Going to slow down the rate of posting on the blog for the next couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, real life and searching for a job that will actually be able to support me has gotten in the way of me being able to regularly provide content for this humble blog.  The next few weeks are going to be a little light on content, but I'm going to try and get out what I can.  After that, we should be back to our regularly scheduled content as normal.  Got a giveaway or two coming down the pipeline as well, so stay posted for that!

Three Series to Try Out This Wednesday: Generation Hope #6, Superman/Batman #83, and Darkwing Duck #11

Another Wednesday, another three series that I sincerely hope you guys will try out.  In other news, I've got a big SHIELD (The Hickman book)-related article coming down the pipeline within the next couple of days, so keep your eyes peeled for that.  This week, I recommend some weird fetus-related mutant, magical macguffins, and Duckthulu!

Top 10 Funniest Panels of the Week: April 13th, 2011

NSFW Warning: the PunisherMAX panel has some naughty language.  Also, if the text is too small, you can always click on the pic for a larger view.  On with the countdown!

10. Batgirl #20

Writer: Bryan Q. Miller  Artist: Ramon Bachs

Ah Stephanie.  Always so humble in victory.

Tardy Tuesday Reviews: Green Wake #1 and a bunch of mini reviews

Alright, life keeps me busy, but hey, looking for a job will do that to you.  On the other hand, if any of you folks are looking to hire and honored Business Administration/Finance student who's looking for a job when he graduates in June, let me know!  As such, I've only got one review for you today instead of my usual three.

Three Series to Try Out This Wednesday: S.H.I.E.L.D. Infinity, PunisherMAX #12, and Batgirl #20

Another Wednesday, another three series I'd love for you folks to give a shot to.  This week we're going to recommend some crazy historical fiction, crazy bloody vigilante action, and crazy cute girl superheroics!

Top 10 Funniest Panels of the Week: April 7th, 2011 Edition

10. Deadpool Family #1

Writer: James Asmus  Artist: Darnell Johnson

Science = letting two superdogs duke it out in the Large Hadron Collider in this instance

Three Series to Try Out This Wednesday: Non-Player #1, Green Wake #1, and Herc #1

Each Wednesday I'm going highlight three series that just aren't being given enough attention by my fellow readers in the hope that some of you will expand your horizons, pick up an issue (or book) and find a new favorite!

This week is a big week for comics as a ton of series are launching, not the least of which is the debut of Marvel's new event Fear Itself.  It's gotten some pretty positive reviews, so it might be worth checking out.  But, I'm going to recommend that you check out three other series making their inaugural debuts this Wednesday in Non-Player, Green Wake,  and Herc!

Mustached Monday Reviews: Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1, Deadpool Team-Up #883, and X-23 #8

Another three reviews for you, my darling readers!  I'm also working on changing up the style of my reviews a little bit.  Going to focus a bit less on plot spoilers and little bit more on analysis.  I'm hoping that the overall effect is one of slightly shorter, but meatier reviews.  I'm also hoping it'll let me churn them out with a bit more regularity than what I've got going on now.  That being said, I'm still going to have some spoilers within my posts, so I will continue with the regularly scheduled spoiler warnings.

Three Series to Try Out This Wednesday: Zatanna #11, Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1, and Halcyon #4

Each Wednesday I'm going highlight three series that just aren't being given enough attention by my fellow readers in the hope that some of you will expand your horizons, pick up an issue (or book) and find a new favorite!

This week, we're recommending Zatanna #11, Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1, and Halcyon #4!

Top 10 Funniest Panels of the Week: March 23rd, 2011 Edition!

10. Uncanny X-men #534

Writer: Kieron Gillen & Matt Fraction Artist: Greg Land & Paul Renaud

Heroic victory through litigation!  Just like the adventures of old.

Satisfying Saturday Reviews: Daredevil Reborn #3, Thor #620.1, and Osborn #4

Another Wednesday and whole week's worth of new comics has come and gone.  What did we read this week?  Well, lots of stuff, but you only get reviews for three tonight! One features gritty Gianfelice art, another has gorgeous Brooks art, and the third has creepy Rios art.

Dum Dum Dugan Makes his presence felt in the new Captain America movie. But where is Nick Fury?

In case you didn't know, Marvel has released an HD version of the Captain America: The First Avenger trailer.  You'll find it embedded below.

Full of teases, we also got a bunch of glimpses of SHIELD veteran Dum Dum Dugan in action.  I wonder if he's going to have a much larger role than previously suspected?

Dugan looking dapper with a massive gun in this quick cut.

Three Series to Try Out This Wednesday: Osborn #4, Captain America & Batroc, and

Each Wednesday I'm going highlight three series that just aren't being given enough attention by my fellow readers in the hope that some of you will expand your horizons, pick up an issue (or book) and find a new favorite!

This week, we're recommending Osborn #4, Captain America & Batroc, and Astonishing Spider-man & Wolverine #5!

IDW's "The Cape" makes sure to distance itself from the NBC show of the same name

In case you were unaware, NBC is currently airing a TV show title "The Cape" centered around a man adopting the persona of his son's favorite superhero and going through the motions to become a legitimate crimefighter in his own right.  I haven't seen past the first couple of episodes, but it was possibly the most campy show on television since the 60s Batman series.  Perhaps wisely, IDW has sought to distance its new miniseries with same title in its June solicits.  See below for the actual solicit.

Mild-Mannered Monday Reviews: Captain America and Crossbones, Xombi #1, and Hulk #30.1

Another day, another three reviews.  This week we've got a villain spotlight, a resurgence of an old Milestone character, and the intro of a brand new Red Hulk villain.

Top 10 Funniest Panels of the Week: March 16th Edition

10. Superman #709

Writer: Chris Roberson  Artist: Eddy Barrows

Less funny, more of a "I can't believe that's canon!"  Luthor's infamous Super-Dictionary entry (on the right) is now a true story.

Three Series to Try Out This Wednesday: Knight and Squire #6, Bad Dog #4, and Darkwing Duck #10

Each Wednesday I'm going highlight three series that just aren't being given enough attention by my fellow readers in the hope that some of you will expand your horizons, pick up an issue (or book) and find a new favorite!

This week, we're recommending Knight and Squire #6, Bad Dog #4, and Darkwing Duck #10

Top 10 Funniest Panels of the Week: March 9th Edition

10. Batgirl #19

Writer: Bryan Q Miller Artist: Ramon Bachs

Gooperangs with "Goop" SFX are some of the cutest bat-gadgets ever

Wild Wednesday Reviews: PunisherMAX #11, Venom #1, and Cinderella: Fables are Forever #2

Well dear readers, it's been too long since I've gotten to review some comics, so I'm back with another Wednesday triple feature.  This week we're going to be taking a look at a lover's quarrel of a different sort, a rival's quarrel and the quarrel between man and symbiote.

Five Women Making a Splash in Comics: Gail Simone, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Rebekah Isaacs, Emanuela Luppachino and Janet Lee

Seeing as today is International Women's Day, we here at Crakkajamma thought it would be appropriate to highlight some female creators whose work you should be following.  While comics have traditionally, and to an extent still are, a male dominated industry, more and more women having breaking onto the scene.  All of the creators bring their own unique sensibilities to their projects and often create projects that read like little else on the shelves today. Seriously, why aren't you reading their books already?

Three Series to Try Out This Wednesday: Comic Book Comics #5, Magus #3, and Cinderella: Fables are Forever #5

It's been too long since out last update, but we're going to be back in full force this week!  Onto your regularly scheduled feature!


Each Wednesday I'm going highlight three series that just aren't being given enough attention by my fellow readers in the hope that some of you will expand your horizons, pick up an issue (or book) and find a new favorite!

This week, we're recommending Comic Book Comics #5, Magus #3, and Cinderella: Fables are Forever #2

The Brick! Most successful Marvel villain organization of all time?

Possibly the most successful criminal undertaking of all time, the Brick has long been a menace to Marvel Universe heroes and their allies.  It's been around since the creation of the Marvel Universe, and yet, for some bizarre reason known only to the creators of the Marvel Universe, Earth's heroes have yet to bring this mortar-bound perpetrator of assault, murder, genetic experimentation, and hate crimes to justice!  To fully understand how deep the savagery of this nefarious organization goes, let's take a quick tour of its history.

Spider-Man

The Brick has long been a brutal member of Spidey's rogues for decades now.  Just look at these crimes:

Unlawful Genetic Experimentation

He did kind of deserve it, wearing a lab
coat to a construction site and all.

Here, we see a group of bricks, or "wall" as they're colloquially known, emerge from their hiding places at a local construction site and trap a once happy high school student, experiment upon him and transform him into a hideous monstrosity in their own image.  The Brick has the audacity to play God with hapless teenagers and yet, no justice has been served.  Fortunately for the general Marvel Universe public, it appears the Brick's experiment failed spectacularly and the Brick soon abandoned its scientific ventures.

Three series to try out this Wednesday: Captain America and the Falcon #1, Emma #1, and Takio GN

Each Wednesday I'm going highlight three series that just aren't being given enough attention by my fellow readers in the hope that some of you will expand your horizons, pick up an issue (or book) and find a new favorite!

This week, we're recommending Captain America and the Falcon #1, Emma #1, and Takio.

ADVANCE GIANT-SIZE REVIEW: Skullkickers Vol. 1 TPB: 1000 Opas and a Dead Body

   ADVANCE REVIEW: Skullkickers Vol.1: A Thousand Opas and a Dead Body releases on March 9th.  Pre-order at Amazon and check out more info (podcasts, Skullkickers-related news, other reviews) at the official Skullkickers site.  Pleasantries aside, onto the review!

   In many ways, Skullkickers by Jim Zubkavich and Edwin Huang reminds me of the recent Pak/Van Lente run on Incredible Hercules.  There's the fast-paced buddy-adventure, the ridiculous SFX, the goofy comedy, and a great sense of fun.  That's about where the similarities end though as Skullkickers is definitely its own beast.  Set in a world that will seem familiar to fans of World of Warcraft, the book tells a fun romp of two buddies doing all they can to get by.  A fun gimmick that Zubkavich uses here is to not give either of his protagonists names yet, allowing their actions to define the characters.  It's an experiment that mostly works, but it does make it hard to describe the book in reviews with any consistency.  For the purposes of this review, we're going to call the short, feisty, hairy fella MacDwarf and the tall, pistol-slinging, bald guy Baldy.  I'm just full of creativity today, aren't I?

Top 10 Funniest Panels of the Week: February 23rd, 2011 Edition

10. Avengers

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis  Artist: John Romita Jr.

So Iron Man owns Area 51.  Who knew?

Wondrous Wednesday Reviews: Fantastic Four #588, Amazing Spider-man #655, and Action Comics #898

Well, what a wonderfully woeful week where words wreak weepy ways.  That kinda worked.  But in all non-alliterative seriousness, today's floppy review pile was a bit of a downer with not one, but two comics focusing on the aftermath of a character death in the previous issue.  The other features Larfleeze, possibly the most amusing new character of the decade.  So, without further ado about strange dichotomies, I present to you this week's reviews of Fantastic Four #588, Amazing Spider-man #655, and Action Comics #898

DC hilariously adbombs Marvel's site with All-Star Superman banner

Marvel doing its best to promote the competition.

It's probably just Google Adsense promoting similar products, but I thought it was pretty funny.

Three series to try out this Wednesday: Sixth Gun #9, Skullkickers #6, and Atomic Robo: Deadly Art of Science #4

Each Wednesday I'm going highlight three series that just aren't being given enough attention by my fellow readers in the hope that some of you will expand your horizons, pick up an issue and hopefully find a new favorite!

This week, we're recommending Sixth Gun #9, Skullkickers #6, and Atomic Robo: Deadly Art of Science #4

Celebrating the Life and Work of Dwayne McDuffie

McDuffie at the Milestone launch

   Today was a sad day for comics and cartoons.  Pioneering creator Dwayne McDuffie has died of complications from a surgery performed on Monday today and is survived by his wife.  Here at Crakkajamma, we send out our deepest sympathies to his family and friends as the absolute suddenness of his death has most assuredly caught everyone unawares.

   However, I was raised that while still a sad event, memorials should be a happy time.  A time of celebration of the dearly departed's life and accomplishments.  So that's what we're going to do here today.  We're going to celebrate the life of a brilliant man who could make us laugh, make us think, and make quality entertainment while doing so.

   Few people outside of his dedicated fanbase know that McDuffie was a brilliant, highly educated, multi-discipline graduate student.  Graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in English, McDuffie went on to do graduate work in Physics and finally ended up attending NYU's film school.  It was there that he developed his trademark wit and humor, working under a pseudonym as a writer for various stand-up comedians and late-night tv comedies.  Moving on from those gigs, McDuffie found himself attempting a few more serious-minded jobs, eventually ending up as a copy editor for a financial magazine, before finally landing his first comics position at Marvel Comics.

What Diamond Digital is, what's wrong with it, and how to fix it.

Announced on February 9th, Diamond Digital is the
veritable distribution company's first foray into
the digital sphere

For the longest time, Diamond and comic book publishers in general have been resisting the advance of digital media.  Stuck in their ways and doing just about whatever they can to continue to prop up the brick and mortar stores, Diamond has been very reluctant to enter the digital arena.  This complacency, borne out of their virtual monopoly on monthly comic distribution, has finally caught up with Diamond.  Now, dragging their feet, Diamond has finally announced their partnership with iVerse (think similar to comixology) to distribute issues digitally.

Normally, such an announcement would be heralded as an important step forward for the industry and forward motion towards the digital future that the comics medium undoubtedly faces.  Unfortunately, Diamond's announcement was poorly communicated and led to all sorts of wild speculation, ranging from higher prices for digital editions to lack of iPad support to bizarre distribution schemes that made less sense than Diamond's previous resistance to going digital.  Thankfully, due to the journalistic diligence of the fine folks at Robot6 via CBR, we have a much clearer picture as to just what Diamond Digital actually is.

Warren Ellis announces he's working on a new serial webcomic

Via Twitter, renowned writer Warren Ellis made this announcement today:

Triumphant Thursday Reviews! Featuring: Thunderbolts #153, Superman/Batman #81, and Uncanny X-force #5

Thanks for joining us for Thursday's reviews!  Today, we've got a trio of terrific titles for your titillation.

Everything You Need To Know About The Thor Trailer

Well, that was a kickass trailer! For those of you who haven't seen it yet, I've embedded it below courtesy of Yahoo! movies.

Let's see what we can glean from this trailer. Annotations as follows

Funniest Panels of the Week: February 16th, 2011 Edition

Wolverine and Jubilee #2

The idea of Wolverine having his tongue stuck to Colossus' shiny metal body is something that needs to be incorporated into a future storyline.

Dissecting the Teaser Spread in ASM #654.1

Well, aside from copious hammer teasers for Fear Itself, Marvel's been letting loose with the Spidey teasers.  Courtesy of the friendly people at Bleedingcool, we have a nice look at the two page spread in ASM #654.1 that foreshadows a lot of coming events for Mr. Parker.

Click to embiggen

Of course, as with any juicy teaser like this, it's time for some baseless speculation!  I broke down the two pages and cleaned them up, so let's have a look and see what we can't come up with?

Three series to try out this Wednesday: Kill Shakespeare, Jennifer Blood, and Twilight Guardian

While this Wednesday certainly is a busy one, with lots of high profile releases like Green Lantern, Amazing Spider-man, and Brightest Day, I want to take some time to spotlight three other series that you might want to try out.  Who knows?  You could find a new favorite!

Titanic Tuesday Floppy Reviews: Amazing Spider-man #654, Batgirl #18, and Carnage #3

Ok, dear readers, I'm going to be doing my best to add new floppy reviews every other weekday.  Today, let's take a look at Batgirl, Amazing Spider-man, and Carnage.

Top-Secret Spidey Event Stealthily Announced?

Reading through the just released Marvel solicits for May 2011, when I stumbled upon this solicit for Amazing Spider-man #660.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #660
Written by DAN SLOTT
Pencils & Cover by STEFANO CASELLI
“Parental Supervision Required”
THIS ISSUE IS PACKED!!! The SINISTER SIX versus SPIDER-MAN and the FF… and by FF, we mean ALL of the Future Foundation! Know what’s not a good place for children, even super powered kids? A full-scale battle with the world’s deadliest super villains! It’s not “Bring Your Kids To Work” Day, not a field trip, and it’s definitely not a game! This is a high stakes battle and there’s no way it will end well….
You also get part 3 of the death-defying team up of Spider-Man and Ghost Rider by Rob Williams and Lee Garbett. And also this issue…our 2nd in a series of “Infested” preludes leading to this summer’s top secret Spidey event! Phew!
40 PGS./Rated A …$3.99

GIANT-SIZE Postscript: Marvel's not so subtle dig at Amazons Attack

Back cover of the Incredible Hercules: Love and War TPB

   While calling Amazons Attack a bad story is like calling the Pope a bit Catholic, I got to hand it to Marvel for putting this dig in here.

Is "writing for the omnibus" the next "writing for the trade?" Part 1

Brubaker's sublime Captain
America run is prime example
of this new school of
storytelling

Welcome to Crakkajamma's first ever opinion piece, where I notice a new trend emerging in comics which I will dub "writing for the omnibus."  But first, a quick history lesson.  From comics' inception through the late 70's, the general trend for storytelling in comics was the quick one-and-done or maybe the exciting cliffhanger-fueled two-parter.  Occasionally, stories with a truly grand scope would merit three or more parts, but these were few and far between (see the seminal Coming of Galactus story from Fantastic Four).  As the 70's drew to a close and the famously "grimdark" 80's swung in, so did the graphic novel.  Sometimes, the stories were broken up into issues and released that way initially, but the success of graphic novels in this era was largely in the realm of standalone, independent stories (Maus, Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen).

Borders Inches Ever Closer to Bankruptcy

A rapidly vanishing sight

According to the Wall Street Journal, Borders is finally taking the initial steps to full-fledged bankruptcy.  After months of warning the market and watching its stock freefall into penny stock territory (a mere 25 cents a share as of publishing time), Borders announced it could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as soon as Monday.  It's expected that Borders will be closing a third of their stores as it seeks to restructure its debt and find some way to stay afloat in a world where physical media is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Scumbag Spidey

Spidey's a dick.

Pretty funny spin-off of the Scumbag Steve meme that's been circling Reddit lately.  If anyone finds more or something else that gives them a good laugh, let me know in the comments!

Mega-Monday Floppy Reviews: Magus #1, Secret Warriors #24, and Heroes for Hire #3!

A bit late in posting this, but let's see how the floppies did!

GIANT-SIZE REVIEW - Incredible Hercules: Love and War TPB

Herc "relaxing" with Namora following
the epic events of Sacred Invasion

Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente (FVL) crafted a wholly unique beast with their run on Incredible Hercules.  It's a series that has ridiculous sound effects, inventive ways of utilizing Greek mythology, and wide variety of artists that perfectly fit the series' comedic light-hearted tone.  Love and War is no different in any of those respects.

I think it's only fitting that the site's inaugural review be on the trade it get its onomatopoeic title from.  So, let's dive into this particular volume and see what's what.

Welcome To Crakkajamma Comics!

Smashing Namesake of the Blog

I would like to extend a warm welcome to all my new readers who have somehow stumbled across my humble blog!  I don't have expectations of becoming the overnight source for all comics-related news or opinions, but I hope that my blog stirs some thoughts, entertains, and provides a laugh or two. And maybe that I become the premiere source for things comics.  But you can't have it all.

As you will see in the coming days ahead, I'm going to have a few features that will be showing up with some regularity. First, I'm

going to have reviews for both trades and for single issue floppies.  Why review trades?  It's (in this blogger's humble opinion) the number one way for new readers to get into comics.  Have a friend you want to get into comics? Give them a complete story, something to get them hooked and wanting more.  So, at least once a week, I'm going to be doing a "Giant-Sized" review of a trade paperback from a previously concluded story arc.