SUMMER FLINGS

Love 'em. Whether it's baseball, girls, or comics, I'm all for 'em. For our purposes I'm gonna focus on some upcoming comic related flings for us to jump into head first (because head first's the only way to go about living), but whatever your fancy, may you always slide safely into home.

Item #1: June 23-24th. I dearly hope you're going to be in NYC next weekend! You better be! The MOCCA Art Festival 2007 once again fills the hallowed halls of the historic Puck Building (293 Lafayette @ Houston). Next week I'll list the Festival's programming and events, guests and exclusives, but know that this is one of comicdom's premiere events, and is a must-attend if you live on this planet and have a love of and regard for the medium as a legitimate and viable artform. Also that weekend is Big Apple Con, New York's longest running comic and collectible show, at the Penn Plaza Pavilion (7th Ave @ 33th St), your best bet if you need to meet Captain Lou Albano and pick up that action figure you've been looking for all over.

I know it's rough to make both cool shows in one day, but, cue corny "to the rescue" music... There's a shuttle van that will run between the two events!!! And do you know where it stops and can drop you off between shows? FORBIDDEN PLANET, that's where. We are currently selling combined weekend tickets to both shows: $17 for two terrific comics events with free shuttle access. We will see you there. And here. And all over this frakkin' city.

Item #2- World War Hulk. Comics have not at all been event-starved, but here comes Marvel's next epic. Here's a super quick recap if you haven't been keeping up with the Green giant recently: Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Dr. Strange, Black Bolt, and Prof. Xavier have deemed the Green menace too menacing for Earth and shot Hulky into space, where he lands on a war-torn planet wherein he becomes a bigger gladiator champion than Russell Crowe and eventually becomes king. The above story, a helluva lot better told, with better art too(!), can be found in the Planet Hulk HC releasing this week!!! I know every one of you is gonna want to own this book. Why? Battle axes and hand blasters, my man, battle axes and hand blasters.

Anyway, that's just a primer for the real big fling here: World War Hulk #1. So you've been kicked off you your planet for being a little rowdy by a bunch of sanctimonious blowhards? What're ya gonna do? Smash. Smash everything. The Hulk comes back to Earth, and precipitates a Civil War size conflagration of very heavy-duty proportions that will rage on the whole summer long. We'll have complimentary WWH checklists for the completist at the front counter, too.

Items #3+ Imminent Infatuations:

Amory Wars #1 - Rock band Coheed and Cambria's frontman Claudio Sanchez teams up with Gus Vasquez, a terrific artist and old buddy of ours who's worked on Spider-Man, Green Lantern, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to give his rabid- frothingly rabid- fans the comic experience of his music. Part Phillip K. Dick, part Vonnegut, part 80s TV Sci-fi show, The Amory Wars is complicated to say the least, so much so that I'm going to refer you kids to the comic's Wikipedia entry for more detailed synopsis, and print the official sales solicitation:

Coheed Kilgannon's suburban world is turned upside down by General Mayo Deftinwolf, who explains the nightmares of torture that violate Coheed's dreams are real-and that Coheed and his family play a crucial piece in a terrorist plot to destroy all the worlds of the Keywork. To save these worlds, Coheed and his wife, Cambria, must do the unthinkable... From the imagination of Claudio Sanchez comes a science fiction epic in the tradition of Star Wars and The Matrix. A new, star-spanning mythology, rooted in the story of one simple family.

I'm going to leave off and, like Han's initial unfailing faith in Lando, assure you that Gus can handle such a daunting task. If he doesn't? Never heard of 'im!

Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus Vol 1 HC - featuring the debuts of Orion of the New Gods, the evil Darkseid, super-escape artist Mister Miracle and many others, this handsome hardcover collect Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133-139, Forever People #1-3, New Gods #1-3 and Mister Miracle #1-3 in chronological order as they appeared in 1970 and created by Jack "King" Kirby, in his DC debut.

Jack Kirby. One more time: Jack Kirby.

Strangers In Paradise #90 - Fourteen years in the making, the final issue in Terry Moore's self-published magnum opus. Congratulations, Mr. Moore on your great accomplishment and enthralling comics. But, whatever are you to do, oh distraught reader, now that this seminal touchstone of your lives is over? Go out, get kidnapped and read something new, that's what. You friendly neighborhood FP employee has a myriad of new books for you to try. Make contact today.

Grant Morrison: The Early Years - by Timothy Callahan. Follow the early bibliography of comic writer Grant Morrison as he cuts his metaphysical teeth on Brit comics Zenith and 2000a.d. to his first sui generis American works Arkham Asylum, Batman: Gothic, Animal Man, and Doom Patrol. This book analyzes story and structure techniques, subtle nuances and references you may have missed (a la Anarchy for the Masses), and makes a case that I don't have to be sold on: that Grant just might be the greatest comic book writer in history. Expected in stock Wednesday 6/13, fingers crossed.

Head First, Baby,
JEFF