Due to the overwhelming response to the first classic Captain America scene from the 70’s, I’m proudly presenting yet another. What makes this scene so great is that you think you know what Captain America is going to do at the top of the dam, but you don’t.
Seriously, you don’t.
Ok, I admit it. I was late to the Brubaker party.
With so many good comic books coming out, and comic books being as expensive as they are, it is all too easy to miss some really great stories. I didn’t discover Ed Brubaker’s writing until Books of Doom (click here to read my review), which has been elevated to my short list of all time favorite comic book mini series. Since then I’ve been buying just about everything that Brubaker writes. Luckily that means I wasn’t late to the Criminal party.
Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are publishing a creator owned comic called Criminal through the Marvel Icon imprint. There are no super heroes. So far, there are no good guys. Just criminals (hence the name). It is an excellent read.
The story thus far centers on a career criminal being pulled into masterminding a heist against his better judgment. I don’t want to give away any spoilers because you really should be reading this book, but the story takes some interesting and unexpected turns. Brubaker’s writing is engaging and flawlessly paced, and Phillips’ art work perfectly complements the story and gives each character his or her own distinct look and style.
This is not The Sopranos in comic book form either. Although you get to see the inner workings of a criminal gang, this is a much more noir story. Somehow Brubaker and Phillips have figured out how to bring us along for a ride with some very bad people, without making us despise all of the characters (although I do despise some of them).
If you are not reading Criminal then I recommend you pick it up. It is a fun departure from the more common super hero fare and Brubaker and Phillips are at the top of their game.
So there it is, my first recommendation for 2007. Go out and get your copy of Criminal today!
For anyone looking for a little last minute holiday cheer I give you…
Mystery Science Theater 3000’s “A Patrick Swayze Christmas”
Enjoy!
Here are some classic Christmas comic recommendations.
First is the Ambush Bug Stocking stuffer. It’s hard to believe this heart warming Christmas story has been out for 20 years.
Do you like toys? Do you like stories about toys?
How about stories about zombie toys that hunt down and eat other toys?
That’s the kind of wonderfulness that runs through the fever dream that is the Ambush Bug Stocking Stuffer. If you are an Ambush Bug fan and you haven’t read this then you really aren’t an Ambush Bug fan and it’s time to admit it. There’s a group of people who can help you.
If you don’t like Ambush Bug, there may be a medication that might help you. Maybe not.
If you don’t know if you like Ambush Bug, then what are you waiting for. Hunt down this comic and give it a read. You’ll thank me.
Next on the list is The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special. This story is classic Lobo. It comes from the golden age of Lobo, before the Main Man became over exposed.
In this heartwarming gem of a story, the Easter Bunny, tired of living in the shadow of Christmas, hires Lobo to kill Santa Claus. How can this story not be good?
You get to see the Main Man storm Santa’s compound at the North Pole. You get to see why being an elf might suck. You get to see a knife fight between Santa and Lobo.
That needs to be repeated. You get a knife fight between Santa and Lobo.
This is another classic that your collection can not do without.
And for a little bonus…
Here’s a fine fan film based on The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas comic book. The story is changed some, and you don’t get the knife fight, but it is still a fun ‘ol time.
Happy Holidays from ComicBrain!
Imagine having your own comic shop.
Many of us think about owning our own business, but the realities of day to day living make it too risky and expensive to quit your job and chase a dream. It shouldn’t be that way. And I’m finding that it doesn’t have to be that way if you are willing to adjust your dream a bit.
The web makes it possible to start your own business for very little money. Affiliate programs make it possible to start selling with very little risk (to you or your customer). Combined, these let you start your business working nights and weekends without quitting your job. The downside is that other companies make the bulk of the profit from your sales. The upside is that you get to build up a customer base with little start up cost or risk. When you are successful in generating traffic and sales you will have an excellent “jumping-in” point for a more serious retail store of your own.
Absolute Sandman
One of my featured
products
Go ahead, unleash your inner entrepreneur.
For me, taking the fan-boy plunge and starting down the path to living the dream means adding an Amazon.com aStore to this website. The aStore is a recent addition to the Amazon.com affiliate program. According to Amazon.com: “aStore is a new Associates product that gives you the power to create a professional online store, in minutes and without the need for programming skills, that can be embedded within or linked to from your website.” You set up the store by defining some categories, selecting featured items for each category and choosing a few other options. Then Amazon provides a couple lines of HTML to embed in your website and “voila!”… instant website!
Pride of Baghdad
Another featured item
Here are the 7 steps to starting yourself down this path:
1. If you don’t already have your own website, register a domain name and set up hosting. I use Anhosting for hosting my website. Click on the link and check them out. If you are looking for a hosting service you really should consider them because they offer a lot of features for a very low price. For $6.95 a month, they will host your website on their servers. Signing up for a year costs you $83.40 and includes the cost of domain registration. That is pretty much your only monetary cost (plan to invest many hours of your time).
2. Again, if you don’t already have your own website, you can now set one up. I chose to use the free blogging software package Wordpress for my site. Anhosting provides a simple setup utility to get up and running with Wordpress quickly. They also provide a site builder tool, although I didn’t take advantage of it. Wordpress was all I needed. The hardest part was setting up my “theme” which is the overall look of the site. I started with an existing free theme as a template and then built mine. I wanted the page to have a look and feel sort of like a comic book page. It’s a perpetual work-in-progress.
3. Sign up as and Amazon.com affiliate.
4. Once you are part of the Amazon.com affiliate program, set up an aStore. Pick your categories and select up to nine featured items. Using the aStore setup wizard, modify the colors and options to fit your site.
5. Embed the aStore HTML into your website. Here’s where I ran into a little bit of trouble. My theme’s width turned out to be too narrow to display the entire aStore. I had to create a separate HTML page to house the aStore. Getting this page to have an appearance similar to the main site was a pain. This page is also looking to be a perpetual work-in-progress.
6. Now comes the hard part. Driving traffic to your store. You get a cut of every sale made through your store. Not a huge cut, after all Amazon.com needs to make some money and they handle all of the inventory and shipping, but with very little upfront investment you can make your first step into having your own online comic shop.
7. Profit.
I’m still working on step 6. If I figure out the secret to connecting customers with my store I’ll pass it along.
With Amazon you can
sell other items like
DVDs
So there you have it. For those of us who’ve always thought about having our own comic shop but need to keep our day jobs, an excellent option is now available.
You can see my store by clicking on the link in the upper left of the site.
Check out my store and pick-up that something that you’ve been wanting for a while. Because you deserve it.
I’ve been asked to make some more recommendations, and I’m happy to do so. Today’s recommendation is Books of Doom, written by Ed Brubaker, illustrated by Pablo Raimondi with covers by Paolo Rivera and published by Marvel. Books of Doom was originally released as a six issue mini-series, and has also been released in collected hardcover. The trade paperback collection of the story can be pre-ordered now and should be available on store shelves in a couple months.
This is the Doctor Doom story I had been waiting for. Doctor Doom has long been my favorite super villain. But that is based on who he is more than on the stories I’ve read with him in them. Doom is such a larger than life character that it is hard to use him correctly (in my opinion). This is the leader of a sovereign nation after all. Doom has his own ambassador to the United Nations for crying out loud. This is not your average super villain. He should not be out in the streets of New York trading punches with some costumed hero. Doom demands a worthy story.
And that’s what you get with Books of Doom. Books of Doom tells the story of how Doctor Doom became who he is. The story covers the years from the earliest moments of his life to his taking control of the Latverian government. It is one of the greatest origin stories I’ve ever read. Ed Brubaker is one of the best writers in the business. His narrative style is excellent and he makes the character of Doctor Doom accessible. I’ve always liked the scientific genius side of Doctor Doom, but I’ve never been a big fan of the mystical sorcerer side. Brubaker successfully melds both aspects of Doom’s origin, which is no small feat. He also does an exceptional job of growing the character through the series. You have sympathy for the small child born into a harsh life, and watch as the combination of his difficult life and his amazing talents twist him into the villainous dictator that he finally becomes.
I really wish George Lucas had let Ed Brubaker write the Star Wars prequel scripts. Brubaker clearly knows how to tell the origin of a great villain. (Lucas clearly doesn’t.) I highly recommend pre-ordering a copy of the TPB. If you just can’t wait, you can probably pick up the entire mini-series off of eBay. And if you really want to trust my recommendation (and who wouldn’t?) go out and pick up a copy of the premier hardcover edition.