Wait you don't like Trials of Shazam? Theres actually a terrible DC book you DON'T enjoy? MY WORLD VIEW IT IS SHATTERED!

Anyway, a non-sarcastic quick question. You frequently mention books that you see getting panned but that sell well (at least from you). What books would you say have terrible sellers but SHOULD be picked up from your (and other) fine comics establishments?
LurkerWithout | Email | Homepage | 01.30.08 - 12:47 am | #

What about Y the Last Issue???
JdR | 01.30.08 - 3:23 am | #

I thought issue #13 was an anthology issue like that summer one.

Also, Milke Ploog has the best name ever. I can say Ploog all day. Plooooooooooooog. Damn, that feels good.
Daniel Mata | Email | 01.30.08 - 3:30 am | #

Re: your twitter- "Cool Nerds". There is a term that fills a hole I wasn't previously aware existed, and for that I thank you, Mike Sterling.
Phill | Email | 01.30.08 - 4:37 am | #

Mike Ploog is, in fact, quite awesome.

So is Futurama Comics and Trial of Shazam. Futurama especially always gives me a big ole heapin' helpin' of belly laughs with each issue. Great stuff.

Good to see Project Superpowers finally coming out, and Suckulina: Vampire Temp looks too amusing to pass up.
Luke | Email | Homepage | 01.30.08 - 4:59 am | #

What about those $15-20 variant covers? Do those sell? Do people buy expensive variant covers of comics more than a month old? Personally, I can't see any reason to spend 12 or more extra bucks for a different cover, but Marvel keeps churning them out.
Mike Loughlin | Email | 01.30.08 - 6:11 am | #

Here's some "real world comic book news fatigue" I can live with! From the front page of yesterday's USA TODAY.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/boo...man- comic_N.htm
Jeff Wood | Email | 01.30.08 - 6:15 am | #

Futurama is the only new book I buy these days. I get Essentials and read my best bud's Wednesday haul, but that's the only book I currently plonk down money for.
Jeff Rients | Email | Homepage | 01.30.08 - 6:39 am | #

I really hope they collect Y the way they are Starman in a few thick hardcovers. I was late to the party and only have the first TPB -- I'd rather not buy 10 of them if it can be avoided.
Rich | Email | Homepage | 01.30.08 - 7:24 am | #

But Spirit #13 *doesn't* have Aragones and Ploog. They start next issue. This is a fill-in with, I think, Gail Simone and some other people.
Matthew E | Email | Homepage | 01.30.08 - 7:28 am | #

If you're thinking about your New Gods Shiloh Norman theory, DC's already spilled in solicits that [REMOVED] is the secret mystery killer.

Now, admittedly, they could be pulling a fast one, but on the other hand, ending the New Gods storyline in a counterintuitive, stupid way by feeding them as fodder to the least interesting supervillain of the last decade to make said supervillain look more badass would be incredibly lame, and right now, when something is incredibly lame, DC is more likely to go that way.
mightygodking | Email | Homepage | 01.30.08 - 7:35 am | #

When I took a hiatus from comics in the '90s the only thing I still bought was the occasional Simpsons comic. I know no matter what happens in the wild and woolly world of funnybooks I can depend on a few chuckles from Homer and Bart.

I really enjoy Ed Brubaker's work including Captain America. I think it's funny, but also sort of cool, that the storyline I'm enjoying in a monthly comic is being picked up by NPR and USA Today occasionally. To me it's just a fun book that I dig so to see that anyone else in the world gives a damn is kind of neat.
Ian Brill | Email | Homepage | 01.30.08 - 7:40 am | #

Geeze, Mike, how DARE you actually enjoy your comics? Don't you know that you're supposed to view comics reading as a tedious chore?
Dorian | Email | Homepage | 01.30.08 - 7:43 am | #

It was Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters and its ilk, along w/ TMNT that spawned FantaCo's SOLD OUT, art by John Hebert, story by Tom Skulan and, er, me.
Roger Green | Email | Homepage | 01.30.08 - 9:09 am | #

Lurkerwithout - Lemme think about that question for a bit.

JdR - Hmmm...Y, you say? Can't say I've heard of it.

Mightygodking - I don't remember seeing that, but just in case that's true, I removed the spoiler from your comment.

If it is the case, it seems like a missed opportunity to me. And I'm not sure when he would have been doing this, since he's been awfully occupied these last few months in other books.

As far as lameness goes, I think DC's track record for avoiding it is much better than some other company I could mention....

Dorian - But if I enjoy my comics, they'll take away my blogging card!

Roger - Hey, I remember Sold Out! I think we even have a couple copies at the shop, still.
Mikester | Homepage | 01.30.08 - 9:17 am | #

Apparently you have jumped the gun on FF. According to an interview at Newsrama, Hitch is currently working on his tenth issue of Fantastic Four! The Millar/Hitch run has been extended to 16 issues, so you can expect to see delays sometime next year instead.
JG | 01.30.08 - 9:27 am | #

JG - Well, let's hope...the spotty release schedule for Ultimates wasn't a good precedent.
Mikester | Homepage | 01.30.08 - 9:29 am | #

I find the easiest way to move Badger is to say "On the first page an exploding dog kills the Mayor and by the end Badger chops a demon in half, vertically, with a chainsaw. No it doesn't make sense, it's the Badger, it doesn't need to."
Mallet | Email | 01.30.08 - 1:52 pm | #

I kinda hope they have the stones to leave Cap dead, actually. It's not like Steve Rogers has the sort of general public familiarity as a Peter Parker, Clark Kent, or Bruce Wayne. Cap's secret identity has never been a vital part of his recognition factor (hell, it hasn't even played a much of a part in the guy's comics since the 80s); it's the costume and the shield that people remember, and so long as the possessor of those items lives up to a certain ideal, then it doesn't really matter who it is.

Plus, Cap is the closest thing Marvel has to having something like one of DC's legacy heroes, and I think it'd be kind of cool to actually see this particular torch get passed on for real for the first time since they retconned in the Spirit of 76, the Patriot, and the 50s commie smasher as replacement Caps.
Bill D. | Email | Homepage | 01.30.08 - 4:35 pm | #

re: Gene Simmons Zipper

Mike,

Maybe you can talk some of your sci-fi fans into checking out Zipper. Here's a recent review of Zipper #3 at Broken Frontier that tells you why (here's the link):

http://www.brokenfrontier.com/re...ils.php? id=1714

And another pasted from Comixtreme:

Zipper #3 (IDW Publishing)
By Tom Waltz, Casey Maloney, Marc Rueda & Dustin Yee

If there is one thing I love about this book it's the pace! The intro was great, the premise is great and now we're already getting into the meat of the story! Our hero is found, unknowingly, on the wrong side of the law but still proves himself the good guy, plus you get a strong sense that our hero really has to work hard to achieve his goal. This issue focuses on the more visual aspect of the comic book, and for good reason, the idea of comic books is to help stimulate the imagination of what happens between panels, and as I've said from the beginning, this book has exactly the right pace to pick you up and take you along with it! Another great job from this creative team and I hope they keep up the good work!
Rating: 4/5 --Mathew Smith

Please don't let the title fool you -- GENE SIMMONS ZIPPER is something we're proud of and much more than the title would imply.

Thanks for your time!

Tom Waltz
Writer: ZIPPER
IDW Publishing
Tom Waltz | Email | Homepage | 02.04.08 - 3:11 pm | #