Who's who in the Comics Bulletin Universe - Update 2009
Who is... Michael A. Diaz?
Michael Diaz lives in Michigan, but don't hold that against him.
There he works as a Sys. Admin. while fostering dreams of one day becoming a "real" writer.
Most importantly, Michael is seriously addicted to comics, something that his wonderful wife tolerates with the patience of a saint.
He also writes this weekly column that people occasionally read.
"[O]ne of the most positive
and entertaining columns going."
- Gail Simone (Birds of Prey, Villains United)
What Looks Good: February '06
This month, with this column you’re reading right now, means that I’ve been writing this version of What Looks Good for two years now. That’s two years, twenty-four columns, a stack of Previews and hopefully a significant improvement in my writing and reading habits. I never knew that time could fly by so quickly. It’s like it was the other month I was logging onto the SBC forums, checking my PM’s and there’s Sylvain (anyone remember him?) asking me if I wanted to write a column with him…and here I am. I gotta give a big thanks out to Diaz, for letting me ape his space each month and expand a bit on what he’s been doing, and as always, big ‘ole Mr. Brice for running the site and being a hell of an E.I.C (is that his title?)
So anyway, with all the sentimental “anniversary” hoo-hah out of the way, its time to dig deep into Previews and find out What Looks Good!
HELLBOY: MAKOMA #1
Written by Mike Mignola
Art by Mike Mignola & Richard Corben
Award-winning Hellboy creator Mike Mignola teams with comics’ legend Richard Corben. Corben has been creating bizarre and beautiful comics since the 1970s, working on the most notable horror and sci-fi titles of the original small-press boom. His work was brought to the big screen in the film Heavy Metal, and he achieved mainstream stardom finally with recent collaborations with Brian Azzarello and Garth Ennis, bringing a fresh perspective to such characters as the Hulk and the Punisher, among others.
Set long before the life-changing events of this year's The Island, this two-parter reveals Hellboy's earlier encounter with the powerful mythology of Africa. Mignola writes and provides the cover, as well as drawing part of the story, with the lion's share drawn by Corben, in the collaboration which promises to be the horror-comics event of the year.
MIKE: Mike Mignola is a freakishly talented creator. After reading through most of the Hellboy material that I’ve gotten my hands on, and especially after reading The Island, he’s knocked my mind right out the back of my head. The concepts, planning, and execution of the Hellboy story is something that’s unparalleled; and when Mignola is drawing it, it’s simply a beautiful thing. I don’t know how I can sum up my love for this book, and more importantly, this creator.
I haven’t gotten big into Richard Corben yet, but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read of his work so far, and I’m really anticipating his Hellboy work and how he interprets this world. Hellboy has a lot of different elements in its stories; horror, history, paranormality, detective, action, et al; a perfect book for these two to collaborate on and delve a little bit further into the Hellboy history.
JSA #82
Written by Paul Levitz
Art by George Pérez & Bob Wiacek
Legendary JSA writer Paul Levitz makes his stellar return to the DCU with superstar artist George Pérez (CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, WONDER WOMAN) for an important chapter of INFINITE CRISIS in a story featuring the members of original JSA: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman!
MIKE: You know, I’ve gotta be honest here, I don’t think that I’ve ever read a single comic written by Paul Levitz yet. From what I’ve heard about his work, it sounds like he’s got a good handle on how to handle the DC Universe and from the things I’ve heard about this story in particular, I’m getting a lot of faith that he’ll do a bang up job on it. George Perez drawing anything in the DCU is always a treat for me. JLA/Avengers was nuts, his Infinite Crisis covers are terrific and this issue of JSA should turn out phenomenal. I can’t recall ever seeing any of the current JSA’ers done by Perez, so it should be neat. This sounds like a great creative team to give Johns a break, but still step it up a bit on the book.
ROCKETO, VOL. 1: THE JOURNEY TO THE HIDDEN SEA TP
Written & illustrated by Frank Espinosa
The adventures of Rocketo Garrison take place in a mythical future 2,000 years after the world has been destroyed in a catastrophe. This compilation of the first six issues of The Journey to the Hidden Sea tells the story of Rocketo’s idyllic childhood and his early training as an explorer and Mapper. After returning from the deadly Solarium War a broken man, Rocketo Garrison is swept away on a journey to the Hidden Sea, a fabled, dangerous land that may hold the key to undreamed of treasure as well as the truth about an ancient mystery. PLUS: introduction by Alex Ross, pin-ups by some of today’s leading comic book artists, maps, sketches and background information on the New World and more! COLLECTS ROCKETO #1-6
MIKE: Ah, good ‘ole Rocketo! First off, it’s great that the book found its way to Image; hopefully it does wonderful things for the book. Second, you’re a certified FOOL if you’re not reading Rocketo. Frank Espinosa has taken the time to create an entire world, a cast of characters and a unique storyline that grabbed me from the first six pages of issue one. It’s intriguing, it’s entertaining, and more importantly, it’s original; it feels fresh. The writing is sharp and the art, my god, the art is absolutely beautiful. Rocketo is a book that I can’t recommend to you enough; it’s just flat out amazing.
I won’t even try to capture the idea of it in words, I’ll just link you over to the Speakeasy website (the title’s former publisher), click “Comic Books”>”Rocketo”>”Previews” and check it out, you won’t be disappointed.
KABUKI #6
Written and illustrated by DAVID MACK
Variant Cover by MIKE MIGNOLA
Kabuki has a new life in the United States, but she's visited by someone from her past. Is it a friend or foe? And what is the mysterious Akemi Network? It's a new start for KABUKI as Akemi's plans are revealed in the perfect jumping-on issue for new readers! You've heard about all the awards. You've heard everyone talking about why KABUKI is so amazing and mind-blowing. Now is the chance to see what all the talk is about!
MIKE: First off, Mignola variant cover… I love it; but that’s not all that Kabuki has going for it. David Mack, in his own right, is an extremely talented storyteller, writer, artist, painter, and so on. Kabuki reads and looks like a fine piece of art, but still tosses nods to its comic book heritage. The story pulls you in and never lets you go, giving you a lot of entertainment and insight into entirely different worlds. Give it a read or two.
QUICK CRITS
DARK HORSE COMICS
CONAN #25: Conan is a consistent good read month in and month out, and it’s always on time. Busiek drums up some class-act ideas, Nord sweeps in with a moody, simple-yet-powerful style to capture the essence of Conan, getting in touch with the version we all love best about the character. Give it a read, show some support.
DC COMICS
BATMAN: YEAR ONE HUNDRED #1: Paul Pope’s a genius, his recent Solo issue was fantastic and the Batman story in that was quite impressive. His new mini, Batman: Year One Hundred looks promising. Seeing Pope adapt Batman to his style and tell a griping story at the same time, looking forward to it…
BOX SOCIAL PRESS
YOUNGBLOOD: THE AWESOME BOOTLEG
Written by Rob Messick
Art by Brian Milligan
Two pals of mine, Messick & Milligan, tossed together this free, oversized bootleg of their favorite title for the Baltimore Con. I’ve been lazy as hell, so I’ve forgot to mention it a little bit until now, so here it is. It’s Youngblood like you’ve never seen it before; on-time, free and pretty damn good. A little rough on the edges, but for a first foray into comics, not bad at all. I think you’ll dig it more than you did all the other Youngblood books (except Alan Moore’s). I’ll link to some previews on the forums so you see what it’s all about.
In the mean time, swing by the boards or shoot me an e-mail and let me know what you think. Keep on checking out Previews and spreading the word on what you think Looks Good for that particular month; and as always, Diaz is still here each week to give you you’re weekly What Looks Good dose, and hey, who knows, maybe someone else will step in here and take up the monthly reigns…
Thanks to everyone that’s read/been reading the column, I appreciate it and be sure to check out the new column once it starts up! And hey, maybe I’ll end up doing WLG again somewhere down the line
Until next time…
Mike Storniolo
Were Diaz's picks on the mark?
Have your say on What Looks Good at the Looking Good message board.