no pun intended) it out to a Sensational Sixty or a Entertaining Eighty. (Tell me your favorites, especially if I've missed 'em, in the comments!)

So, what have I learned? Well, I've learned that even in a year when I was dismayed much of the time at the state of the mainstream, in which one comic got me so hoppin' mad I saw red (and you all know what happens when a bull does that), in which I continued to express my disgust over the big crossover events of 2005 and 2006 and the sheer slippery slope the entertainment value of fairly expensive floppy books seems to be barreling down...well, I still found bucketloads of joy and excitement in the comics of 2006. That's my message to you all: whatever you enjoy, whether it was something I liked or didn't or didn't even mention, value it, treasure it, rejoice in it, have fun reading it. It's a wonderful hobby and there's more good stuff out there that meets the eye, even if it's a little black button one.

In 2007 and beyond, may your comics be fun, too!

Catchin' up with comics

And...I'm back. Hope you didn't miss me too much! The week's holiday from blogging was just what I needed to mentally catch up after a busy busy December—I loved blogging in London, but each night in the hotel was spent tap-tap-tapping away capturing the adventure of the day, just to keep up. A few fill-in-the-blanks posts aside, I managed to keep myself from falling more than a day behind (as opposed to 2005 where it took me almost a year after my London holiday to finish transcribing my scribbed hoofwritten notes into the blog), but the lesson I learned is blogging is a harsh and demanding mistress. (Even tho' I'm too young to know what a mistress is.) At various times on my holiday I thought "Well, I won't blog daily next London trip"...and "But I like keeping such a timely souvenir of my adventures!" I did notice my daily readership drop down to less than half of its usual velocity, although that may have been a factor of a Christmas week. In any case, next time I go to London, who knows? But I'm back, and this little bull is rested and ready to talk about comic books again.

Oh yes, comic books! I'm sure some of you have asked (go on, say it aloud) "When's he gonna get back to blogging about comics?" A: Right now, because I'm got a stack of three week's worth of comic books to review, all the comics I didn't buy when I was in London purchased this past week in one fell swoop at Jim Hanley's, and to stay on schedule I'll review 'em all, but swiftly, in a pithy sentence or two each (and minus the time-consuming jpegs for this week only):

52 WEEKS 33-35: These comics are fun. 52 heads into its home stretch and continues storylines that make me wonder: will they ever intersect towards the end? Dandy cliff-hanger in #34 leads into pure Luthor bwah-ha-ha evil in #35, and reading three of these at once really keeps the pace rolling. I plan to read all 52 issues in one marathon sitting when the series is done; three-in-a-row suggests to me they might make more sense and have more forward movement that way. Still, week after week a fun ride.

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #29: This comic is fun...sorta. A story basically focusing on what a jerk B'wana Beast is. Another one of those too-often "JLU member learns a valuable lesson at the end" stories. Still the best Justice League comic out there, though.

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #15: This comic is fun. Take it from this little stuffed bull who works in book publishing: the book-signing scenes in this comic are actually pretty accurate. Well, except for the supervillain attacks, but I'm told that does happen at some Janet Evanovich signings.

BART SIMPSON #33: This comic is fun...sorta. Bart generally seems to be written for a younger audience than Simpsons Comics, but this issue feels like it skews even younger. Entertaining and funny stories but very little of the subversive element than sets Simpsons comics ahead of the crowd. Great iconic cover, though.

SIMPSONS COMICS #125: This comic is fun...sorta. Short stories feel like inventory comics leftover from Bart Simpson. A funny and clever Bart-meets-Cletus comedy in the first story, but the two remaining stories (by Tom Peyer and Chuck Dixon) seem flat and just not my cup of tea. Still the most consistently fun comic I buy, but just a slight dip in the ha-ha level this issue.

HEROES FOR HIRE #5: This comic is fun. Fast-moving action comic that doesn't take itself (or its Civil War tie-in elements) too seriously. I'm very interested to see if the pace (and humorous patter) can be sustained.

SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL #3: This comic is fun. Suffers a bit from mid-storyline lag: this always seems to hit around issue 3 or 4 of a contemporary storyline, doesn't it? But great cliffhanger and wonderful scenes of, as I've said before, my favorite element of the Superman mythos: the Lois/Clark/Superman triangle.

NEXTWAVE #11: This comic is fun. "Fun" doesn't quite do it justice, does it? It's like a Brueghel painting mixed with a Where's Waldo book—half the comic is double-page spreads as Nextwave battles their way to the completely insane Dirk Anger...never have I wanted original comic art so much! Buy two copies and paste one together, coz it all fits together end-to-end, like the Bayeux Tapesty. Except with Elvis M.O.D.O.K.s and rampaging Elanis.

ALL STAR SUPERMAN #6: This comic is fun. Still the most beautifully subtle Superman comic currently being published. It's not short on action but there are iconic scenes in here and other issues in this series that I think will be remembered and referenced for years to come: the appearance of Krypto in this issue is one of 'em. Definite proof to all nay-sayers that you can still pay homage to the history and continuity of Superman and yet write an original and touching story. This definitely have been the most fun comic in a week that didn't include...

GUMBY #2: This comic is fun. 34 ad-free pages of beautifully-colored quirky and elegant Rick Geary art and Bob Burden's signature weirdness and whimsy ad up to the perfect comic mix. If you didn't pick this up because you don't read "kid's comics," you're missing out on one of the most imaginative illustrated works of 2006. It also features The Best Line of the Week which must be seen rather than just reported:



That's why GUMBY #2 is the most fun comic of the week and one of the most fun comics of the year.

"Most fun comics of the year"? you ask. "What are those?" (Tune in tomorrow Thursday or Friday, fun fans!)

In the meantime, I hereby declare it Comic Book Reviewing Amnesty Day. I take a deep gulp as I peer up at the huge pile of comic books I bought but never got a chance to review weekly in 2006, a stack taller than me:



I've kept this stack of 2006 comics sittin' on my coffee table vowing to, even at a late date, to review 'em. Pish-posh to that now, I say: it's a new year with new comics and I must look forward and not backward. (Um, except for my post tomorrow.) I can barely attack those books now, even with my little mountain-climbing gear. So I will box them or shelve them and move onwards, looking ever-forward into our brand-spankin' near-mint all-new all-different Uncanny New Year. And to go along with that, what fits better than some lovely New Year's Resolutions? So here is your Comics Oughta Be Fun Semi-Solemn Cow-Vows for In 2007:

• Although my budget means I'll be trying to buy fewer comics this year, I will still buy 'em weekly.
• Despite cutting down some titles I'm not getting a full fun-quotient out of, I still want to have a variety of titles, so once again I'll do my best to Pick Up One New Comic Title Each Week That I Haven't Been Reading.
• I will do my best to review each week's comics within the week I buy 'em. However, if I start building up a backlog of unreviewed comics, I'm not gonna worry about it and build up another huge stack. Life goes on and there will be more next week, so if you don't see comics reviews every week, don't panic. Like a London bus, there'll be another one along in just a little while.
• I still ain't readin' Civil War.

Also, I vow to pick up after myself, do my chores, not eat so much candy, and to be nicer to my little sister. May you have a wonderful 2007 and best of luck with your New Year's resolutions. As always, enjoy your comics, and remember this: they oughta be fun!

Comics on a Plane

I'm sure you all have heard the phrase "Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink?" No, even though I spent the week in Sub San Diego, that's not a reference to an Aquaman story but rather the fact that I spent the entire week at San Diego Comic Con, completely surrounded on all four and occasionally five sides by comic books, and yet didn't have a chance to pick up last week's new comics. And with a long, long plane trip back home to New York, I need a stack o' comics for in-flight reading. What's the solution? The solution, as always, is easily solved by the next best thing to a Green Lantern power ring: Hertz's amazing Neverlost GPS technology. Just ask its pleasant Midwestern female artificial intelligence to direct you to the nearest comic book shop, and up pops easy-to-follow driving directions:


And mere minutes later, Linda the Neverlost Voice has directed me to On Comic Ground:


On Comic Ground is a small but well-stocked store on University Avenue, with a pleasant clerk who directs me to the previous week's comics. There's also a solid selection of back issues which I hoof through looking for some books off my wish list that I didn't have a chance to look for at Comic-Con. Yay! They have those issues of Sub-Mariner and Tales of Suspense I've been looking for, and at easy-to-afford prices. Thanks, On Comic Ground!

The Pleasant Clerk and I briefly schmooze about just-concluded Comic-Con and I learn On Comic Ground is actually a smaller shop on the site of the former larger Comic Kingdom store, which I'd never been to on my earlier, brief visits to San Diego but which I've heard about. It's always sad when a big comic book store goes bust, but I'm glad there's still a shop at this location.

I also spent some of my hard-earned dimes on a big stack o' comics from last Wednesday and instead of diving into them immediately, I stowed them away in my backpack to have plenty of readin' entertainment on the plane. So as I read these thirty thousand feet above the Kansas cornfields, I'm reviewing them longhoof and will transfer my notes to the blog later on. And in my first use of startling new airline technology, I'm comparing comics and their fun quotient to famous movies about flying that may or may not be fun. I'm going to keep the reviews brief, however, so I have plenty of time to savor the lovely airline food and to enjoy the in-flight movie, Please Return Your Tray to Its Fully Upright and Locked Position, starring Susan Sarandon and Kevin Costner. Who says this isn't the age of American Airlines comics blogging? Go ahead, tell me who said it wasn't! Tell me!


52 WEEK 11: This comic is as fun as the movie Airplane! There's something diff'rent about the new Batwoman that I can't put my hoof on at the moment, but I've kinda got a big Bully crush on her. Do you think if I send her a nice buncha flowers she will fall in love with me? I bet she will. Anyway, this issue of 52 has a lot going on, and I'll overlook creepy obsessed sad Ralph Dibny for the moment for a lot of rip-roarin' action starring Reneé Montoya and the Question, who are fast becoming my two fave characters of this series. Aside from the new Batwoman, of course! I'm kinda sweet on her.


SIMPSONS COMICS #119: This comic is as fun as the movie Airplane! I almost always enjoy any issue of Simpsons Comics but the best of the best hit it out of the four-color park with a story that's as clever and funny as the TV series itself. This one does that: the saga of Homer's attempt to win Mr. Burns's Trumpish reality show could easily be a decent Sunday-night-on-Fox episode. And no pesky promos for The War at Home!


FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #10: This comic is not fun, much like the movie Fearless. And I'm giving it that mark only for the last couple pages, which is either a horrible betrayal of the Uncle Ben of Earth-2 or wherever he came from, or some sort of weird switcharoo that's horribly choreographed and confusingly drawn: either way it obviously isn't the end of Uncle Ben-B's story, but it left a horrible taste in my mouth and made me regret the fact that I earlier said "Aw, I trust Peter David with this Uncle Ben Returns storyline." I know there's more to come, but the twist is just so nasty and confusing that I can't tell what it is that's really goin' on, but this little stuffed bull knows it ain't fun.


ETERNALS #2: This comic is as fun as the movie Airplane! On the other hand, Neil Gaiman pulls off a solid mix of action, mystery, adventure, moodiness, and a nice Kirby homage without slavishly copying the King in his Eternals revamp. John Romita Jr. turns in some very nice art—this guy just keeps getting better and better in his art career, I think!—and while the twists and mysteries are less confusing if you're read a Kirby Eternals book, it's still stands solidly on its own as a decent "everything you know is wrong" comic. My only disappointment? That Marvel didn't actually set up a www.partiesbysersi.com website. Who doesn't want their next party planned by Sersi?


SHE-HULK #9: This comic is as fun as the movie Airplane! First, a bit of old business: just to let you know I did not skip She-Hulk #8 because I didn't care at all for #7. No, I simply missed it and its Civil War-themed jacket on the comic book store stand, and now it's sold out, and back issues are going for more green than Shulkie at the beach! (Haw!) No, I ain't droppin' this book, 'specially since the new one is a whole bucket o' fun, even from the cover. You all know I'm no fan of Greg Horn's covers, but this one actually works, is fun and attractive! Maybe it's just that Mister Horn draws good bling. Anyway, this ish features a wedding I'm much more interested in than the overblown Storm and Panther Wedding of the Century (after all, were T'Challa and Ororo married by Elvis?> I think not!), and even better, Jen faces off against her father-in-law J. Jonah Jameson, who is not having a good week!


CIVIL WAR #3: This comic is not fun, much like the movie Fearless. I dunno. I like the story possibilities the unmasking of Spidey that this series has brought us, but guess I'm just gettin' tired of characters I consider heroes actin' like jerks. Why is Mister Fantastic so narrow-minded? Why are the X-Men the equivalent of being conscientious objectors? Why is Iron Man completely betraying the friends and ideals he's stood for in over forty years of his own series? Why is Ben Grimm...Ben Grimm!...fighting his friends? The only high spot is the surprise last-page reappearance of one of my fave Marvel heroes. I imagine next issue he'll make me mad at him as well. Sigh.


JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #0: This comic is sorta fun, like the movie Air Force One. I don't mind the flashbacks and flash-forwards in this, which is basically just a teaser for next month's new series, but the unevenness of the "all star cast of artists" and the usual Brad Meltzer confusing and wandering dialogue isn't a big draw for me. I'm interested to see who will be in the new JLA, but there's no real resolution in here; there's not even a real story or plot. I won't hold that against a zero issue which is more about setting tone and mood, but the regular series had better have more substance and a faster plot or I'm going to get disappointed real fast.


RUNAWAYS #18: This comic is fun, just like the movie Airplane! But kinda sad at the same time. A cheerful and joyous cover that leads to an all-out fight scene and a death in the Runaways? Sniff. One of the more touching Marvel deaths in the past several years. Civil War could take in a lesson in writing characters you care about from Runaways. All that and The Best Line of the Week: "Killing him would be the biggest mistake of your life. And I'm factoring those shoulder pads into the equation."


X-FACTOR #9: This comic is fun, just like the movie Airplane! Here's some proof that the basic idea behind "Civil War" is sound: like here and in She-Hulk, the Superhero Registration Act plotline can be interesting and compelling. If only what the Act itself was stayed consistent from book to book...it's almost as if the writers weren't communicating or there was no clear editorial control...but that can be possible, can it? Can it? Anyway, it's not that hard to make the X-Men look like careless jerks these days, but at least Peter David gives it some humor and believability to the situation at the same time he sets up a more specific role for X-Factor in the post-House of M Marvel Universe. Why...it's almost as if Peter has some sort of plot and game plan in mind...how unique is that?!?


GUMBY #1: This comic is the most fun comic of the week and can only be compared to the most fun airplane movie of all time, Snakes on a Plane! Golly. The sort of fun and charming comic that hasn't been seen in a long, long time, as two of my favorite creators, Bob Burden and Rick Geary, tackle everybody's favorite clay boy in an adventure featuring a wagon full of shoes, Mexican food, Invincible Man, evil clowns, and luvvvvvvvvvv. The art is colorful and gorgeous and everything down to the lettering is pitch perfect: really, you can be a kid or a kid at heart and you'll love this book. I highly recommend it, whether or not you're on an airplane, and I have a strong feeling it's gonna be on my year-end list of Most Fun Comics of 2006. Miss it at your own peril and loss of fun, kemosabe!

I have to go now. Hot towels are being passed out to everyone. Hot towels! I love flying!