Random Thoughts

The "War on the Middle Class" books have not shown up yet. What the hell is up with that. According to tracking they left Washington, DC on June 12 and I'm in the Baltimore area. I guess they make sure that when you pay for low class mail, you get it slow.

The first Jack Kirby Omnibus from DC came out, and while it is 396 pages and contains a chronological reprinting of Kirby's Fourth World stuff, this is the cheapest paper I have ever seen used in a hardcover. It is not over sized and the paper is cheap as hell and I'm worried that the book won't last long enough for me to get around and re-reading this material. I want more information in the solicitations so I know what I'm getting. I was not expecting archive quality, but at least a heavier grade of paper. The fact that they are printing it in China is a whole other issue.

Flash is over with issue #13. ARE THEY KILLING BART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope not. Still with Waid coming back to the Flash in a new series it is hard for me to be upset. Still it feels like a step back, I loved Waid's Flash and would buy his run as a hard cover collection (along with John's run). But I worry about going home again.

Marvel crushed DC in the May number's game 42% to 27%. That concerns me as I'm a huge DC fan before Marvel and hate to see one company totally dominate the numbers. Also it feels like the event stuff will just be ratcheted up again and we will have the nineties to look forward to again. Part of me wishes that Marvel and DC would crash and burn, then maybe more people would try all of the other great stuff out there. Still give Marvel credit the Stephen King book, Classics Illustrated and the Dabel Brothers co-branding was a great way to expand their market.

Going out to see Rise of the Silver Surfer today and the reviews have not been great. I thought the first FF movie was entertaining and they did a good job on each of the main characters. I know there has not been a lot of love for these movies, but the first one was a decent translation and the second one has great trailers. These are not the best comic movies ever made, but they are not the Daredevil or Electra variety either. Looking forward to seeing it.

An almost weekly Spider-Man book is coming. Good idea and I thought it worked well when DC did it with Superman for a few years. Marvel has a good editor overseeing the project so I think it has a chance.

Dr. Fate is finally coming out and I was sorry to hear about Steve Gerber's health issues and hope he does better. I have added a link to his site. Steve has always been an innovative creator and I'm looking forward to his Dr. Fate.