The poster from 2012, the mask from 2011, but I've had them for two comic-cons...

This week's issue of BPRD: Hell on Earth (#124) is an excellent, single issue story; a great place to start reading. And super-creepy. But if you've been reading since 1994's Hellboy: Seed of Destruction #1, you are both old, and in the possession of a pretty good pile of comics. Especially if you're not trade-waiting, and you've been getting the assorted Mignolaverse books like Sledgehammer 44, Lobster Johnson, and Baltimore. Strictly speaking, the latter isn't in the same universe, but it's Mike Mignola so it's going in the same box!

However disorganized you may assume I am...let me assure you, it's far more so. But most of my Mignola-books were together in a box...that got full. And has been in my garage, so I haven't been putting new issues in. Problem, or opportunity, for a proper longbox home for them? After some liberal application of packing and duct tape, yeah! It's reinforced and water resistant!

I've had this in mind forever, so it'll be nice to finish putting all those issues in there. Plus, it's a good opportunity to re-read a ton of them. Have a great weekend!
Read more!

OK, This Week's Comics:

A light week, with a mere four books, and all four in various points of larger storylines. First up, probably the best selling of the lot, Trees #5, from writer Warren Ellis and artist Jason Howard. The various threads of the book haven't yet come together, if they will at all, but they all serve the larger story of a world that has been invaded...by invaders who don't seem to care. It's a slow boil, that's going to explode later.

Over in B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth #123 the apocalypse has been going for seemingly eighty issues or more. This issue visits Japan, and takes a traditional Toho monster approach to the end. A crazy scientist has seemingly pulled a giant monster out of nowhere, and it throws down with the creatures that the B.P.R.D.'s fared so poorly against. These last two issues were billed as jumping-on points, and while they're not bad, between this book and Abe Sapien, it feels like the apocalypse has gone so long it's losing a little steam. ("The Broken Equation, part 2 of 2" Written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, art by Joe Querio.)

Similarly, Satellite Sam #10 is billed as the conclusion of the second story arc, but the titular mystery of "Who Killed Satellite Sam?" is seemingly no closer to being answered! Yet, like Trees, it's playing a longer game and building up to an explosion. A five-part finale is set for 2015, so it's nice to know the end is at least in sight; and the book continues to be cheeky and smutty in individual installments. ("Keyhole and Welt; Shadow, Seam, Heel" Written by Matt Fraction, art by Howard Chaykin.)

Lastly, Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #33 moves forward some recent plot points--the disappearance of most of the Lost Light's crew, the mystery of Rodimus Prime's corpse, and a measure of Megatron's altruism--as well as the reveal of a traitor who's been there since the beginning, and an appearance from a dead favorite. I don't know if I've enjoyed the issues as singles lately--too many questions up in the air!--but as part of a larger read it's a remarkable tapestry. ("Slaughterhouse, part 2: The Road Not Taken" Written by James Roberts, pencils by Alex Milne, inks by Brian Shearer and John Wycough.)

Now, maybe I can figure out where the previous issues of all these books are...

EDIT: I actually went back on the "OK this week's comics" tag, and saw the last time I reviewed most of these same titles...and said pretty close to the same things! Enjoyable, but installments of a larger whole. Seems to be a running theme.
Read more!

A blocking trick unique to comics there:

In the recent B.P.R.D. #1948 #3, Professor Bruttenholm goes out to dinner with a young nuclear physicist, Dr. Anna Rieu. The two seem to be a great match at first, but it soon becomes apparent that it's not going to work between them; especially when she freaks out a bit that Bruttenholm is raising the young Hellboy. You'd think being a single, working dad would be more of a draw...

But, he does show her the picture from Hellboy: Seed of Destruction #1, which we've seen a few times before. This time, the Torch of Liberty is partially obscured by the word balloon there. Created by John Byrne, the Torch is sort-of in and sort-of out of Hellboy continuity. I wouldn't mind if the Torch showed up in the WWII-set Sledgehammer 44, but I don't think he will.
Read more!

OK, This Week's Comics:

Just a couple quick bits this time around: the Youngest came with me to the Comic Book Shop and got the new issue of Adventure Time then talked me into getting him an issue of Bravest Warriors. He was pretty enthusiastic about it, probably moreso than I was about my batch of books.

I did like B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth #105. (Some of these books aren't in the GCD yet!) It's a book that plays the long game: plot threads can lie seemingly forgotten for some time, but they rarely are. This month: The comatose Abe Sapien wakes up and wanders off! Someone covers for him! The grotesque Director Iosif of the Russian Occult Bureau airlifts into a monster-infested warzone, but isn't there for the evacuation...B.P.R.D. is rarely a bad read, but is often more satisfying with a few issues at once than one at a time. But I would miss the cliffhangers if I trade-waited!

I haven't written up the last couple of Dark Horse Presents for 80-Page Thursdays--partially because I didn't want several in a row, but also the last couple were a little meh for me. This issue does have a Shannon (Too Much Coffee Man) Wheeler story, an odd alternate history of Custer from Howard Chaykin, and a kinda interesting interview with Geof Darrow...that isn't as interesting as new work from Darrow. And Mike Richardson asks him about "his dream car" and a ride with Frank Miller and Darrow doesn't elaborate! Patrick Alexander's "Villainman" is funny; but I wouldn't have scheduled it and Wheeler's "Villain House" the same month...No Finder either this month. I was considering dropping DHP, so of course next month has Nexus and I'm back on board.

Lastly, we have X-Termination #1: to get home to the Age of Apocalypse, the AoA Nightcrawler forces the Dark Beast to try and get them back. Wolverine, pissed over Nightcrawler's betrayal of X-Force, is on his tail (so to speak) with a team of X-Men. There are a few things wrong here already...even if the AoA Nightcrawler doesn't think of the 616 Marvel Universe as anything but a shadow, the Age of Apocalypse would be a dismal suckhole to live in. Yet he's willing to work with Dark Beast--who, if he isn't basically Hitler to him, is at least Mengele--to get back there. He's in the Marvel Universe: if anyone in the story stopped being a jerk for five minutes, there's other ways to get from one universe to another, right? And Wolverine is hunting down Nightcrawler because he might be dangerous...hey, Wolvie? You know who else is dangerous? Sabretooth, the guy that killed about a gazillion other people you knew? Maybe you could hunt him down instead? No? So, Wolvie is either after Nightcrawler because of narrative convenience, or because his feelings are hurt like a big baby...

There's a ponderous opening (that reminded me of Crisis on Infinite Earths) to set up the extra-dimensional big bads, who I don't think have ever been seen before. When Dark Beast and Nightcrawler teleport into the Dreaming Celestial, they "see" a control room, "the mind making sense of the cosmic energies." Because that's way more entertaining to see than crazy Kirby-style stuff...that bit reminded me of Contact, or South Park making fun of Contact. I liked the McGuinness cover, but there's no scene like that inside, and the cover stock is crappy...

I'm being a little harsh on this book, because of those holes; but also because it already seems obvious this crossover is (at least partially) about AoA Nightcrawler having to pay for his deeds, and probably killed off or written out. He came to the 616 to get revenge, got it, and was not all that sorry about it in Uncanny X-Force. But we can't have that: it'd be just fine for Wolverine to gut someone for payback (although he so rarely kills off anyone important) but not anyone else. I'm not a fan of Gambit, but he does call Wolvie on his double standard regarding side projects; but that's another problem with this series: I really don't much care about a lot of the characters thrown in this crossover pot. I'm only buying this stupid comic because it's got a version of my favorite character, a copy.

A lot of Marvel and DC comics feel that way for me lately, honestly.
Read more!

80-Page Thursdays: Dark Horse Presents #8!

From February, 2012, Dark Horse Presents #8, featuring stories from Brian Wood, Martin Conaghan, Alan Gordon, Evan Dorkin, and more; with art by Thomas Yeates, Jill Thompson, Jimmy Broxton, Simon Rohrmüller, and more. There was a variant cover for the Massive, but I went with the Duncan Fegredo Hellboy one, which leads right into the opener, "An Unmarked Grave." Tying into both Hellboy and B.P.R.D., with regular writers Mike Mignola and John Arcudi; Kate Corrigan investigates Hellboy's disappearance in the ravaged England. Of course, Hellboy died in The Fury #3; but that may not even be the worst news Kate gets...

Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson keep the strong start going with a Beasts of Burden tale, "The View from the Hill." The dogs (and the Orphan, the cat) investigate an unattended flock of sheep, only to discover the flock has a sheepdog, and a secret. It's really good, and although I've only read Beasts a couple times, I wonder if it isn't starting like B.P.R.D.: get to know the characters as they do a bit of demon fighting or ghostbusting, and the series slowly builds to a bigger apocalypse...

There's another chapter of Tony Puryear's Concrete Park, another of Neal Adams' Blood, and the conclusion of this portion of Marked Man from Chaykin. I'm usually not a big fan, but I did like "the Once and Future Tarzan," wherein an older Tarzan is accosted and pulled back into action. I'm also not up enough on the character to recognize the setting, or maybe that's left to be answered--it looked like a sparsely populated future London to me.

The preview for "The Massive" from Brian Wood and Kristian Donaldson left me a bit cold, but you can read the entire thing at io9. I preferred the short "Time to Live," a sci-fi done-in-one. The issue wraps up with the dark humor of "The Many Murders of Miss Cranbourne" and "Skultar."

We're probably going to keep writing up DHP, since as I type this I'm looking forward to #9 with Lobster Johnson and Paul Pope. But I'm really looking forward to Nexus and Evan Dorkin in the book; if they have those and Mignola stuff, it'll be like the book was made just for me.
Read more!

A quick post for Friday:

I forgot to post yesterday, and then was having some computer trouble, but the JLApe posts ran without me. (I hadn't intended for both to go, but oh well.) But, I did finally get to the Comic Book Shop for the first time in a stretch. And there was good news and bad...

First, the good: The new issue of Unknown Soldier barely features the title character at all, and it's great. I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for whatever writer Joshua Dysart has planned after this one ends.

Everything from the Mignolaverse...and I don't know if they call it that...was also excellent: new B.P.R.D., Hellboy, and Baltimore. I need to order the Baltimore novel off Amazon: the miniseries is about a vampire hunter in an altered post-World War I setting. This first issue is set-up, but done well. There's a palpable sense of doom in all three books...in early Hellboy stories, you knew he was going to overcome the planned destiny of his stone right hand. Now, you're not so sure if he will, or even if he should; and Hellboy doesn't even seem like the only one that could end the world.

I also enjoyed the third issue of the Bob Layton Hercules mini; which was pretty much written for me since I liked all the old ones. Some of the jokes fall flat (the too-snarky ad-slogany logo on a terrorist's missile, for example) and you really kinda have to have read the old ones, but still, fun for me. And things continue moving in the Thanos Imperative #3, where Drax the Destroyer's policy on Thanos, friend or foe, is made clear; and Nova pulls a strike team to try and end the war with one strike. (Longtime favorite Quasar is back, and gets to do the slow badass walk to battle with Beta Ray Bill and the Silver Surfer!)

Now, the bad: Well, this first one isn't so much bad as rushed, the last issue of Warlord. Pretty obviously a much-longer storyline is crammed into one issue; which is admittedly better than being cancelled midstream.

The new Toyfare was better than the last couple of issues, but...maybe not as good as it used to be. Ditto Deadpool #1000. The only story I really liked was Howard Chaykin's "Today I am da Man." And that's probably because I like Chaykin's writing and art style; the story's pretty straight-forward, but the dialogue makes it for me. There were a couple others with moments--the last panels of Dean Haspiel's "Nightmare on Elm Tree" made me laugh, because I'm a bad person--but overall, lately Deadpool comics have been nonsense for nonsense's sake; and I dropped the regular Deadpool book from my pull box.

Now, that's not to say I probably won't end up with some: there's a wrestling issue of Deadpool Team-Up that should be good, but all too often that book's taken an idea or pairing that should be a slam dunk, then utterly failed to execute. That Frankencastle/Pool team-up was the last one to really disappoint me, and it was the last one I bought.

But that brings up another point: number of regular DC or Marvel books in my pull box? Zero. I gotta say, it's probably mostly price: there's more than a few books I'd be reading if they were cheaper. But I also have this weird theory...that I need to think about, try and articulate it a little. We'll see if I get it figured out over the weekend!

Oh, and I found a surprise or two in the quarter bins, but those'll keep 'til later! Read more!

"This is just slightly better than showing up for a job interview that turns out to be selling steak knives door-to-door."

Sweet Kirby Krackle, I would love to see a Hellboy-Demon fight. The Demon's rhyming banter would drive HB up the wall, but Etrigan is also tough enough to put up a good fight. I prefer good Etrigan over from the pits of hell enslaved monster Etrigan, but the evil one would be a better match and would doubtless dog Hellboy over his heritage and supposed destiny.

On the tailend here, we've got Man-Wolf, Frankenstein, Ghost Rider and Jack O'Lantern from Toy Biz's Marvel days. Then there's Mattel's Bizarro and Scarecrow, and a few others we've seen before: the Mezco Frankenstein, the House of the Dead figure, the McFarlane Tin Man.

Still haven't seen Hellboy 2, but the Wife took the Boys to see the last showing of Speed Racer the other day while I was at work. She said it was a lot longer than it needed to be, but the kids liked it; especially the Youngest, who was clapping and shaking his little fists for about ten minutes after the last race. Even through a quiet part, and he was looking around like everyone should be clapping. Of course, and I honestly don't mean this to be bitter, mean, or sarcastic; while Speed Racer didn't do as well in the theatres as expected; a brightly candy-colored movie about spinning things flying around in circles for two and a half hours? Was it specifically made for autistic kids? The Youngest might not talk much, but I bet he'll ask for the DVD...

(I'm poking a little fun, but that kid's making some headway; and I think that'll just keep going when school starts again for him. And I was able to get him a Mach V for himself, since his brother and I both have ours...)

Read more!

"Doesn't it suck to go to a job interview and see someone you know, going for the same job?"

Long before the Hellboy movies, there were the occasional crossover with other comic characters. The Batman/Starman/Hellboy (I may be wrong on the billing order there) is probably the best known, since Mignola actually did the art for that one; but it's not my favorite. If I had the old Painkiller Jane figure, she would've been up there with Ghost, the Goon, and the Savage Dragon. Hard to say which one's the best: the Goon one is probably the funniest, Ghost's crossover has the virtue of being back when neither she nor Hellboy really knew their origins, and the Dragon issues may actually be in Hellboy's continuity: they depict Hellboy giving Hitler the what-for.

Morbius isn't a true vampire, therefore, he wouldn't have gotten bounced with Dracula, Angel, and Blade. He's from Toy Biz's Spider-Man line, and of course the classic Beast and Daredevil are Marvel Legends. Toy Biz did make later Daredevil's, but I only have the old frowny-face one, so of course he had to be a cranky lawyer, right? EDIT: It is sheer unconscious dickery that the clipboard I gave Daredevil has an eyechart on it.

NECA's Army of Darkness S-Mart Ash towers over the old McFarlane X-Files figures, but I don't know if I see new ones coming anytime soon. Anyone see the new movie yet? I figure I will sooner or later, but maybe I would've been more excited if it was going to wrap up any of the lingering questions from the series. Hell, maybe I'd've been more excited if I knew what it was all about...

Conclusion on Monday! Have a good weekend.

Read more!

"Completely reusing an old bit here, but it's fun, so suck it."

I'm playing the B.P.R.D. as a supernatural dumping ground, which of course it isn't in the comics. The recent the Ectoplasmic Man one-shot finally told the story of how Johann Kraus became a bodyless medium and joined the organization, and there's rarely more a fistful of paranormal agents there.

Two real Hellboy and B.P.R.D. comics are out today! The second issues of B.P.R.D.: the Warning, which may guest star Lobster Johnson; and Hellboy: the Crooked Man, with Richard Corben art! Like this tomfoolery? Try the real deal!

Oh, hell, I said I'd try to list the figures I used. Hoo boy...there's at least five Shadowrun figures here and there. In the devil panel, there's a Hellraiser Pinhead, the Dark Alliance (from Chaos Comics, home of Lady Death) Lucifer, Marvel Select's Mephisto, DC Universe Classics the Demon, and I think the spiky winged one is from Bastard! Maybe? I got him on clearance, because, well, he's kind of cool; but doesn't stand especially well.

There's a Mister Hyde and a Frankenstein figure from Mezco's Silent Screamers line: I bought two friends the Maria robot figure from Metropolis and am kicking myself for not picking up one for myself. There are McFarlane Monsters and Marvel Legends Frankensteins present as well, and a McFarlane Tin Man from the Twisted Land of Oz series. (After the Dorothy figures sold out, you could probably get a Tin Man for a song.) Three of the girls in the last panel are from various McFarlane lines, and none of them probably have a matching boot. Seriously.

There's a Charmed figure of Alyssa Milano that I must have found on sale somewhere, an Alley Cat Alley Baggett figure, two House of the Dead figures, Angel from the show of the same name, and the old Judge Death figure from the 2000 AD line. Beta Ray Bill, Jack O'Lantern, Dracula, Blade, Tom Manning (really Professor X), the Thing, and of course Nightcrawler are all from Marvel's Toy Biz days; Jack being from the Spider-Man line, the rest Marvel Legends.

God, I'm not done yet? What the hell was I thinking? Deadman's the Alex Ross version from DC Direct's Kingdom Come line: I have the other, more traditional version, but this one seemed to fit here. I've wanted to do some write-ups on some of his old appearances, but just realized this is the first time I've used Deadman as a tag. Damn.

The "house elves"--that's what Dobby was in the Harry Potter books, wasn't it?--were Legolas from Lord of the Rings and the little one, I forget the name of, but he's a pack-in from the Slaine figure, the 2000 AD line again. Read more!

"In case you were wondering about the eyepatch..."

A new page (or more) every day this week! Ooh, better get started.

While I liked the Hellboy: Animated DVD's, is it just me, or did they tend to use Liz Sherman like the Human Torch? Or maybe more like a napalm airstrike. In the comics, her pyrokineis isn't as much a power as a force, something inside her that may not always be under her control. While she may occasionally use it casually, as in lighting her smokes; it's still not something Liz lets off the leash easily.

And I'm still having some fun with Abe. Aside from his recent limited series, which told the story of an early solo mission for him (and with great art) and a couple bouts of self-doubt, he's been a very effective member and leader of the B.P.R.D. Of course, in the comic Hellboy has long since left the organization, and he recently fought the Baba Yaga in Darkness Calls. "Fought" isn't really the right word; that makes it sound like a superhero comic. There's more going on there.

Ah, but where is it going? Possibly two directions at once. We'll guess at that tomorrow, and another page of whatever nonsense I have going here.

Oh, and the "Baba Yaga" I used was, um, I think a McFarlane Blair Witch figure, and doesn't even have a passing resemblance to Mignola's version. Of course, the figure's "Todd's interpretation" of said Witch, and doesn't even look like the Blair Witch of the movie, since you never see her, unless you do in the sequel I have no intention of watching. Over the next few days, I'll try to name most of the figures used, but no promises, since we've got a cast of thousands lined up! Hundreds? Dozens, maybe? Yeah, I think I can say dozens.

Read more!

Yeah, "To be concluded" in six or eight months, when I find that goddamn issue.

Ooh, son of a biscuit. Is there anything more frustrating than picking up a good-looking pile of comics--say, half a dozen Ennis Punisher issues--and then realizing you have #11, #12, and #42-45? How the hell does that even happen?

I've also just realized that B.P.R.D. is a bear to sort. Some of the inside covers have "Issue such-and-such of a series" but some don't. There's one-shots too, and some are five-issue runs, and at least one was only three, and I keep expecting them to run six-issues. Right now, I'm still looking for issues in three different story arcs...

I don't think of myself as a huge Superman fan either, but I've got an entire longbox full of random Superman, Action, Adventures, spin-offs, annuals, one-shots, this and that. The vast majority of it, I think, was pulled from the quarter boxes. Actually, I think my Legion of Super Heroes are in there as well...maybe? Damn, I had the kid label the boxes, then I think half of them got turned around so the labels are facing the wall. Point is, I've lost and bought back a lot of Legion issues, like most of the "Five Years Later" run.

Batman has about a longbox and maybe a half, so far, spread across umpteen books. There are long stretches, runs I've had and held on to forever, like Parobeck's Batman Adventures or Breyfogle's or Jones' art.

Anyhoo, the sorting continues, like six days in. I still have a couple more days to wrap it up, and this Sunday we've got a special post, then hopefully a new homemade comic on Monday. See if I'm done by then...

Panels from Punisher (MAX) #11, "Kitchen Irish, part five" Written by Garth Ennis, art by Leandro Fernandez; and B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs #3, written by Mike Mignola and art by Guy Davis. Read more!