'Best of TBH Politoons'
Cory!! Strode On Graphic Novels
Top 10 Graphic Novels
Instead of just reviewing a single graphic novel this week, I'm going to list the Top Ten Best Selling Graphic Novels for January, with some quick notes on each one. The listing is for the rank, the book, the publisher, the price and the number of copies that sold in comic shops during January 2006.
1 SERENITY TP $9.95 DAR 8,016
Guess I'm not the only one who waited for the trade on this one. It tells the story of what happened between the TV show "Firefly" and the movie "Serenity" and it's written by Joss Whedon. It's a good story with decent enough art and is a step above the average TV tie in. Whedon is going to be doing more comics, including another "season" of Buffy only in comics, which is probably better for him than another movie or TV show that tanks.
2 DC UNIVERSE STORIES OF ALAN MOORE (MR) $19.99 DC 7,473
This is a GREAT batch of stories by the best writer to ever work in mainstream comics. His Watchmen and V for Vendetta are known by people who don't read comics, but this is a collection of stories he did in the early 80's for DC using characters like Superman, Green Lantern and Vigilante. The highlights of the book are "Whatever Happen To The Man Of Steel?" which was the last story about the Silver Age Superman and may be the best superman story of all time, and "The Killing Joke", a Batman story from the late 80's that is thought of as one of the best Batman stories as well. This is a must-buy if you don't have the stories and is highly recommended.
3 SUPERMAN SACRIFICE TP $14.99 DC 6,550
Reprinting a Superman story that leads up to the big Infinite Crisis crossover. If you aren't into the big buildup to the big crossover, you probably won't have any idea in the world what the hell is going on, and if you are, you've already got this.
4 NEW AVENGERS VOL 1 BREAKOUT TP $14.99 MAR 5,876
The kicking for the new Avengers series, and while there are parts of it I REALLY like, there is a major structure problem to this story in that the first half deals with a prison breakout...and then the second half doesn't resolve it AT ALL. It's a huge hit, and it is a solid Marvel series, but it didn't work for me as a stand alone story, more like the pilot to a long-running series.
5 V FOR VENDETTA TP $19.99 DC 5,720
Selling big because of the movie, and it should. Many people say that Watchmen is Alan Moore's best work, but I think that this one is just a little bit better. Set in fascist Britain in the late 80's (which was the future when it was written), it is a deeply thought out story of revolution, personal choice and science fiction ideas, all done with some of the best art comics have ever seen. There is no way the movie can be as well written and constructed as this book, and it is highly recommended, even if you haven't ever read a comic book in your life.
6 JLA VOL 18 CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE TP $12.99 DC 5,458
Another tie-in book, and this one stands almost as a sequel to "Identity Crisis". Out of all of the tie-ins to that series, this is the best, and deals well with the fact that these characters do have powers above and beyond normal people. It's a bit confusing without having read "Infinite Crisis" first, but if you have, this is a solid sequel that's well wroth the money.
7 BATMAN HUSH RETURNS TP $12.99 DC 5,109
The first all out stinker on the list. This reprints a bunch of issues from the now-canceled "Gotham Knights" comic, and purports to tell more about the character introduced in the Jim Lee issues. After slogging through a couple of issues, I simply gave up on the book, and I'm not the only one, as sales dropped during this storyline. It's just an unreadable mess and should be avoided.
8 TEEN TITANS OUTSIDERS INSIDERS TP $9.99 DC 5,003
A crossover between the two teams, and as such, there are about 25 super-heroes running around in this book. If you know the characters and have followed the series, it IS a solid story that continues the "super-hero soap opera" of both books. The problem is that if you aren't a reader already, it's like watching an episode of a soap opera without all of the exposition and catch-up. For fans only.
9 SEVEN SOLDIERS OF VICTORY VOL 1 TP $14.99 DC 4,972
I LOVE this series of books, but the problem with the trade paperbacks is a that they are printing the books in the order they came out. The format of the series is that there was a "kickoff" issue setting up the situation, and then sever different mini-series featuring the seven different characters. This is one of the few instances that it's better to buy the individual issues and read them as the seven different mini-series. It's great stuff, but I don't know how well it will read in these books.
10 SAMURAI EXECUTIONER VOL 8 TP (MR) $9.95 DAR 4,816
Another book of the best manga series currently being printed. Set in feudal Japan, set in the same fictional setting as the classic "Lone Wolf and Cub" and it is by the same creative team as LW&C as well, it is just as good as that classic series and reads well if you just pick up the book out of the blue as well as if you have read ALL of the work by this creative team. It's well written, drawn in such a way that it feels like a movie in your hands and is highly recommended.
Cory!! Strode (The Best Dressed Man In Comics) has written comic books, novels, jokes for comedians, Op Ed columns, the on-line comic strip
www.Asylumon5thstreet.com and has all kinds of things on his website, www.solitairerose.com
Contributor Comment
Re: "This Divided State"
Marty
After viewing the snippet of Sean Hannity in "This Divided State" in Bartcop "E" (3/1/06).....
I had an interesting conversation with my Denver living Hannity/Coulter/OReilly loving EX guitar player about this clip of Sean Hannity berating the lone "liberal" Hippie trying to ask an intelligent question (and getting booed by the crowd)....my Ex said "See liberals are a bunch of WIMPS!"
Guess what???? He's RIGHT (literally)
Let's all stop WHINING!
I want to see Patriots of this Country Kick some Ass.
Go to Conservative "Prayer Meetings" and say "Fuck Bush"!!
Take Republican campus recruiters and "Pants them" !
Tell Christians that they are all going to HELL for electing BUSH!
Finally...let's start "FLASHING" again...show "em that ASS!
Gene
Thanks, Gene!
Another Rant
Avery Ant
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Fred Kaplan: The President's Indian Fantasy (slate.com)
In Iraq, Bush & Co. crashed the gates with no plan for what to do after the country crumbled. In North Korea, they called off nuclear talks and waited for the tyrant's regime to collapse with no plan for how to stop his weapons program if he managed to stay at the helm. In the Palestinian territories, they pushed for elections with no plan for how to react if the wrong side won.
JEFFREY TOOBIN: Will Tom DeLay's redistricting in Texas cost him his seat? (newyorker.com)
Ultimately, DeLay's extremism may turn out to have been a national service, if it compels the Supreme Court to confront the problem of uncompetitive congressional elections.
Stephen Pizzo: Did You Just Hear Something? (newsforreal.com)
Is something happening? After nearly six years of hoping something would happen, I am resisting the temptation to accept that suddenly something really is happening.
Child Maltreatment 2003: Summary of Key Findings
Female perpetrators, who were mostly mothers, were typically younger than male perpetrators, who were mostly fathers. Women also comprised a larger percentage of all perpetrators than men: 58 percent compared to 42 percent.
Sanford Pinsker: Email Etiquette an Oxymoron? Perhaps Not (irascibleprofessor.com)
It is no secret that technology has had its impact on teaching, but it is also no secret that there are times when the "impact" is unwelcome, if not downright unpleasant. I am referring to the habit, by now well established, in which students email their professors at the click of a mouse -- and then expect the professor to respond in a heartbeat.
Mark Morford: Sunny Weather Creeps Me Out (sfgate.com)
The world's weather patterns are changing faster and more ominously than at any time in our species' existence. Meanwhile, the facts proving global warming is happening pile up faster than can be measured, and the evidence proving that we are, in effect, digging our own grave by doing nothing about it makes a mockery of our supposed love of life.
Hubert's Poetry Corner
ImMEASURABLE DiSASTER In OuR TiMES
GOD HELP US!
Freshly Updated!
Humor Gazette
Some Anna Nicole/Supreme Court satire...
(The Photoshop art is an eye-popping, must-see Supreme Court marquee.)
Anna Nicole's Supreme Court sex romp
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny & breezy.
No new flags.
Alums to Return for Show's End
'West Wing'
A flock of alumni of NBC's "The West Wing" will return to reprise their roles one last time for the White House drama's final episodes, the network announced Tuesday.
Rob Lowe will come back as Sam Seaborn, the senior political official he played from 1999-2003. Lowe was nominated for an Emmy for his performance in 2001.
Mary-Louise Parker, who now stars on Showtime's "Weeds," will return as women's-rights advocate Amy Gardner, who in years past has had an on-again-off-again romance with presidential adviser Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford).
Also bringing back their characters: Anna Deavere Smith, Emily Proctor, Marlee Matlin, Gary Cole, Tim Matheson, Timothy Busfield and Annabeth Gish.
'West Wing'
Unhappy With Network Plans
Dave Chappelle
Comedian Dave Chappelle says he may never return to his hit Comedy Central show if the cable network goes through with plans to air new episodes culled from material he filmed before leaving the series.
"I feel like it's kind of a bully move," Chappelle told the Dayton Daily News in a telephone interview for a story Wednesday. "That's just how I feel about it. I don't know if that's the case. But if people don't watch it, then I'd be more than happy."
Chappelle said his possible return to "Chappelle's Show" is still up in the air.
Dave Chappelle
New York Library Acquires Archive
William Burroughs
The New York Public Library announced its acquisition of the archives of the avant-garde Beat writer William Burroughs, including draft versions of his seminal novel "Naked Lunch."
The archive, containing Burroughs' manuscripts and correspondence from the richest part of his writing career from the early 1950s to the early 1970s, previously had only two private owners and has never been publicly accessible.
It will join the library's Berg Collection of Beat-related material that already includes the archive of Jack Kerouac.
William Burroughs
Language Issue
Oscars
There will be no F-word but the word "bitches" will be heard during the first-ever rap performance at the Academy Awards on Sunday.
At the request of the Academy and ABC, which is broadcasting the Oscars show, the authors of best song nominee "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from the film "Hustle & Flow" have substituted less offensive words for the song's profanity-laced lyrics.
A spokesman for Gil Cates, the producer of the Oscars telecast, confirmed that the word "bitches" was not one of the words changed by the nominated artists.
Just in case, ABC is also expected to use a five-second delay to aid network censors.
Oscars
Honors Jon Hendricks
Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau made a long detour to the Big Apple while returning home to Los Angeles from a benefit concert in Columbia, S.C., just to pay tribute to the jazz singer he considers his main mentor - Jon Hendricks.
"I wouldn't miss this for anything in the world .... I'd go to the moon for a chance to bow in Jon's direction," Jarreau said backstage after presenting Hendricks with a Beacon Award at a gala benefit Monday night for the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music at The Pierre hotel.
Hendricks, 84, who Time Magazine once dubbed the "James Joyce of Jive," said he's "always been a poet" ever since childhood when he helped his father, a Baptist minister, find texts for his sermons. Calling Jarreau "my spiritual son," Hendricks recalled how the younger singer would come almost every night to hear him perform at the Trident club in Sausalito, Calif., and ask lots of questions.
The gala also included performances by faculty members and students and a monologue by comedian Bill Cosby. Other Beacon Awards, recognizing jazz musicians who "have uniquely enriched the nation's musical heritage," were given to drummer Roy Haynes, who has performed with jazz stars from Charlie Parker to Chick Corea, and bebop pianist Barry Harris, who has been involved in jazz education around the world. CBS newsman Ed Bradley, who is marking his 25th anniversary as a "60 Minutes" correspondent, received a Beacon Award for his jazz advocacy work.
Al Jarreau
More Classiness From Clear Channel
Martinifest
The glistening white Santiago Calatrava addition has made the Milwaukee Art Museum one of the city's classiest social addresses. But a recent martini fete held there turned into an overcrowded, drunken affair. Some unruly guests accosted artworks, which have been taken off display for a checkup.
People threw up, passed out, were injured, got into altercations and climbed onto sculptures at Martinifest, a semi- formal event organized by Clear Channel Radio and held at the museum Feb. 11, according to several people who attended or worked at the event.
"Hindsight is 20-20 . . . it was probably too cheap," Kerry Wolfe, a local programming director for Clear Channel, said of the event's premise - unlimited martinis for $30.
"In our five years of experience, we have never had any problems with rental events," David Gordon, the museum's director, said in a brief written statement responding to questions about the event. "It was not an appropriate event to be held in the museum, and we have reviewed our procedures for bookings."
Martinifest
Hosting Juno Awards
Pamela Anderson
Pamela Anderson has signed to host the Juno Awards, Canada's version of the Grammys, which will take place in Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 2.
Past hosts include Shania Twain and Alanis Morissette. But the Vancouver Island-born Anderson, who is better known for dating rock stars than for her musical talent, represents the awards show's most globally branded host to date.
Pamela Anderson
Annulment News
Bush - Murray
Sophia Bush is seeking to annul her brief marriage to her "One Tree Hill" co-star Chad Michael Murray, citing fraud.
According to papers filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Bush married Murray on April 16 and the pair separated five months later.
The 23-year-old actress also requested that the court terminate its ability to award spousal support to Murray, 24.
Bush - Murray
Helps Launch Cuban Cigar
Joseph Fiennes
Joseph Fiennes, who co-starred with Gwyneth Paltrow in the 1998 film "Shakespeare in Love," has helped launch a new Cuban cigar, tossing off a few lines from "Romeo and Juliet" in honor of the cigar's maker.
Fiennes was the featured visitor as Cuba began its annual cigar festival Monday night, presenting a cigar size called the "Short Churchill" by Cuba's state-owned Romeo and Juliet brand at Havana's Gran Teatro.
According to legend, World War II British Prime Minister Winston Churchill smoked more than 200,000 Cuban cigars during trips to the island, Fiennes said.
Joseph Fiennes
Vietnam Trial
Gary Glitter
Disgraced British "glam rocker" Gary Glitter went on trial at a People's Court in communist Vietnam on Thursday on charges of molesting two young girls.
Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was brought to the yellow concrete courthouse -- a Hammer and Sickle emblem above the front door -- from the prison where he has been held since he was arrested in November as he tried to leave the country.
"Innocent," the 61-year-old said when asked from a jostling crowd of reporters, cameramen and photographers how he would plead at the trial in Vung Tau, a resort town 120 km (70 miles) southeast of Ho Chi Minh City.
Clad in black, he waved his fingers in a 'V' for victory sign as he arrived shortly after the two girls, wearing hats and face masks which left only their eyes visible, entered the courtroom.
For more, Gary Glitter
Makes Home in Scranton, Pa
'The Office'
Dunder-Mifflin, the fictional paper-supply company where preposterous boss Michael, oddball salesman Dwight and the rest of the quirky characters on NBC's "The Office" spend their days, is a member in good standing of the real-life Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce.
Though Dunder-Mifflin isn't real, "The Office" has given Scranton, a small Pennsylvania industrial city where the hit comedy is set, the kind of national exposure that chamber types can only dream about.
A remake of the acclaimed British series of the same name, "The Office" is shot in mock-documentary style, following the trials and travails of Dunder-Mifflin's sad-sack office drones and their clueless egomaniac of a boss, Michael Scott (Golden-Globe winner Steve Carell). The show has been a solid performer for NBC, which has already renewed it for next season.
'The Office'
Bronze Age Object Deciphered
Sky Disc of Nebra
A group of German scientists has deciphered the meaning of one of the most spectacular archeological discoveries in recent years: The mystery-shrouded sky disc of Nebra was used as an advanced astronomical clock. The purpose of the 3,600 year-old sky disc of Nebra, which caused a world-wide sensation when it was brought to the attention of the German public in 2002, is no longer a matter of speculation.
A group of German scholars who studied this archaeological gem has discovered evidence which suggests that the disc was used as a complex astronomical clock for the harmonization of solar and lunar calendars.
The 32-centimeter-wide (seven-inch) bronze disc with gold-leaf appliqués representing the sun, the moon, and the stars is the oldest visual representation of the cosmos known to date. A cluster of seven dots has previously been interpreted as the Pleiades constellation as it appeared 3,600 years ago.
Sky Disc of Nebra
Schedule Shifts
ABC
ABC has unveiled some late midseason schedule shuffling that will send returning series "Alias" and "Hope & Faith" to new nights.
"Alias," which is in its final season, is moving from Thursday to Wednesday at 8 p.m., beginning April 19. The spy drama took a brief hiatus from its 8 p.m. Thursday slot beginning in January, when "Dancing With the Stars" made a successful run in its time slot.
"Hope & Faith," which has struggled on Fridays, will move to Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m., beginning March 21, following "According to Jim."
In addition, ABC has scheduled its four-hour miniseries "The Ten Commandments" in successive two-hour installments April 10 and April 11. The network confirmed that the drama "Invasion," which is stepping out of its 10 p.m. Wednesday slot to give new hour "The Evidence" a try, will return to the schedule April 19.
ABC
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